Search - Articles

ornamental cabbages with marvellous frilly leaves, in shades ranging from washy pink to beetroot to deep purple, together with larger ornamental kale.The Americans are very keen on ornamental cabbages and use them in quantity for public plantings (and also

.It took me a while to find the best spot for them.  Heavy clay isn't really ideal, but I've been blessed with wonderful allium displays that return year after year.Their dense pom-pom flower heads, composed of numerous purple 'stars', provide an easily

, mauves or white are held on strong, medium-tall wiry stems that don't need supporting.Japanese anemoneThis must-have plant has short stems of large bell-shaped flowers in purples, pinks and blues. It's drought tolerant and pretty hardy, although it

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is always a good place to look for new 'grow your own' ideas.  The Growing Tastes Marquee this year was better than ever: my highlights for 2010 were garlic and blueberries.I could smell The Garlic Farm's beautiful

-leaved variety that will light up a shady spot like a 100w lamp. The other is Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace', which has lacy purple leaves and flowers with a slight pink tinge.The most famous contemporary reference to the elder comes in Monty Python and the Holy

late summer flowering plant that will tolerate a bit of shade (provided it is not too dry). The pinky-purple flowers look like the mouths of giant carp. Gets to about 45cm high.Metasequoia glyptostroboides - the dawn redwood is a deciduous conifer from

.Houseleeks are most valued for their distinctive rosettes of succulent, spirally patterned foliage, although they also bear attractive flowers from spring to summer. Each rosette is a separate plant, and is monocarpic - it flowers once then dies, but is soon replaced

that the anthers are purple and brown (apparently looking like decaying flesh to the average carrion fly); a sprig of hawthorn worn in your hat will supposedly protect you from lightning.Since medieval times is has been used as a heart remedy, a diuretic

, but it's their striking flowers most people are after. Their blooms are really spathes; bright trumpets at the tip of a stem, with a graceful twist and pointed tip unlike the flowers of anything else you're likely to grow.It's surprising that some

more (that's a topic for another day).So, what are the alternatives? There are quite a few annual climbers to choose from actually. Morning glory (ipomoea) is popular, but their flowers are all too short-lived. The purple bell vine (rhodochiton) is nice