At our October meeting we were very pleased to welcome back Rosy Hardy of Hardy’s Plants who came to talk to us about autumn perennials.
Recommended tall plants for the back of borders included michaelmas daisies, miscanthus sinensis malepartus which produces attractive tassels, and double anemones.
With around four weeks of growing time left and soil which is still relatively warm, suggestions for spring plants included brunnera for shady areas; pulmonaria for a damp woodland environment and coreopsis, particularly coreopsis Daybreak, the flowers of which are a very attractive burgundy and gold. For ground cover hylotelephium creates attractive low mounds of deep red foliage, and for poor soil and dry conditions suitable plants are balota, helianthums and origanum Kent Bell which produces flower heads similar to hops.
Finally, we were reminded not to overlook hardy geraniums which come in a vast range of colours – whites, pinks, magenta, burgundy, pale blue, cobalt, purple and so on. As their name suggests, they are completely hardy and will spring up year after year.
More information about Rosy Hardy and her nursery at https://www.hardysplants.co.uk