Feijoa sellowiana            2 ltr ... £4.50

A plant demanding a sheltered position - on or near a sunny wall is ideal. Given this you may even get the guava-flavoured green fruit, but even without the wall, its worth growing for the attractive foliage and amazing flowers - bright red anthers tipped yellow, surrounded by fleshy pink calyces.

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    FELICIA                                                                                         Asteraceae

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 Felicia

Though not 100% certain of the name, this is certainly a lovely, compact yellow-flowered variant of a predominantly blue genus. Forms a dark green, softly spiky, linear-leaved mound no more than eight or ten inches high and on this sit the large egg-yolk flowers. Very lovely in a sunny spot.

Felicia uliginosa         sold out

A more usual representative with large dusky violet-blue rayed flowers on gently decumbent stems clad in soft, narrow green leaves. Rock garden, raised beds, etc in sun.

I haven't managed to produce any tiny figs yet but this is perfectly happy rooting around in a peaty soil with added sand. Delicate pyramidal leaves, pink-tinged when young, all along slender creeping stems.

Eventually, this makes a large specimen but is slow-growing enough to be enjoyed in gardens for numerous years ( my own, obtained as a small plant from Alan Clark at Leonardslee Gardens about twelve years ago is now the grand size of four feet ). It makes a lovely, graceful arching and drooping shrub with silver-blue scale-like leaves along whipcord branchlets. From Chile and Argentina but fine in a relatively sheltered position.

   FORSYTHIA                                                                                Oleaceae

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 Forsythia

A fine, small deciduous shrub for the rock garden, making a twiggy, foot-high mound decorated in March by buds bursting to reveal narrow, spidery petals of rich yellow.

Rosettes of slightly crinkled, purple-tinged leaves beneath two-foot stems carrying compact spikes of pink flowers with deep rich pink markings. Sun and rich soil suit best.