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Herbaarcte7o: perennialsus
Percy Thrower looks at the best herbaceous perennials for the garden
50 AMATEUR GARDENING 19 JUNE 2021
Percy Thrower
1. Acanthus mollis Latifolius Group
2. Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’
3. Anemone x hybrida ‘Luise Uhink’
4. Symphyotrichum novi-belgii ‘Marie Ballard’
if you want a white colour, ‘Luise Uhink’ is the one to go for. 4 Aster [Symphyotrichum] Asters have engaged the attention of plant breeders for more than 40 years and hundreds (maybe thousands) of varieties have been produced, many of them very good indeed. But some have deteriorated with age and some have been weakened by the attacks of pests and diseases. As a result, relatively few varieties stand head and shoulders above the rest by virtue of their health, vigour and beauty. Prominent among these are A. novi-belgii ‘Marie Ballard’ [Symphyotrichum novi-belgii ‘Marie Ballard’], perhaps the finest blue Michaelmas daisy ever raised, with double flowers; ‘Fellowship’ with huge soft petunia-purple flowers; ‘Ernest Ballard’, carmine-rose; and Winston S. Churchill, with smaller flowers than the foregoing, but
such a lot of them and of such a rich beetroot-red that it can hold its own in any company. 5 Campanula These are the bellflowers and there are a lot of good ones to choose from, some more suitable for rock gardens, walls or paving than for beds and borders. Campanula carpatica is a dual-purpose plant suitable either for a rock garden or for the front of a bed since it is clump forming and about 9in (23cm) high. The bell-shaped flowers look up at one and are showy. C. carpatica var. turbinata ‘Isobel’ has particularly good violet-blue flowers and C. carpatica f. alba ‘Weisse Clips’ is an outstanding white. If there is room for a tall plant, 5ft (1.5m) high and spreading out in an elegant shuttlecock of growth, plant some form of C. lactiflora, which can be had in white and various shades of blue and lilac. My choices are ‘Prichard’s Variety’ for blue and ‘Loddon Anna’ for lilac.
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FEW plants have undergone a greater change in conventional use in the past 25 years than herbaceous perennials. These plants, which were traditionally grown in herbaceous borders, are now rarely used in this way except in public parks. As gardens have become progressively smaller, it has become increasingly difficult to allocate sufficient space for borders devoted exclusively to herbaceous plants, which have had to take their place along with other types of plants in a partnership designed to create the greatest possible effect with the last expenditure of labour. When these are the objectives, it becomes even more essential to make use of exclusively five-star varieties. Here are a few suggestions. 1 Acanthus This is one of the most handsome foliage plants and the tall stiff spikes of curiously hooded maroon-purple and white flowers in late summer are most arresting. There are several species and varieties, but one is outstanding for the size and quality of both leaves and flower spikes. Its name is A. mollis Latifolius Group, or for short just A. latifolius, which is what it may be labelled in the nursery or garden centre. 2 Achillea These are the yarrows of which there are a great many kinds, but two are outstanding for the contribution they can make either planted alone or in association with other plants. One is deep-yellow Achillea ‘Coronation Gold’, notable for its very extended flowering season from midsummer to autumn; the other is ‘Moonshine’, with grey-green ferny leaves and flat heads of flowers in an unusual shade of sulphur-yellow. 3 Anemone Here I am concerned with the fibrousrooted herbaceous anemones known collectively as Japanese anemones, and all flower in late summer and early autumn. They produce attractive flowers ranging in colour from white to deep rose and in height from 2-4ft (60-120cm). They all will thrive just as well (perhaps even better) in shade as in sun. I pick as specially good for small gardens the 2ft (60cm)-high reddish-pink Anemone x hybrida ‘Profusion’, but
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Five-star plant selection
