JungleSeeds

A short lived perennial for a damp border, but with stunning 15” columns of scarlet 2” flowers in summer to early autumn.  Tall 3ft stems of narrow often red/purple leaves I find complement a group of ginger lilies. Because of the short lived nature, best grown from seed every few years to keep a regular display.

For a range of colour rather than the normal cardinalis these dual purpose plants can be grown as perennials or annuals. Attractive flowering spikes in a range of colours from pink, red to lilac or purple. Tall selection to 3 ft that can really add some extra colour to your tropical borders.

The first dwarf hybrid Lupin which can be flowered the first year from seed with an early sowing. Once established they can produce 10 to 12 flower spikes per plant. Our mix includes shades of blue, pink, red, white and yellow. 18” tall plants.

Well known standard lupins to 3ft tall in an excellent colour range including bi-colours. Essential perennial for a mixed border.

If you like Lupins like me but have an alkaline soil you will share my frustration in growing normal Lupins. This one though forms a small branching shrub and is available now in blue, purple, lavender as well as the normal yellow and this one is quite happy on alkaline soils. Why not give it a try?

The two species of Goji berry or Wolfberry grown are Lycium Barbarum and Lycium Chinense, two very closely related species from China. They are perennial plants and will grow to a height of between one and three metres.  They require a sunny position and a well drained soil and fairly easy to grow, are self polinating, drought tolerant and are hardy plants. After being introduced into the UK many years ago they have already been seen growing wild in some locations.

The red berries which are small and plum shaped are very high in nutrients with many health claims. In traditional Chinese medicine, goji berries are often made into a tea that is said to work on the liver and other areas of the bodies. In food products, goji berries are often dried and mixed in with the other ingredients Marketers of goji berries have made the following health claims; improves the immune system; improves circulation;  reduces inflammation; improves vision including macular degeneration; helps reduce the aging process.

This is a huge perennial with large plume like deep buff to coral pink flowers from early to mid summer. Height 2.2m Spread 1m. Spectacular at the back of a border or mixed with a bold tropical garden theme.

A popular attractive foliage plant from South Africa not often seen for sale, producing large pinnate leaves of a soft blue/green colour. An excellent foliage display plant tolerating some light frost, so may prove hardy in a warm position, but in reality best over wintered under cover. From late spring it can produce attractive long spiky racemes of red brown to brick red flowers up to 3ft long.

I first grew this spectacular flower about 10 years ago and they are indeed wheel like, with about 20 white petals radiating from a central pale yellow hub. Each individual bloom is about 4 inches in diameter, and dozens open up simultaneously on plants up to 5 feet tall. Large numbers of buds extend the flowering period to at least a month. The leaves are produced mostly as a ground-hugging rosette; they are tough, deeply notched and covered with stiff hairs that people with sensitive skin might find irritating. Like a few other members of the Campanula family, michauxia is a biennial - it blooms in its second season from seed and then dies. But growing it from seed is easy, making annual replacement of the plants no chore, just as gardeners are used to routinely replace biennial foxglove plants. A choice and rare plant.

Monarda an old favourite of ours in our cottage garden is a durable, showy garden plant for the perennial border and an interesting cut flower with stem up to 60cm. A tea from the spicy leaves of this plant is known as Oswega Tea and the petals are also edible in salads. This special mixture of Red, Pink and Salmon shades makes a wonderful addition to any garden. Easy to grow and fully hardy.

Nepeta nervosa 'Blue Moon' is a lovely hardy perennial strain of Catmint with densely packed blue flowers over compact, neat mounds of lightly aromatic foliage to 45cm. Flowers July until September. Also quick to flower in just 12 to 16 weeks from an April sowing. Ideal for borders and containers. Watch out though as Cats just love this plant and like to sit on the mounds of scented foliage! (Great for the cats but not good for the plants!)

Nepeta nervosa "Pink Cat" is a lovely new hardy perennial strain of Catmint with densely packed pink flowers over compact, neat mounds of lightly aromatic foliage to 45cm. Flowers July until September. Also quick to flower in just 12 to 16 weeks from an April sowing. Ideal for borders and containers. Watch out though as Cats just love this plant and like to sit on the mounds of scented foliage! (Great for the cats but not good for the plants!)

Olearia are handsome and impressive evergreen shrubs from Australasia, very reliable in mild areas and seaside gardens where it is often planted as a hedge or windbreak. Inland, it needs the shelter of a warm sunny wall. The fragrant flowers, like golden eyed white daisies, are produced in huge heads which almost smother the bush.

A superb semi dwarf mixture of these lovely Oriental Poppies. Colours range from red, scarlet, pink, mauve, salmon and white all with a black centre. Each plant once established can produce up to 20 flowers in a season. 18” tall.

An excellent seed mix of colours, including red to pink, lavender and rose, and bi colours with tall 2ft strong stems. These lovely plants produce a profusion of flowers from June to September in milder areas. Colder winter temperatures below -8°C will tend to cut them back and the resulting new growth the following spring takes longer to flower. Best for milder gardens or in protected positions. Our own plants flowered non stop from June to November in 2005 with an excellent display.

We have been growing this lovely perennial for many years in our own garden, it produces soft grey-green foliage on white stems. The colourful flowers resemble spikes of blue lavender. This particular variety has larger flower-heads and is an impressive plant, even in winter when bold groups of the white stems make an attractive feature. The deeply cut foliage smells strongly of sage when bruised.

We grow a number of these striking architectural plants around our garden some more tolerant of frost than others. The big forms like purpurea can reach 10ft plus but the hybrid striped forms are more manageable at 3ft.

This bamboo commonly known as moso is one of the largest hardy bamboos in the world. It is the most popular bamboo in china, used for food, timber, paper, plywood, flooring, and crafts. Its use in landscaping is growing in popularity in the US and Southern France. Young shoots are covered with a fine, fuzzy covering that looks like velvet. This is a true giant. Can you imagine standing in a grove of giant moso that has canes the thickness of small telephone poles? One of the most beautiful and probably the most magnificent of the giant hardies. Needs fertile soil and summer heat to grow well and it will take many years to mature from seedlings. Hardy to -17C.

A really pretty shrub in spring with attractive pea like sprays of bright yellow flowers, followed by racemes of large bean type pods in the autumn. Easy from seed and fairly fast growing with flowers in the 2nd or 3rd year. An open habit shrub from Himalaya that I find benefits from a light pruning after flowering to keep it in shape. Rarely seen for sale in my experience, to 5ft in 5 years.

A beautiful and exotic form of primrose. The two-toned red and pink columnar flowers look very like little red hot pokers. Can be grown in an open border but best in partial shade. A must have novelty

If you like large leaves and spectacular flowers you have to grow this form of ornamental rhubarb. It forms huge clumps of large, often purple backed soft leaves, supporting columns of 6ft tall red flowers. An excellent spot plant for a lawn specimen that requires plenty of water to be impressive.

Clump-forming, rhizomatous perennial that is excellent for a bog garden, water side or damp conditions in shade. In mid-summer, plumes of fragrant, pink-red flowers carried on red stems to 2ft above large crinkled green/bronze foliage that turns a deeper colour in the Autumn. Often featured on TV gardening programs because of the large exotic looking leaves and good for shady areas.

A gorgeous woody based perennial fully hardy given some protection and a warm sunny position. Has large poppy like scented white flowers with a prominent golden stamens. Attractive narrow silver grey green leaves support the flowers on 3ft stems. Picture is of our own plant taken in July.

A superb compact strain flowering over a long period numerous 6-9 in. spikes of deep violet flowers on 12” to 15” plants. This vibrant mid-border salvia is perfect for introducing a splash of a colour in a moist but well-drained border. It flourishes in sun or light dappled shade and is highly attractive to butterflies and bees.

A superb compact strain flowering over a long period numerous 6-9 in. spikes of rose flowers on 12" to 15" plants. This vibrant mid-border salvia is perfect for introducing a splash of a colour in a moist but well-drained border. It flourishes in sun or light dappled shade and is highly attractive to butterflies and bees.

There are a number of finely cut leaved black elderberry hybrids about and we have collected this seed from one in our garden called "Black Lace". The seeds will not come completely true but you should get a few good coloured forms with dark to black foliage (in full sun!) and flower heads with a shade of pink that contrasts well with the foliage. Has to be worth a try to produce a good selected seedling.

The large flowers of the Caucasian scabious are a valued contribution to any garden, attractive to look at, attractive to butterflies as well as an excellent cut flower. Issac House Hybrids are strong stemmed with large flat flower heads in a lovely mix of blue, white and lavender and will flower the first year from seed if started a good 6 to 8 weeks before transplanting out.

This is an eye-catching plant with heavily felted, silver-grey rosettes of large leaves that look outstanding in winter. From these, tall, furry, silvery flower-spikes emerge in early summer. These reach their full height by mid-summer and start to produce a succession of wide-open, yellow flowers which continue into late summer. After flowering, the spikes still look attractive for months before starting to die off. Plants self-seed copiously and if possible leave the seedlings where they appear naturally as they are very drought-tolerant and are not fond of being transplanted. Needs a well drained sunny position.

This wonderful Verbascum hybrid produces huge, two toned flowers from late spring into early summer that look fantastic in any perennial garden. The blooms are a mixture of bright and light yellow, and are somewhat different from the rest. Also known as Mullein, this wonderful plant has light green silvery foliage that will add great contrast to the flower colour. The plants grow to a height of two to four feet with a spread of one to two feet. Try Banana Custard in rocky sloped for colour, or as a border plant in a cottage garden.

The tall, erect spikes of 'Snow Maiden' are packed with small, pure white flowers, which have yellow stamens, and will continue to appear over a long summer. It makes a striking show for the middle to back of a multi-coloured border or white bed, and is easily grown from seed. Free-draining soil is vital, also making it a good contender for Mediterranean-type areas with plenty of sun and light soil.

This well known Chinese Wisteria is a climbing vine with scented blue-violet 12" flowers in pendulous clusters in mid-April. It is distinguished from the Japanese Wisteria by larger flowers and shorter racemes.

When choosing a location, keep in mind that the Chinese Wisteria has a fast growth rate. It grows up to 30 feet in height and 30 feet in spread, preferring full sun and moist, well-drained soil. The plant will take a few years to reach maturity and flower but well worth the wait, it can also be used for bonsai work if you prefer. I have also grown these as standards in a central lawn location, requiring some support for a few years but the cascading effect in flower was quite spectacular.

One of the hardiest Yuccas that flowers within a few years from seed. Clump forming up to 5ft tall with panicles of white tulip shaped flowers from a basal rosette of deep green leaves edged with white threads. Best situated in a sunny protected position however fully hardy in the UK.

Slightly hardier than filementosa with narrower leaves. Clump forming up to 5ft tall with panicles of white tulip shaped flowers from a basal rosette of deep green leaves.

Germination -- Easy ■ Moderate ■ and Challenging ■

Backlog for Fresh Seed ♦ Flavour ♪

Hardiness - To -5°C җ To -10°C җҗ Fully Hardy җҗҗ

Needs Shady Position ☻ Sunny Position ☻ Water Loving ♥