Key plants in The Better New Build

The theme for the planting is colourful, calming and sensory whilst encouraging pollinators into the space.

Achillea ‘Terracotta’

Achillea 'Terracotta'

A tall, clump-forming herbaceous perennial with feathery, silvery grey-green leaves. It is selected because it is pollinator friendly, and for its flat heads of deep yellow to terracotta flowers, fading to cream.

Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’

A peachy-orange flowered cultivar noted for its long flowering season from late spring to autumn. It reaches a height of 90cm. It is selected for its fabulous colour, its height and because it is pollinator friendly.

Geum 'Totally Tangerine'

Salvia ‘Blue Spire’

Salvia 'Blue Spire'

This small, upright deciduous sub-shrub has white stems bearing deeply-divided and aromatic grey-green leaves. Small, violet-blue flowers in large plumy panicles appear in late summer and autumn. 

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’

‘Hidcote’ is a bushy dwarf evergreen shrub with narrow, silvery-grey leaves and small deep violet-purple flowers in dense, aromatic spikes. 

Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote'

Crataegus persimilis ‘Prunifolia’

Crataegus persimilis 'Prunifolia'

A small, broad-crowned deciduous tree with long thorns and glossy broad-oval leaves which turn a dramatic red and orange colour in the autumn. White flowers in spring are followed by deep red fruits in the autumn.

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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.