plant portrait – Nicola Stocken

Monarda National Collection in July

Some 100 different cultivars of this spectacular herbaceous perennial are grown at Glyn Bach Garden

The charm of epimediums lies in the way their dainty flowers are suspended from long stems that quiver at the slightest movement

Come midsummer, Easton Walled Gardens is filled with sweet peas, buzzing bees and a sweet fragrance

One of spring’s most beautiful sights, a profusion of fragrant, pea-like flowers

Flowering from spring into summer, peonies and the Itoh varieties, have many admirers

With their smiling faces, violas are a sweet-natured perennial that no garden should be without

As one of winter’s most enduring flowers, snowdrops unfurl as early as January, with later cultivars in February and March

Small, dainty, big or blowsy, clematis come in such a range as to suit any garden, flowering in every month

Hellebores, with their exquisite winter flowers and long flowering season, have enchanted generations of gardeners

A hard January frost is sure to awaken the fragrant, spidery flowers on witch hazels to glow in the brittle winter sunshine