Sedum ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, while new plant expert Graham Rice tips compact pampas grass
Cortaderia selloana Tiny Pampa and the novel
Heuchera ‘Frilly’.
Trials at RHS Hyde Hall Floral Fantasia in Essex in 2020 produced a clutch of top performers such as the Sunbeckia series of half-hardy annual rudbeckias.
Garden designers are also driving the move away from bedding plants. Pollinator expert and influencer Professor Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex told the Society of Garden Designers’ winter conference that many annual bedding plants “have been intensively bred and have become unattractive to insects. Instead, focus on planting traditional cottage garden perennials and herbs.”