Acanthus - Amorphophallus

Acanthus dioscoridis perringii £4
A compact beauty, around 50cm tall in flower. Dark green spiny leaves; pink flowers. Once well established, it forms a tight, dense clump and flowers freely: we have it at eye level on top of a steep bank. Definitely for full sun, but thrives on heavy ground.
Acanthus sennii £5.50
Very different. In our climate, this makes beautiful clumps of stiff, spiny leaves, more like a greyish herbaceous holly than any other Acanthus, and reaching a bit less than 1m. In very sheltered gardens, such as the Chelsea Physic, it's taller and you get the dark red flowers. But it cuts the mustard purely as a foliage plant. Hardier than sometimes thought , it survived the vicious 08-9 winter on the edge of Dartmoor at the Garden House (what a fine garden, and what plantsmanship!)
Achillea ptarmica 'The Pearl' AGM £4.50
Clean white, buttony double heads, propagated by division from the Wisley plant which, uniquely in the trials, matched the original description. Height 60cm, spreading, but sanely.
Achillea 'Schwellenburg' £4
Grey leaves in a dense clump 15cm or so tall, flower heads bright yellow and solid, really hard, like a chunk of cauliflower on a 30cm stem, definitely for sunny, dry places.
Aconitum 'Blue Opal' £5
Large, pale blue flowers, stout purple stems, late August to September. 1m tall. Very fine.
Aconitum japonicum ssp. napiforme BSWJ943 £4.50
Late flowering, and dark blue, often with the good autumn foliage colours. 60cm.
Aconitum sp. KR 7589 £4.50
Rather short and stout, almost fleshy and consequently a bit brittle. Rather big, rather dark flowers. Rather good...
Actaea heracleifolia DJHC970139 £5
A Korean species, with branched bottle-brush inflorescences reaching 1.5m. Substantial toothed, triternate leaves. Rare.
Actaea (Cimicifuga) simplex Atropurpurea group £5
Deep purple, almost black, divided leaves perfectly offsetting 1.5m spikes of fragrant white flowers in late summer. Colours best in full sun if you can keep it moist, otherwise part shade. Divisions of our fine dark clone.
Actaea simplex 'Brunette' £5
Our stock of the old Bloom's cultivar has never been through tissue culture, unlike most of what you find nowadays. I value it because in sun it is brown-purple, rather than black-purple.
Actaea simplex variegated £10
Green leaves irregularly splashed white, with white flowers. Does not seem to revert.
A plant brought to the West from Japan by Dan Hinkley. Very hard to obtain.

Agapanthus
The African lilies are sun-lovers, which flower freely when left to bulk up undisturbed. Most of these should be hardy in the open ground, except in cold parts of the UK. All look good in large pots, perhaps given protection in severe weather. The evergreen praecox forms are hardy in a sunny position in southern England, and can flower well outside, but a little winter protection helps them look their best
Agapanthus ardernei hybrid £5
Large, rather airy heads of white flowers; buds flushed lilac. 80cm or so.
Agapanthus 'Buckingham Palace' £6
A tall Lewis Palmer hybrid, to 1.5m or more. Globular flower heads of deepish blue. Scarce and slow to propagate.
Agapanthus inapertus pendulus £6
Mid blue, not the fabled indigo form, but still nice. Deciduous.
Agapanthus 'Phantom' £10
Very large heads of white flowers stained with a clear light blue towards the edges. Tall (1.5m), stout, hardy and very slow to propagate. Fabulous.
Agapanthus praecox 'Flore Pleno' £7
Extraordinary and large deep blue double flowers. Evergreen.
Agapanthus 'Windsor Grey' £8
Big round heads of delicate grey-white flowers, with a faint hint of lilac, on stems to 1.2m or so. Deciduous and pretty hardy. Beautiful, uncommon, and in great demand.

Ageratina altissima 'Chocolate' AGM £5
Copious brown-purple foliage makes a lovely effect in the sunny border. Harmless white flowers. Hardy, winter dormant. Previously known as Eupatorium rugosum.
Albuca humilis  from Lesotho £3.50
Small Drakensberg bulb, large upfacing flowers white, striped green, 15cm.  Summer growing.
Albuca sp. G&L 13 £4
To 40cm tall with big large white upward facing flowers, lined green on the back.
Albuca sp. G&L 171 £4
Rather similar, but with narrow glaucous leaves. and a yellowy tinge to the flowers.
X Alcalthaea 'Parkallee' £5
Creamy yellow semidouble perennial hollyhock which doesn't get rust. To 1.5m. A very satisfactory garden plant.
Alchemilla ellenbeckii £4
A far creeping, densely mat forming plant with tiny grey green leaves and red stems. The flowers are insignificant. From the mountains of East Africa, it is not totally hardy everywhere, but has survived outside here for nearly 15 years,  retreating in colder winters and zooming back out in the summer. We use it over the corner of a sunny but not dry wall as a positively attractive ground cover.
Allium beesianum £3.50
The classic sky blue allium. Heads of drooping flowers on 20cm stems at the end of the summer. Rock garden or similar. Long flowering, lovely and usually replaced by something else in the nursery trade.
Allium callimischon ssp. haemostictum £3.50
A dinky summer dormant Cretan with an odd phenology: the flower stem grows with the leaves in spring, seems to wither with them in the height of summer (don't tidy them away), only for the flowers to open  in autumn on the leafless plants. The flowers are white, spotted and veined dark red, and are one of the subtle joys of autumn. Pot or sunny raised bed, etc.
Allium olympicum of gardens £3.50
A tiny, thin leaved species (perhaps having something to do with stamineum) with plenty of pretty pink flower heads in summer. For pot or rock garden with sun and good drainage, but tolerant of winter wet and high rainfall. Lovely, and rarely seen. Thanks to the Lydford Hatchetts.
Allium paradoxum var. normale £4
The Snowdrop Allium. Nodding, pure white fls look really big on 10cm stems in spring. Broad, bright green leaves. Forms tight clumps, ideal in a sink. Stunning and safe, unlike the dreaded var. paradoxum on both counts.
Allium schoenoprasum 'Silver Chimes' £3
A small chives - but with flowers a very attractive silvery white.
Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' £3.50
A tiny, easy, gently clumping species with tight little clusters of bright pink-purple flowers, with long protruding stamens, among ultrafine dark green leaves. At home in the rock garden, a safe little front-of-border corner, or on the AGS showbench for that matter. One of the plants that helps make September my happiest month.
Amorphophallus konjac £5
Reputedly the hardiest of these big, arisaema-like aroids. Spathe purple-brown. Leaves lobed in a wonderfully complex way, and recall a big shuttlecock. Dark petiole, blotched cream.

Anemone - click here