13 Of the Best Flowers for English Gardens

13 Of The Best Flowers For English Gardens

4/9/2024

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If there is one thing imagined when contemplating English gardens it is large borders full of colourful, flowering, plants.

English gardens are famous for their decorative planting displays and rich borders full of radiant blooms. When choosing the best flowers for English gardens there are a multitude of factors to consider.

Getting the correct colour combinations and seasonal succession of flowers is paramount. You may not be a world class English garden planting designer but you want the best flowers for your project!

That is why I have picked 13 of the most classic and popular flowers for English gardens here!

1. Hollyhock

Standing tall in English gardens, the hollyhock is a lovely flower that adds a classic old-fashioned touch to English gardens.

These stately plants grow tall, with spikes of colorful blooms in shades like red, pink, yellow, and white. Hollyhocks are perfect for creating drama and height along borders and fences. They attract beautiful butterflies and hummingbirds, which are important pollinators.

Because hollyhocks drop seeds so readily, they will often spread throughout a garden and fill in empty spaces naturally.

This self-seeding quality means hollyhocks possess an inherent ability to self-propagate, ensuring a delightful, naturalized presence within English gardens.

2. Foxglove

Recognized by their bell-shaped flowers, foxglove adds a charming, rustic touch to any garden. It has delicate bell-shaped blooms arranged along tall spikes.

Foxgloves typically grow between three to five feet tall. Their biennial life cycle means they bloom and set seed in their second year before dying off. While the most common colors are shades of pink and purple, you can also find foxgloves with yellow or white flowers.

These lovely plants thrive in partially shaded areas, making them perfect for spaces that receive dappled sunlight. Foxgloves attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, bringing life and movement to your garden.

3. Bluebell

The bluebell is a flower that grows naturally in Britain. It has beautiful blue colors that make the ground look like a blue carpet under trees in old forests.

Bluebells produce sweet nectar which attracts many insects like bees and butterflies in the spring. Furthermore, these flowers are perfect for planting in English gardens that have trees and shade, similar to old forests.

If you plant bluebell bulbs in the right conditions, they will spread and grow more flowers over time. These pretty blue flowers bring joy and color to shady garden areas.

4. Hydrangea

The hydrangea is a beautiful shrub that blooms with dense flower heads in soft, pastel colors or bold, bright shades. These lovely flowers have many small petals that come together to form a large, round cluster.

Hydrangeas are very charming and give a romantic look especially to English gardens. These hardy shrubs grow best in partial sunlight and rich, well-drained soil. You can plant them in many different settings – as a hedge, a single specimen plant in your yard, or even in a large container on your patio or deck.

One of the great things about hydrangeas is that they are generally not fussy and have a long flowering season.

5. Iris

Exhibiting different shapes and colors, the iris is a remarkable flower that adds elegance to any English garden.

With its long, sword-shaped leaves and intricate, ruffled blooms, it comes in many different shapes, sizes, and hues, ranging from deep purples and blues to vibrant yellows and whites.

One of the great things about irises is that they are easy to grow and can thrive in a variety of soil conditions, as long as they get plenty of sunlight and good drainage. Some iris varieties even have a lovely, sweet fragrance that fills the air with the scent of old-world charm and nostalgia.

6. Lavender

Lavender is a beautiful and fragrant plant that is widely recognized as a symbol of the English countryside. With its silvery-green foliage and stunning violet-blue flowers, lavender adds a touch of charm and elegance to any garden.

These evergreen plants thrive in warm, dry conditions, making them ideal for planting along pathways, in courtyards, or along the borders of flowerbeds.

One of the remarkable features of lavender is its ability to repel pests, while simultaneously attracting beneficial pollinators like bees and butterflies.

7. Rose

Representing timeless elegance, roses are beautiful flowers that have been a part of English gardens for a long time.

They come in different types, like climbers that grow up walls or trellises, ramblers that spread out over the ground, patio roses that are perfect for small spaces, shrub roses that grow into bushes, and standard roses that have a tall stem with flowers on top.

No matter what kind of garden you have, there is a rose that will fit perfectly. Choosing rose varieties that are strong and resistant to diseases is a smart idea because it means they will last longer and look pretty without a lot of work.

8. Peony

Peonies are beautiful flowers that bring a sense of sophistication and nostalgia. They have big, layered blossoms that bloom on strong stems. Peonies look very fancy and elegant!

They grow best in fertile, well-draining soil and need plenty of sunlight. Once planted, peonies can live for many decades. They reward their owners by blooming abundantly every year, bringing a lovely display of flowers.

Peonies require some patience, as it can take a few years after planting before they start blooming. However, once established, they are hardy and easy to grow.

9. Delphinium

Delphiniums are tall, majestic flowers with closely packed, small blooms arranged in towering spikes or spires. They make a stunning addition to any garden, instantly drawing the eye with their vibrant colors and stately presence.

Delphiniums thrive in cool climates and require consistent moisture and well-draining soil to flourish. These versatile blooms can be used for both ornamental displays and as long-lasting cut flowers for indoor arrangements.

To ensure continued vigor and abundant blooms year after year, it is essential to divide the plants annually. By separating the dense clumps and replanting them, you promote robust growth habits.

10. Wisteria

Wisteria is a stunning plant known for its beautiful, cascading flowers that hang gracefully from its branches like majestic waterfalls.

These pendant racemes, or clusters of flowers, create breath taking displays that drape architectural features and supports, adding a sense of serene tranquillity reminiscent of traditional Japanese teahouses.

During the month of May, wisteria bursts into bloom, with Chinese wisteria varieties producing larger flower clusters compared to their Japanese counterparts. However, both types require patience as they can take some time to establish themselves and reach their full glory.

These legendry climbers have long been appreciated and planted extensively within English gardens, especially along garden structures

To maintain their lush, cascading beauty, wisteria plants are best to be pruned twice a year.

11. Lilly

Effortless to establish and maintain, lilies multiply quickly through bulbs, so you can propagate many new plants within a short time. Lily flowers come in different shapes like trumpets, bowls, or funnels.

By mixing different kinds, horticulturists have created lots of new varieties with all sorts of sizes, patterns, and colors. These flowers like soil that is not too acidic or alkaline.

They also need enough water. Lilies don't get attacked by too many pests, so they stay beautiful without much trouble.

12. Primrose

Gentle harbingers of spring, primroses are beautiful little flowers that have soft, delicate petals and grow close to the ground in a circle of leaves called a basal rosette.

When you see primroses blooming, you know winter is coming to an end and warmer days are coming. There are now a few different kinds of primroses have special traits with various colour combinations available.

However traditional English gardens are best to stay with the classic creamy yellow blooms.

Primroses are great for gardens because they gradually spread and grow back every year. Having primroses in your garden helps support other plants and creatures that live there too.

13. Aster

Asters are beautiful flowers that bloom during late summer and early fall. They have bright, colourful petals that look like small stars. Many insects, like bees and butterflies, love to drink the sweet nectar from aster flowers.

This helps them get ready for the winter months when there won't be as many flowers to feed upon. Asters come in shades of blue, purple, pink, and white. Their sunny, daisy-like appearance and cheerful blooms are the perfect choice for English gardens.

These tough, hardy flowers are easy to grow and don't need a lot of special care. They thrive in full sunlight and average soil conditions.

Thank you for reading our article on 13 flowers for English gardens! Below I will link to some other articles you may find relevant.

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The Author
Paul Nicolaides
BA (Hons) Dip

Paul Nicolaides has over 30 years of recreational gardening and 20 years of professional landscaping experience. He has worked for landscape contractors including design and build practices across London and the South East. In 2006 he qualified with a BA Hons degree and post graduate diploma in Landscape Architecture. In 2009 he founded Ecospaces an ecological landscaping practice which aims to improve social cohesion and reduce climate change through landscaping. In 2016 he founded Buckinghamshire Landscape Gardeners which designs and builds gardens across Buckinghamshire and the South East. This blog aims to provide easy problem solving information to its audience and encourage others to take up the joy of landscaping and gardening.