Sep 2010 A few things to keep in mind if you’re buying sunny plants: purpose, design and location and soil conditions.

It’s no good buying sunny plants that need a lot of rich loam if you’re looking to augment your rockery, and you won’t win any design awards if you start buying sunny plants from all over the place and throwing them together in big colourful clumps. Gardeners tending rockeries can cause more problems for their sunny plants through over-watering than by any other slip: succulent leaves that have built up too much water reserve, explode.

So – what is it you’re buying sunny plants for? If you’re buying sunny plants for a sparse garden – you may have replaced a lawn area with flagging or have an extensive rockery – you may not want anything too big. Buying bushy sunny plants like buddleia or ceanothus is only going to make a predominantly stony area look silly. The sunny plants you should be buying for a “low lying” garden like this are smaller and have reduced profiles: Aloe, miniature Cacti, Sedum, Dianthus, matting plants like yarrow and even Catnip. Catnip spreads widely over the summer months and just keeps on growing at the same time it attracts bees of the non-sting variety which helps to pollinate other plants.

If you’re lucky enough to have the space for a lush garden: think about buying sunny plants that bush out, like magnolia if you have non lime soil and Achillea – or trees. Buying sunny plants like the fiery sumac tree will bring a dash of drama to any border and filling out your edges with Escallonia Langleyensis and butterfly trees Will not only add magnificent patches of colour, but attract wildlife. If the sunny plants you’re buying have (like the butterfly tree) nectar-rich flowers, you’ll find insects colonising your garden – insects bring the most welcome visitor of all, birds. So if you’re buying for a wildlife garden, remember that sunny plants tend to attract the creatures we most associate with summer.

Like anything else, some of the sunny position plants you could be buying just don’t go with each other. Even if you’re buying sunny plants with practicalities in mind, remember to take note of their flowering colours the type of soil they like and the contrast against a green background– unless, of course, you want your garden to look like a child’s drawing.

Little or large, short or tall, create interest if arranged to create variety and if you pick your colours carefully you’ll end up with a beautiful, attractive space made useful and pleasant by buying sunny plants.