Top five Hillier plants for instant summer colour!
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In these warmer months, most of us are looking forward to spending more time in the garden, soaking up the sunshine and enjoying a vibrant, bright outdoor space. Although the main planting season has passed, there's always time to add a splash of colour with stunning flowering blooms. Hillier has a beautiful selection available on its online shop or at any of its 22 garden centres. Here Charlotte McGrattan, HNS Buyer at Hillier Garden Centres has shared their top five plant picks to instantly add colour to any garden this summer.
Rudbeckia is a hardy, clump-forming perennial that brings vibrant colour to the garden from mid-summer into autumn. It features dark green leaves and produces upright stems adorned with striking golden-yellow flowers with a distinctive dark brown central cone.
This semi-evergreen perennial forms a neat clump of deep green leaves and produces rounded clusters of attractive trumpet shaped flowers atop upright stems. Its enduring blooms make for a long season of brilliant colour. Perfect when dotted in beds and borders, Agapanthus is a real must have for any style of garden.
With its tall, elegant stems and clusters of vibrant purple flowers, Verbena bonariensis fills borders with charm. Loved by bees and butterflies, it's perfect for herbaceous borders, adding a touch of colour from summer to autumn.
Available in shades from deepest purple to delicate pinks, due to their long flowering season, from summer into autumn, they bring welcome colour to the garden. Bees are drawn to its delightful blooms, making it a garden favourite.
Characterised by its toothed dark green leaves and cheerful blooms, Leucanthemum produces an abundance of white flowers from summer through to autumn.
These top summer plants thrive in full sun and prefer well-drained soil. Keep them well-watered until they are established and to encourage repeat blooming, deadhead the flowers regularly.
For further information and plant inspiration, as well as being able to buy plants to have delivered to home, visit www.hillier.co.uk.
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Editors notes
“To inspire the creation of green living spaces for now and the future” Hillier is one of the leading names in the horticultural industry, with 160 years of growing and retail experience.
Founded in 1864 by Edwin Hillier, the company remains a family-run nursery with the fifth generation now actively involved in the family business as it continues to grow.
Not only is Hillier the largest producer of semi-mature trees in Europe and grower of over one million plants at its Hampshire nursery, but it also employs over 750 staff across its nursery, amenity trees and 22 garden centre divisions and is a flourishing multi-million pound company. It proudly holds the world record for the most consecutive gold medals awards at the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show, with 74 wins.
As one of the leading growers in the UK, Hillier is involved in many peat-free initiatives, including the RHS Peat-Free Fellowship, the largest peat-free collaborative research project globally. The company was amongst the first nurseries to become 100% peat-free across both its production nursery and retail garden centres, and all Hillier plants are grown in peat-free compost.
Recent successes for the company include the launch of its online shop, the substantial redevelopment of Hillier Garden Centre Newbury and the acquisition of the Rosebourne Garden Centre Group in November 2022, as well as sponsorship of BBC Gardeners’ World Live and BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair, and the incredibly popular free ‘Hillier Gardening Club’ loyalty program which now has over half a million members.
Renowned for being a leading breeder of plants in the UK at its 100% peat-free nursery in Hampshire, each year Hillier introduces amazing new varieties. Many of these have become essentials in British gardens and the company continues with the tradition of innovation and the introduction of new garden plants in the present day.
