An array of spring flowers brought fragrance and wildlife to the Malvern Hills, with some key plants featuring in many of the gardens
1. Cirsium rivale
Spots of purple lit up many Show Gardens at RHS Malvern thanks to the plume thistle. The spikey gems provide height to a border and their bright, sculptural blooms stand out from bedding like floral lolipops.
- Position: full sun
- Soil: moist, well-drained
- Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
- Flowering period: May to July
- Hardiness: fully hardy
As seen on: It Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth,
The Cotswold Garden,
Eat, Drink and be Rosemary
2. Lychnis flos cuculi
See throughout RHS Malvern Spring Festival in gardens, exhibits and visitors’ shopping baskets, ragged robin is a regular favourite at the show. It’s loved for its starry pink flowers, which look best planted en masse.
- Position: Full sun or partial shade
- Soil: Reliably moist, fertile soil
- Depth of water: 0-5cm
- Rate of growth: Average to fast-growing
- Flowering period: April to July
- Hardiness: Fully hardy
As seen on: The Cotswold Garden,
The Secret Escape
3. Tiarella
With its understated white and pink spires,
Tiarella softened beds and borders in most of the Show and School Challenge Gardens at the Festival. It was most effectively used as underplanting, where the deeply-lobed leaves reflect the palmate foliage of maples.
- Position: partial or deep shade
- Soil: cool, moist, humus-rich soil
- Rate of growth: fast-growing
- Flowering period: May to July
- Hardiness: fully hardy
As seen on: Defying Gravity,
Macmillan Legacy Garden,
Green Islands,
The Laskett Garden
4. Euphorbias
There were many varieties of
Euphorbia around the show, from tall lime-green forms, to the compact spurges as seen on The Secret Escape Garden, where their red-eyed centres shone out among meadow planting.
- Position: full sun
- Soil: light, well-drained garden soil
- Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
- Flowering period: March to July
- Hardiness: fully hardy
As seen on: The Secret Escape,
The Laskett Garden,
It Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth,
The Macmillan Legacy Garden
5. Aquilegias
While nearly all of the gardens at RHS Malvern Spring had aquilegias
, they played very different roles. Some brought deep purple colour, as seen on It Doesn’t have to Cost the Earth. On The Laskett Garden, they were largely spent, to represent the different stages of life in a garden. The Grand Appeal Garden used two cultivars of white
Aquilegia –
‘White
Barlow’ and ‘Green Apples’ – to bring a soft serenity to the garden.
- Position: Full sun or partial shade
- Soil: Fertile, moist, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: Average
- Flowering period: May to June
- Hardiness: Fully hardy
As seen on: The Grand Appeal Garden,
It Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth,
The Laskett Garden,
The Cotswold Garden,
The Magical World of Oz
6. Hostas
The large leaves of this show garden favourite gave a tropical feel to The Ugly Bug Ball School Challenge Garden. Variegated and vibrant green forms brought light to shady under planting in Concete 2.0 and Macmillan Legacy Gardens, while The Laskett Garden showed off their impressive ‘Halcyon’ specimens in raised containers, flanking the central path.
- Position: partial or full shade
- Soil: fertile, moist, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
- Flowering period: July to August
- Hardiness: fully hardy
As seen on: The Laskett Garden,
Concrete 2.0,
The Macmillan Legacy Garden,
It Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth
7. Thalictrum
Meadow rue graced many of the Show Gardens, often paired with
Astrantia and
Aquilegia to bring dots of soft purples and pinks to dappled shade.
- Position: full sun or lightly dappled shade
- Soil: fertile, moist soil
- Rate of growth: average
- Flowering period: June to July
- Hardiness: fully hardy
As seen on: Green Islands,
Eat drink and be Rosemary
8. Myosotis sylvatica
Forget-me-nots lent a blue haze to RHS Malvern Spring and brought lots of insects into the gardens. Often found paired with ferns, they provided a cooling shot of colour to the sunny showground.
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: moderately fertile or poor, moist but well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average
- Flowering period: April to June
- Hardiness: fully hardy (biennial)
As seen on: The Macmillan Legacy Garden,
The Grand Appeal Garden,
Eat, Drink and be Rosemary
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