Good plant #107 - Sciadopitys Verticillata

This is a very striking evergreen and slow growing columnar conifer. I was literally stopped in my tracks by the leaves which look like fireworks exploding. You can buy lots of different varieties of this, including golden coloured ones. There are smaller varieties which can be grown in pots too.

It prefers moist but well drained soil and will tolerate sunny and part shaded sites.

You should refrain from pruning as it is very slow to regenerate.

You can take cuttings in autumn.

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Good plant #106 - Begonia Semperflorens 'Ascot Bronze White'

This tender plant is useful for filling gaps in the summer months. It produces many flowers against a highly contrasting bronze foliage.

In my experience it grows almost anywhere and in any soil. Fertilize ( every two to three weeks) and water regularly for optimum performance.

It lasts only one season but is so cheap it is worth buying every year.

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Good plant #105 - Lonicera Periclymenum 'Graham Thomas'

This is a heavily scented deciduous honeysuckle that has a long flowering season. The flowers start off white-ish but then turn more yellowy.

Honeysuckles grow best in part shaded sites and moist well-drained soils with a robust framework to twine and climb up. Once flowering is over, this honeysuckle benefits from pruning back to strong new-ish growth.

You can take cuttings in late summer.

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Build a pergola the easy way

You will need the following materials:

• Enough treated wooden trellis to meet your desired size for the ‘roof’
• 4no. 4” x 4” lengths of treated wood cut to your desired height (plus a foot to go underground) for the posts
• 4no. screws
• A plank of wood at least as long as your desired length for the pergola
• Two sticks of wood exactly 18” long
• Rubble (e.g. broken bricks)
• Just add water ready mix concrete
• A spirit level

Then just follow these steps:

1. Dig four holes for the upright posts, spaced to fit the size of the trellis roof
2. Level the bottom of holes to the correct depth using the plank of wood, two sticks and a spirit level
3. Put the first post in its hole, shore it up with a little rubble and level it vertically as best you can
4. Put the second post in its hole, shore it up with a little rubble and level it vertically as best you can
5. Horizontally level posts one and two using the plank on top of the posts and the spirit level, checking the spacing for the trellis roof as you go
6. When you are satisfied with the first and second posts’ horizontal and vertical levels and spacing for the trellis roof, carefully pour enough water then dry concrete mix around the post to fill the hole except for a couple of inches below ground level
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for the third and fourth posts
8. Screw the wooden trellis to the top of posts once the concrete is set
9. Paint or stain as required
10. Add climbing plants and enjoy!

The key to this project is diligently checking and refining the horizontal and vertical levels and carefully spacing the posts for the trellis roof.

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Good plant #104 - Cotinus Coggygria 'Royal Purple'

This deciduous shrub is a gardener's favourite. Why? It creates great contrast in a border and can be pruned to suit the space you have available.

It's also known as a smoke bush because its pink-ish flowers have a feathery appearance which looks smoky.

I suggest pruning this hard back (remove crossing branches and down to two buds per stem) in early spring to encourage really vibrant foliage. Like most shrubs it loves a 2-3 inch mulch of rich compost round the base in early spring.

This plant does best in moist but well drained soil. It'll thrive in full sun and part shaded sites.

Cuttings can be taken in late summer and early autumn.

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Good plant #103 - Oenothera Biennis

Also known as the common evening primrose, this tall hardy biennial is worth the wait from seed. A succession of large scented flowers are produced on tall stems in the summer and autumn. It is a classic cottage garden plant and looks equally at home in prairie or meadow planting scheme.

It likes sun or part shade and likes any well drained soil. As it's a tall plant it's best kept in sheltered spot otherwise you will need to stake it.

It will self seed. Seeds are best planted in early summer. In the first growing season low-growing rosettes will form. The following year the tall flower stems shoot up.

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Good plant #102 - Molinia Caerulea 'Variegata'

This is an elegant hardy perennial low-ish growing grass. This plant forms a lovely tuft of striped leaves followed by erect purple tinted flower heads above the tuft. A great one for the front of the border and can be planted in a large group. It maintains its colour well into the winter until the first really cold spell.

Remove all the previous year's growth in early spring and feed with a general purpose soluble fertilizer when the new shoots appear.

It prefers fertile well-drained soil and a sunny position but will tolerate a little shade.

You can divide it in spring soon after the new shoots begin to appear.

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Good plant #101 - Physocarpus Opulifolious 'Centre Glow'

This shrub certainly has wow factor foliage. Its foliage is almost two-tone as it emerges then goes a very dark red. It also produces pink-tinged white flowers but the foliage on its own makes this deciduous shrub a winner.

You can treat this as a flowering shrub, in which case you have to prune straight after flowering has finished. Alternatively if you cut back to almost the ground in spring you can treat it as foliage shrub.

It likes a sunny site a will tolerate any well drained soil.

You can propagate by cuttings in summer.

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Good plant #100 - Papaver Somniferum 'Lilac Pom Pom'

I came across this annual opium poppy variety by pure fluke. My brother-in-law felled some conifers and turned over the soil beneath them and hey presto a huge swathe of lilac coloured poppies came up. He gave me some seeds.

Originally, I thought it was a variety called purple peony but was wrong. This is a truely floriferous and huge annual poppy that you grow from seed.

It will grow and seed itself everywhere although it prefers full sun and well drained soil. Just remove the young seedlings you don't want and or move them to where you want them. Do this carefully as they seem to resent root disturbance.

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Good plant #99 - Lilium Asiatic 'Blackout'

This is an amazing and tall asiatic lily. It is very reliable and will produce more flowers year on year. It likes any well-drained soil in a sunny spot. To encourage flowers and bulbs to grow and split I feed with a general purpose soluble fertilizer in spring.

I remove seed pods straight after each flower dies, so the plant's energy is not wasted on making ripe seeds.

To propagate simply lift, split and replant large bulbs in late autumn/ winter. When you lift a lily you can tell whether its ready to split because it looks like two or more bulbs.

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Good plant #98 - Crataegus Laevigata Plena

This is floriferous deciduous small-ish ornamental hawthorn tree grown for its abundance of double flowers. There's a pink version of this too (Rosea).

If you live in Manchester, hawthorns are found everywhere. You often see them as you drive down the motorway along with cow parsley. They look gorgeous together. It produces berries in autumn too.

You can plant them almost anywhere in almost any soil except for very boggy soil.

Propagation is notoriously tricky. If you use the seeds they don't always come true or even germinate. The only other way is grafting onto established root stock in late winter/ early spring. If you want more, I suggest buying more.

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Good plant #97 - Campanula Poscharskyana

This is the vigorous blue flowering plant you see growing in stone/ brick walls with cracks and and in crevices on paths.

It likes free draining soil and a sunny-ish site but will grow virtually anywhere. If you want to grow it to cascade down a wall, plant it towards the top/ on the top of the wall in some fertile soil (to get it off to a good start) and its roots will then find the moisture and nutrient in the cracks. It will not take long to cascade down.

This plant will self seed. You can also divide it in spring.

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Good plant #96 - Podophyllum Versipelle 'Spotty Dotty'

This has to be one the best perennial foliage plants for moist shady areas. This is a fairly recent variety of Podophyllum. Although it produces flowers, it's mainly grown for the foliage.

This plant needs a fair bit of shade and moist soil.

It can be divided in spring just as the new growth pops through the soil.

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Good plant #95 - Sambucus Nigra f. Porphyrophylla 'Thundercloud'

This is a tremendous elder. It has many seasons of interest. In spring its beautiful acer-like red foliage appears. This is followed by flowers starting from the the awkward May/ Early June gap and going on well into summer. It then produces dark purple fruit.

Add to this, it will grow in almost any soil and in sunny and part shaded sites. This is one great plant. In full sun you get redder leaf colour.

You can trim this as much or as little as you like. However, if left unpruned it can grow to 6ft plus and spread even more. I trim back to almost the ground in early spring.

You can take cuttings in spring and autumn.

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Good plant #94 - Pleioblastus Viridistriatus 'Dwarf Greenstripe'

This is a low growing ground cover bamboo with striking foliage. It looks great mixed in with bluey-green foliage plants like Festuca Glauca or Juniperus Squatamata 'Blue Star'. It is great for growing in a pot.

It can spread quite widely albeit slowly. It's not like some spreading bamboos which completely take over. If you want to restrict it spreading, plant it in a pot in the soil.

I cut it back to ground in early spring before the new growth starts.

It prefers moist-ish well-drained soil and a sunny but sheltered spot. However, I have grown this on very dry soil. Its foliage can be ruined if there is too much wind exposure.

You can divide this in spring just as the new shoots start to appear.

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Good plant #93 - Buddleia Alternifolia

This buddleia does not seem as popular as the many davidii varieties yet this is an incredibly handsome species. It is a large flowering shrub and in my opinion looks the best in and out of flower compared to other species and varieties. This is mainly due to its weeping habit.

It is not fussy where it is planted and will tolerate most soil - even fairly infertile dry soil.

To get the best out of this shrub, prune out about a third of the old wood after flowering.

You can take cuttings in summer.

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Good plant #92 - Woodwardia Fimbriata

This is a tall, arching and bright green fern that is perfect for a moist shady border. Although it is evergreen, I remove the old fronds in spring and feed it with a general purpose fertilizer. This encourages many large lush fronds.

It must have moist soil and shade. It doesn't like clayey soils though, so add plenty of compost and grit to the planting hole if you have heavy clay.

You can divide this fern in spring just as fronds have just started unfurling.

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Good plant #91 - Geranium Oxonianum 'Wargrave Pink'

This is an incredibly vigorous and tough geranium. It produces masses of flowers on shapely domes of almost shiny green foliage. Every cottage garden should have a swathe of this. If you cut this back to the ground after the first flush of flowers, it will usually flower again before the summer's out. It looks great with pink and white foxgloves.

It will thrive almost anywhere, even in dark dry spots and in almost any well drained soil. I would not put this in too fertile soil as it tends to get too leggy.

This plant can be divided in spring and will self seed.

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Good plant #90 - Hieracium Aurantiacum

This native wild flower produces its bright orange flowers throughout the summer. Many people treat this plant as a weed.

It prefers well drained soil and will do best in a sunny-ish position.

This plant propagates itself by runners and seed.

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Good plant #89 - Leucanthemum Vulgare

My favourite short-lived perennial weed. It's hard not like the look of this native plant. It's the classic daisy. You will see it growing all over the place. Looks great in meadow or prairie planting schemes.

It prefers sun and will send up more flowers in a moderately fertile soil compared to poor soil.

The plant's biggest downside is it self seeds prolifically. Remove the flower heads unless you want your whole garden covered by this plant.

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Good plant #88 - Scabiosa Caucasica 'Perfecta Alba''

An stunning perennial plant once established. It produces large flowers on tall stems and will keep producing them all summer if you dead head. Unusually, the young leaves are very different from the older leaves.

This plant loves a sunny site and any well drained soil.

This plant benefits from propagating by division in spring about every three years.

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