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

This splendid perennial plant from the Lower Danube, is related to hollyhocks and can flower the first year from seed if sown early. It can grow up to 8ft high with unusual, vine-like leaves and large, showy, cup-shaped, white or pale rose-pink flowers from July to September. ... 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

A smart, compact, form of English lavender that carries masses of deep purple-blue flowers on fine, silvery-grey, aromatic foliage. It is the perfect choice for creating a traditional Lavender hedge with the added benefit of being very attractive to bees and butterflies. Fully hardy, the fragrant stems and flowers can also be cut and dried for home-made potpourri. ... Learn More

This amazingly dwarf lavender has short-stemmed fragrant blue flowers studding a medicine ball-sized silver-grey bush. Ideal for a small rock garden or even for formal edging, the odd seedling may vary but most will be very compact indeed. ... Learn More

A fascinating, rare and elusive plant from Japan, which makes a tight spreading carpet consisting of tidy rosettes of serrated leaves. From this arise flower buds which are pink-tinged, and open to golden-eyed white flowers, followed by fluffy seedheads. An utterly hardy specimen, Zone3 in the USA! ... Learn More

An aristocratic plant distantly related to the dandelion, but this hardy perennial,non-invasive plant is infinitely more garden-worthy with branching stems that hold sizeable golden heads above rosettes of thick, leathery, deeply-toothed leaves. ... Learn More