Viewing comments posted by kniphofia

A freely seeding perennial which will grow almost anywhere. It has small toadflax shaped purple flowers and is one of the best bee plants I know. It looks wonderful anywhere and unwanted seedlings are easily removed. I wouldn't be without it.

Apparently renamed by David Austin Roses in 2022 to Mary Delany.

Named for the founder of Portmeirion Pottery (together with her husband Euan Cooper-Willis), who was a great enthusiast of the English Roses. David Austin, 2010.

Named for the artist, designer and founder member of the Bloomsbury Group – sister of the writer, Virginia Woolf. David Austin, 2017.

One of the loveliest of the Formal Decorative Dahlias, Polventon Kristobel seems to me to be almost perfect in form and colour. The flowers are a deep, dusky raspberry pink with gold tips to the petals. Very striking. Introduced in 2016 by Cyril Watkins of Cornwall in the UK. A firm favorite.

In my opinion this is the very best Kniphofia. Introduced in 1997 it forms an impressive clump of narrow leaves from which emerge flower stems which are coloured a dark eye-catching brown/olive green colour. The flower buds are of a strong orange bronze and age to a creamy apricot colour. The plant is 3 - 4 feet high and the flowers are produced from mid summer through to autumn. It combines well with other contrasting perennials and is attractive to insects and hummingbirds. A really stunning plant, deservedly awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

One of the most beautiful of the old Damask roses. Registered as Felicite Hardy in France by Julien-Alexandre Hardy in 1831 and known as Madame Hardy. Named for his wife Marie Therese Pezard. A white or white blend rose with a strong classic fragrance, it bears clusters of medium sized blooms from prickly stems. A green button eye is present. It is once blooming, in mid summer and can be pruned after flowering. Shade tolerate and disease resistant.

A rose of beautiful subtle colour and lovely cupped form. It has a fruity lemon scent. Introduced by David Austin in 2005 and named after the shepherdess in Sir Philip Sidney's The Arcadia, published in 1593.

Purple toadflax, Linaria purpurea is a really lovely cottage garden perennial. "Canon Went" is a lovely pale pink cultivar. It's a relatively short lived perennial but it seeds around pleasantly. Excess plants are easily removed but it blends very well with many other plants and is a great plant for pollinators. It has a lovely light, airy effect in the garden.

There can't be many better value perennials than this wonderful wallflower. Although not as scented as many of the biennials, this gorgeous mauve flowered perennial wallflower is rarely out of flower throughout the summer. The glaucus leaves perfectly complement the bee-friendly flowers. It can become woody after several years but is very easy to propagate from cuttings of non-flowering shoots - if you can find one! A must-have plant.

A really lovely semi evergreen perennial grass with chartreuse leaves which looks lovely among shady plants. It thrives in partial shade and will seed around. Produces panicles of yellow flowers in summer. RHS AGM.

One of the true "must have" perennials. Alchemilla mollis is easy to care for, only requiring cutting back of the old flower stems and leaves in early Spring. It will grow pretty much anywhere and will seed around with abandon. The flower heads can be cut off before seeding to prevent unwanted plants as it's quite a prolific self seeder. But it looks great in any situation and looks lovely after rain. The flowers make a lovely filler in vase arrangements.

Emerging in early Spring with finely divided foliage, this Anemone has intense pink flowers with a lovely black centre. A very valuable plant for early bees. It soon gives way and dies back making room for summer perennials.

An old and very popular cultivar introduced by Dutch breeder Bonne Ruys in the 1930s. Moerheim Beauty is a superb late summer perennial providing a stunning splash of colour to prolong the flowering season. The blooms are a rich coppery brown/reddish orange with a prominent brown central disk. Hardy to zone 3 and very attractive to pollinating insects. It has a long blooming season, especially if dead-headed. It can be increased by division or basal cuttings as it will not come true from seed. Lovely with blue or purple coloured plants.

Introduced in 2004 by David Austin roses this is a medium to large sized English shrub rose of enormous charm. The small mid to light pink, fragrant blooms with a green eye are held in dainty clusters. Very good coverage on the plant with good repeat flowering. Always a huge favourite of mine at The Alnwick Garden. Named after the Royal Horticultural Society's Devon garden which has a large collection of roses.

Introduced in 2000 by David Austin Roses to commemorate the 60th birthday of renowned flautist James Galway. A large vigorous shrub which can also be trained as a climber. The blooms are mid pink, paler at the edges of the blooms and have a crimped or pleated appearance. It has a medium old rose fragrance.

Introduced by David Austin Roses in 2004. A beautiful small to medium sized shrub bearing cupped mid pink blooms in clusters. Thorny or prickly stems. The plant blooms well throughout the season and also from ground height on well stemmed branches. Flowers have a strong old rose fragrance. Named for the Royal Horticultural Society's garden in Harrogate, Yorkshire to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Society.

Introduced by David Austin in 1997, Geoff Hamilton has clusters of globular pink blooms borne in clusters. It has a strong fragrance and blooms in flushes throughout the season. Geoff Hamilton was a much loved presenter of the BBC programme Gardener's World in the 1980s which was broadcast from his garden at Barnsdale in the East Midlands in the UK. Geoff was an early advocate of organic gardening. He died in 1996.

Bred in 1986 by David Austin, The Ambridge Rose is a beautiful repeat-blooming, small-size shrub rose, 2 to 3 feet high. The flowers are a warm apricot blend with a pleasing myrrh fragrance, produced in loose clusters. Named after the village featured in the long-running BBC radio series The Archers. I grew this myself in my Yorkshire garden and can attest to its charm.

Introduced by David Austin in 1996 this is a shrub rose reaching 6 feet, bearing large copper-pink single flowers with a prominent boss of stamens held on red anthers. A most unusual colour, the flowers later form large orange hips. It has a light musk fragrance and has a long blooming season. Attractive to insects due to it's single form. One of my all time favourite roses.