At this time of year, the Cottage Garden, Potager and Herb Garden are not to be missed and the Long Border is approaching its peak. The vegetable garden is beginning to burgeon with produce which you can sample in the Rosemoor Garden Kitchen Restaurant and the garden team have depleted the nursery of tender perennials and new plants.
Buddleja davidii Monum ('Nanho Purple') AGM is one of the most intensely coloured butterfly bushes, with panicles of fragrant, rich purple flowers that attract butterflies, bees and people alike. We have placed it in one of the central beds in the Cottage Garden so it can't be missed. Here, it associates perfectly with other cottage garden favourites such as pink Rosa ‘The Fairy’ AGM and blue Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’. It can also be found in the Spiral Garden where the colour is enhanced by a backdrop of dark green privet.
The beauty of Dahlia merckii lies in its simplicity. The saucer shaped purple-pink flowers are held on tall stems above the mid green leaves. It thrives in the southern hemisphere bed in the Croquet Lawn garden where it makes an early impact when other plants such as Agapanthus, Watsonia and Kniphofia are just starting to get going. It carries on flowering until autumn, contributing to the spectacle of this exciting border through much of the season.
The deeply-cut, glossy, dark-green leaves and tall racemes of purple and white flowers mean that this is one of the best architectural plants available for the border. We have it growing in several locations including the Long Border and in the Spiral Garden; associated with plants of contrasting forms and harmonising colours such as bronze fennel, Eupatorium purpureum subsp. maculatum 'Atropurpureum', dark purple Penstemon VESUVIUS 'Yasius'. Another association that works well is with an under planting of pink geraniums.
The Shrub Rose Garden is full of clematis and rambling rose associations and one of the best is the dark pink of Clematis 'Pagoda' AGM and paler pink Rosa 'Noisette Carnée'. This is under planted with Geranium 'Mavis Simpson' AGM which is a shade of pink somewhere between the two.
If you like big bold flowers then you cannot go wrong with this fabulous Hydrangea. The large balls of white flowers glow in the borders and the plant will be happy in both sun and partial shade, making it a useful shrub for most situations. We use it as a statement plant in the Long Border, the Spiral Garden and Lock’s Trail.
This is a bold plant for a damp but sunny situation; although it does prefer some shade from midday sun. The deeply-toothed, almost triangular leaves look stunning near the lake with other bold foliage plants such as Rodgersia, Rheum and Darmera. The lemon yellow flowers are set off by black-purple flower stems which also combine well with the ‘hot’ colours in the Hot Garden.
The elegance of Dierama pulcherrimum adds style to any border, but to make an impact the corms need to be planted in groups of five or more. The slender arching stems of bell-shaped magenta flowers have given rise to the evocative common name of 'Angel’s fishing rod'. In the West Country Garden it has been planted next to the path to better appreciate its weeping habit. In the Cottage Garden it provides a contrasting form to roses, geraniums and Nigella.
The intense orange and yellow flowers of Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' AGM positively glow, earning it a place in the Hot Garden. Here we have used it in large bold groups in close association with grasses and other ‘hot’ coloured perennials where they love the sunny aspect of this garden. As a bonus, the flowers are good for cutting and are attractive to bees.
Lythrum virgatum 'The Rocket' is a real heart-stopper of a plant, with deep pink spires of star-shaped flowers. The effect is intensified if you can find the room to plant in a large group as we have done on the Long Border. The colour harmonises with that of pink Geranium x oxonianum ‘Claridge Druce’ and contrasts with the soft yellow of Potentilla fruticosa 'Primrose Beauty' AGM.
We plant several salvias in the Exotic Garden but Salvia involucrata 'Joan' is one of the earliest to start flowering, and one of the most vibrant. The bright pink flowers put on a stunning display above softly hairy rich green leaves from the end of June until the autumn. This tender perennial is planted out in sunny borders when all danger of frost has passed and the soil has begun to warm up.
As you approach Rosemoor House, your eye will be caught by a cloud of tiny purple flowers with prominent yellow stamens dancing on the end of long purplish stalks above attractive mid- green foliage. Thalictrum minus var. hypoleucum is a meadow rue native to China but it seems to be equally at home in the partially shaded beds near the house, planted in a large group among woodland shrubs such as rhododendrons and camellias.
If you have a large space to fill, and you need some height in a mixed border, you can't go far wrong with a group of imposing Veronicastrum sibiricum. The spikes of lavender blue flowers look fabulous in our Long Border, contrasting with the rounded pink flowerheads of Eupatorium cannabinum and with the linear leaves and weeping flower panicles of Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'.