Hi Minnie, lots of ideas but can you advise whether the beds are mostly sun or shade or a mix? Also do you know if your clay soil is acid or alkaline? If you’re not sure you can get simple soil testing kits from garden centres or online. Then I can give you some suggestions. Are you looking for more architectural, prairie or cottage garden?

Sorry you already said some sun! With your soil, add lots of compost to it, either dug in or a thick layer laid on top. Grit will also help to lighten the soil. Good thing about clay soil it is full of nutrients.

Tall perennials that I have in my garden (loam soil) that do well are Salvia Amistad (purple), Echinops (pale blue), Anemone (white or pink), Crocosmia (orange but looks fab with blues and purples!), Rudbeckia (yellow), Asters (purple/pinks) and Helenium (yellow). There are tons more but I don’t like recommending plants I’ve never planted in case they fail. Plants aren’t cheap! To get that swaying affect these plants can be planted between grasses to create that prairie effect.

Look at Hardy Geraniums for shorter perennials. Tough and beautiful and come in a huge array of colours such as white, blue, pink, purple and magenta. My favourite is Geranium Rozanne which is a lilac blue with a white eye. They don’t make seeds so flower all summer long. Also look at Erigeron (pink) which spreads and fills gaps. Brunerra Jack Frost is a lovely silver leaved perennial that prefers shade. If you go to the RHS website it will give you flowering times and their favourite soil types etc.

Do you like roses? You can get creeping low growing ones. I have one called Laura Ashley a beautiful bright pink. Azaleas also come in mini forms but need acid soil. Here’s a few pictures of some. First is Geranium Rozanne, then Salvia Amistad, Echinops, Crocosmia.

Thank you Sonia :) I still need to test the soil (!) currently there are a number of red robin trees planted which I’ve been assured are impossible to kill! We had quite a lot of top soil added plus compost and am making notes for particular plants re soil, grit etc, who would think gardening would be so complex and expensive?!

I should have said, the house is italianate in style so the garden will (hopefully) be a modern italianate style. It will predominantly be evergreen with topiary balls etc but I need to tone down the formality!

i will start working my way though your list :)

If you're overwhelmed try garden on a roll they're pretty decent

A beautiful, tall, purple perennial that you can see through is Verbena Bonariensis. It self seeds happily, but not too much. I like it underplanted with white flowers and purple Geranium Rozanne which goes on and on. It looks good repeated throughout the border.

Thank you both! The Verbena is one already on the list, i hadn't realised there was a shorter one which could work for the bowls though. @tamp75 I agree with ornamental grasses for around the bowls, I have been struggling with finding shorter ones atm so have a few Hebes I’m looking at

I’ll take a look at all those mentioned. Many thanks

If you can find a copy of the RHS encyclopedia of plants and flowers it sorts trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs etc into size, season, colour and shows habit, conditions etc….i found it invaluable before the crocus website was created.

I would also suggest you buy some plants on a monthly basis over a year or two so you have a succession of flowering and can match plant combinations more easily, for instance buying/planting spring bulbs in the autumn….

Thanks @katlucy Thats good to know, i have been looking at crocus as you can obviously filter it but I’ll try and order the book. i don't need too many perennials if I keep with the Italianate theme but i am quite fussy so it’s proving tricky and whilst I Iike an italiante garden I don’t like anything too formal! (a contradiction in terms!)

Thanks for the buying tip too!

Aquilegias and gladiolis palustrius are out at the moment in jewel colours and pale pink…and clematis perhaps….just to add to your confusion!! irises

I like geranium ann folkard for its wispy tendrils that can reach 4ft and float over/through clipped shrubs with small magenta flowers. agapanthus fireworks and a pink blush variety (new so wont appear in the book) for the summer, flowers for months.….have fun

My brother is a landscape gardener and designed our previous garden with perennials - geranium rozanne, Jasmine on the fence (trachelespermum jasminoides), hydrangeas (hydrangeas arborescens annabelle), firetails (Persicaria amplexicaulis) we absolutely loved and were so easy to look after. Iris (fabiola I think), with some grasses and shrubs for cover. Good luck!

The Italian Cypress might be good in your garden. Tall and skinny and used a lot in formal Italianate gardens. There is also an Irish version which tolerates our British weather better. I only know this as I saw it on Garden Rescue!

Thanks Sonia, we’ve planted 3 in the bed at the end of the patio. We had them in our old garden (south facing) and they did really well. These are in a sunny sheltered spot so fingers crossed!