Greyish-green leaves emerge in autumn, which die the next year after the bright yellow flowers have faded in July. This lovely iris, native to Spain and Portugal, has also been found in the wild in Corsica, South West France, southern Italy, Algeria and Tunisia. This lovely colour selection, and colour of seedlings may vary, comes from one of the hardier bulbous irises, and can be grown in any thoroughly drained bed in very light open soil, preferably one that has been moderately enriched, ... Learn More

Similar in form to Iris magnifica, this choice plant has superb, large flowers of deep violet-blue to cobalt, with a spotted and striped white or violet crest. Lush broad leaves with generally 2 or 3 compact flowers per stem produce a striking specimen, and although very rare it is easy to produces a healthy plant in cultivation. ... Learn More

This famous plant makes a dividing clump of shiny leaves, above which arise masses of small yellow flowers which in turn produce sprays of unusual elongated seeds. This is the plant made famous as the source of the most important blue natural dye, used by the Celts, the ancient people of the British Isles (& Braveheart!). The leaves must be dried and then steeped and fermented in water to produce a deep blue dye that is useful for ruining your clothes, or maybe painting your face blue to frighten visitors............ ... Learn More

Extremely rare and exceedingly beautiful, this gorgeous, and almost unknown plant, can grow up to more than a meter tall. It has been described as "almost Dierama-like”"in habit, but, coming from a winter rainfall area of South Africa, it can perform better in wet conditions than many Dieramas do. A vigorous grower, it is summer deciduous, and during this period plants do not require water. ... Learn More

Pretty, wispy and airy-looking, delicate purple flowers arise on thin stems in spring. These flowers readily multiply up making compact clumps. They are native to Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, where in the wild, flower colour ranges from light blue to dark violet. ... Learn More

Although it is actually a member of the "bellflower" family, this unusual flower resembles a Scabious or Pincushion Flower. It forms a low mound of grey-green leaves, bearing balls of violet-blue flowers for weeks on end and is excellent in a rock garden, especially combined with Heaths and Heathers, but also suitable for a border or edging a pathway. ... Learn More

Jeffersonia has showy white flowers with eight petals, the delicate flowers resembling "Bloodroot" and appearing in April or May before producing fruit which is a green pear-shaped capsule with a hinged top. Native to eastern Asia and eastern North America these uncommon spring flowers were named for United States President Thomas Jefferson. It is protected by state laws as a threatened or endangered plant in Georgia, Iowa, New York, and New Jersey. The characteristic leaves are large and nearly divided in half, giving rise to its common name, twinleaf. As with many other deciduous forest ... Learn More

Arching stems clad in angled opposite leaves terminate in sprays of gorgeous, yellow, crystalline, two inch shuttlecock flowers. Grown well, this is a certain crowd-puller as it springs from the ground each spring before making an amazing display late in the year from August until October. Carol Klein says it is a "Once-seen-never-forgotten plant". And Graham Stuart Thomas also describes it thus: "There is nothing like it, a unique plant of great beauty". (RHS AGM) ... Learn More

Unlike most lachenalias, these bright yellow urn-shaped flowers are born upright and only just push above the rosettes of strap-shaded leaves. These dwarf plants, from wet sandy flats in the south western Cape, are also ideal for pot culture, this species flowering over an extended period, stretching from the first week in June to the second week in October. ... Learn More

Lilac-blue 'dandelion' flowers are produced from June until August on strong, branching stems carrying shiny, lettuce-like leaves. Undoubtedly the most prominent of all "milk thistles", and soundly hardy and perennial. "A useful high plant in big beds". (G.S.T.) ... Learn More

This a superb dwarf, clump forming plant with bright orange flowers in spring on compact domes of fine foliage. Few seeds produced. ... Learn More

Masses of white and mauve pea flowers over hairy grey creeping foliage. Superb over rocks in hot spot. Very long-lived and hardy. ... Learn More

A rare, clump forming hardy perennial carrying sprays of purple flowers in spring and early summer. 'Niger' refers to the bizarre transformation in autumn, when the perfectly preserved black skeleton of the plant remains throughout the winter. ... Learn More

The most commonly-grown lavender will produce long-stemmed, bright blue flowers which are ideal for cutting, drying or to perfume linen, both the flowers and foliage being strongly-perfumed. Long-lived and easy-to-grow, it benefits from a close haircut early each spring to encourage fresh growth. ... Learn More

This is probably the finest form of this lovely lavender which makes compact bushes of narrow, fragrant, grey-green leaves on dense spikes of strongly perfumed blue flowers. Superb, whether as a dwarf shrub in the garden, as a cut flower, or even when dried for making a pot pourri. ... Learn More