Our plants are just like our visitors - while many of them find these hot, sunny days a bit too much and seek out shade, others bask in the heat and bright sunlight. Wandering around the nursery, it's easy to see that some plants are plainly delighted with the hot weather, so I've picked out a few that will love a sunny, dry spot.
1. Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’. Glossy, almost black leaves which form a neat carpet at ground level. The stronger the light, the darker the leaves. Short spikes of blue flowers in May and June are adored by bees.
2. Dianthus cruentus I first saw this plant on a show garden at RHS Chelsea designed by Cleve West about ten years ago. The flowers are like ruby gems in the border, opening slowly from dark red buds. It needs exceptionally good drainage - we grow it here in our gravel garden. It can be short-lived, so collect seed each year and sow in spring.
3. Stachys ‘Silver Carpet’. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Forms mats of silvery leaves which reflect the light beautifully. Excellent for ground cover in dry borders.
4. Geranium sanguineum. These mat, or mound forming hardy geraniums are superb for ground cover and all thrive in sunny spots in well drained soil. Choose flower colours from pure white through pale to deep pink.
5. Lychnis coronaria. Tall silver stems push up from rosettes of silver leaves in early summer, opening into bright magenta flowers. Allow it to self seed around in dry borders to create bright sparkles of brilliant colour in mid-summer.
6. Iris ‘Langport Wren’. ‘Bearded’ Irises love direct sun. Their fleshy stems, or rhizomes, like to lay flat on the surface of the ground and sunbathe. There are thousands of different varieties - we have just the one in stock at the moment, which has maroon, almost chocolate coloured, gleaming flowers. It's been selling fast on the nursery, but we do have a few available, collect only.
7. Sedum spathulifolium ‘Purpureum’. Tiny, fleshy purple/grey leaves make this the perfect filler for alpine tubs, and gaps in walls and paving. Very happy in the sun. If you want more of it, just break off one of the little rosettes and push it into some very gritty compost.
8. Potentilla ‘Miss Wilmott'. Bright pink flowers sit neatly over crinkly green foliage. Flowers on and off all summer. Potentilla atrosanguinea is a superb variety too which has silver leaves and scarlet flowers. Potentilla ’Monarch's Velvet' has dark red flowers. All are superb in hot, sunny borders.
9. Geranium nodosum. OK, yes, this does fall into the category of ‘rapid spreader, may go too far’, and we don't stock many plants that are quite so vigorous. But this is a really useful plant for filling out very dry spots - the photo shows it growing at the base of a wall, in hot sun, in a few inches of dust-dry soil. Gleaming green leaves, silky pale purple flowers and a very long flowering period make it a winner for me, though I do have to pull out unwanted seedlings each spring. But that's a feature of plants that succeed in tough conditions - they have strong survival instincts.
10. Armeria maritima ‘Splendens’ Better known as ‘Sea Thrift’ which gives you an idea of what this neat little plant is capable of tolerating. Slowly forms rounded mounds of soft, slender leaves with pink pom pom flowers on top. We have it in white too, and a very smart version with dark reddish foliage and dark pink flowers.
…and one for luck- Centranthus ruber ‘Coccineus’. Commonly known as ‘Red Valerian’. but not to be confused with Valeriana officinalis, which is a different plant altogether. I first saw this plant years ago tumbling through the rusting wrought iron railings of an old Victorian house. It's tough, happy in baking sun and much loved by insects. It will self seed around too, but it looks great en masse so what's not to like?
So that's my top ten plants for dry, sunny areas that are looking good right now. Some are available online, all are available at the nursery, as of today. If none of these quite hit the spot for you, try our online filters to see what else comes up. Try our ‘Dry and Sunny’, selection which lists 65 plants, so you should find something that works for you.
A reminder that the nursery is open 10am-5pm Wednesday to Saturday - hope to see you soon.
Sue and the Bluebell team. x