Plants in The Diamond Way: Cotswolds Estates and Gardens 60th Anniversary Garden

“The woolly foliage represents the wool trade on which the Cotswolds was built”

Rosettes of silver, greyish white leaves provide an attractive, weed suppressing carpet for much of the year. This variety of lamb’s ears rarely flowers and is an excellent, drought-tolerant groundcover or edging plant for a well-drained site in full sun. The foliage is a more intense shade of silver than flowering varieties of the plant.

“We are using a large specimen removed from a client’s garden and re-shaped, representing native, road-side planting.”

This fast growing native makes a wonderful dense, deciduous hedge and is quite tolerant of coastal conditions and cold, exposed sites. In spring the emerging deeply lobed foliage is flushed with red, but it gradually turns a lush, mid green and stays that colour throughout summer. It then takes on buttery yellow tones as the temperatures start to drop again in autumn. 

“This is a large specimen that was also used in the company’s 50th anniversary Show garden.”

Abundant panicles of fragrant, lavender pink flowers in late spring and early summer and oval, dark green leaves. This lovely Korean lilac is ideal for a sunny, well-drained shrub or mixed border. Compact and slow growing, it’s perfect for the smaller garden or where space is limited.

“Semi-mature Fagus sylvatica will represent the ancient beech woodlands of the Cotswolds.”

A splendid plant with green leaves that turn a rich copper in autumn. As a tree it is only suited to large gardens or parks, grown as specimens in the lawn. However, it does make a superb hedge, retaining the brown leaves through winter and only losing them when the new foliage appears in spring.

“Bluebells represent underplanting in the ancient beech woodlands of the Cotswolds.”

English bluebells are much loved for their stout spikes of bell-shaped, blue flowers in April and May. They are perfect for naturalising in a partly shaded woodland garden or underneath the canopy of deciduous trees.