I am a fan of gaudy dahlias, with their spiky, dinnerplate-sized blooms. I love D. 'Arabian Night' with its double wine-coloured blooms and the waterlily dahlia, 'Taratahi Ruby'. 'White Ballerina' is another waterlily type, while 'Kenora Jubilee' is a large cactus dahlia.
How to grow It is easiest to plant tubers, and now is the right time to buy for planting in the next few weeks. Dahlias like full sun and well-drained, rich soil: dig in compost or manure then plant each tuber 15cm deep, placing a cane for support. Space them at least 60cm to 1m apart, and mark the planting hole. Water regularly. Slugs can sniff out fresh dahlia shoots a mile off so have a plan in place to see them off (see the tip on pests). Feed with any regular organic fertiliser and keep the soil moist, then remove dead blooms to keep the plant flowering for as long as possible.
Height and spread: varies
Guide price: around £1-£3 a tuber Photograph: Photolibrary/Getty Images
Do you want a hardy climber that will thrive on a north-facing wall, preferably without a trellis, is evergreen and produces pretty flowers in summer. Sound like a tall order? Pileostegia viburnoides ticks all the boxes. Legendary gardener Beth Chatto highlights its ability to cover "anything you wish to hide" with its glossy leaves and tiny sprays of white flowers in mid to late summer. It can be a little slow-growing and it won't like cold winds.
How to grow Plant in any fertile soil, position it at least 45cm away from the wall or fence so it catches the rainfall, keeping the soil level at the same place on the growing stem as it was in the original pot. Water regularly until this plant gets going: and feed occasionally throughout the summer months with liquid seaweed feed. Prune in early spring once established to remove congested growth.
Height and spread: 5m x 2m
Guide price: £15 Photograph: Andrea Jones/www.alamy.com
Not only are its intense blue-violet blooms bigger than most geraniums, they go on and on - from May until at least October. 'Rozanne' prefers partial shade and thrives in pots if the soil is kept moist.
How to grow Plant in any reasonably fertile soil: dig a hole a few centimetres wider than the pot and tease out the plant's roots before popping it in, topping up with soil and firming it in with your hands. 'Rozanne' doesn't need much in the way of attention, but it will benefit from a "Chelsea chop" in late May: cut back any wayward or drooping stems and you'll be rewarded with another lot of flowers. Leave it over winter, cutting back dead stems in the spring. Pair it with clumps of ornamental grasses such as Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hamelin': if you can't find 'Rozanne', 'Jolly Bee' and 'Johnson's Blue' are good substitutes.
Height and spread: 40cm x 64cm
Guide price: £6 Photograph: Glenn Harper/www.alamy.com
Any plant that includes the description "tolerates dry shade" gets a big thumbs up from me. Asplenium scolopendrium is one of those plants: its distinguished, glossy, evergreen leaves are a perfect foil for so many plants and you can almost see them unfurling each spring.
How to grow I grow mine in a container with the similarly glossy-leaved Sarcococca confusa, and also in a shady bed with white foxgloves. When planting make sure you don't bury any of the leaves and add a handful or two of leaf mould or compost to the hole if you can. This fern will need regular watering when first planted, but aside from tidying any damaged leaves in spring and applying a mulch of composted bark, it will potter along, growing slowly and looking great, whether planted in dryish, moist or distinctly boggy soil.
Height and spread: 75cm x 60cm
Guide price: £7 Photograph: Brian Hoffman/www.alamy.com
I love this plant, and bees and insects do too. Erigeron karvinskianus froths down stone steps and thrives in the smallest of crevices, self-seeding freely and softening edges wherever it grows. I'm planting it in the gravel in my south-facing driveway and looking forward to its mass of pink-tinged, white daisy-like flowers from May to October. It'll go well with Geranium 'Rozanne' but I've teamed it with plain and variegated thymes in my gravel garden-cum-driveway.
How to grow Sun or partial shade suit this happy-go-lucky plant and provided there's good drainage, it doesn't care what the soil's like. Just bung it in a planting hole, firm it in and water until established. Then cut back the dead stems in spring to encourage new growth and lift and divide clumps if they become congested.
Height and spread: 30cm x 1m
Guide price: £5 Photograph: Pernilla Bergdahl/GAP Photos RM
Bare branches erupt into beautiful blossom from March to May, followed by dark green leaves and small, pale green, perfumed fruits that can be used to make jelly and add an extra dimension to an apple pie. I love Chaenomeles speciosa 'Nivalis' with pure white flowers, but try the peachy-cream Chaenomeles speciosa 'Geisha Girl' where space is limited or 'Knap Hill Scarlet' for bold blooms.
How to grow Most quinces will suit training against a wall, and can be grown into a spiny hedge that will deter wayward cats. They suit full sun but won't fret about partial shade, and any fertile soil will do. Plant at least 45cm away from the base of a wall and if you want to train it, tie in the stems to horizontal wires or trellis. Once established, prune side-shoots after flowering to five or six leaves and remove damaged or crossing stems.
Height and spread: varies - max 5m x 2.5m
Guide price: £9 Photograph: Tohoku Color Agency/Tohoku RM
