​Here's the notes I made from my chat with Tony Murrell last Sunday morning on Radiolive, The Home and Garden Show. We caught up last week and discussed perennials that every garden should have - and managed to whittle them down to a shortlist! I have also added the audio link from our live chat....


Must-have perennials for gardens all over the country (According to Tony Murrell and Kate Jury)
 
Salvia leucantha, or Mexican bush sage – a really generous plant with numerous long spikes of fuzzy flowers over a long period, usually purple or violet, but lilac, pink and white flowered varieties are available as well. The calyces can compliment or contrast the flower colour which adds to the interest. They are all stunning and can even grow in large pots, cut them back in spring after frosts have passed and they will bush up again quickly. As well as the purple S. leucantha, keep a look out for varieties such as ‘Midnight’, ‘Santa Barbara’, ‘Velour White’ and ‘Velour Pink’, or ‘Spring Joy Gold’ with golden tones to the new spring foliage.
 
Penstemon – Border Penstemons fill out spaces quickly in spring and early summer, then cover themselves with flowers in summer and autumn. They come in virtually every colour – try ‘Raven’ or ‘Blackbird’, ‘Sour Grapes’, ‘Purple Passion’, ‘Garnet’, ‘Hidcote Pink’, ‘Snowstorm’, or pretty ‘Emily’ and beautiful ‘Alice Hindley’. Easy in any average garden soil, don’t overfeed them, just give them a dressing of compost once or twice a year. Interesting fact with the border varieties is that those cultivars with very wide leaves are not nearly as hardy as those with narrower leaves. If you’ve got free draining soils try some of the smaller species too, like Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Electric Blue’; P. digitalis varieties like ‘Pocahontas’ or ‘Husker Red’ have great foliage, or my favourite species P. smallii which combines pretty leaves and upright stems of equally gorgeous flowers.
 
Aster - I just can’t go past these for their usefulness in the garden in late summer and autumn. They come in a full range of heights from dwarf varieties for edges and small gardens to tall willowy clouds that suit the back of the garden or wildflower areas. Flowers are mostly pastels but there are a few hot pinks and bright violets as well. They are tough, easy and reliably hardy, and the pollinators and butterflies love them. I love the bright colours of Aster novae-angliae ‘Harringtons Pink’, A. novi-belgii ‘Coombe Violet’ as they really standout, the white A. ‘Herbstschnee’ has beautiful medium white flowers that fit in anywhere, and the small flowered varieties like A. ‘Coombe Fishacre’ and A. ‘Hi-Jinx’, or the closely related Boltonia asteroides and its variety B. a. var. latisquama which is so tough and has tall clouds of palest lavender-pink flowers.
 
Kniphofia – Red Hot Pokers - Often forgotten until the flowers appear these guys are great for filling gaps as they form fast-growing clumps and have long-lasting flowers which the birds love. They add vertical shots of colour which can create contrast in the garden – try them with similar shades or fire things up by pairing them with clashing colours….hot pink dahlias and fiery orange Kniphofia are always a good talking point. They also come in yellows, reds and cream of course, try some like Little Maid, Percy’s Pride or the traditional Winter Cheer. They look great paired with other flowering perennials such as Dahlias, Asters and Campanulas which bush out and cover the sometimes unsightly foliage of the hot pokers. Taller grasses also work well with them for the same reason.
 
Daisies -  not marguerites, although they are also useful, we’re talking big and bold and bright here. Rudbeckias like R. fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ and the bright lemon yellow of R. laciniata, big white Shasta daisies like ‘Shaggy’, the bright autumn tones of the tried and true varieties of Heleniums like ‘Waltraut’, ‘Moerheim Beauty’ and ‘Butterpat’ (I have found some of the more modern types are not as vigorous and hardy in our gardens – unfortunately we don’t yet have the large selection of cultivars that are available overseas). Echinaceas come in every colour imaginable nowadays, and those with Echinacea purpurea or E. pallida blood in them tend to produce hardier plants that last the distance – try the species above, or look out for their hybrids – there’s always new ones being released and hybrid vigour has been closely looked at in recent years. I am trying the gorgeous looking E. purpurea ‘Green Twister’ this year for that very reason.  Two recent favourites which I am impressed with – Centaurea, the perennial cornflowers, tough and reliable with showy flowers, try C. macrocephala, C. dealbata and C. phyrgia); and Stokesia laevis or Stokes’ Aster, I have several varieties in the garden, ranging in colour from blue to white to lemon yellow, all have which have proved to be low maintenance, resilient and beautiful. All good qualities in a plant!

​As this is my first ever Blog post I thought I would write about how my love affair with plants began, and how it has developed over the years to become a business rather than just a hobby.
 
My first memory of growing something myself was when, with Mum’s help, I turned our old sandpit into a small garden when I was about 7.  I grew beautiful Cosmos taller than me, with blue morning glory’s and my favourite, the dwarf Echium plants, in all sorts of blues and pinks and violets.
 After that my plant choices were quite strongly influenced by what I could grow from seed.  My Nan, also a very knowledgeable plantswoman, lived in Taumarunui and had large concrete troughs, filled with all sorts of treasures, mainly alpines and dwarf bulbs and the like. She grew lots of species from seed Cyclamen, Anemones and Dianthus to name but a few, and I spent many hours poring over books and seedlists, probably trying to keep up with her and Mum. She eventually gifted me my own subscription to the NZ Alpine Garden Society, which I have maintained ever since.
 I grew tiny little Dianthus species, dwarf Aquilegias were a favourite, species Delphinium, Helleborus, and Penstemons native to various parts of the US.  Infact anything resembling Penstemons was on my wanted list for a while.
Throughout this time, I was always learning, and I think the books and seedlists encouraged me to use the Latin names with confidence. I guess I always loved the written word, and languages in general, so I was never concerned about referring to plants by their proper names, although people did and still do, look at me as though I’m swearing at them.
Eventually, whilst working part time as an office manager, I also ran small nursery business in Te Kuiti, in partnership with my mother. We grew and sold all sorts of things from vege seedlings, potted colour, to perennials and bulbs.  But this was in the days before the internet changed how we buy and sell, so sales were limited to local garden centres, and eventually I got married and moved away, so the business was eventually wound up.
 Around this time I discovered the genus Salvia, and joined the Salvia Society, which I was a member of until it amalgamated with the Auckland Bulb & Perennial Society many years later. Initially my knowledge of Salvias was very limited, and I was surprised by the seemingly endless array of species and cultivars.  There are reputed to be around 900 species in the world would you believe! What attracted me the most was that there seemed to be a Salvia suitable for any style of planting, in any soil type or climate.  I started off with the basic ones available at the time, and have steadily built up my collection to around 100 different types, always losing some along the way and gaining others. They have so many appealing characteristics – long flowering, bright colours, attractive to bees and butterflies. Some have scented foliage as well which is lovely, although some can be quite pungent! 
When I arrived here on the Thames Coast, I needed to figure out a way of supporting myself and my family. Working in town was one option, but working from home was even better as it allowed me the flexibility to be around when my children needed me.
My parents said to me one day….think about what you are good at, and do that.  So I did. I worked out a business plan, and went from there.  
I started selling plants via mail order in September 2014, and haven’t looked back.  I knew that my plants were something different, something that people were always looking for, but were generally hard to find. I also knew that the way I grow them produces healthy plants that grow once they get out in the garden. The pot sizes were also important - they are kept small enough for gardeners to handle easily, and plant the plants in the garden without digging to China to fit it in, but big enough to produce a quality plant with a good root system. So I was looking at filling a niche market, selling rare and unusual perennials, and specialising in Salvias.  I then branched out into selling bulbs once a year, as there is a high demand for the special and rare bulbs that I grow as well, and I seem to have amassed a huge collection of those over the years.
There is always the temptation to sell vast quantities of things to landscapers etc, but I have kept focused on my customer base of everyday gardeners, and will continue to do so as I love keeping them all supplied with quality plants.