Plants looking lovely at Downside this week – 14th June – with thanks to Christina for these lovely photographs
Agastache mexicana Red Fortune – this Mexican giant hyssop flowers throughout midsummer and reaches a HxS of approx 0.5m. It comes with a wonderful shade of reddish pink with a hint of purple and a great aroma. Good for bees and pollinators.
Campanula Persichifolia – Also known as ‘fairy bellflower’, this is a rosette-forming perennial with narrow, evergreen basal leaves. Loose spires of lilac-blue flowers appear in early and mid-summer.
Epilobum angustifolium Album – also known as white rosebay willow herb, is a fast-growing spreading perennial forming erect stems with white flowers 2cm across from mid-summer to early autumn.
Phytolacca acinosa – Indian pokeweed
Tradescantia Concorde Grape – this spider lily is a clump-forming perennial to 35cm tall, with narrow blue-green leaves and branched stems bearing clusters of bright purple flowers 3-4cm wide in summer and early autumn
Phlomis russeliana – Turkish sage – a hairy perennial to 90cm in height, with large, rough grey-green leaves. Stout stems bear whorls of hooded, soft yellow flowers 3cm
Centuria Silver Feather – a tough, hardy perennial with wonderful unusual flowers and soft, feathery, silver foliage too. The large lilac pink cornflowers have an attractive bristly appearance and stand out perfectly against the frosted silver foliage.
Salvia sclaria Turkestanica – Vatican Pink is a biennial or short-lived perennial to 1m tall, with strongly aromatic, wrinkled, oblong leaves to 20cm long, and tall, branched spires of pink and white flowers with conspicuous lilac bracts, opening in late spring and summer.
Romenya coulteri – Californian tree poppy – a vigorous, suckering herbaceous perennial to 2m in height, with divided grey-green leaves and poppy-like flowers 15cm in width, with crinkled, pure white petals and deep yellow stamens.
Francoa sonchifolia Pink Bouquet – an evergreen perennial to 80cm tall with rosettes of wide leaves. It produces spikes of pale pink-white flowers in summer, with each petal marked with darker blotches.