James Hitchmough has created gardens around the world using sustainable, long-term, naturalistic and often seed-sown plantings. He is best known for projects such as London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Knepp Walled Garden, and is an emeritus professor of horticultural ecology at the University of Sheffield.
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James is currently developing his own garden in Somerset with particular focus on a planting palette for a changing climate. These are great plants that James believes really deserve to be grown more and certainly should be better known to UK gardeners.
James Hitchmough's 'unsung hero' plants for the garden
Andropogon gerardii ‘Red October’
Deciduous grass with see-through flowering stems above a basal tussock. Bottom rather than top heavy. Late to emerge in spring, leaves and flowering stems slowly turn purple and dark red from September. Fabulous colour contrast in autumn with milky asters. It likes summer warmth, and is slow in the north.
Height 1.2m. Spread 60cm. Plant type Grass. Conditions Moist soil (but drought tolerant); full sun. Season of interest September – November. Hardiness rating RHS H7, USDA 4a-9b.
Corylopsis sinensis
Large deciduous shrub with pendulous primrose racemes of diminutive ‘bells’, one of the freshest shrubs in spring. Good leaves that are yellow with tangerine hints in autumn. Pleasingly fat, winter-flowering buds. A shrub of real if understated quality. Once established, it is moderately drought tolerant on retentive soils.
Award of Garden Merit. Height 3m. Spread 3m. Plant type Shrub. Conditions Moist soil; full sun to part shade. Season of interest April, but pleasing year-round. Hardiness rating RHS H5, USDA 6a-8b.
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Cymbopogon 'Drakensberg Ghost'
A medium-sized evergreen (almost) tussock grass with very blue arching foliage and pleasing if not showy parabolic flower stems. Always looks good. Very permanent; mine are almost 20 years old. Should be available in the UK in 2027 from Pan Global Plants.
Height 75cm. Spread 75cm. Plant type Grass. Conditions Moist to dry soil; full sun. Very drought tolerant. Season of interest Year round (except for a month after its springtime cut down to short back and sides). Hardiness rating RHS H6.
Echinacea tennesseensis
Shorter than other echinaceas, and covered in short, stiff hairs, this is the longest-flowering species with narrow, horizontal flower rays that are produced July to October. Good as an occasional low emergent on edges, it doesn’t like to be surrounded (and shaded) by taller species. Most likely to persist where sunny and dry.
Height 50cm. Spread 40cm. Plant type Perennial. Conditions Moist to dry soil; full sun. Season of interest July – October. Hardiness rating RHS H5, USDA 5a-6b.
Eriogonum allenii
A wonderful plant seemingly from another planet but actually from stony open woodlands in southeast USA. A bit of a weirdo, particularly because, in Britain at least, it does not automatically die. Its rounded, grey-green evergreen leaves turn bronze-purple in autumn, and the yellow flowers appear in 20cm-wide plates from July to September. Will tolerate semishade on well-drained soil but prefers a sunny spot.
Height 40cm (in flower). Spread 30cm. Plant type Shrub. Conditions Well-drained soil; full sun to part shade. Very drought tolerant. Season of interest Year round; July – September (flowers). Hardiness rating RHS H7, USDA 5a-8b.
Eryngium proteiflorum
An evergreen, rosette-forming herbaceous plant, with sharp, sparsely distributed leaf spines and large stainless-steel flowers with a darker central cone, mostly in summer in cultivated forms. Likes sun and good drainage – it grows at 3,000m on a Mexican volcano’s pumice. Hard to find, but you can buy seed from Jelitto.
Height 75cm. Spread 50cm. Plant type Perennial. Conditions Well-drained soil; full sun. Season of interest Year round; flowering time erratic. Hardiness rating RHS H4, USDA 8a-11.
Euphorbia corollata
A white Euphorbia: how weird is that? It looks like a Gypsophila with svelte, willow-like leaves that can turn orange in autumn. Slow to get going, but long lived once established. Gently selfseeds. It is hard to find, but is available from Jelitto.
Height 50cm. Spread 30cm. Plant type Perennial. Conditions Well-drained soil; full sun. Very drought tolerant. Season of interest July – September. Hardiness rating RHS H5, USDA 4a-9b.
Hoheria 'Glory of Amlwch'
A large, evergreen shrub or small tree has pleasing (but not exciting) pale-green, toothed leaves. Becomes a cloud of rather lovely white flowers in July for about three weeks. Fast and very useful. Super attractive to bumble and honey bees.
Height 5m. Spread 4m. Plant type Shrub. Conditions Well-drained soil; full sun to part shade. Good drought tolerance. Season of interest Year round; peak in July. Hardiness rating RHS H4.
Muhlenbergia reverchonii
This has been a tussock grass revelation. I planted it at home, more in hope than expectation, as ‘muhlies’ need serious heat to flower well. After 2025’s warm summer, it started flowering in September and was a dome of pink candyfloss by mid-October.
Height 60cm. Spread 60cm. Plant type Grass. Conditions As much sun and warmth as possible. Drought tolerant. Not for cool summer climes. Season of interest Respectable as a grass tussock from May – September; flowering peak in September – October. Hardiness rating RHS H7, USDA 5a-9b.
Themeda triandra (South African Drakensberg Clones)
The most admired structural grass tussock dome in my garden; always fresh. Early flowering, but very tidy afterwards. Effectively evergreen, but all the better for a spring clip to short back and sides. These aren’t yet available in the UK, but they will be soon.
Height 45cm (70cm with flowers). Spread 50cm. Plant type Grass. Conditions Good drainage, and full sun, but easy-going, and very drought tolerant. Season of interest Year round.
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