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the initial letter to see our range : A printable catalogue is available by clicking here. Mail Order Information here |
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| Plants for
Architectural Impact
Every garden needs plants with impact, whether as a focal point, a "full stop" in a border planting or something to add grandeur to a bed. |
 Actaea
simplex "Pink
Spike": Deep
burgundy leaves and spires of fragrant white flowers opening from pink
buds. Very good butterfly plant. Part shade but needs reasonable light.
Prefers moist soil. Flowering height about 4ft 6in - 5ft.
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 Angelica gigas:
Tall architectural plants with branched stems and palmate leaves. Big heads of red flowers in summer. Hardy. A biennial that will self seed. Great bee plant.
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 Centaurea glastifolia
From pretty, papery silver buds open tight feathery flowers of clear yellow. The 2ft 6in - 3ft tall plants are well branched and self-supporting. Drought tolerant but does better in good soils. Best in a fairly sunny spot. Flowers from early summer for a long period. Christopher Lloyd described this plant as being more refined than Centaurea macrocephala.
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 Centaurea
macrocephala
Dramatic plants with large yellow balls of flower opening from bronze buds. The flowers are very attractive to bees. The seed heads are equally attractive looking like bronze heads topped with brunette wigs! The seeds provide winter food for birds and small mammals. Reaches about 90cm but the stiff stems rarely require staking. Native to Armenia and Caucasus.
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  Cynara
cardunculus. (Common name: Cardoon).
Grown from the 19th Century as a vegetable requiring lots of space, labour and patience. Now more widely grown as an architectural addition to the flower border. The long, arching, prickly stems are silver green and the large thistle flowers are purple and always covered with bees and butterflies. Gets to 180cm plus with a spread of 120cm. Needs deep, rich soil to perform well. RHS Award of Garden Merit.
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  Eryngium
agavifolium:
Rosettes of vicious looking saw-toothed leaves up to 1ft
long. Actually they are a bit softer than they look but now something to
catch your ankles on as you walk past. Looking for all the world
like a tender Agave, this sea holly is completely hardy and bears branched
heads of greenish white flowers in summer that stay on the plant as dry
brown heads over winter. Compact in poor dry soils, large and
imposing in deep, moist soils.
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 Eryngium eburneum:
Rosettes of 18in .45cm evergreen spiny leaves
and tall (4ft / 120cm) branched heads of creamy thimble-flowers in summer.
Seed heads look good in winter, as does the foliage which is iced with
frost in cold weather as in the photo above.
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 Eupatorium
maculatum Atropurpureum: This variety has
darker stems than the species and looks good at the back of the border.
Fluffy pink flowers from late August onwards. Gets to 7ft / 210cm or more
tall in moist soils, more like 5 - 6ft / 150 - 180cm in dry soils. Was
previously E. purpureum etc.
RHS Award of Garden Merit.
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 Kniphofia
rooperi (Moore)
Large, imposing species with deeply keeled and channelled leaves. The racemes are at first ovoid, becoming obovoid at maturity. Growing to 140-150cm tall or more. Flowers late August / early September. Seed heads look good throughout winter. Very hardy. Forms dense clumps. It is best to cut back the previous seasons leaves in late winter / early spring as these suddenly go brown as the new leaves emerge. Easily grown from seed sown in John Innes #1 in late January with a little bottom heat. Flowers in second year. Division requires cutting the large woody rhizome into sections each with a bud and some root. New root is quickly made in warm weather, but new shoot are not produced until spring. Grows in marshy land in Eastern Cape and Southern Natal provinces of RSA where it flowers in the winter and early spring.
Also other Kniphofia are great for architectural impact |
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 Miscanthus
sinensis
China: Good wide leaves with pinkish stripe rather than the more usual silver. About 4ft tall. Quite early flowering. David: Upright variety about 4ft tall. Nothing really to set it apart but no vices either. Gracillimus: Now this one is different - 6ft plus tall with very narrow, silver-mid ribbed leaves that form a very graceful plant. Hinjo: Shorter than some at 4ft and with bold cream bands on the leaves. Kleine Fontaine AGM: 3 - 4ft. Very large pendulous blooms. Kleine Silberspinne : 3ft. Narrow silver-green leaves. Pünktchen AGM: 3 - 4ft with cream bands or blotches on the pale green leaves. Silberfeder: 5ft plus. Very showy and large slivery plumes of flower. Sirene: A giant at 6-7ft with fine, open flower plumes.
Miscanthus Sirene in late October in our garden. © 2010 SpecialPerennials.com All rights reserved. |
 Molinia
caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Windspiel': The
name literally translating as "Wind Play" and this certainly
lives up to its name - dancing in the breeze and looking stunning from
August onwards. Gets to about 6ft / 2m in our dry soil and clumps up
readily.
Find out more about Windspiel in autumn in garden dairy for October 2009
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Rudbeckia paniculata: Tall stately plants with stiff
upright stems, divided leaves and large yellow cone flowers in late
summer.
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 Rudbeckia
subtormentosa:
3ft tall, slightly felted leaves,
brown-coned yellow flowers. Easy in sun or partly shaded situations.
Tolerant of dry conditions. Late flowering - starting in August.
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 Stipa
gigantea : Common Names: Giant Spanish Oats, Giant
Feather Grass.
Large clumps of stiff green leaves forming clumps up to 3ft across and 2ft 6in high and masses of tall, elegant flower spikes with dancing oat flowers in summer, lasting through winter. Up to 6ft high in flower. Hardy and drought tolerant. An excellent back drop for many plants. Looks stunning when the evening sun catches the flower heads. See more about the winter interest of this plant in our garden diary for January 2010 £8.00 (2lt pot) |
Macleaya
microcarpa: Very tall and
stately plants and large, intricately shaped leaves that are sage green.
The tall spires of tiny flowers are pinkish and borne in the height of
summer. Height: 8ft or more. 