With the current heatwave I’ve been thinking about plants that tolerate dry conditions, what I can plant in clients’ gardens that aren’t going to require them to invest a lot of time in watering. There are a lot of plants falling into this category that I already love and often add to a plant list, looking at my own rock hard dusty garden this summer the blue-purple of Iris siberica ‘Tropic Night’ is still happily trying to colonise an entire border. The newly planted group of vibrant blue of Geranium pratense is cheerfully flowering away and the deep purple of Geranium phaeum var. phaeum ‘Samobor’ with its purple centred leaves are keeping my love of dark flowers going. And the Verbena bonariensis are not only loving the sun but the bees and butterflies are happily congregating around them. Along with Dianthus carthusianorum, I love the deep red buds as much as the magenta flowers starting with deep red buds. Not only does it add pink highlights to the border but looks great as cutting flower added to a vase along with a few cosmos and whatever else is looking good in the garden.

Achilleas, verbena, geraniums and irises

The roses have been amazing, coming early this year and still the flowers keep coming, from the delicate blush of ‘Desdemona’, ‘Lady of the Lake’ and the white of ‘Claire Austin’. To the deep reds of ‘Munstead Wood’, ‘Thomas A Beckett’ and ‘Souvenir du Docteur Jamain’, I love the deep velvety red of this so much they are growing at regular intervals along the fence with one just outside the back door to drool over. I gave into temptation on holiday (in Cornwall) and brought a Rosa glauca with its glorious green-grey foliage and pretty pink flowers, it has a spot marked out along the fence at the bottom of the garden to be enjoyed while sitting on the bench in the evening sun. My Mediterranean herb collection is loving the weather from the oregano and marjoram, to rosemary and the lavender (which was only planted last year) has really taken off, filling the space underneath the roses (‘Desdemona’ and ‘Lady of the Lake’) with the deep purple of Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’.

Roses

I do love some of the more architectural plants that are ideal for drier conditions, the spikey blues of eryngiums, particularly the blue purple of Eryngium bourgatii ‘Picos Amethyst’ and the intense blue of Eryngium × zabelii ‘Jos Eijking’ and the bees will thank you too if there are globes of blue echinops Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’. Unfortunately, I don’t really have the right conditions to grow phlomis successfully but I love visiting gardens in summer that have them scattered through the borders, whether it’s the cheerful yellow whorls of Phlomis russeliana or the pale lilac of Phlomis tuberosa ‘Amazone’ and seeing the stunning seed heads in winter when they have been left to attract a glittering coat of frost.

Eryngiums, lavender and echinops

Having recently planted Achillea ‘Terracotta’ against the blues of Agapanthus and Campanula in some well drained planters as part of a new scheme I loving this combination. Usually my go to achilleas (where the soil is suitable) are the deep velvet red of Achillea ‘Summerwine’ and the paler creamy ‘Credo’ mixing either in with grasses to give hits of colour. Regardless of the weather next year I’m already salivating over the bulb catalogues and the chance to add more alliums, whether we have a more typical spring and summer or a warm one like this year they will keep popping up and I’m looking to expand my collection.

Alliums