Great Native Plants for Western Gardens

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If only every garden was blessed with free-draining, loamy soil with the perfect pH and balance of nutrients. Life would be so easy and the choice of plants gloriously abundant. Sadly, most of us can only dream of or endlessly toil for this reality. I think in over 30 years of gardening, only a handful of properties have gifted my designs with near-perfect conditions. Every site seems to have at least one or more areas with poor soil. But thanks to tough and adaptable plants, not all is lost. There are numerous plants able to handle these conditions, the best ones being natives being the best ones.

RHS Chelsea 2024 – or the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, to give its full name – is the most prestigious flower show in the world.

This year we are celebrating 30 years of 2-for-1 Gardens, and we have 407 gardens taking part, from local hidden gems to national landmarks! To kick off your year of garden visits, we’ve picked out some of the 2-for-1 Gardens in the scheme this year which are perfect for a visit this month. Head out with your 2-for-1 Gardens card and enjoy saving money on days out with friends and family, whilst gathering lots of garden inspiration!

When choosing flowers for graves, it’s important to consider their symbolism so that you can convey the right wishes to the lost soul.

Name: Cornus kousa var. chinensis

Name: Mahonia repens syn. Berberis repens

Name: Pycnanthemum albescens

I was first introduced to Mohr’s rosinweed on a botanizing trip to northern Alabama. It’s a true native stalwart and one of the many durable plants in the genus Silphium that are indigenous to prairies, meadows, and grasslands across the United States. These resilient members of the aster family are known to be both beautiful and extremely low maintenance in a garden setting.

A city garden by Luciano Giubbilei, where an interesting mix of shapes and textures is provided by the foliage of a multi-stemmed Acer palmatum, a wisteria and a mound of Euphorbia mellifera.

TODAY’S TOPIC is orchids, but not the ones you might be growing as a flowering houseplant. Our subject is native terrestrial types that are more often than not under great pressure in the wild, their numbers dwindling.

From Left: Sara Lee. Neilson Barnard / Staff / Getty Images.