GARDEN FASHION HOUNDS visit the nursery stands at garden festivals to get the latest thing in plants. The rest of us are looking for something beautiful and dependable that doesn't need mollycoddling, or that isn't going to look hopelessly last year before next year is out, writes Jane Powers.
So, without further ado, here are a few of my top perennial plants: good, solid reliable characters (they need no staking), with a long season of interest, and no big ideas about themselves.
ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIU
The yarrows produce flat heads of flower, in every shade of white, yellow, pink and red. Two readily available cultivars are 'Terracotta', with browny-orange flowers fading to cream, and 'Paprika' (bright pink).
HARDY GERANIUM
Disease-resistant, pest-proof and in all colours except yellow, orange and true red. Among my favourite long-blooming kinds (keep deadheading them) are the sprawling, pale-eyed, blue 'Rozanne' and 'Jolly Bee' (which look exactly the same to me), and the tall and upright 'Elizabeth Ann', with dark leaves and lavender flowers.
GEUM
The hot-coloured flowers are held on wiry stems over the foliage. Plants tend to disappear mysteriously after a couple of years, but if you divide in spring or autumn, you can keep them going. There are dozens of varieties. 'Lady Stratheden' has canary-yellow, many-petalled flowers, and 'Mrs Bradshaw' is bright red.
KNAUTIA MACEDONICA
The Macedonian scabious, with its little wine-coloured pin-cushions, is not quite as fashionable as it was (having been worked to the bone in show gardens at Chelsea et alia), but it is still a fine, drought-proof perennial that weaves its way through other plants, popping out its friendly little flowers in their midst. White and pink varieties are also available.
SEDUM
The big, fleshy-leaved stonecrops are staples in every late-summer and autumn dry border. The ubiquitous 'Herbtfreude' (commonly known as 'Autumn Joy') is still one of the best, with pink flowers that age to deep red and brown, and that stand all winter. But there are plenty of other great cultivars, including 'Purple Emperor' and 'Matrona'. Camolin Potting Shed has the new 'Jose Aubergine', 'Postman's Pride' and 'Zenox'.
VERBENA BONARIENSIS
Available everywhere, and so it should be. One of the very best garden plants for a sunny border: tall, angular stems topped with purple flowers. Beloved of bees, butterflies and humans.
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES
The choice is better than ever. Look for good structure, and the ability to stay intact over winter as a dried and rustling sheaf, or as a swaying evergreen. There are too many to list, but I'm fond of these tough and popular plants: Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster', Anemanthele lessoniana (also known as Stipa arundinacea), and Stipa gigantea. In fact, I've never met a Stipa that I didn't like. Many are prolific self-seeders, but unwanted babies are easily pulled up. Another gorgeous grass is the icy-blue Elymus magellanicus, which flops lazily through other plants.