This week’s cornucopia of herbs & perennials w22/20 25th May 2020
delivered to meifod machynlleth & aberdyfi also soft fruit
cut flowers, woodland products & sustainable compost
Acaena | inermis | Purpurea | Good ground cover, white flowers contrast with purple foliage |
Acaena | microphylla | Red burrs in late summer | |
Allium | tuberosum | Garlic chives, flat garlicky leaf, ornamental white flowers late in the year. | |
Allium | schoenoprasum | chives | Purple flower heads are also edible. |
Aloysia | citriodora | (Strongly) lemon scented verbena, over-winter under glass. | |
Anemanthele | lessoniana | Bronze foliage, especially in autumn, fine panicles of red (ish) flowers. | |
Angelica | archangelica | Short lived impressively large perennial with globular flower heads in second year, or crystallise stems for cake decoration. | |
Anthemis | tinctoria | Lemon Ice | Creamy yellow daisy flowers, with glorious yellow eyes, attract numerous pollinators such as bees and hoverflies. The foliage is slightly aromatic as you would expect from the Chamomile family, green and finely dissected. |
Anthemis | punctata | subsp. cupaniana | Silver green lacy foliage, large but compact white /yellow daisy flowers, dwarf and indispensable |
Anthriscus | sylvestris | Ravenswing | Purple brown foliage, heads of tiny white flowers with pink bracts. 1 m |
Arenaria | montana | Vigorous spreading evergreen, grey leaved prostrate perennial, saucer shaped white flowers (quite large for an Arenaria) in generous numbers, early summer. Full sun and sharp drainage. | |
Artemisia | dracunculus | French Tarragon | Mildly creeping stems, richly aniseed flavoured leaves. Not as hardy as Russian tarragon but infinitely superior flavour. |
Artemisia | schmidtiana | Enchanting silver creeping foliage, full sun and good drainage. | |
Brachyelytrum | japonicum | Tall perennial grass with open panicles and ‘v’ shaped spikelets. | |
Buxus | sempervirens | Rotundifolia | Robust drought tolerant evergreen with large dark green rounded foliage, |
Buxus | sempervirens | Suffruticosa | Dwarf edging box, neat bright green foliage. |
Campanula | garganica | Mrs Resholt | Intense violet (Plant of the year at Chelsea 2012?) |
Campanula | portenschlagiana | Lilac thimble shaped flowers, lobed foliage, creeping habit. | |
Campanula | poscharskyana | E H Frost | Robust creeping perennial silver blue flowers, good for dry banks. |
Campanula | poscharskyana | Lilac starry flowers, creeping and spreading, good for dry banks. | |
Campanula | Blue Baby | Blue bell shaped flowers, prostrate habit. | |
Caryopteris | Kew Blue | Erect, compact, dark flowers and fruit. | |
Ceanothus | thrysiflorus | var. repens | Evergreen, blue flowers wide spreading dense shrub. |
Chamaenerion | angustifolium | Stahl Rose | A bit of a racer but delightful pale pink flowers. |
Corydalis | flexuosa | Dark foliage and bright blue flowers in spring and autumn. | |
Cynara | Artichoke Violette de Provence | ||
Dianthus | Inshriach Dazzler | Bright pink with darker eye, prostrate and fragrant (cloves) | |
Dianthus | Whatfield Cancan | Soft full pink scented flowers | |
Dianthus | La Bourboule | Rose-pink fragrant | |
Dicentra | formosa | A ground-cover version of love lies bleeding. | |
Dicentra | Langtrees | Low divided, grey foliage sprouts from fleshy rhizomes, white tubular flowers tinted pink. | |
Dryopteris | erythrosora | A well bred fern with both the new and the old foliage taking on shining bronze tints. | |
Echinacea | purpurea | Magnus | Intense red, wide horizontal petals 100 cm. Long lasting cut flower |
Eurybia (Aster) | divaricata | Wiry black stems contrast with clouds of small pink tinged daisies. (Gertrude Jekyll ;The wire-stemmed aster) | |
Fragaria | vesca | Alpine strawberry/ wild strawberry, small fragrant fruit throughout the summer. | |
Geranium | clarkii | Kashmir Purple | Finely divided leaves, narrow purple petals with contrasting veins. |
Geranium | Rozanne | Vigorous and floriferous, violet, white centred, purple veined saucer shaped flowers from Summer to Autumn looks fabulous in a container. | |
Geranium | sanguineum | Cedric Morris | A sanguinium type (taller) with the same luminous magenta flowrs. |
Geranium | sylvaticum | Mayflower | A good geranium for dappled shade, also look for sylvaticum Album and Amy Doncaster. |
Geranium | Brookside | Blue with a white eye. | |
Geranium | macrorrhizum | Album | Fleshy rhizomes and leaves- strongly aromatic. White flowers. |
Hebe | recurva | Grey pointed leaves, dark stems, neat black and white flower buds open white. | |
Hedera | helix | Coeur d’or | Central yellow variegation, great workhorse for shady walls. |
Hemerocallis | lilioasphodelus | Sweetly scented yellow day lily. “The flowers are a beautiful lily shape, with recurving petals of clear and lovely yellow, and have an unforgettable fragrance” GST | |
Hesperantha | coccinea | Major | Silky cup-shaped blooms September, grassy foliage, happy in damp soils. |
Hesperantha | coccinea | (Pink) | Silky cup-shaped blooms September, grassy foliage, happy in damp soils. |
Heuchera | Black pearl | Jet black leaves with scalloped edges, foamy white flowers, irresistable! | |
Hyssopus | officinalis | aristatus | Hyssop. Evergreen aromatic. |
Iris | foetidissima | Evergreen lance shaped leaves, curious blue yellow flowers followed by sealing wax berries. Odd small but very tolerant of dry shade. | |
Jasminum | humile | Revolutum | Summer flowering evergreen jasmine, delicate (scented if in a warm position) yellow flowers on a 2 m high and wide plant. |
Lavandula | angustifolia | Hidcote | Dwarf habit, silvery foliage,violet flowers. |
Lavandula | angustifolia | Nana Alba | Pale white flowers dwarf |
Ligularia | przewalskii | Tall yellow spikes contrast well with dark stems, revels in damp soil. | |
Lithodora | diffusa | Heavenly Blue | Dark green foliage and bright blue flowers, prostrate, dislikes chalk. |
Lobelia | cardinalis | Queen Victoria | Late summer scarlet flowers for damp places |
Luma (Myrtus) | apiculata | A myrtle with rounder leaves and a fairly flexible habit, handy if you like a bit of plant sculpting. | |
Lunaria | rediviva | Perennial honesty, elongated transparent seed cases follow purple flowers. | |
Meconopsis | cambrica | Welsh poppy, flat yellow (occasionally orange) flowers tolerant of shade and competition from grass. | |
Mentha | piperata | Peppermint | |
Mentha | pulegium | Pennyroyal | |
Mentha | requienii | Corsican Mint. Prostrate, tiny leaves and flowers. Pungent | |
Mentha | spicata | Brundall mint | A finely flavoured form of spearmint |
Mentha | spicata | spear mint | Spearmint |
Mentha | x gracilis | Variegata | Ginger mint |
Mentha | spicata | var. crispa | Wavy leaved spearmint. |
Myrtus | communis | subsp. tarentina | Compact narrow leaved myrtle, neat habit |
Nephrolepis | exaltata | Boston | Elegant cascading housefern. Minimum temperature 10 deg C (that’s plus 10 not minus 10) |
Ocimum | basilicum | Opal | Red basil |
Ocimum | basilicum | British | Supposedly hardier |
Ocimum | basilicum | Nufar | FI hybrid sweet basil. |
Origanum | vulgare | Acorn Bank | Yellow elongated leaved marjoram. |
Origanum | vulgare | Aureum | Golden marjoram, glowing leaf rosettes in winter in cut back. |
Origanum | vulgare | greek | Strongly flavoured marjoram. |
Origanum | County cream | Cream variegations. | |
Pachysandra | terminalis | Dwarf evergreen ground cover, whorls of bright green leaves and white terminal flower heads. | |
Penstemon | Hidcote Pink | Pink flowers with white striped throat. | |
Penstemon | White Bedder | Compact habit, pure white flowers. | |
Penstemon | Andenken an Friedrich Hahn | Dark, narrow leaves, slim, garnet red flowers. | |
Petroselinum | Plain leaved | French parsley | |
Phlomis | russeliana | Bold felted leaves , whorls of yellow hooded flowers , and long lasting seed heads. | |
Phlox | glaberrima | Bill Baker | Somewhat lax habit to 0.5m Lance shaped leaves and clustered, scented bright pink flowers early summer, good for fromt of borders. |
Phlox | divaricata laphamii | Chattahoochee | Dark foliage, blue flowers with crimson centres, partial shade neutral to acid soil. Choice but choosy. |
Pieris | Little Heath | Dwarf variegated pieris, nice in a terracotta pot. | |
Polygonatum | x hybridum | Soloman’s seal, arching stems with pendulous white flowers making a fairly weed-proof swathe. Sun or shade. | |
Pulmonaria | angustifolia | Bright blue flowered lungwort. | |
Rosmarimus | officinalis | Blue Rain | Prostrate |
Rosmarinus | officinalis | Arp | Upright and robust |
Rosmarinus | officinalis | Rosemary | |
Rudbeckia | fulgida | var. deamii | Reliable black-eyed Susan, can cope with prairie planting |
Salvia | patens | Cambridge Blue | Lovely colour, don’t forget to take it in before the first frosts. |
Salvia | officinalis | Purpurescens | Sage with purple red leaves. purple flowers. |
Salvia | officinalis | sage | |
Saponaria | officinalis | Soapwort, stems and especially roots produce a mild detergent. | |
Sarcococca | confusa | Small glossy leaved shrub with heavily scented white flowers in winter, black berries. | |
Saxifraga | paniculata | Encrusted type with cream flowers. in flattened sprays. | |
Saxifraga | Freckles | White flowers with evenly spaced red dots, charming. | |
Saxifraga | Esther | More pointed leaves and darker red bits in the white flowers. | |
Saxifraga | Winifred Bevington | Compact mats of red edged green leaves and white flowers flushed pink | |
Saxifraga | longifolia | The leaves are….. (white flowers) | |
Saxifraga | Southside Seedling Group | Bold silver foliage, white flowers spotted red. | |
Sedum | pachyclados | A succulent that just loves to coat the sides of pots. | |
Sedum | spathulifolium | Cape Blanco | Blue green fleshy foliage, yellow flower heads. |
Sedum | spurium | Ruby Mantle | Dark red-green foliage and flowers |
Sempervivum | arachnoideum | Cobweb houseleek | |
Sempervivum | Mystic | ||
Sempervivum | Sir William Lawrence | ||
Sempervivum | Blue Boy | ||
Sempervivum | Mondstein | ||
Thymus | vulgaris | English winter | Neat form of common thyme. |
Thymus | pulegioides | Bertram Anderson | Compact habit, forms mats of reliably bright foliage. |
Thymus | camphoratus | Camphor thyme | |
Thymus | herba-barona | Caraway thyme | |
Thymus | serpyllum | Snow Carpet | |
Thymus | vulgaris | Fredo | Compact form of common thyme |
Valeriana | phu | Aurea | Umbellifer with luminous yellow new leaves. |
Veronica | prostrata | Spode Blue | Spode Blue’ is a prostrate perennial 10cm tall, forming a mat of narrow, semi-evergreen leaves and erect racemes of small blue flowers in early summer |
Vinca | minor | Azurea Flore Pleno | Semi-double blue lesser periwinkle |
Viola | cornuta | Low growing spreading perennial, mauve scented flowers have strap-like petals | |
Viola | odorata | Sweet violet | |
Waldsteinia | ternata | Yellow flowered ground cover. |