Ten plants to make your garden stand out - Gardening with Brendan

Calla lilies

These stunning flowers were extremely easy to grow from bulbs. They come in an array of colours and I've grown orange, purple, black and lemon varieties this year. They are not hardy though so you have to lift the bulbs in late autumn to save for next year. But they are worth it.

Rudbeckia Hirta

All Rudbeckias are stunning and I've grown four different sub species these year including two perennial, Goldstrum and the giant Herbstonne, and the biennial tribola Black Jack.

For impact, the annual Hirta varieties is in a league of its own. These black cone-centred US natives are easy to grow from seed and produce masses of large blooms in different autumn shades on tall stems.

There's also a stunning emerald green-centred Irish Eyes variety that I plan to sow next spring.

Day Lilies (hemerocallis)

Lillies were never on my radar until I got a discount stash of bulbs in an end of the season sale early in the summer and a few of them grew on this year to flower. Super hardy and easy to grow, day lilies now come in a stunning array of colour combinations.

The strap like foliage and big blooms add a splash of interest to the garden. As the name suggests they bloom and go all in one day but there are so many flowers that it looks like they are continually flowering for a long period.

My favourite was the beautifully named and majestic Celebration of Angels, a peachy cream coloured hemerocallis with a dark red and bright green centre.

Billy buttons (Billy balls)

These odd looking woolly little golden pompoms are a real stand out in the garden and best of all they keep their colour and form when cut and dried. Popular with smaller pollinators, this Australian native grows on long, strong stems from a perennial clump.

Most of mine came a cropper to slugs when grown from seed but they were easy to germinate and are perennial so they should come back next year.

Eryngium (Sea holly)

Eryngium is not grown so much for its thistle head flowers but for what happens once those flowers emerge, as magically the green plants, flowers, sepals, stems and all turn neon blue.

You have to see it to believe it, but if you are looking for something truly strange and original, then perennial Eryngium is a great shout.

Echinops (Globe Thistle)

Another blue stunner, Echinops is a perennial plant with slightly jagged leaves that produces large globes of steel blue flowers on long stems.

I've grown some from seed but like most perennials they are slow growing but they are also hardy so best to start them indoors early in the spring.

Like Eryngium, they also keep their colour when dried, and for a contemporary look cut them just before they flower when the spikey seed heads are at their metallic blue best.

Alstroemeria

For exotic vibrant colour and impact, look no further than Alstroemeria, which is hardy and grows well here in pots or in the ground. It is easy to root from cuttings and produces masses of beautiful flowers with a spotted yellow centre in shades of pink, white, peach and purple.

There are low growing varieties that stay close to the ground and others that are taller.

They will return bigger and better every year but if grown in pots they will need to be fed and watered regularly to keep producing.

Astilbe

Also known as false Goats Beard, Astilbe is a great perennial plant for foliage and flowers in our sodden climate because it loves damp earth and shady spots. The low growing foliage itself is very attractive and in summer it produces brightly coloured little flowers that look like neon Christmas trees in shades of purple, red, pink, peach and white.

I've also grown a few Aruncus (goat's beard) which is a similar looking plant but it wasn't a patch on its false cousin.

Canterbury Bells

Probably my flower of the year, these stunning biennials grow easily from seed and come in shades of dark and light blue, pink and bright white. This late spring, early summer bloomer will provide a magnificent display for weeks on end, and they last well in a vase.

Of everything I've grown this year, this is the one people comment no most, and the one most people can’t believe is a real plant because they look almost too perfect.

The only thing is though their big blooms can make them top heavy and they can flop over in wind and rain so plant close together and maybe have a few stakes and a bit of string ready for when the flowers are about to bloom.

Oriental Poppies

This was my second year growing these hardy poppies and they didn't disappoint once again. Flowering for over a month on tall spindly but strong stems, they overwinter fine outdoors and you will see bumble bees fighting over access.

They come in shades of red, orange, pink and white flowers and flower either in the spring or early summer, preferring cooler temperatures. Keep an eye out for bees having a little nap inside them too.

Hollyhock

I know I said ten but I couldn't leave this one out. For wow factor impact Hollyhock, a giant of the garden, is hard to beat. From its rosette base emerge long strong stalks dotted with single or double blooms in a wide variety of flowers. Another plant people often comment doesn't look real because of its beauty and size. It is very easy to grow from seed, overwinters fine in Ireland, needs little care and looks great standing sentinel at the back of a border in mass plantings.