The plants that stole the show at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show

First, a lupin with cobalt blue flowers caught my eye, Lupinus pilosus. Looser in flower than some of the tightly-flowered lupins, it is elegant and relaxed, its natural habitat the scrubland of Greece and other Mediterranean countries.

It was growing with other jewel-like plants such as crimson Adonis annua and softened by gently moving foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum). Elsewhere, two other plants stood out: the tiny rusty-orange foxglove, Digtalis obscura, native to parts of Spain and Morocco, and a fabulous brick red South American evening primrose, Oenothera versicolor ‘Sunset Boulevard’ (available from Chiltern Seeds). Both these plants are borderline tender but may be OK in the south of the UK.

Digitalis obscura

Mariia Savoskula

Oenothera versicolor ‘Sunset Boulevard’

Mariia Savoskula

Tom Massey singled out the uniquely coloured Sambucus ‘Milk Chocolate’ as his plant of the show in his garden for Adenade. A recent introduction, it has handsome burnished bronze foliage that emerges light brown and deepens to mahogany as it ages, flowering later than other varieties with large umbels of white flowers.

Iris sibirica ‘Pansy Purple’

Mariia Savoskula

Anemone x lesseri ‘Spring Beauty Pink’

Mariia Savoskula

He also pointed out the Siberian iris ‘Pansy Purple’ which has flowers in the most intense shade of deep purple. This cultivar isn’t widely grown in the UK but deserves to be better known. Also standing out in the mix was a vibrant and beautiful anemone – A. x lesseri ‘Spring Beauty Pink’.

Sambucus ‘Milk Chocolate’

Mariia Savoskula

There are some unusual plants to look out for in Nigel Dunnett’s garden, all of them exceptionally drought tolerant and growing in nothing but sand and gravel. You’ll spot the unusual curving coral-red flower spikes of Hesperaloe parviflora straight away on the outer ‘dune’ of his garden, emerging from their spiky understoreys. This is a surprisingly hardy plant as long as it has well drained conditions. The other plant to look out for is the Canary island geranium, G. palmatum, which is often confused with G. maderense. The latter has a dense cushion of deep pink flowers and darker stems, whereas G. palmatum is more rangy, with bright green, deeply divided leaves and magenta pink flowers on long stalks. It is hardier too, and will survive frosts as long as it is in light soil.

Canary island geranium, G. palmatum

In the ADHD Garden designed by Katy Terry, a distinctive curving hornbeam creates a focal point for the garden, alongside a self-supporting standard Hydrangea petiolaris, more often seen growing up a north-facing wall.