Cactus Dahlias make for an impressive display, bearing curvaceous, spiky blooms in a range bright colours. Their star-shaped flower form means they stand up well to inclement weather, because they’re less prone to being weighed down by heavy rain, or blown about by wind, than other Dahlia types. They are easy to grow from seed and make excellent cut flowers. For best results grow in full sun in moist but well-drained soil, and lift the tubers in November to overwinter for the following year. ... Learn More

Numerous brightest orange-red flowers open in late summer on plants which have quite finely dissected, bright green foliage. Originating from the mountainous regions of Mexico, they can grow extrely large in the right conditions, especially in good soil and with shelter of a wall. Although often reputed to be tender, the plants that produced these seeds have lived happily outside here with no protection for more than 15 years. ... Learn More

This improved dwarf strain of Dahlia is a superb mix of vibrant colours - yellows, oranges and red, to pink, white and purples. Producing double and semi-double blooms against a backdrop of lush, deep bronze foliage, they are ideal for larger pots and planters, in borders or dotted around to fill in gaps. Very easy to manage and will deliver a good performance come rain or shine in summer. ... Learn More

Beautiful yellow-eyed, lavender-pink starry flowers open on branching stems, above shiny divided foliage, throughout the summer. It is soundly perennial here in Devon, but a well-drained protected spot is recommended elsewhere where it will makes a deep long-lived tuber. Very few seeds collected. ... Learn More

Give your garden a vibrant splash of late summer colour with Dahlia 'Pompone Mixed'. The small but perfectly formed, ball shaped flowers in double form are in bright solid colours in a wide band of shades. The tall stems of this decorative Dahlia add height and structure to the back of borders, and are perfect for cutting for your own bouquets. The first year will provide a very economical collection of these delightful blooms and each plant will produce tubers that can be carefully lifted at the end of the season for storing and re-planting the following year. ... Learn More

Quite an incredible plant for the back of the border, we had never previously heard of this plant or family! Tall, strong, fabulous, arching, cane-like stems sprout large, pendulous, terminal sprays of creamy-yellow-green flowers, and are clad in palmate leaves resembling the famous drug! This is perhaps the tallest herbaceous perennial you can grow, and is yet another reliable "baffle-the-expert" plant. ... Learn More

This lovely British native plant makes a splash of colour alongside country roads from July to August with umbels which are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then bright white and rounded when in full flower with a festoon of bracts beneath. They then produce their intriguing seed-heads which curl inwards making a closed cup holding the ripe seeds before sometimes falling off and becoming "tumbleweeds"! Domesticated carrots are cultivars of the subspecies, Daucus carota subsp. sativus. The flower clusters can be french-fried to produce a carrot-flavoured gourmet's delight whilst ... Learn More

This impressively tall, rarely-seen, multi-value plant grows hairy feathery foliage which is traditionally collected in Crete as a wild vegetable in the spring. The fragrant flowers have a delicate lace-like structure with a single deep purple or black flower in the centre of the rose flowered curved umbel. These seeds were freshly collected for us in Crete, and when they ripen in the early summer, the umbels curve strongly inwards to protect the loose ball of detached seeds, producing a truly impressive and very beautiful structure, much like eggs in a nest. Indeed, an old English popular nam ... Learn More

Striking, grey cushions, composed of silvery-grey hairs, grow to 4” high, with fragrant lemon-yellow flowers from May to June. It does best if grown in full to part sun, in gritty, well drained soil, for example in a rock garden or trough. This rare and lovely member of the cruciferae has just one single species, and is endemic to the Velebit and Kapela mountain ranges in Croatia where it has become a symbol of the region. ... Learn More

This mix of Delosperma hybrids will produce vigorous, creeping plants with a multitude of flower colours from white to yellow, orange, pink and red. The plants are very hardy and will adapt to temperate winters with snow and ice. When grown in wetter climates they must have excellent drainage. ... Learn More

No other blue quite measures up to the almost iridescent hues of Delphinium “Cliveden Beauty”. It belongs to a group that characteristically has branching flowering stems rather than single spires of flowers. The flowers are borne from June to August, on tall, loose, spikes at the tips of the growing stem. The many individual blooms are clear light blue, each with a white centre. They are wonderful old-fashioned flowering plants that are well worth cultivating for their magnificent hues. ... Learn More

From a lush clump of divided leaves arise short stems bearing prominently-hooded, violet-blue flowers, with a noticeable black eye, much resembling a black bee! One of the high alpine species, the preferred habitat in the wild in Eastern Asia, the Western Himalayas, Kashmir and Tibet, ranges from 3000 to 4800 metres. ... Learn More

Featuring tall spires of double, spurred, pale pink flowers with hints of pale green on long branching stems. A beautiful plant for the border, providing colour throughout the summer. An excellent cut flower, the blooms last a long time in water. Toxic if ingested. ... Learn More

From California comes this rarely offered, superb dwarf flower, where it grows on the slopes of the coastal ranges in the San Francisco Bay Area and further north. Here it pushes up strong erect stems which hold minute-seeded, dark blue-purple flowers above shiny leaves, which are not as dissected as in many other species and are surprisingly hairy. Very few fertile seeds collected. ... Learn More

Delphinium grandiflorum is a species of Delphinium known by the common names Siberian larkspur and Chinese Delphinium. It is native to Russia and China. There are several popular cultivars in several colours which are grown as ornamental plants, including 'Blue Butterfly', 'Summer Morning', 'Blue Mirror', and 'Summer Stars'. This mix includes some of each of these. It is much shorter and more compact than the more familiar tall D. elatum, with dispersed flowers, rather than single spikes, but individual flowers are larger and more intense in colour. It is a short-lived perennial that is sug ... Learn More