Sarah Raven: The flowers I have that are flourishing superbly, despite the battering heat
Gardener and writer Sarah Raven on the flowers that won't wilt in the heat.


As late-summer and autumn border fillers, long-lasting cut flowers and container troopers, rudbeckias are stellar — even in all this summer’s heat. The bright golden ones are not my cup of tea, but I adore the aubergines, mahoganies, crimsons and yellow greens. ‘Cherry Brandy’ is a long-standing stalwart I’ve picked until Christmas for many years and I love the seed-grown, ever-flowering mix ‘Sahara’, but they’re only a fraction of what is available with recent breeding.
We have 10 new varieties on trial in the garden here now, all doing superbly, despite the heat. Recently I went to the open days at Ball Colegrave in Oxfordshire, one of the biggest suppliers of bedding annuals and perennials to nurseries and garden centres around the UK. They had lots of new ones, too, including a crimson-centred, gingernut-petalled Sunburst ‘Radiant’ and a mix of more faded tones in ‘Rudy Double Rose Yellow’. Both really did look radiant and will surely be in lots of garden centres and nurseries very soon.
Black-eyes Susan plants can grow up to a metre tall.
Next come the thunbergias, the good old black-eyed Susans, which have also had a major makeover, leaving primary yellow and orange behind in favour of more subtle, sultry beauty. Derry Watkins (of Special Plants Nursery near Bath) introduced me to ‘African Sunset’ in Autumn 2007 and I’ve grown and loved it ever since. A drought-tolerant, South African plant, this whole family looks like the kind of thing we all want. New and glorious hybrids of thunbergia keep appearing and every one is lovely in my view.
We grow them here up and over silver-birch teepees and hazel arches, sometimes on their own or mixed with other tender perennial climbers, such as rhodochiton, cobaea and Ipomoea lobata (syn. Mina lobata), reliably glorious almost to the end of the year.
Ball Colegrave had some inspiring combinations with a range of new thunbergias mixed with climbing sweet potatoes, with ebony or acid-green heart-shaped leaves. I loved pretty, soft Thunbergia ‘SunEyes Pink Beauty’ clambering up a frame with the elegant leaves of Ipomoea ‘Solar Power Black’ and the spectacular contrast of these same black leaves with the tangerine T. ‘SunEyes Orange Beauty’. Almost whatever heat and drought is thrown at these plants, they seem to thrive.
Salvias are known for their aromatic and long-lasting foliage.
My next heatwave rave is the combination of a top-notch nemesia paired with a compact salvia with perhaps one of the trailing sweet potatoes added in. Nemesias, like thunbergias, come from South Africa and they’ll take almost any amount of heat and drought. Now available in some great rich, saturated colours, I adore the new varieties, such as Nemesia ‘Lady Lisa’, a bicolour purple and indigo blue, and the rich, deep, denim, ‘Lady Anne’. I’ve also fallen for the sweetly scented, but appallingly named ‘Fairy Kisses’.
The nemesias may need dead-heading and even more severe cutting back to one-third of their height after a truly scorching few days, but they will bud up and flower again. As they rest, the sweet potato Ipomoea ‘Solar Power Black’ swags the edge of the pot, with the salvia coming to the fore to take over the colour baton and carry it steadily until November. Any of the Mirage Series of Salvia greggii — either white, blue or cherry-red — are marvellous and, with all these families, new ones are appearing every year.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Whopper salvias such as ‘Amistad’ and S. involucrata ‘Hadspen’ flower brilliantly here until fireworks night at least, but they’re too tall for most pots. Even that has now been sorted with a new generation of breeding. I fell upon S. bodcious ‘Hummingbird Falls’. The equivalent in compact form of S. ‘Amistad’, this stands only 18in tall, but is still utterly handsome and healthy, even in a hanging basket.
Acidanthera will thrive in a sheltered spot of full sun.
Last, but not least, don’t forget the autumn-flowering bulb acidanthera. I love it either on its own in a pot or spearing its way up through a cloud of gaura. We have a series of those two in huge terracotta pots in our farmhouse garden right now and they’re looking dreamy.
Most of our phlox, persicarias and hydrangeas, the usual stalwart autumn performers, are looking indisputably wan this year even without the hose-pipe ban, so it’s to these ever-expanding families I shall be turning to in future to provide some late-season colour — and it’s a wonderful prospect.
'A Year Full of Flowers' by Sarah Raven is out now (Bloomsbury, £25)
-
‘They remain, really, the property of all of those who love them, know them, and tell them. They are our stories, the inheritance of the people of Scotland’: The Anthology of Scottish Folk Tales
-
The English church that looks like a Van Gogh fever dream: Country Life Quiz of the Day, July 8, 2025
Plus wonderful words and one of Britain's most beautiful insects in Tuesday's quiz.
-
Alan Titchmarsh: My garden is as pretty as I've ever known it, thanks to an idea I've rediscovered after 50 years
Thinking about an article he wrote almost half a century ago prompted Alan Titchmarsh to get sowing — and he's now reaping summer loveliness.
-
The Hollywood garden designers who turned their hand to a magical corner of Somerset
Caisson House's fifteen abandoned locks were part of the draw for Amanda and Phil Honey, who have created this astonishing garden in the grounds of the former headquarters of the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company just outside Bath. Caroline Donald discovers more; photography by Jason Ingram.
-
The 'Rose Labyrinth' of Coughton Court, where 200 varieties come together in this world-renowned garden in Warwickshire
Val Bourne finds the award-winning roses flourishing at Coughton Court in Warwickshire, where the historic garden is now in the hands of the latest in many generations of the same family. Photography by Clive Nichols.
-
'None of this would be here had the tithe barn not burned down that night’: How the terrifying destruction of a medieval landmark sparked the creation of the magnificent gardens of Bledlow Manor
After inheriting the Bledlow Manor in 2018, Lord Carrington has been devoted to the thoughtful renewal and replanting of this historic Buckinghamshire garden. Tiffany Daneff reports, with photography by Clive Nichols.
-
'The whole house shook. Everything was white. For four months, it felt as if we were on Mars': The story behind one of Hampshire's most breathtaking gardens
When Kim Wilkie sculpted a tiered grass amphitheatre behind this 17th-century house, the garden finally settled into place, as Non Morris discovers.
-
Myddleton House: The place that 'will help you learn what true gardening is' is open to everyone, and just 30 minutes from central London
E. A. Bowles created a horticultural playground in the gardens of Myddleton House that was years ahead of its time, and continues to influence even today. Isabel Bannerman takes a look.
-
Wakehurst: 500 years of history, 2.4 billion seeds, 500 acres of planting, and scientists who might just save us all
Charles Quest-Ritson takes a look at the amazing work that's been done to update Wakehurst, Kew's trailblazing outpost in Sussex.
-
A dozen slices of al fresco inspiration from the best designers in Britain
Amelia Thorpe shares her pick of the most beautiful outdoor furniture and accessories to help you make the most of summer.