a splash of colour... Summer gardens (like summer holidays) are all about excess: enough scent to disorientate even the busiest bees, more colour than a jumbo paintbox, textures ranging from fleecy to slick, and an energetic chorus line of different leaf shapes.
It is possible to make this feeling of supreme profusion last from April until September, provided you choose reasonably carefully and in sufficient quantity. From September to November, the garden slides elegantly into a sort of postcoital torpor as flowers become fewer and exhausted plants fade to washed-out shadows of their former selves. A successful border, then, should be like a battle against the odds - no sooner has one sensory assault faded than another begins as part of a constant advance of consecutively flowering plants.
If there were recipes for flowerbeds, the ingredients list for this one would be heavy on herbaceous perennials. There should, of course, always be roses and some shrubs, but too many will take up a lot of space in return for a relatively short flowering period. Look at it in terms of simple maths: a Philadelphus x lemoinei , say, has a footprint of about 1.5 sq m and performs (deliciously) for a few weeks in June. In that same space, you could fit seven perennials that will flower consecutively for five months.
It all begins with tulips. Although there are some delightful bulbs that flower earlier (snowdrops and daffodils), none has the same voluptuousness as tulips. They are the true heralds of summer: no longer do we have to be satisfied with the small, pale flowers of winter; instead, there are deep reds and flagrant oranges.
As the tulips fade, the next wave takes over. This is the easy bit - in midsummer, it seems as if everything is flowering. There are the classic English garden plants - the ones that make you want to wear a hat and have a picnic: roses, delphiniums, peonies and poppies. The leaves are still fresh and limey, the sun is shining and days melt into long, scented evenings.
As we slope into July, the early flowerers are fading and it is time for reinforcements - the annuals, a sort of floral emergency service. There is no better way to jazz up a limping oriental poppy than a scattering of cornflowers or group of nicotiana. Likewise, unforeseen gaps or holes in planting, say - are easily plugged by dropping in cosmos or pelargoniums. Must-have Herbaceous perennials
Herbaceous perennials grow fast. Plant young plants now and you'll get a good-looking garden this season, something even better in year two, perfection in the third. Plant at least three perennials a square metre.
Actaea simplex 'James Compton' Willowy stems of fragrant flowers that come out in August/September. Fern-like black foliage. Height: 90cm x Spread: 60cm. Partial shade in moist soil.
Achillea 'Walther Funcke' Flat, suedeheaded flowers (from June to August) in livid orange fading to pale pink. H: 50cm x S: 45cm. Needs sandy soil, OK in sun and light shade.
Verbena hastata Shorter (H: 1.2m x S: 60cm) than the ubiquitous V. bonariensis; flowers (in blue, pink or white) open in midsummer and last for weeks. Plant in sun in fertile soil.
Salvia pratensis Stems of blue flowers from May to July held above a rosette of leaves. H: 1m x S: 40cm. Likes full sun in well-drained soil.
Rudbeckia laciniata 'Herbstsonne' A tall yellow daisy (H: 2m x S: 60cm) to light up late summer to early autumn. Likes well-drained soil in sun or shade.
Aster 'Little Carlow' From August to October, this forms a soft pillow of tiny daisies the colour of hot-washed denim. H: 1.4m x S: 80cm. Likes light shade in moist, fertile soil.
Persicaria amplexicaulis Flowers from July to October. 'Taurus' is red, 'Rosea' pink, and 'Alba' white. H: 1.2m x S: 1.2m. OK in partial shade, but for the best colours, plant in full sun.
