The globe thistle, Echinops banaticus is a valuable addition to the border, with dramatic dark green foliage and round, steel-blue flowerheads held high. The flowers are prized for winter decoration when dried. No named varieties of the species are a

Garden pansies, Viola x wittrockiana, are short-lived perennial hybrids. They are among the most popular of all cultivated plants, with their large, colourful flowers, bushy foliage and easy-going nature.

Catananche caerulea or cupid's dart bears blue cornflower-like flowers throughout the summer. It is a good plant for the border or for cut flowers, and can he dried very successfully for winter decoration.

Dicentras make excellent plants for the border, and by growing two or three different species you can be assured of flowers from spring to late summer. All have fern-like foliage & slender stems bearing nodding flowers of white, pale pink or rose red

Three species of the hemerocallis are available, but much more popular are hybrids which can be found in dozens of different colours.

The primula family comprises a number of hardy perennials including Primula veris, the cowslip, and P. vulgaris, the primrose. The polyanthus is a hybrid of these two.

The mallow, Malva alcea, is a tall, bushy plant particularly useful on poor soils. It bears abundant mauve trumpet-shaped flowers all summer.

Pulmonarias are ideal plants for a shady part of the garden, where they will spread their handsome oval leaves to make dense ground cover. In early spring clusters of drooping bellshaped flowers appear, held clear of the foliage on erect stems

Astilbe species come from China and Japan. From these the garden hybrid A. x arendsii (above) has been developed to display the best qualities of the family

The oenothera family of North America includes the evening primrose, O. biennis. Most species bear yellow flowers, though some are white. Lightly scented, they are funnel-shaped at first but open almost flat.