You simply won’t believe your eyes when this luxurious Ranunculus 'Elegance® Malva' begins to unfurl, revealing what seems like endless amounts of petals. Rounded, formal and petals packed, if it’s glamour you’re looking for, this silky mauve ranunculus has to be one of the most opulent. These extravagant flowers have so much bloom on offer that it takes them several weeks to fully open, but they look absolutely amazing at every stage. Stagger their planting throughout spring and you’ll get to enjoy these flowers for months. Whether you choose to keep Ranunculus 'Elegance® Malva' in the garden or use them in elaborate, professional cut flower arrangements, their long-lasting perfection will not disappoint!
If you have partially shaded part of the garden with a damp soil, there are few plants better for happily settling themselves into it than Dicentra spectabilis, also known as bleeding heart. This distinctive plant is a classic and has long-been adored by gardeners as a fail-safe, go-to option for bringing a splash of colour to what could otherwise be a dull spot. Thanks to shade and moisture-loving goodies like this, you can spruce up the space with a generous patch of luscious greenery, topped off with effortlessly graceful arching stems, lavished with pretty pink pendant hearts! If you're looking for something low maintenance a reliable to pad out a planting scheme in conditions with lower light levels, such as an enclosed or small urban garden or perhaps a woodland area in a larger garden, Dicentra spectabilis or bleeding heart will fill the role and flounce into action with a beautiful display from late spring through to summer! Gracy knows:"Dicentra spectabilis has recently changed its official botanical name to Lamprocapnos spectabilis."
Explore a world of striking contrast, using Astilbe 'Dark Side of the Moon' as the ebony to your ivory. Pair it with zingy green grasses and hostas, or plants with big bright blooms like begonias, and you’ll be set for an out-of-this-world summer synthesis. The incredibly dark foliage of this false goat’s beard is indeed one astonishing feature, put together with its fountains of fluffy purple flowers and there you have one cracking ensemble. Astilbe 'Dark Side of the Moon' can grow in sun or shade—it’s not too fussy in that sense but it does need damp soil. This makes it very useful for filling gaps in what can be tricky conditions for some plants, such as cool, shady areas, clay soils or near water. Growing fairly quickly into a bushy plant, Astilbe 'Dark Side of the Moon' is a good choice of plant for relatively rapid results. Every year, this hardy perennial will grow back and bush out a little more each time.
Plant Phlox 'Palmyra' in your garden and you can look forward to more than just a big display of beautiful blooms. Most interestingly, this one variety produces flowers of different colour variations—marvel at a mixture white with pink stripes, fuchsia pink with white margins and clusters of crimson. Not only that, but in true Phlox fashion it will bring in the bees and butterflies as well as filling the air with fragrance. Those big conical flowerheads sit on strong stems up to around 1m tall—a few groups or a drift of 'Palmyra' phloxes in a border is an incredible sight but they also make an easy and magnificent bouquet. Phlox is a classic addition to a cottage-style garden and this new beauty brings an interesting modern twist. Phlox 'Palmyra' enjoys a position in a sunny border which has free draining soil. As it’s fairly tall, it would look best either at the back of a narrow border or in the middle of a wide border, planted in groups so that the flowers of varying shades can form a cumulous of pink clouds. The sassy new Phlox 'Palmyra' flaunts a wardrobe of petal patterns that'll make your garden the talk of the town! Strutting its stuff from mid summer, this botanical fashionista dazzles with a runway-worthy medley of white catwalk stripes on pink, bold pink solids, and a touch of reddish-pink glam. The blooms don't just look good; they throw a fragrant garden party that lasts for months, inviting butterflies to flutter by and gossip over the latest nectar. As the belle of the border ball, Phlox 'Palmyra' turns heads and layers your landscape with a depth of colour that's as much a feast for the eyes as it is for our winged friends. But don't be fooled by its chic appearance; this is no garden diva. Phlox paniculata 'Palmyra' is as easygoing as they come—think of it as the perennial friend who enjoys sticking around, without any of the fuss. Free-flowering and generous to a fault, Phlox 'Palmyra' is the gift that keeps on giving, offering up a bouquet of blooms to jazz up the great outdoors and your favourite vase indoors. Effortlessly stylish, perennially in vogue, and just a pinch of fabulous. Your garden soirées will never be the same!
Add a touch of fizz to your planting scheme with this sparkling speckled Dahlia 'Hy Trio', a frenzied vision in fruity mulberry and sherbety-white. Randomly scattered and streaked markings make every bloom slightly different. Watching each one of these big cactus flowers open is always a nice surprise, and if you’re making a big bunch of them they’ll treat you to a beautifully blended palette of pinkish-mauve tones! Let this spectacularly large cactus-flowered Dahlia 'Hy Trio' crackle and pop its way through summer as it puts on a fantastic show, bloom after bloom, all the way into autumn. Make a sweet combination by planting with lemon or orange flowered varieties, or use a deep mauve partner to really make them zing!
If you thought that ranunculi were casual country-garden subjects, you’re due for a re-think! Even though we’re veterans in the horticultural industry, the staff of Farmer Gracy were blown away by the superb work of the Italian master-breeder who created Italian Ranunculus 'Elegance® Viola'. Think aristocrats in designer evening wear or superstars on the red carpet. Viola is at home in the most select company and her velvety gown of deepest wine-red petals will vie with the creations of the world’s master designers. Farmer Gracy is now licensed to distribute this magnificent plant’s bulbs in the UK, and you’re therefore free to do more than ogle this starlet. Give Italian Ranunculus 'Elegance® Viola' a VIP position in your garden: she deserves nothing less!
Lilium speciosum var. rubrum is full of flirtatious fun. She casually flips her white flared skirt with little concern, revealing her pink flushed underskirt dotted with dark red polka dots as the skirt curls up and back in a wonderfully cheerful dance. These cheeky 15cm (6in) flowers hang downward, dangling pale green stamens headed with dark brown anthers that look like dancing slippers on this dancing lily! This is no modern girl, Lilium speciosum var. rubrum staged her first performances in English gardens way back in the first half of the 1800’s. Just goes to show that true quality withstands the test of time.
Sure, your granny grew mixed ranunculi and was happy with them, but times have changed, and ranunculi have taken on a new aura of mystery and elegance. Farmer Gracy was thrilled to discover the stunning Italian Ranunculus 'Elegance® Striato Bianco' at the internationally renowned horticultural fair in Essen, Germany, and even more pleased to become its licensed distributor in the UK. No, it’s not something you can get just anywhere: Ranunculus 'Elegance® Striato Bianco' is the product of a renowned Italian plant breeder, and we’re sure you’ll agree that this cultivar is a masterwork! Sporting a profusion of creamy petals edged with a frill of burgundy, Italian Ranunculus 'Elegance® Striato Bianco' is a designer original. It’s a must for connoisseurs searching for plants of distinction – but that’s just why you’re visiting Farmer Gracy’s website, isn’t it?
Striking umbels in the deepest pink, framed by a spiky ruff of blanched bracts, give Astrantia 'Roma' an alluring look that will bring a little romance and glamour to even the most traditional of gardens. This is a vigorous variety, with by far the longest flowering period of any of the deep pink or red Astrantias, so you can be sure of more than just a fleeting appearance. In fact, you can expect plentiful flowers from June all the way to September – talk about bang for your buck! With slender but wiry stems, Astrantia major 'Roma' makes an excellent cut flower, those starry-eyed blooms bringing plenty of drama to your summer arrangements. Given time to establish, the lush green foliage makes a great mid-height filler plant in herbaceous borders, even before the fabulous flowers do their thing. Or why not interplant with grasses for a more contemporary look? Either way, this variety is perfectly content in either full sun or partial shade, so you have a myriad of planting options to choose from.
Fall head-over-heels for this heartbreaker, Dahlia 'Crazy Love'. Whorls of white petals will capture your attention, a close inspection reveals a soft violet blush, violet outlines and evidence of a kooky wild side, with some untamed ragged petals. The petal-packed flowerheads have a cushiony softness which is just irresistible. You may need to snip a few for a vase, but thankfully, in true dahlia style, it’s free-flowering nature means that more will grow to replace them—so go ahead! Among the rainbow of dahlia varieties on offer, it’s good to have some which aren’t so loud. For Dahlia 'Crazy Love', poise and beauty just come subtly and so effortlessly. Try combining with plummy purple, pink or pale gold varieties for a gorgeous contrast, or let this throw a cheeky hint of mauve into a white garden. Plant this dahlia in borders (middle or back) or in a large patio container and enjoy blooms from mid-summer to the first frosts.
Cover bare soil with a carpet of Geranium 'Karmina'—a super tough and resilient summer ground cover which not only looks gorgeous, but is incredibly unfussy, low maintenance and helps to supress weeds! This is a gradually spreading cranesbill variety, but is not thuggish about it and tends to keep within its given space. If you have a tricky area to plant, dainty-looking Geranium 'Karmina' will put every effort into thriving there. Be it in sun, shade, clay or sandy soil. It'll even conquer a space which is in direct competition with small trees and shrubs! Flowering from early to mid summer, the show of blooms doesn’t last the season, but the cushion of foliage which does last the season is just as effective and takes on a toasty reddish hue for autumn and winter. Once it's settled in, Geranium × cantabrigiense 'Karmina' is fairly drought tolerant. It's also very hardy, handling winter temperatures down to around -20°C. Each year it grows back and spread as little, eventually forming a dense mat of ground cover.
Astilbe 'Vision in Red' is arguably the darkest and longest-flowering Astilbe you can buy. Deep red buds open to dark purplish red flowers in thick plumes, and these appear for most of the summer (and even into early autumn), rising above branching stems 45-75cm tall. This is a robust, upright plant, forming a mound of dark green leaves with wiry, dark purple stems and leaf stalks. A hardy perennial, it will grow best at the wet edges around ponds, or any soil that does not dry out. Astilbe chinensis 'Vision in Red' is a hybrid between Astilbe chinensis var. pumila and Astilbe chinensis 'Purpurkerze' (Purple Candle). Originally from eastern Asia and north-eastern America, Astilbes, also known as false goat’s beards or false spireas, are reliable garden favourites, and tend to love the British climate. They even tolerate quite heavy clay soils. Oh, and if you live in the country and are plagued by visiting rabbits—they won’t touch this astilbe!
Polemonium 'Heaven Scent' is a wonderful cultivar. In early spring the leaves emerge as dark bronze or purple. Soon after this the numerous, nodding violet-to-purple bell-shaped flowers start to form on upright stems. In the centre of each bloom are anthers of bright yellow. The blooms are highly fragrant. As they start to fade in summer, the foliage begins a colour transition towards a deep, fresh green. Composed of leaflets arranged in pairs opposite of each other, the foliage resembles the rungs of a ladder, hence the common name of Jacob’s Ladder. This is a very free-flowering perennial, and is loved by bees and pollinating insects. Extremely hardy, easy-to-grow and mound-forming Polemonium 'Heaven Scent' is ideal for the middle to front of a flower border or bed, or in a patio container, in part-shade – although both heavy shade and full sun tend not to diminish the flowering potential significantly. It provides nice texture, and a good contrast to its neighbouring plants.
Can you name many other plants that feature almost entirely white leaves? No, we can’t either – we could name plenty with white flowers, but we’ve never seen anything quite like the striking Caladium 'Candidum'. The angular leaves are white as snow, cut through with a delicate tracery of deep green veining, creating an extraordinary effect that will catch the eye of any visitor to your garden. Favouring a shady spot, Caladium 'Candidum' will illuminate even the gloomiest corner of your plot, with architectural leaves that glow bright and white against the surrounding foliage. Perfect to provide high contrast in lush-leaved foliage scheme, or even making a big statement as a stylish houseplant – just ensure that this tropical treat has the moisture and warmth it needs to really thrive – and you’ll be rewarded with a spectacular display. Our Caladium bulbs are cultivated in Florida, USA
Ah, the majestic Peony 'King's Day'—delicate pastel petals that bow down to welcome the morning sun. It is a relatively new semi-double hybrid, but an old royal in terms of quality that never fails. As much as it shares uncanny similarities with its peers, its stems rather sturdy, its petals pastel pinks and yellows, and the plant itself vividly prolific in growth, Paeonia 'King's Day' stands above the rest. Gloriously heavy-stemmed and robust, it's a wondrous sight to behold! Peony 'King's Day' is certainly a choice selection for florists, a unique yet similar relative of the beloved Peony 'Coral Sunset'. It's no surprise that P. 'King's Day' is gaining in popularity, what with its superior growing ability allowing for an abundance of cut flowers. So why wait any longer to experience the marvel that is this pastel-coloured hybrid? Get your hands on one while you can, because what a bloom it will certainly be!
Fuel your planting schemes for a summer of colour with this brand new and brilliantly bright Italian Anemone 'Mistral® Rosa Shocking'. If a shock of electrifying pink flowers is what you need, then look no further that these super-charged gems. They fit in well with almost any style, from traditional cottage-gardens to upbeat boho or urban hideaways. These luxurious beauties open from late spring onwards and last for ages in the garden, not to mention in the vase as a cut flower. Anemones have long been a florists’ favourite for their exceptional vase life, plus their prolific nature means that there are always plenty of blooms to pick as well as to keep and enjoy in the garden.
Astrantia 'Shaggy' has beautiful, large flowerheads with pointed white or pinkish bracts that are green-tipped. These blooms are held well clear of the plant's mound of glossy green leaves. 'Shaggy' will make a fabulous addition to flower borders, under trees, or on a stream bank—these plants do prefer a moist soil, but one that does not get waterlogged. Plant it in a sunny or dapple-shaded location. Forming a neat clump, masterwort 'Shaggy' grows to around 75cm in height, and has attractive, deeply divided dark green leaves. If you deadhead the flowers promptly, the plant will often produce a second flush. The soft colouring of Astrantia major subsp. involucrata 'Shaggy' means that it combines very well with rich, dark red Astrantias, such as 'Claret', 'Rubra' or 'Abbey Road' (all of which are also sold by Farmer Gracy). Although a traditional plant of the cottage garden, 'Shaggy' will also look in keeping with a contemporary or modern garden. Astrantias cut and dry well for indoor arrangements. This plant will not spread or become intrusive with other plants, but astrantias are well known for self-seeding—so you'll end up with even more colour to enjoy in your garden!
This Peruvian beauty Eucharis amazonica, commonly known as Amazon lily, is related to Amaryllis and can be grown in a similar way. Whether you choose to enjoy it as an indoor plant or give it a sunny outside spot for the summer months, it’s bound to delight you with its exceptional and simple beauty. Emerging at the top of an elegant upright stalk, a star-shower cluster of pendulous white flowers provide a truly elegant and refined display, perfect for bringing highlights to a mixed colour border or for adding simple elegance to a muted planting scheme. Strong and reliable Eucharis amazonica has won some impressive awards for its spectacular looks and easiness to grow. With an RHS Award of Garden Merit under its belt, you can be certain of a super show!
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Calla 'Schwarzwalder' (black forest) is one of the most intriguing flowers in terms of its colouring. Is it red with a black interior or totally black, edged with red? Or black edged with deep maroon? Not that it matters, really, which of these colour choices your individual plants make, a few Calla 'Schwarzwalder' plants will certainly give your garden a spectacular boost in terms of dramatic content and elegance. All will also surprise you with the optical illusion the velvety sheen of the flower of Calla 'Schwarzwalder' creates: That the dark hollow of the funnel seems filled with liquid almost ready to drip out of the bloom’s pointy spout. Gracy's gardening tip "Some Calla varieties (like 'Schwarzwalder') come with an attractive white dotted foliage, giving them even more flair!"
Let these cool-white Astrantia 'Snow Star' take some of the heat out of your summer planting schemes with their pretty snowflake blooms! Whether you have a tricky shaded part of the garden or a mixed sunny border, a flurry of these carefree customers make an eye-catching highlight which lasts for an impressively long season. Astrantias (more commonly known as Masterwort), like this pure white Astrantia major 'Snow Star', are known for being popular with florists for their generous, rigid stems and incredibly long-lasting summer blooms! They’re a favourite with gardeners too! Thriving in most conditions, these undemanding hardy perennials reliably put on a good show year after year with very little fuss. This variety has a simple, chic appeal which fits in perfectly with informal or cottage gardens as well as more contemporary styles.
Sure, your granny grew mixed ranunculi and was happy with them, but times have changed, and ranunculi have taken on a new aura of mystery and elegance. Farmer Gracy was thrilled to discover the stunning Italian Ranunculus 'Elegance® Striato Bianco' at the internationally renowned horticultural fair in Essen, Germany, and even more pleased to become its licensed distributor in the UK. No, it’s not something you can get just anywhere: Ranunculus 'Elegance® Striato Bianco' is the product of a renowned Italian plant breeder, and we’re sure you’ll agree that this cultivar is a masterwork! Sporting a profusion of creamy petals edged with a frill of burgundy, Italian Ranunculus 'Elegance® Striato Bianco' is a designer original. It’s a must for connoisseurs searching for plants of distinction – but that’s just why you’re visiting Farmer Gracy’s website, isn’t it?
Astrantia 'Claret' is a real gem of a plant. From June to August, branched clusters of beautiful, intense ruby-red flowers are produced. Each has a pincushion-like centre, with a characteristic ruff of bracts (which are longer than most other Astrantia forms). Also, there is a flush of pure white at the base of each petal. It is one of the darkest-flowered astrantias, and even the stems are an attractive maroon colour. The deeply lobed, serrated, fresh, dark green leaves are pretty, too, and provide a lovely foil to the striking blooms! Astrantias have been grown in Britain for 600 years, and have numerous common names, including masterwort, Hattie’s pincushion and melancholy gentleman. Despite it being a favourite for cottage gardens, astrantia works equally well in modern or contemporary-style plantings. Grow Astrantia major 'Claret' at the front of a sunny border, in a moist but well-drained soil, and you will be able to appreciate the flower colour at close quarters. In many gardens, astrantias have been seen to repel slugs, so try growing them with large-leaved plants, such as Hostas.
Phew, what an eyeful - with hot pink, spidery veins on a background of pale pink mottled with zingy green, you certainly won’t miss the vividly coloured leaves of Caladium 'Carolyn Whorton'. Despite the crazy colourway, the leaves of this variety are a pleasingly symmetrical heart shape - and during the warmer months this variety will grow rapidly, bulking up to create a verdant display which is bold yet very easy on the eye. More tolerant of sun than other Caladium varieties, but still perfectly happy growing in shade, Caladium 'Carolyn Whorton' gives you endless options for planting ideas. Why not use this low-height beauty to form the lush bottom layer in a dramatic tropical foliage scheme? Or maybe she’s the crowning glory you’ve been looking for, for that fancy pot – either outside or inside! Our Caladium bulbs are cultivated in Florida, USA
