Back in February I was so pleased when my clients showed me a photo of a classic English herbaceous border, filled with colour, and said that they would like a garden like that. It is a style that suits their heritage-listed home, and the site is warm, sunny, and sheltered. I knew we could make something special.

The existing raised beds had been taken over by shasta daisies, so the first step was to clear them all out to make way for a more varied planting. We kept the standard Iceberg roses, lavender, and a couple of nice fuchsias.

The raised beds form an L-shape, with one end more shaded and against a wall suitable for climbers. We pulled out the struggling climbing rose and replaced it with jasmine, potato vine, and Chinese star jasmine. Underneath I put hostas, hellebores, white foxgloves, and white Japanese windflowers.

Down the long sunny side I planted repeating groups of perennials, including penstemons, snow-in-summer, limonium, verbena bonariensis, thrift, and gaura. Balls of evergreen pittosorum ‘Golfball’ provide accents and are repeated in pots.

After only about 6 months the garden is coming on beautifully. As it matures this summer, my clients will have their English flower garden.

November 2014