Our garden borders are full of plants of different sizes and shapes with flowers that blossom throughout the year. Creating a tapestry effect is just one of the techniques we can use for a beautiful effect. Foliage plays its part too, adding texture and hues to create a background wash of leaves in greens and grey and silver. But don’t forget about adding some height and drama. You can do this by planting some garden hot rods; those plants that have flower spikes that rise above the plants and punctuate the border. Here are a few plants to get you started.
Red hot pokers
The most obvious things to plant for a garden hot rod effect are the red-hot pokers (Kniphofia). These plants are like fireworks in the border, adding fiery flower spikes to you garden. There are some fantastic orange forms that look like burning torches. But they are not all orange. Look out for some beautiful varieties with yellow, or green flower spikes to add some variety to your garden. One of my favourites is Kniphofia “Little Maid”, as the flower spikes form the buds are green and as they mature, they open yellow so you get that fresh, clean two-tone effect.
Echium wildpretii
If you’ve ever visited gardens on the Isle of Wight, Cornwall or the Scilly Isles you will have noticed the tall spires of nectar rich blue flowers reaching skywards. These are Echium pininana, and a magnet for pollinators, though they are not hardy. But there’s a perennial red form called Echium wildpretii that has raspberry red flowers and grows ruby red flower spikes 3-4ft tall. It’s a stunner. Again, it’s not full hardy, but in a mild winter or sheltered spot it may go through the winter. You can grow it from seed. Failing that, grow the stunning viper’s bugloss, it ticks all the boxes though it’s blue. This is a native wildflower, hardy, and self-seeds.
Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’
I hesitate recommending this one, it’s a thug and needs a large garden, but it is a good ground cover plant, taking over vast swathes of the garden and dying back in winter. The mid-green heart shaped foliage is quite attractive, but it’s the spiky red flowers that are a winner in late summer. The rich red, nectar-rich flowers attract short tongued pollinators and it flowers for weeks and weeks.
Veronicastrum
Add some mauves to the effect with the stunning summer spires of veronica and veronicastrum. These perennials are hardy and low maintenance, and reliably throw up rocket spires of nectar-rich flowers in blues, purples, pinks and white depending on the strain. It’s a magnet for pollinators and flowers for weeks and weeks. It will also self-seed providing plenty of plants to share.
Digitalis lutea
If you love Foxgloves, you will love this yellow form of the smaller flowered form. Digitalis lutea has beautiful yellow flowers with a rusty orange tinge. It’s a perennial and forms shorter spikes of nectar-rich flowers. It grows to about 2ft (60cm) tall, so it’s a lovely choice towards the front of the border. Warning – Toxic if eaten and toxic to pets.
