Turning Earth: perfect plants

Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'

Discussed at length on a separate page. See Dahlias - particularly 'The Bishop'.

Euphorbia mellifera

This plant was given to me by a kind friend some years ago. It's now grown into a fine and handsome specimen, several feet tall, with a number of thick strong stems. The flowers are small and some might call them insignificant, but they have an intriguing honey-like scent.

My plant is grown in a pot, and lives for most of the year in Kitchen Corner, where I appreciate its leaves, which it seems to keep even in the winter. They are a lovely fresh green, with a red tinge to the edges, and as they're large and held on tall stems, the plant has a lush and statuesque appearance.
Photos of Euphorbia mellifera

Garrya elliptica

In the cold dark days of winter we often think we want flowers to brighten up the garden. But so few plants flower in a generous and exuberant way at this time of year, and green things seem better suited.

The phrase 'winter interest' is used so much that maybe we don't think about what it means. I realise that this is why I like the wall-growing shrub Garrya elliptica - because it's so interesting. Fascinating indeed, as the short stubby catkin-like flowers appear first in late summer, then lengthen slowly over the autumn and the grim days of winter, so that by January they're wonderfully fluid tassels, swaying in the slightest breeze. Far more interesting than a windowbox full of winter-flowering pansies. Well, I think so.
Photos of Garrya elliptica

Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty'

Flowering exuberantly from summer into autumn, in a rich red-orange haze of loveliness.
Photo of Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty'

Lilium regale, and Lilium 'Star Gazer'

Scented lilies in pots seem perfect for a small walled town garden. The enclosed space holds the scent. Aside from the perfume, they are of course showy and dramatic flowers, the kind of thing you need in a small garden where you can't rely on banks of perennials in vast herbaceous borders for impact, but have to choose a few choice plants that will make you think "wow" every time you see them.

Some people find the scent of lilies overpowering - though I've never understood why. I think some people also find lilies "funereal". This seems very sad, as they're so beautiful. It's an association which could perhaps be broken by growing 'Star Gazer', which is a big bold thing with nothing remotely funereal about it. It's a big sexy thing shouting 'summer'.
Photo of Lily 'Star Gazer

Viburnum tinus 'Gwenllian'

I can't remember buying this shrub, or having it on one of my 'plants I want' lists, so I guess it was an impulse buy. Often, those kinds of buys are a mistake, but this one was a lucky find. This shrub flowers from late autumn, for months, and is still flowering in the spring. Alongside its clusters of small pinkish-white flowers are the most beautiful blue berries, which it also carries through the winter. Because of this impressive long-lasting display, I'm never sure when to prune it, and indeed barely prune it at all, leaving it to do its thing, on the sunny wall, beneath the rowan tree.
Photos of Viburnum tinus 'Gwenllian'