As a garden designer and horticulturist I have to admit that my top ten plants varies. This is because it very much depends on the current projects, moods and atmospheres I am creating but there are a few perennial favorites. 1) Meconopsis- I love these because of the vibrant color they add to any garden design. They are nearly all blue but what a blue! In shades from blue of bright blue skies down to azures and china blues, there is no dull plant among them. The Himalayan poppy as it is otherwise known comes in many varieties and the flowers last days ,unlike other floppy flowered species. In Scotland one soul has carpeted an entire hillside in the plants creating a dazzling effect. So vibrant is their blue that you can use them as focal , punctuation or color block plants. 2) Carnations – standards of form, consistent and neat, carnations add to and enhance any color scheme. From low growers to tall, robust stands, these flowers offer no-nonsense growth and color. Easy to grow and propagate from pipe cuttings, they grow in most sites and soils. 3) Davidii involucre – the Handkerchief tree with its huge white flower bracts making it look like doves or paper hankies are in the branches, what attracts me about this tree is not only its compact and neat form but the story behind its discovery which adds an air of mysticism. David, after whom it was named, searched for the plant. Every time he came to where it was last reported, the last stand had ‘just been cut’ so he ventured deeper and deeper into the hills to obtain his specimen, which he did finally and brought it back to Europe. His adventures are mind-blowing and his discovery all the more interesting for them. 4) Lavender – versatile, fragrant, attractive to insects, this plant can be grown tall, clipped, in hedges or as a focal plant. Lavenders add to any planting design and can offer features for those with visual impairments as the scent and feel make it a very individual plant. Silvery leaves and vivid blue flowers make an attractive combination and lavender can be used in any garden and most soils. 5) Gunnera manicata – large, hand like leaves atop tall spiked stems make this the most magnificent bog side plant. Huge and invasive though it can be, it can change the atmosphere of a garden and create deep green depths of plantings. Slightly menacing and simply enormous, the palm like leaves enfold you almost in their hugeness. Awe inspiring in its growth and sheer volume of plant. You can get dwarf gunnera too but the full size one, if it can fit, is truly magnificent. 6) Crab apple – a truly useful tree all year round, the blossom comes in February followed by leaves in march, then fruit which start orange and swell to deep red. The fruit feed birds through the winter and will last until the final one is eaten- around January, just before the blossom starts again. Bark can be attractive with green and red tones so this tree is useful and hard working in any garden. Dwarf varieties make it suitable for most sites. 7) Eryngium – the truly architectural medium sized plant – this adds form and texture to any garden plan. Sensuous, spiked and with wonderful seed heads which look fantastic as they trap frost on cold mornings, a true masterpiece of form all year round. Camellia japonica- with varieties of white, pink or red shades, this is the show off heralding the start of spring. One of the earliest to flower, this showy, blowzy shrub needs acidic soil but in the right place will blossom for years and create a truly heart stopping display. The deep green of the leaves only serve to set the colors of the flowers off. Like a shy bride, this shrub suddenly bursts into flower overnight almost- a real stunner. 9) Rosa ‘Peace’ the wonderfully formed, almost perfect flower of the Peace rose with hints of apricot, pink, orange and gold, this is the true stunner of roses. 10) Chrysanthemums so many flower forms, so many plant forms, this is a true versatile, clown prince of display. From dwarf to tall, reticulate to double pom poms or spooned flowers, the range of colors, size and form is incredible. Often bred but with older varieties still around, this attracts insects, create cut flowers and blooms late in the year – what more could you want? This is my top ten at the moment but I also adore digitalis, with their amazing self seeding, glorious flowers with their bee paths to direct the insects to their nectaries, the climbing roses, the honeysuckle, Campsis (trumpet creeper), Tulips, apricot trees in blossom and so many other wonderful plants to choose from. This is why my top ten changes and plants slip in and out of it. No doubt it will change again as I find even more plants. Plants never cease to provide an endless source of amazement and variety. For more articles by this author, go to Helium .
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Top Ten Plants