Perennials

Medium-sized "Decorative" flowers in white and red. The flowers are sectorially variegated with areas or rarely whole flowers being one colour or the other. 1m. Any soil in sun. Will survive outdoors in light soils if mulched in winter. Late summer and autumn. Rare. We would welcome a name for this plant. Formerly sold as "unnamed cultivar".

Short-growing with very rich blue flowerheads over dark green, silver-backed leaves. Clump-forming. 80cm. Any well-drained soil in sun. July/August. Surprisingly rare. Our form is from Graham Thomas and is darker flowered and shorter than other forms we've seen.

Many white flowers in marble-sized heads on stiffly-branching stems. The pale green leaves are sword-shaped, arching and produced in rosettes. The margins are set with many bristle-like teeth. Upright to 75cm. July / August. Totally hardy. Very tough growing in dry sun or part shade.

Many blue-tinted flowerheads surrounded by silvery bracts, on very branched arching stems. Leaves distinctly three-lobed. Large clumps. 75cm. Any soil in sun. July/August. Still worth growing.

Spectacular purple, cream and green flowers in late summer. In short spikes to 40cm with a pineapple-like ruff of spotted leaves on top. Very distinctive rosettes with purple spots underneath. The hardiest species. Sun or part shade in a dry spot.

The flowers are pale yellow to green in 80cm long spikes, with a distinct pineapple-like ruff of leaves on the top. Huge rosettes of broad green leaves with distinctively serrated edges. To 150cm tall. Late flowering and has proved hardy with us, but plant deeply.

Many heads of yellow flowers. Makes wide-spreading mounds of many narrow blue-green leaves. Pinkish stems. Well-drained soil in sun. 30cm. June/July. A hybrid of E. nicaeensis and seguireana discovered by Tim Ingram.

Rich golden-yellow heads of flowers to 20cm across. Narrow, pale green leaves to 8cm long with paler midribs on beautiful, wiry, pinky-orange stems. To 1m high and 2m across. An established plant will flower a full 12 months of the year. Very dry, in full sun. Can be cut back by a hard winter but very rarely killed. Collected by John Raven in the 1970s in Sicily.

A very beautiful diminutive herbaceous plant with bright blue, yellow-centred flowers and dark green, daisy-like basal leaves. Very hardy to minus 14C. 15cm. Damper soils soil in sun. May/June.

The flowers are small, yellow and produced in dense heads surrounded by very attractive variegated bracts. The leaves are beautifully margined in pure white and last in good condition for a surprisingly long time. Makes solid clumps. 15 to 20cm. March / April. Good in sticky clay in part shade. Poor in drier sandy soils. When it was still a rare thing, we were fortunate to be given a large clump by a friend in Sweden.

One of the largest species with long spikes of pink "bottlebrush" flowers. Large, grey-green marbled leaves and curious woody trunks. To 120cm. Well-drained soil in sun or part shade. May not be fully hardy. Very few.

Many spikes of pure white flowers produced in late May and June. Large and vigorous plant with leaves and habit typical of the species. 30-45cm. Any soil in sun or part shade.

Spikes of sweetly-scented, pure white flowers in late Summer to Autumn. Fresh green leaves. Vigorous to 60cm. Part shade in a damper position.

Each narrow leaf is margined with cream. Spikes of white flowers in April/May. Hardy, tough, evergreen subshrub to 30cm. Can occasionally revert to green. Found by Stephen Taffler.

Relatively large flowers in shades of pale blue in May and June. Fans of pale green leaves. Easy and can seed around but the rhizomes must be above ground. Grows to 40cm. Very dry sun or shade.

Clusters of pure white flowers at least 1cm wider than any other white form carried on long climbing stems. Sterile. Paired leaflets. To 2m. Any soil in sun or part shade. Summer. Good grown through shrubs.

Differs from the typical plant in the much richer darker red flowers produced in heads in the upper leaf axils. L. rotundifolius is usually brick red and has larger flowers with fewer flowers per head. Pale green bifoliate leaves. Climber to 2m and I find it easier and more vigorous than typical L rotundifolius. Dies down completely by August. Well-drained soil in sun. June / July. Early summer.

The flowers start fully double and pale green and as they grow and expand, the petals get yellower and yellower. Very swetly scented. July and August. Glossy green leaves on upright stems to 90cm. Sun or part shade.

Amazing pale yellow flowers like 5-pointed stars with a central proboscis looking like pouting lips. Very narrow grey-green leaves. Clumping and running but dodging here and there between other things. To 45cm. From July to frosts. Very well-drained soil in full sun. A curious and unusual form of a British native found in the 1960s.

Brilliant blue flowers set on a long, narrow, leafy spike. Narrow, pale green leaves. Fully deciduous and very hardy. 75-90cm. Any moist soil in sun or part shade. September/October. Collected in Yunnan, China, in 1987. Often changing to brilliant yellow Autumn colour whilst in bloom.

Brilliant rose pink flowers produced in long succession in June and July. Densely grey-hairy leaves and stems. Clump-forming. Good perennial to 90cm. Full sun and dry. Found in Janet Cropley's garden in Northamptonshire.

Flowers are pale lilac. Perennial plant, grows upto 1 meter tall, flowers July through to August. 

Long, loose spikes of bright blue flowers a little smaller than in O. cappadocica. Long, narrow, shiny, dark green, evergreen leaves with brownish petioles. Clump-forming and will seed around. 20-30cm. April to June. Any soil in sun or part shade. Very hardy.

Many spikes of pure white, Arabis-like flowers produced to very striking effect. Forms solid clumps of rounded green leaves. Fully evergreen. 30-45cm. Any soil. Especially good in horribly dry, part shade. Seeds around. Will do in the worst spots.