With many excellent summer-flowering border plants at his fingertips, Tom chooses some specimens that also work well in meadows, and showcases a stunning, historic water lily
PONTECHIUM MACULATUM
Height and spread 30cm x 30cm.
Origin Central Europe to the Balkans.
Conditions Free-draining soil; full sun.
Hardiness RHS H4, USDA 6a-8b†.
Season of interest May to July.
This lovely echium relative behaves as a short-lived perennial or biennial and is extremely hardy. With handsome, pointed, greyish-green leaves and tall, striking, burgundy-red flower spikes, it makes an especially good contrast with circular allium flowers and with the arching and soft-textured grass Stipa tenuissima. Seed germination can be erratic, so be patient and prick the seedlings out as soon as they are big enough to handle, but don’t throw the seed tray away as there may be more to follow. Seed is best sown in midsummer for flowering the following year.
LUPINUS ‘NOBLE MAIDEN’
Height and spread 90cm x 50cm.
Origin L. polyphyllus is native to North America; the Russell hybrids were developed in Yorkshire.
Conditions Neutral to acid soil; full sun or part shade.
Hardiness RHS H5, USDA 4a-8b.
Season of interest May to July (deadhead to prolong flowering).
Lupins are a wonderful group of plants. So many are worth growing, but the best performers in our garden are those developed by horticulturist George Russell on his Yorkshire allotment. This lovely selection has tall spikes of cream buds that open to pure white, its upright inflorescences of pea-like flowers mirroring the white racemes of wisteria. We sow seed in July for flowering plants the following year and replace plants every three to four years when they get tired.
NYMPHAEA ‘ROBINSONII’
Height and spread 30cm x 1.5m.
Origin Marliac Nursery, France.
Conditions 40-60cm below the surface of the water; full sun.
Hardiness RHS H5, USDA 4a-11.
Season of interest June to August.
One of a collection bred by Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac, who crossed the native European white-flowered Nymphaea alba with colourful North American species. His hybrids were exhibited by the Seine under the newly unveiled Eiffel Tower in 1889 and inspired Monet’s love of water lilies, as told in Caroline Holmes’s book Water Lilies and Bory Latour-Marliac. The semi-vigorous N. ‘Robinsonii’ has fuchsia-pink flowers, a yellow anther and maroon-blotched pads. It was named in 1895 to honour Marliac’s friendship with William Robinson, who created the garden at Gravetye.
ROSA X ODORATA ‘MUTABILIS’
Height and spread 1.5m x 1.5m.
Origin Hybrid of R. chinensis x R. gigantea.
Conditions Moist but well-drained soil; full sun. Best in a sheltered spot to maximise its long flowering season.
Hardiness RHS H5, USDA 6a-9b.
Season of interest June to November.
This has one of the longest flowering seasons of any rose, with single, lightly scented blooms produced almost continually from the start of summer until the hardest winter frosts arrive. ‘Mutablis’ means changing and refers to the way the flowers open honey yellow and mature to a cerise pink. They make quite a show, especially when underplanted with the pink and yellow lupins ‘The Chatelaine’ and ‘Chandelier’. It will tolerate poor soils better than most roses and is quite disease resistant. AGM*.
CYNOGLOSSUM AMABILE
Height and spread 60cm x 60cm.
Origin Bhutan, China and Nepal.
Conditions Moist but well-drained loam or sand; full sun or part shade.
Hardiness RHS H5, USDA 6a-9b.
Season of interest May to July.
The Chinese forget-me-not, closely related to the common forget-me-not, is a wonderful annual with abundant, showy sprays of small, intense azure-blue flowers that stand out against its slightly grey-blue foliage. We get best results from an autumn germination, with plants overwintered in the cold frame and planted out in spring. Subsequent successional spring sowings also make good plants that will flower a little later. Very effective tucked into gaps within the mixed border as well as being stunning in large drifts. Its lovely blue always looks best in dappled shade. AGM.
PAEONIA ‘SCARLET O’HARA’
Height and spread 1m x 75cm.
Origin P. officinalis x P. lactiflora, first produced in the USA in 1956.
Conditions Moist but well-drained loam or sand; full sun or part shade.
Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 4a-8b.
Season of interest June.
In his 1870 book The Wild Garden, William Robinson discussed the use of exotic perennials naturalised in long grass, and used the example of a group of scarlet peonies in a meadow. Reintroducing such naturalised plantings to Gravetye’s meadows has been fun and some of the species peonies, such as P. mascula and P. officinalis, are showing promise, but ‘Scarlet O’Hara’ has worked best, with its brilliant-red, single flowers that stand out so well in the grass. It has the vigour to compete in the meadow habitat and continues to flower over the years. AGM.
RANUNCULUS ACRIS ‘STEVENII’
Height and spread 1.5m x 1m.
Origin R. acris is native to Britain and Ireland, as well as most of northern and central Europe.
Conditions Most borders or meadows, prefers damp soil; full sun or part shade.
Hardiness RHS H7, USDA 4a-8b.
Season of interest May to July.
This is a tall, semi-double version of our native field buttercup that works as an excellent border plant. It can reach 1.5m, so we grow ours through a pea-stick cage for support, making an impressive plant. After flowering, it is cut down to the ground, allowing space for late-summer planting. A vigorous perennial, forming dense clumps of rhizomes that should be divided every three to four years. It also works well planted in coarse, long grass or in hedge margins.
BISTORTA OFFICINALIS ‘SUPERBA’
Height and spread 50cm x 1m.
Origin Europe and West Asia.
Conditions Adaptable and easy to grow in any moist soil; full sun or part shade.
Hardiness RHS H7.
Season of interest June to August.
The common bistort deserves its popularity as an excellent border perennial. It flowers in flushes from late spring to autumn, and is best cut back hard as soon as its first f lush has finished. It works well naturalised in our meadows as part of our wild garden plantings. We often have a surplus of plants when the clumps in the borders need dividing, so we plant in drifts through the orchard. Over the years they’ve competed with turf and look stunning in the long grass flowering among dark-blue Camassia quamash. AGM.
WISTERIA FLORIBUNDA F. ALBA ‘SHIRO-NODA’
Height and spread 4m x 4m.
Origin Japan.
Conditions Moist but well-drained loam or sand; full sun or part shade.
Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 5a-9b.
Season of interest Flowers May to June; foliage has good autumn colour.
A superb wisteria with some of the longest racemes of any white-flowered cultivar. It will form magnificent curtains of flowers humming with bees, and fill the garden with the most magical scent. At Gravetye we have it on a pergola along the edge of the flower garden, creating a wonderful backdrop at this time of year. I especially like it with the opposing spikes of lupins, like stalagmites to the wisteria’s stalactites. Being one of the later-flowering wisterias, it has the advantage of rarely being damaged by late frosts. AGM.
HESPERIS MATRONALIS
Height and spread 1m x 1m.
Origin Native to Eurasia.
Conditions Moist but well-drained loam or sand; full sun or part shade.
Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 3a-8b.
Season of interest May to June.
Our first sweet rocket was grown from a free seed packet on Gardens Illustrated, and it has gone on to become one of our best-loved performers. Its clouds of mauve flowers work well with the vertical lines of wisteria and lupins and truly come into their own in the evening light. The Greek god Hesperus was known as the Evening Star, and evening is when the perfume of sweet rocket is at its best, filling the garden with its scent just in time for drinks. We sow in July and grow on in pots for autumn, placing plants where they will flower the following year. Chef also likes to use it as an edible flower.
*Holds an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.
†Hardiness ratings given where available.
Places to visit
Tom’s recommendations for places to see seasonal plants at their best
Be sure to check opening times. Some garden visits may need to be pre-booked
Ventnor Botanic Garden is one of the first gardens I worked in, and remains one of my favourite places to visit. Situated on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, with an enviable Gulf Stream climate and sheltered from the wind, this garden rarely gets a frost and the plant collections are superb. Storm damage in 1987 provided an opportunity for replanting, which the then curator, Simon Goodenough, set about with energy and vision. Some of the subsequent plantings from around the world are now beginning to reach maturity. Much of the garden has a Mediterranean ‘wild garden’ feel and highlights include some of the oldest Trachycarpus fortunei in the country and forests of Echium wildpretii and E. pininana, all hybridising and naturalising in a wild garden setting. This spectacle is at its best from the end of June into July.
The garden has been curated by Chris Kidd since 2011, who previously worked under Simon, and with the new appointment of head gardener Michelle Cain this charming garden has an exiting period ahead of it. Undercliff Drive, Ventnor, Isle of Wight PO38 1UL. Tel 01983 855397, botanic.co.uk
Another beautiful garden on the Isle of Wight is Farringford House, the former home of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The garden had become quite dilapidated until the current owners bought the property and employed Ellen and Alistair Penstone-Smith in 2017 to restore and develop it. The biggest challenge has been the two-acre walled garden, which has been transformed to a paradise planted with vegetables, fruit and ornamentals. The design respects the heritage of the site, yet is progressive and exciting. Each time I visit, I learn something new. Open from April to October but June is a lovely time to see the collection of old-fashioned roses. Bedbury Lane, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight PO40 9PE. Tel 01983 752500, farringford.co.uk
High Beeches is quite close to Gravetye with a charm of its own and packed with treasures. The stunning wildflower meadows are some of the best in the area, and the beautiful water gardens and woodland plantings are always an inspiration, with mouth-watering specimen trees at every corner. It was a former home of the Loder family, with the heart of the garden created by Colonel Giles Loder in the early 1900s (at the same time as the family was developing the gardens at Wakehurst and Leonardslee in West Sussex). In 1943, the manor house was destroyed by a British bomber that crashed while returning from a raid.
Giles survived and moved next door to continue gardening the site until his death in 1967. The garden was then bought by Edward and Anne Boscawen, who avidly collected and grew many new trees from seed.
Today the garden is managed by their daughter Sarah and her team, who continue to care for this beautiful landscape that has been so well gardened for many generations. The garden is glorious at any time of year, but one of the highlights is early June when stands of Loderi Group rhododendrons flower alongside carpets of orchids in the meadows.High Beeches Lane, Handcross, West Sussex RH17 6HQ. Tel 01444 400589, highbeeches.com