Nurserymen's favourite: October

Parahebe ‘Snow Clouds’

Some early-flowering perennials and shrubs will produce a second display of flowers if the first crop is cut back as soon as it is over. However, anyone who has waited for a second coming of, for example, oriental poppies, will know that claims about a plant’s re-flowering habits are often exaggerated. This little treasure, though, really does put on a magnificent display at this time of year, as long as you trim it to remove dead flowers in late May. Parahebes are mainly from New Zealand and more closely resemble veronicas than hebes.

HEIGHT/SPREAD 25cm x 25cm.
ORIGINS Parahebes grow wild in Australia,
New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
CONDITIONS Well-drained soil in sun
or partial shade.
SEASON May and September to October.

The other eight plants chosen by John Hoyland are

Aronia melanocarpa ‘Autumn Magic’
Aster novae-angliae ‘Marina Wolkonsky’
Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’
Crocosmia ‘Emberglow’
Gerbera Everlast White (= ‘Amgerbwhi’)
Salvia ‘Waverly’
Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis
Kniphofia rooperi

Buy the October issue of GARDENS ILLUSTRATED (Issue 178) to find out more about them.

Photograph by Rachel Warne

PLUS John's suggestion of places to go to see plants at their autumn best.

The majority of British gardeners have lost the habit of planting perennials and shrubs in the autumn. In Europe in general (and France in particular) the tradition is still strong, and one of France’s most important plant fairs coincides with the start of the planting season. Les Journées des Plantes at Courson, 35km southwest of Paris, attracts some of the best nurseries from throughout Europe. 14-16 October 2011. Domaine de Courson, 91680 Courson-Monteloup (Essonne).
 

Not far from Courson is the Château of Saint-Jean de Beauregard where Muriel de Curel has recreated a beautiful flowering potager within a 17th-century walled garden. The park and garden are delightful and absorbing at any time of the year; during autumn the potager is unmissable. Rue du Château, 91940 Saint-Jean de Beauregard. 

Despite a reduction in government funding, the parks and gardens of Paris have plenty to offer curious gardeners. Le Jardin de Bagatelle, located within the Bois de Boulogne, in the 16th arondissement on the western edge of the city, is one of the best-maintained and most imaginatively planted public gardens in France. The narrow streets of Paris were one of the inspirations behind designer Patrick Blanc’s ‘Mur Vegetal’ (green wall). Some of the best examples are outside the BHV Homme shop on Rue de la Verrerie (4th arondissement) and in the swanky Pershing Hall Hotel on Rue Pierre Charron (8th arondissement).