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is that the colour of the flower leaches down the stems so the whole thing is suffused with blueEryngium bourgattii - the best blue of them all. A sort of steely azure as cold (yet devastatingly alluring) as the eyes of a mermaid. The best is probably one called

Since Christmas the weather has been almost universally ghastly - rain, fog, leaden skies and general Januaryness. Over the last couple of days, however, I have noticed everything change; the skies are blue and the sun is shining. In the hedges buds

Korean chrysanthemums. (Moderation was not an abiding principle in the design of this garden.) Some in full flower, some in bud and in every colour you can think of except blue. At the entrance chrysanthemums blended beautifully with cannas, plectranthus

iris). The flowers vary in colour from pale blue to deep violet, with yellow-spotted splashes down each petal.Some of them share names with the engines of Rev. Wilbert Awdry, so we have I. reticulata 'Edward' and I. reticulata 'Gordon' although, sadly

and work well as part of a mixed border - I have a lovely white iris called Iris sibirica 'Snow Queen' and a blue one called 'Emperor'.These are fine, but they pale into insignificance compared to the huge, complicated flowers of their bearded cousins. Each

: it is about 3m high and has gloriously scented tubular white flowers in Autumn, lush Autumn colour and bright red berries. Or Gentiana farreri, a trailing evergreen delight with flowers like sky blue fanfares? These are just two of the plants that Reginald

woad body paint terrorising Romans. The plant from which this comes is Isatis tinctoria and, oddly, it is not even faintly blue, but very yellow.I was reminded of this by a quick preview visit to Jekka McVicar's stand at this year's Chelsea Flower Show

days, stretches of perfect white sand, bobbing seals, heathery hills, shining blue lobsters and lichened rocks. But, even though to the casual observer it may have seemed that I was lolling around all week doing very little, I have been diligent in my

nearly as long flowering it has spikes of flower where bonariensis and rigida have plates. It also comes in blue (hastata), pink (hastata rosea) and white (hastata alba). Even more hoorays all round (and perhaps the occasional whoopee.)

is now alive with colour. And where flowers grow, wildlife follows and there are huge numbers of happily buzzing bees and flighty butterflies all over the place.Ivan has sown a huge range of flowers (about 65 species) varying from sky blue cornflowers