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 Plant list: Plants for clay soil
Clay soils may appear unpromising as they are wet in winter and bone dry in summer. However, their ability to hold nutrients means they can produce some of the most spectacular of displays.
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| Latin name: | | Helenium |
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| Common name: | | Helen’s flower |
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| Type of plant: | | Perennial |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | Yellow, orange or red |
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| Leaf colour: | | Mid- to dark green |
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| Height and spread: | | 1m to 1.4m x 60cm to 1m (3.3ft to 4.6ft x 2ft to 3.3ft) |
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| Description: | |
Grown for their long lasting, largish daisy-like flowers, heleniums need to be grown in full sun. Modern varieties are shorter and more compact than previous ones.
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| Latin name: | | Aster |
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| Common name: | | Aster |
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| Type of plant: | | Perennials |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy to half-hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White to pink to violet |
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| Leaf colour: | | Grey to deep green |
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| Height and spread: | | 25cm to 1m x 50cm to 1.5m (10in to 3.3ft x 1.6ft to 4.9ft) |
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| Description: | |
Asters are grown for their daisy-like flowers that make a real splash in the early autumn garden. They may need staking. A. novi-belgii is prone to mildew and best avoided.
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| Latin name: | | Weigela |
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| Common name: | | Weigela |
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| Type of plant: | | Shrub |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White, pink, or red |
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| Leaf colour: | | Green or variegated |
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| Height and spread: | | 1.5m to 2.5m x 1m to 2m (4.9ft to 8.2ft x 3.3ft to 6.6ft) |
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| Description: | |
Easy to grow in a sunny position, these deciduous shrubs produce masses of funnel-shaped flowers in late spring and summer. Cut out a third of the stems after flowering.
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| Latin name: | | Monarda |
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| Common name: | | Bergamot |
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| Type of plant: | | Perennial |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White to pink to violet |
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| Leaf colour: | | Mid-green |
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| Height and spread: | | 75cm to 1.2m x 45cm (2.5ft to 3.9ft x 1.5ft) |
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| Description: | |
Blooming from mid-summer to early autumn, these tall perennials are as at home in the herb garden as they are in the border. Keep well watered in dry weather to avoid mildew.
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| Latin name: | | Chaenomeles |
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| Common name: | | Flowering quince |
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| Type of plant: | | Shrub |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White to pink to red |
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| Leaf colour: | | Mid-green |
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| Height and spread: | | 2.5m x 3.7m (8.2ft x 12.1ft) |
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| Description: | |
This vigorous, deciduous shrub has thorny stems. It brightens up the garden in late winter and spring, when it produces colourful, cup-shaped flowers. Looks good trained against a wall or fence.
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