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What a quick year; is it just me or do the years go by quicker every time? This is a transition time in the garden when summer abundance is drawing to an end and our real star performers come into their own. Structure, shape and texture return to the forefront for the coming winter season and autumn flowers are a special bonus.
Featured Plants
Click on the featured plants in the article to view in the Hilliers Online shop.
Lots of new plants appear over the years but many lack staying power. They don’t have the widespread appeal to make the long term successes. Mahonia ‘Blackfoot’ may just be one of those stayers. It is an American mahonia which is short and spreads gently underground. It is very happy in shade with a good moist soil; perfect with ferns. It has bold, evergreen, holly-like foliage that forms attractive rounded mounds, much better than Mahonia aquifolium ‘Apollo’. The rich golden flowers appear in spring in huge clusters and have the most delicious scent brightening up even the gloomiest corner.
Phormium Yellow Wave is another real ray of sunshine. If you have ever chosen a Phormium thinking that they are all the same size, only to find that you have taken home a monster then this is the one for you. It is a real glamour puss of the plant world. It is bold, bright and flamboyant; just what you need in the winter months. It is also a more manageably sized Phormium than many, with leaves of just 1 metre which softly arch over at the end. If you want to add drama or an exotic touch to a border, this is a perfect choice. At Chelsea this year we used it as an accent plant in the main planting to give colour and structure and also as a striking container subject in tall pots. It tolerates most soils but really prefers a sunny spot. If you are lucky it will even send up its stunning, exotic flowers when it is established.
Choisya Sundance was introduced at Chelsea in 1986, an amazing 22 years ago, having been grown from a tiny variegated leaf on one plant. It has since proven itself to be a real stalwart in the garden. The brilliant golden foliage does not scorch even in full sun but I actually prefer it grown in light shade, or shade for part of the day, as the colour softens to a lime yellow which I love in the garden. Those gardeners with a deer problem love Sundance as it seems not to be a favourite with them. Sometimes if you are unlucky or in a very cold spot the last flush of late summer growth can get caught by frost during the winter but a quick trim back soon reveals fresh, new, untouched foliage. The orange blossom scented flowers are an unexpected bonus in May and June.
Blue goes so well with yellow and a great late flowering blue shrub is Ceratostigma willmottianum ‘Forest Blue’. It is another great compact shrub, reaching 1 metre, perfect for small gardens. It is covered with cobalt blue flowers from August to October, then the foliage turns vivid orange and red before leaf fall. Pruning is simple and a hard prune in early spring removes the old stems and encourages lots of new shoots to grow and flower the next autumn. I think the new really tiny narcissus ‘Chiva’ would look great planted next to this, giving colour in spring when the new shoots are appearing.
My last plant is Heuchera ‘Key Lime Pie’, this is one of our “Sweet Delights” range. It has fabulous evergreen soft lime yellow foliage and makes a wonderful plant for groundcover at the front of beds. It’s zingy colour is perfect for brightening up a dull border and looks amazing next to soft blues; a clump of muscari makes a wonderful contrast in spring. If your garden is packed to the gunnels then it looks just as good in a glazed pot, perhaps even underplanted with some tulips. No matter what colour your garden is a touch of lime like this is a designer’s tip get a really great effect. The lime yellow sets off all the other colours and makes them sing.
