FUSS-FREE PLANTS
Affordable, pleasing on the eye and low maintenance – you won’t need green fingers to enjoy these beauties. Give them a weekly water and watch them bloom!
DELICATE LILACS Viola ‘white swan’
These subtly scented, pure white flowers delicately flush violet as they mature – a charming addition to any garden that you can enjoy right through to autumn. ■ £4.80 (1 litre pot) ashwoodnurseries.com
Winter windflower
Officially known as ‘Anemone Blanda’, these cheerful daisy-like flowers bloom in the most beautiful blue and purple shades. Plant them in the ground and they will soon grace your garden with a glorious carpet of colour.
■ £5.99 (0.5 litre pot) ballyrobertgardens.com
Tulip ‘Shirley’
Admire ivory white blooms with fine lilac markings and delicate speckles, as if they had been airbrushed on. Buy and plant bulbs this September to enjoy the following spring or buy potted varieties.
■ £5.99 (10 bulbs), Crocus.co.uk
SHADE-LOVING BLOOMS Barrenwort orange queen
This perennial is so colourful, it’ll be a feature through multiple seasons. Its leaves have a rosy look in spring and turn bronzy in autumn. Better still, it thrives in many settings – containers, rock gardens and edging borders.
■ £7.50 (9cm pot) westcountrylupins.co.uk
Balm-leaved red deadnettle
A handsome perennial species, with large, green, heart-shaped leaves that are adorned with velvet crimson flowers from April to June. Despite being a nettle, they don’t have any stinging ability!
■ £4.95 (9cm pot) sarahraven.com
Dog’s tooth violet
Preferring shaded areas, Dog’s tooth violets will grow in almost any soil that isn’t too wet or too dry. Deciduous and fully hardy, it has rose-pink flowers and tongue-shaped leaves. Most flower in early spring and go dormant in summer, so don’t worry when they disappear in July!
■ £4.99 (0.5 litre pot) ballyrobertgardens.com
BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL Chocolate vine
This climber boasts clusters of violetplum blooms, nestled among bright green foliage, reminiscent of exotic climates. Train it against a wall or over a pergola and enjoy wafts of its vanilla scent.
■ £8.99 (9cm pot) jparkers.co.uk
Pansies
Offering a beautiful range of colours, pansies are a great early spring bedding plant – ideal for pots or hanging baskets by the door to greet you when you arrive home. ■ £7.99 (40 plug plants) brooksidenursery. co.uk