Focus on - perennial plants to transform your garden

There are so many perennial plants to choose from - below is a selection to give you some ideas for your own garden,

Astilbe Arendsii Hybrids

Suitable for damper gardens and dappled shade, astilbes have great plumes of white, pink or red flowers, and attractive ferny foliage. They grow to about 40 cm tall, and the flowers can be dried and coloured. 15cm pots with large healthy plants are available all year round at just £4-50 each

Aubretia

A wave of purple or blue flowers on low grey foliage - ideal dripping over the edge of a wall or bank, or in a rockery. We usually have 'Blue Wave' - a larger and more robust variety, or Spring Charm - an early flowering variety with large flowers. Only £1.29 for a 7cm pot, so why not buy several, and give your garden a more unified look by planting a group of plants. Needs reasonable drainage and some sun.

Bellis (daisy)

You can't go wrong with this bright cheerful plant - rather like an ordinary daisy, but longer-flowering, larger and with attractive double flowers throughout April and May. Needs some sun, but will cope with a

heavy clay soil or a rather dry one. Don't plant in a really wet spot though.

Dianthus (Pink)

A lovely mound of grassy evergreen foliage produces flowers from June to October every year. Many varieties are scented. Ideal for a sunny spot on almost any soil. Try the following varieties:

Alwoodii Alpinus

Charming miniature pinks with single fringed flowers in pink, cerise, crimson and white.

Devon Cream

Creamy-yellow flowers the colour of clotted cream

Doris

The classic English 'pink' with pale pink flowers marked with a darker pink, and a wonderful scent.

Lace Monarch

Charming deep crimson flowers with a white lace edging

Mini Spice

A wonderful dwarf variety available in red or white - try it in pots, and position it near your garden seat to appreciate the scent.

Lavendula (Lavender)

This scented herb is an old favorite - plant it where you will brush past and get the benefit of the scent. Needs sun and good drainage, though you can get away with planting it in heavy soil if you put plenty of

horticultural grit in the hole.

Munstead

A good compact variety with dark blue perfumed flowers. Makes a great informal dwarf hedge

French lavender - for something a bit different, why not try the slightly weird French Lavender? Just as easy to grow as the ordinary sort, but each flower has long blue 'bunnies ears' on the top.

Lathyrus Latifolius (Perennial Sweet pea)

A quick-growing colourful screen for a fence or trellis, this easy to grow plant has pink or white flowers throughout the summer, and will thrive in almost any soil. If you plant it in the shade, though, make sure it can grow through to the sunshine.

Lobelia

Queen Victoria - not the small blue flowered trailing annual which is a popular hanging basket plant, but a tall-growing sculptural plant with deep red flowers and stunning bronze leaves. It appreciates damp soil and some shade, so is ideal for a woody area, or near a pond.

Lychnis 'Vesuvius'

Orange flowers above dark purple-green foliage make a bold statement in your garden, and will flower from May through to September. Grows to 45 cm tall, and looks fantastic planted on its own in a simple stone pot.

Passiflora caerula (Passion Flower)

Elegant dark green leaves, and the most incredible flowers. Plant this climber in a sheltered spot which gets plenty of sun and is well-drained.

Physostegia Virginiana (Obedient plant)

Try these with spiky structural plants such as mahonia, Contorted Bamboo, or ornamental grasses for stunning effect.

'Snow Crown' - This 60 cm tall plant has stunning white bell-like flowers from July through to September all along its tall, elegant stems, and is remarkable for another reason too - bend the stems to to arrange the

flowers, and they will stay in the position that you have moved them to.

It's easy to grow too, though if your soil is pure clay or sand, you'll need to add some compost to the planting hole to allow it to get off to a good start.

Summer Spire - This late-flowering variety grows to 90 cm and has pink flowers, but is just as easy to grow.

Nepeta (catmint/catnip)

Ideal for cat lovers, this border and edging plant will tolerate quite a bit of shade, and produces attractive blue flowers on its grey foliage throughout the summer.

Vinca (Periwinkle)

A great evergreen ground cover plant - suitable for shady spots and ideal for strangling weeds. Especially suitable for heavy clay soils. Long trailing stems form mounds of foliage.

Vinca minor has dark green evergreen leaves, and sky-blue flowers

Vinca major variagata has cream-edged leaves and larger flowers - it can also be grown as a trailing climber.

Focus on - Bulbs and Corms

Technically bulbs and corms are not the same, but basically the idea is that the plant stores most of its resources underground, thus making it easy for us to move the plant about when the rest of it is dormant. This is about the easiest and quickest way to add colour to your garden in spring and autumn - just plant the bulbs into any spare patch of soil, then wait for the flowers to come up. Most good garden centres, like Greenleaf, will have a huge range of bulbs available throughout the year, but dry bulbs do need to be planted during their dormant season, so think ahead.

Tulips to flower in May, for example, will need to be planted by December.

But for those who need really quick colour, Greenleaf always have pots of bulb plants in bud on hand, which we planted ourselves and can be popped straight into the garden ready to flower in the next week or so!

• There are so many different varieties of bulbs available that we'd need a whole new website just to list them, but here are a couple of good tips to help you through choosing and planting.

• Do plant the bulbs in the recommended depth below ground - shallow planting is one of the main causes of poor flowering.

• Try not to make assumptions like 'I don't like daffodils'. There are so many varieties available of most popular plants that you may well find that some of them are just what you are looking for, and are quite
• different to what you expected! Have a good look at all the options.

• If you bought some bulbs and forgot to plant them, it's never too late to do so, as long as the bulbs are still hard and firm. You may not get the best display of flowers this year, but the bulbs will recover and should flower well the year after.