Astrantias are perfect both for cottage gardens and as part of a more modern planting scheme. I love the perfectly formed flowers of these plants. Known also as Hattie’s pincushion, they also remind me of tiny Victorian posies with their petals surrounded by a ruff of bracts. All they need is well mulched, moisture retentive soil in sun or partial shade and they will then put down a strong root system. Margery Fish at her garden at East Lambrook Manor was an avid collector of astrantias and it is thought that the delicious A. ‘Shaggy’ was found as a seedling there. Its large white ‘dishevelled’ flowers have long, green-tipped petals on wiry stems and happily this variety is less fussy about soil conditions.

Erigerons… have daisy-like flowers with a wide, flat disc in the centre of their petals. They’re happiest in sunny, well drained conditions. Some of the best include Erigeron karvinskianus (Mexican daisy) which self seeds like mad and creates a frothy mass of tiny pink and white flowers all season. They look sensational in cracks and crevices, in old walls and paving. A favourite is E. ‘Quakeress,’ an old variety. E. ‘White Quakeress’ is even prettier. Both have delicate petals that move in the breeze. The flowers of E. ‘White Quakeress’ fade to ‘Quaker’ grey whilst E. ‘Quakeress’ has flowers of a soft lilac pink. And an erigeron which is so easy and so long lived and prolific is E. glaucus – mat forming and particularly jolly. E. glaucus ‘Elstead Pink’ has a large green disc in the centre of its petals.

Euphorbias… This is such a huge and diverse genera, but a few favourites for the garden would include the architectural
E. characias varieties of which there are at least thirty-five listed in the Plant Finder. I read that the collective colour of euphorbias has been described as ‘Chartreuse green’ and for want of anything better, I would go with that. Particularly good is E. c. ‘John Tomlinson’ as its large flowers keep their colour for at least three months. E. c. ‘Portuguese Velvet’ has lovely glaucous bluish leaves and forms a dense mound. There’s really a euphorbia for all soil types and aspects. On a well drained soil, both E. rigida and the blue stemmed E. myrsinites are fascinating plants. E. rigida seems to change colour as the season goes on. For ground cover, there are various forms of E. cyparissas – a favourite would be ‘Fens Ruby’ as the combination of purple foliage and lime green flowers is startling.

Perennial geraniums… Not to be confused with annual pelargoniums, no garden should be without these. Cranesbills are hardy, easy, some are evergreen and many have a long flowering season. They are not fussy about aspect although some actually do better in shade such as the G. macrorrhizum varieties whose leaves smell deliciously of oil of geranium. Try G. m. ‘White-Ness’, becoming more easily available in plant catalogues I notice, and which combines scented leaves with pure white flowers. Some geraniums are weavers and ramblers and G. ‘Ann Folkard’ is one of the best of these. Smallish magenta purple flowers, complete with a black eye, flower like mad from May to October. Another charmer is the tiny G. pyrenaicum ‘Bill Wallis’. It has red stems and the prettiest rounded aromatic leaves topped with violet purple flowers. It self seeds and spreads itself around in a very amiable way.

Geums… I was completely sold on these when I spotted some large plants Sue Martin, who holds the National Collection, had lent to a Stand at RHS Chelsea a few years ago Their colours are so vibrant and diverse and as they have such long stems, their jewel like flowers seem to float in the border. I suppose you could call them see through plants like the ubiquitous Verbena bonariensis. Give them good soil which doesn’t dry out, deadhead as you go along and you will be rewarded with flowers for a good lengthy season. They are members of the Rosaceae family and thus have little bowl shaped flowers which really are very pretty. I like the G. chiloense species. A couple of good ones would include the red flowered G. ‘Mrs. J. Bradshaw’ and the delicious G. ‘Fire Opal’ with purple stems and orange-red flowers and the double red, G. ‘Blazing Sunset’. And Sue particularly recommends G. ‘Totally Tangerine’.

It is wonderful to see the exquisite flowers of hellebores appearing so early in the season. I think that they are rather like snowdrops are to galanthophiles, completely irresistible. There is huge diversity of colour, form and markings in the Orientalis hybrids with dedicated breeders like John Massey at Ashwood Nurseries producing such beautiful varieties. A visit to his nursery is a plantsman’s idea of heaven. Given plenty of mulch, sun or shade, these plants will bulk up happily over the years. Cut the leaves off your Orientalis hellebores once the flowers are up and new, fresh ones will appear. Hellebores such as Helleborus argutifolius and H. x sternii with their green flowers produce their flowers on last year’s shoots so they are exempt from this advice.

Heleniums… For intensity of colour and a showy addition to the late summer border, heleniums are the one. They originate from N. America and are happiest on a damp soil. The flowers are daisy-like and there are an enormous amount of cultivars to choose from ranging widely in colour shades, height and length of flowering period. H. ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ gives a particularly long display of large, burnt orange/ochre yellow flowers and the best known of heleniums, H. ‘Moorheim Beauty’ is a hard one to fault. Flowers are a ‘warm bronze’ which fade to shades of brown. H. ‘Waldraut’, H. ‘Bruno’ and H. ‘Zimbelstern’ are all hybrids which combine beautifully with late flowers such as dark dahlias, salvias and rich red bergamots. Deadhead regularly and you will have further flushes of flower.

Nepetas… There are approximately 250 species of catmints and that is not counting the hybrids. The nepeta is a plant that no garden should be without. They are hardy and trouble free, have aromatic grey green foliage and tubular flowers held in clusters at the end of their stems. Colours range from white, pink, lilac and all shades of blue. You could use the popular N. ‘Walker’s Low’, with its lavender flowers, instead of lavender as it is a longer lived and more accommodating plant. Use nepetas as edging, under roses to hide ‘bare legs’ or just frothing around in herbaceous beds. They do just fine in poorer soils – in fact you’ll probably get more flowers in such situations. Cut them back when they are looking a bit tired and you’ll get fresh foliage. Try the tall rich blue N. sibirica ‘Souvenir d’Andre Chaudron’ for visual impact or the pinky mauve N. grandiflora ‘Dawn to Dusk’ which creates a soft, billowy effect.

Rudbeckias… Can I try to convert those of you who are of the adamantly ‘I don’t like yellow in my garden’ school to a rudbeckia whose long name belies its wonderful, bold and simple flowers. You need your sunglasses to look into the flowers of R. fulgida var. sullivanti ‘Goldsturm’. Long, rich yellow rays of petals surround a large black cone. Rudbeckias do well on a clay soil with lots of organic material added as they do appreciate some moisture. Butterflies and myriad other insects are attracted to their flowers and they have the added benefit of being good for cutting. Flowering is for a good three months. There’s a smaller flowered variety called var. deamii which is even more floriferous.

And finally, salvias. It is worth paying a visit to William Dyson’s salvia nursery at Great Comp near Tonbridge to see some of the 200 or so varieties that are grown there. Salvias prefer sun and a well drained soil. Many come from Mexico, some are hardy and some are absolutely not. The dramatically tall varieties like S. ‘Indigo Spires’ and S. guaranitica ‘Blue Enigma’ flower non stop from July but they will need to be lifted. I love Salvia confertiflora which is used in the gardens at Great Dixter. It is has reddish stems topped with really long, velvety flowers in a curious shade of red.

S. microphylla ‘Cerro Potosi’ is completely different. With a shrubby habit, large, deep magenta pink flowers are produced for months. I think the form of these flowers is charming as the lower lips are fan shaped and to top it all, the foliage is fragrant.