THE ULTIMATE TOP 10
Here’s your handy guide to plants that just keep on blooming!
There’s something about ephemeral plants such as opium poppies, peonies and irises and their exquisite but fleeting flowers that captures our hearts. But it would be hard to create a garden that looked good throughout the year if it relied on such short-lived wonders that bloom for no more than a couple of weeks. What every garden needs is a backbone of long-flowering lovelies that have the stamina to keep on producing flowers for months on end. And at a time when gardening, like so many other aspects of life, has been impacted by the rise in costs and plants have become increasingly expensive, these good-doers offer great value for money, filling borders and containers with bountiful colour and interest right through to autumn plus a long-lasting source of pollen and nectar for insects. Here’s our selection of some of the most prolific bloomers.
1 GERANIUM ‘AZURE RUSH’
There are so many hardy geraniums, selecting which ones to grow can be difficult, but this relative of the ever-popular ‘Rozanne’ is one of the best. It’s better behaved than ‘Rozanne’ due to its more compact habit, which means it gently spills over paths or raised beds rather than flopping or sprawling, and from late May to the first frosts it produces masses of saucershaped flowers that are pale lavender with white centres. Bees love it! H: 50cm, S: 60cm.
2 GEUM ‘TOTALLY TANGERINE’
This wonderful plant with orange flowers has, since it was first introduced in 2010, been a go-to for Chelsea designers looking to add colour to their spring show gardens. The good news is that this plant keeps on blooming well beyond May because the flowers are sterile, so rather than putting energy into making seeds it will still be in flower in autumn. Likes full sun and moist but not waterlogged soil. H: 35cm, S: 50cm.
3 MECONOPSIS CAMBRICA
The delightful Welsh poppy produces delicate tissue paper-like yellow or sometimes orange flowers. While the individual blooms don’t last long, it will sporadically bloom from late April well into autumn, delivering pops of colour to cool, shady spots. If it finds a place in your garden that it likes, it’ll self-sow in nooks and crannies, where it’ll soften paths, patios and walls. H: 30cm, S: 45cm.
4 NEPETA ‘WALKER’S LOW’
Most catmints bloom over a long period but this one will not only flower from late May until autumn, it also has a neat habit. Plus, unlike some catmints which need cutting back in summer to encourage more flowers, the stems of this variety gently flop, opening up the centre of the plant so new growth is produced, meaning you just need to trim away any untidy old stems. The crinkly-edge, greygreen, fragrant foliage provides an attractive foil to other p
