Phlox paniculata 'Blue Paradise'
border phlox
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: fertile, moist soil
- Rate of growth: average
- Flowering period: July to August
- Hardiness: fully hardy
Phlox have been country garden favourites for years because of their delicious scent and attraction to butterflies and bees. This variety bears fabulous trusses of fragrant, hydrangea-like violet flowers with broad petals and deep purple eyes. They appear from July to August on tall stems with narrow, toothed, mid-green leaves. This pretty perennial will tolerate full sun or partial shade, but like all phlox, does not like soil that dries out in summer. Try it as part of a 'cool' planting scheme based on blue shades. - Garden care: Support with bamboo canes, brushwood or ring stakes before the flowers appear. Phlox are greedy plants, so apply a mulch 5-7cm (2-3in) deep, of well-rotted garden compost or manure in early spring. Shear off the spent flower stems to prevent re-seeding. If the leaves show signs of powdery mildew, cut down to the ground and dispose of the affected foliage, but do not compost it. Clear away the debris around the plant to reduce the chances of reinfection. Lift and divide clumps in autumn and spring.
Paeonia lactiflora 'Bowl of Beauty'
paeony / peony
Dainty anemone like pink-tinted flowers
Delphinium 'Black Knight Group'
delphinium
Spikes of dark purple flowers with black centres
Campanula glomerata 'Superba'
clustered bellflower
Rich purple flowers in June
Anemone hupehensis var. japonica 'Pamina'
windflower
A profusion of reddish-pink, double flowers
Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail'
red bistort
Bright red spikes in late summer. This plant loves wet soil!
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Fragrant warm-blue flowers with an attractive dark-eye on this evening star that stands out in any late-summer border
Val Bourne - Garden Writer