RHS Malvern Spring Festival

Plants in Biosis: Mode of Life Garden

The theme is wild and naturalistic plantings with ornamental drought tolerant plants which add a sculptural statement to planting under the bee wing pergola

Eryngium agavifolium – agave-leaved sea holly

Eryngium agavifolium
Eryngium agavifolium

“A statement plant with semi evergreen spiny rosettes that resemble agaves. Very hardy from our experience and towering flower spikes in summer make it a valuable drought tolerant statement plant with height.”

A handsome evergreen perennial forming a rosette of sharply toothed, sword-shaped leaves, with small, green thimble-like flower-heads on branched stems in late summer.

Trifolium ochroleucun – sulphur clover

“Sulphur Clover has creamy bottlebrush heads atop trifoliate leaflets. Great for pollinators and a relative of our native clover. Adds a wild touch, but with a difference. Very hardy and can be cut right back after flowering to encourage a second flush.”

A clump-forming, herbaceous perennial with trifoliate green leaves. Creamy-yellow flowers are borne in rounded flower heads in summer and are a good nectar source for bees and butterflies.

Trifolium ochroleucun
Trifolium ochroleucun

“Right plant, right place and habitat diversity are two big themes to ensure conditions are varied across the space by changing substrates and exposure to increase the number of habitats. Plants are then chosen for the conditions to ensure they thrive and further add contrast and diversity.”

Jen Rafferty – garden designer

Filipendula rubra ‘Venusta’ – meadowsweet

Filipendula rubra ‘Venusta’
Filipendula rubra ‘Venusta’

“A more ornamental version of our meadowsweet hedgerow native. Attractive palmate leaves and candy floss frothy flowers. Great for damp meadows and again very hardy. A good host for caterpillars of both moths and butterflies.”

An upright, clump-forming, herbaceous perennial with vine-shaped dark green foliage. Clusters of tightly packed dark pink buds open to clouds of small, dark rose-pink flowers with feathery anthers in July and August.

Aronia melanocarpa – black chokeberry

“This plant is a little known and underappreciated shrub. With no thorns and an intense fiery red autumn colour, it’s attractive as well as edible. Its black berries contain very high antioxidant potential, containing both anthocyanins and catechins.”

Aronia melanocarpa
Aronia melanocarpa

Rheum palmatum var. tanguticum

Rheum palmatum
Rheum palmatum

“Big palmate leaves with red undersides and chunky tall flower spikes add a natural drama to plantings. Large leaves are great at changing conditions within a garden, shading and sheltering from the elements. It also provides a great structure and weight to planting schemes and is a good alternative to the usual (and now banned), invasive gunnera plants often seen at historic gardens by water.”
 

Plant lists are provided by the designer of the garden as a guide to the plants they hope to use in the garden based on the time of year, the location and the Client Brief. The plants that feature at the Show depends on a variety of factors such as weather during the growing season and availability. While the designers try to update lists where possible, the accuracy of the list cannot be guaranteed.

Read more

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.