This spectacularly spiny plant gives a continual show of wonderfully crinkled silk-petalled pure white flowers from June through to the end of August, their centres coloured a delicate yellow by the golden pollen. Individual blooms are short lived but very impressive and are continually replaced by fresh blooms. ... Learn More

Large heart-shaped leaves make a stunning backdrop for the impressive, sizeable, trumpet shaped, purple-throated, paler purple flowers that later give way to unusually attractive furry seed pods. This perennial climbing vine will do well in your conservatory or warm glasshouse, but when you have reliable warmth outside it will ornament a pergola or wall, or will look fabulous even scrambling through a tree. Very few seeds collected. ... Learn More

This interesting small climber has heart-shaped foliage and carries numerous perfumed, purplish trumpet shaped flowers for most of the summer, which are most attractive to butterflies. The plant will best show off its many flowers if the wiry stems have some form of low framework or wiry shrub to climb over. ... Learn More

Exotic, red-tongued, pale pink orchid-like flowers burst open amidst deeply-lobed leaves. One of the most beautiful flowering trees in existence, it is native to Madagascar, but naturalised widely in the southern hemisphere, where it excels in a warm climate in well-drained soil, but elsewhere also make a perfect conservatory or warm glasshouse plant. ... Learn More

Large, sweetly-scented, magenta and pink, orchid-like flowers open throughout the year on this small deciduous ornamental tree which carries attractive large leaves, deeply two-lobed. Although in subtropical and tropical climates it is usually grown for its magnificent strongly-perfumed flowers, it is also used as a food item in South Asian cuisine and is widely used as an ingredient in many Pakistani and Indian recipes. Traditional kachnar curry is prepared using kachnar buds, yogurt, onions and native Pakistani and Indian spices. Kachnar buds are also eaten as a stir fried vegetable and used to make achaar, a pickle in many parts of the Indian sub-continent. In the Neotropics, it attracts hummingbirds—such as sapphire-spangled emerald (Amazilia lactea), glittering-bellied emerald (Chlorostilbon lucidus), or white-throated hummingbird (Leucochloris albicollis)—into gardens and parks. Mountain Ebony surely is one of the loveliest of Indian trees. ... Learn More

This early-fruiting sweet pepper is an attractive blocky pepper with large,thick-walled, square-shaped fruits. They start off green and turn fiery red and are high yielding. They are suitable for growing in a greenhouse or in a sheltered position outside. ... Learn More

A serious contender for the world's most attractive palm, the impressive blue-silver fan-shaped leaves can reach up to 2m in width and are divided into 20 segments each. When mature it produces strong, star-shaped stems carrying just a small number of enormous seeds. A staggeringly attractive plant, when I first encountered one in the Canary Islands I simply stood in awe for two or three minutes. A monotypic palm (ie the only one of its genus) it was named for the first chancellor of the German Empire, Prince Otto von Bismarck. The plant is as statuesque and impressive as the man was himself, with a slender trunk capable of reaching over 30cm diameter in the right conditions. Any suitable garden in need of a living architectural statement could do a lot worse than grow this mighty plant. Very few seeds ever available. ... Learn More

This is the rare white form, from the Rocky Mountains, this high alpine Boykinia relative has heads of five-petalled, pure white flowers, held just above a cushion of leathery, scalloped leaves in early spring. It is long-lived when happy in the rockery or alpine trough, where it prefers lean, gritty soil or scree, in full sun with a cool root run. ... Learn More

Calceolaria integrifolia is a small, tender, bushy, evergreen sub-shrub with oblong, veiny, matt-green leaves with hairy undersides and with clusters of bright yellow, pouch-like flowers. This native of Argentina and Chile blooms from late spring through to early autumn. ... Learn More

This cheerful mix of cream, lemon and orange flowers in both single and double forms will brighten up any spare patch in your borders or veg garden, and will seed itself freely to give years of effortless pleasure. ... Learn More

In pastel shades of peachy pink, this long-stemmed Pot Marigold will grown happily in open ground or containers and makes a lovely cut flower to bring into the house. Perfect for naturalising when it will self-seed with great vigour! ... Learn More

This seldom-offered, graceful shrub boasts arching stems adorned in autumn, and usually into winter, with clusters of spectacularly coloured berries. Perfect for bringing some strong colour interest to your garden through the duller months. ... Learn More

This rare and exceptionally lovely form of the usual mauve-berried form bears compact clusters of snow white berries on arching stems through the autumn months and often into winter. When in flower it is most attractive to birds and butterflies, and later it is a superb and truly eye-catching addition to your garden, providing very welcome end-of-season interest when all else has finished. ... Learn More

A rare and extremely beautiful shrub, opening doubled, carmine-red flowers, that rather resemble those of double magnolias, but are somewhat smaller! The blooms have a spicy scent of apple, and are held over soft green foliage that inclines to yellow in the autumn months. An exquisite and rarely-offered plant, it is cold tolerant and relatively hardy in most UK sites, but may need protection in exposed northern locations. Very few seeds available. ... Learn More

We have produced a superb mixture of the two forms of this lovely flower, and you will get, in roughly equal proportions, sizeable, flared, ivory-white or deep blue bells, which open along many strong stems carrying rough, jagged-edged, nettle-like (but non-stinging!) leaves. This tough, long-lived, clump-forming, non-running plant will only spread by seed, and is one of the essential cottage-garden plants of olden days. ... Learn More