Here are some recent photos of the garden and certain plants and flowers I am particularly pleased with. Isn’t nature wonderful!

Rudbeckia ‘Marmalade’

Not bad from a free packet of seeds!

Aquilegia ‘Nora Barlow’

One of favourite Aquilegias, like a frilly skirt!

New front ‘hot’ border

Very pleased with the new border although 3 months of continuous rain certainly helped! Climbing Fuchsia ‘Lady Boothby’ works well inside an obelisk rather than trained up a fence. Liatris spicata tends to be a bit floppy!

Ricinus communis ‘Impala’ the Castor Oil Plant

I would never have grown this plant in a border unless I had seen the lovely Carol Klein do it. It is magnificent. A little tricky to get started but then whooosh!

Calendula ‘Art Shades’ is a terrific performer

I love Calendula in all it’s many forms and colours. It is so bright and cheerful and grows just about anywhere. My sort of plant, unfussy, performs in all conditions and a good cut flower. This mix has singles and doubles in every shade of orange and yellow. Highly recommended and will be saving lots of seed for next year.

Echinacea ‘Hot Papaya’

I don’t particularly like the ‘freak’ double Echinaceas, they usually look odd but I made an exception in this case because of the stunning colour.Can’t be grown from seed as it is a sterile hybrid but I will divide it when it gets bigger. The one I really want is ‘Art’s Pride’ which is on the shopping list for my next nursery visit!

Verbena bonariensis

I would not be without this tall Verbena no matter how ubiquitous it becomes. It has unique qualities which add height, colour and drama to any garden. It’s reasonably hardy with a bit of a mulch in winter, highly attractive to bees and butterflies, provides movement in the lightest breeze and yet never falls over. It combines with just about anything and takes up virtually no space. Flowers first year from seed and loves a hot, dry position in full sun. What more could you want?!