Asclepias tuberosa

This lovely cottage garden plant has spikes of purple-eyed white flowers that shoot up from glossy dark evergreen foliage. Flowers emerge from early summer and bloom right the way until early autumn. This plant is a biennial, so avoid cutting back spent flowers to allow them to self-seed.

Caryopteris is a small deciduous shrub with aromatic grey-green leaves and delicate blue flowers that starts blooming in late summer which makes it ideal for adding colour to the garden later in the season. We recommend planting Caryopteris into patio containers when still small and then into your garden border once it has outgrown the container. Once the plant has established it is very tolerant to drought.

The flat flower heads of Achilleas are great for insects to land on and attract many pollinators, especially hoverflies. This variety is best grown in full sun and well-draining soil and looks great in the middle of a garden border. Division every three to five years will rejuvinate the plant.