If you’re looking to put “some sparkle into your borders”, the Ground Force legend has shared his favourite “showstoppers” in his latest YouTube video.
The host of Love Your Weekend explains: “So what makes a showstopper? Well, quite simply, it’s a plant that can stop you in your tracks when you walk out into the garden.”
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Lupins – Cashmere Cream
Alan comments: “This is a glorious border perennial, shortish seasonal flower. But these tall spires of bloom are shown off by the starry leaves, almost like a firework from that central stalk.
“Slightly smaller flowers will emerge from lower down the stem if you chop this off [the main Lupin stalk] once it’s faded.”
The 76-year-old shares Lupins, which “remind him of his childhood in Yorkshire” come in all sorts of colours, including blues, purples, reds, yellows and whites.
He adds: “Imagine walking into your garden and having some of these in your border because on a warm sunny day, you get a sweet fragrance from them as well. It’s a pretty good all-rounder, the Lupin.”
Ever thought about planting Lupins in your garden? (Image: Paul Maguire/Getty)
Foxglove – Illumination Flame
“This one is rather unusual, it’s called Illumination Flame, but if this ain’t the showstopper, I don’t know what is,” Alan says.
The Gardening Club presenter continues: “The lovely thing about Foxgloves is they will seed themselves around your garden. These amazing twin spires of beautiful flowers are rather different from normal Foxgloves, which are much more rounded at the edge of the petals.”
Alan reveals a lot of them are biennials, which means you sow them one spring to flower the following year, and after that, “they will die down and disappear, but they will still shed their seed”.
He recommends Foxglove Illumination Flames as they are “glorious” and grow in most soils and partial shade.
Alan explains: “For me, to bring some beauty with a kind of natural flavour and feel to the garden, the Foxglove is matchless and in this case a definite showstopper.”
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Penstemon – Laura
The Penstemon Laura variety has “deep dark plum flowers” known as ‘Blackbird’ or ‘Sour Grapes’ with purple and green flowers.
Alan says: “For the front or the middle of a border, they are smashing, they’ll arrest your eye but they will carry on blooming right the way through the summer until the frost.”
Dahlia – Muchacha
Once planted in the spring, these “superb” plants bloom from midsummer right until the frost of autumn, according to Alan.
He shares they are “full of flowers and great for cutting” and come in all sorts of sizes and colours, except “true blue”.
The “gorgeous” flowers are quite “juicy,” which means they like to live in moist soil (but not waterlogged).
@homesandgardensofficial 3 tips to get more flowers on your dahlias | Petals & Roots: Episode 17 Dahlias are a staple flower for any cutting garden and these simple tricks will produce more flowers on every one of your plants. . #homesandgardens #dahlias #gardeningtips #fyp ♬ original sound – homesandgardensofficial
It’s best to avoid planting them in “dusty sand” otherwise they will make “really poor plants”.
Alan adds: “In good, reasonably rich earth and full sun, they will flower their socks off. They are a true showstopper.”
Delphinium – Highlander Bolero
This bright, “statuesque” plant can “stop you in your tracks at the other end of the garden” and if grown well, can each up to seven or eight feet tall.
To grow “spectacular” Delphiniums, which are Alan’s number one choice, he recommends using “loads of muck, well-rotted garden compost, and to make the soil as rich as you possibly can.”
But be warned, because this makes it attractive to slugs and snails.
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So to manage this, Alan advises: “When those shoots are emerging from the ground in March, April, control your slugs and snails then and you’ll find these healthy shoots will shoot up and produce these glorious spires of flowers with smaller ones coming from the sides.”
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He continues: “When the central one fades, you can cut it off and get (albeit smaller ones), these side shoots coming up, with their own show of flowers.”
Alan describes the Highlander Bolero flowers as “almost like cake decorations” due to the double layers.
His top tip is to cut them back once flowered and “feed them well” in summer to “boost them for next year”.
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