Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus'
This clump-forming grass bears arching, silvery green leaves with a central white stripe. The plant flowers late, in August and September, when it sits well with vividly coloured perennials. The white flower heads turn from white to reddish ... [... more]
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Kniphofia caulescens
Most red hot pokers (kniphofias) are grown primarily for their showy, torchlike flower heads, but this unusual species is also valued for the tufts of blue-green narrow leaves. The 1m tall flowers arrive in late summer and are yellow and coral ... [... more]
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Helictotrichon sempervirens
A striking architectural steely-blue evergreen grass, which makes a spiky sphere. In early summer this is tipped by an upright spray of grey flower heads, which in a large specimen can be up to three feet high. A fairly drought-tolerant plant ... [... more]
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Eryngium giganteum
This biennial sea holly produces a rosette of fleshy green leaves in its first season. Its character changes in the second year when it produces a stiff, much-branched stem with showy, silvery white flower heads, composed of a cone of tiny ... [... more]
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Hydrangea
This hydrangea is a large or medium-size shrub, sometimes a small tree, from China and Japan. It is characterised by the large cone-shaped flower heads it bares on arching stems in late summer and autumn, each head comprising a mixture of tiny ... [... more]
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Hydrangea quercifolia
A medium-size of North American shrub, different from other hydrangeas and grown as much for its autumn leaf tints as for the loose pyramidal flower heads from mid-summer until well into autumn. The leaves are large and deeply lobed like those of ... [... more]
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Hydrangea aspera Villosa Group
This is a large or medium-size shrub, sometimes a small tree, from China and Tibet. It is characterised by the large flattened flower heads on arching stems in late summer and autumn, each 15cm (6in) head comprising a mixture of tiny fertile blue ... [... more]
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Hydrangea paniculata 'Unique'
The basic species, H. paniculata, is a large or medium-size shrub, sometimes a small tree, from China and Japan. It is characterised by the large cone-shaped flower heads it bares on arching stems in late summer and autumn, each head comprising a ... [... more]
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Scadoxus multiflorus
An unusual summer-flowering bulb Scadoxus produces large spherical flower heads made up of lots of tiny starry blooms. These are fiery red with gold anthers. It used to be known as haemanthus, which translates from the greek words haima or blood ... [... more]
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Sunflower, Helianthus
Sunflowers are incredibly easy to grow in summer borders and children's gardens. They can grow to over head height with big flower heads in bright yellow, or make shorter, bushier plants with red heads. They all attract bees and birds, which ... [... more]
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