The plants in this collection will die right back in autumn, then fresh new growth will appear again in spring.

A beautifully themed, and complementary collection of plants that are drought tolerant once established, allowing for more time to enjoy your long interest and low maintenance herbaceous border during hot and dry summer months.



In this collection you will receive one of each of the following varieties, each in a 9cm nursery pot:


• Knautia macedonica: Deep crimson, and occasionally pink, from July to September. This popular, airy perennial brings long-lasting colour to a mixed or herbaceous border. It's best planted in a well-drained soil in full sun and supported with twiggy pea sticks, since it has a tendency to sprawl. Although it prefers alkaline soil, it will thrive in neutral soil too. It is also a magnet for bees and butterflies. Grows to 80cm.
  
  
• Geranium 'Johnson's Blue': Deep lavender-blue, saucer-shaped flowers appear in early summer among deeply divided, mid-green leaves. The loose clusters of lavender-blue flowers, becoming paler at the centre, look lovely weaving in and out of the front of a mixed border or at the base of flowering shrubs. This geranium rapidly forms a dense carpet of foliage, valuable for suppressing weeds, and if cut back after flowering, will usually produce a second flush of flowers later in the summer. Grows to 45cm.
  
  
• Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet': Rosettes of silver, greyish white leaves provide an attractive, weed suppressing carpet for much of the year. This variety of 'Lamb's Ears' rarely flowers and is an excellent, drought-tolerant groundcover or edging plant for a well-drained site in full sun. The foliage is a more intense shade of silver than flowering varieties of the plant. Grows to 15cm.
  
  
• Iris 'Jane Phillips': Deservedly popular, this has delicate flax-blue, slightly fragrant flowers with spectacular, ruffled petals in May and June and fans of sword-shaped, grey-green leaves. This tall bearded iris is gorgeous planted en masse in a sunny, well-drained border or as part of a cottage garden scheme. Grows to 120cm.


Planting tips:
Prepare the bed well by digging in lots of composted organic matter before you plant. For best results it is essential that the plants are kept well watered for the first year, particularly during warmer weather.