Choosing your plants thoughtfully will add fragrance, texture, depth and colour

 Bunch Selection

Choosing your plants thoughtfully will add fragrance, texture, depth and colour to your plans, says David Thresher, senior gardener at the National Trust’s Berrington Hall in Herefordshire. David has been instrumental in creating a new flower garden that opens this June. “We have created the garden to recapture the Georgian love of surprise and drama and bring more flowers than ever to the pleasure grounds designed by Capability Brown,” he says. His palette of purple and white flowers brings both drama and softness to the garden plantings. “Every flower I recommend can be found at Berrington Hall.

1. Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’

“This echinacea grows to 1m tall, which adds useful height to new herbaceous borders,” says David. The flowers are deep pink, with a rich orange centre cone that becomes more pronounced with age. With its open blooms and long flowering period, ‘Magnus’ is a great choice for attracting pollinators.

2. Astrantia major ‘Claret’

“A perennial, ‘Claret’ has deep red to purple flowers that work well as a cut flower,” explains David. “Once they’ve rooted, they spread quickly, so you can lift them and divide them in the spring to create more plants.” ‘Claret’ grows to around 60cm tall – grow in full sun or partial shade with plenty of compost

3. Cornus causa var. sinensis

This is a great test plant, whether planted en masse or as a specimen, as it will produce large white clusters of flowers in late spring and early summer, and strawberry-like fruit in fall. David and his team have planted 24 of these small deciduous trees along the walkway leading to the new flower garden.

4. Magnolia ‘Fairy Magnolia Blush’

“The leaves of this magnolia make it look like a laurel tree, and it blooms non-stop from early summer into fall,” says David. ‘Fairy Magnolia Blush’ is planted around the new flower garden, where it provides a similar but more interesting look to a traditional laurel walk.

5. Pistorda amplexicalis ‘Blackfield’

For a perennial that blooms from mid-summer to fall, try ‘Blackfield’, which you can find in red Sold as a pistort. “This clump-forming perennial has a beautiful deep purple spike that opens to red flowers in the summer,” says David. It is long-blooming and prefers soil that retains moisture.

6. Hydrangea paniculata ‘Confetti’

If you don’t like shrubs in your flower beds but like the structure they provide, try hydrangea. “This is one of the few shrubs we have planted,” says David. “It has fragrant white flowers and its upright growth adds structure to borders all winter long.”

7. Salvia nemorosa ‘Swellenburg’

“This is one of my favorite perennial salvias because of the contrast of the gray leaves with the feathery purple flowers,” says David. “It’s a great plant to leave over winter to feed garden wildlife,” he adds. Expect this versatile, fast-growing, fully hardy plant to bloom from mid-summer through fall.

8. Selenium wallichianum

“This perennial, best known for its lacy, fern-like leaves on dark purple and green stems, also produces umbels of small white flowers,” explains David. Leave it in place over winter and it will add a useful structure to planting schemes. It should reach a height of 1.2m and flowers from July to September

9. Tiarella ‘Spring Symphony’

‘Spring Symphony’ only grows to 30cm tall, but it has stunning flowering spikes that are white at the bottom and turn pink towards the top of the spike. It’s great for adding late spring interest to the flower garden.” Don’t miss this North American native’s unusual leaves, which are palmately lobed and deeply lobed

10. Diorama pulcherrima

These evergreen lawn plants are frost-resistant but don’t like prolonged cold and wet conditions. “They are perennials with narrow leaves and pendulous, bell-shaped, pink and white flowers that form in clusters.” Check out the ‘Pug’ plant, David suggests. Grow them in full sun or partial shade, and the flowers will appear from June to August.