100 Plants That Won't Die in Your Garden

Stocking a garden with plants can be an expensive business, so there are few
things more frustrating than when the prized specimen for which you have paid
a king's ransom either online or at a garden centre shrivels up and dies
within a year or so of purchase. If you can prove that the plant was half-dead
when it arrived, you may able to obtain a refund from some online retailers,
but for the most part you have to put it down to experience and make a firm
mental note not to buy fussy plants in future.

The problem is that many websites and catalogues claim that everything they
stock is easy to grow. Herbaceous perennials are a particular minefield. Too
often you are told that a certain plant 'will come back year after year'
without fail when in reality it is either so tender that the only chance of it
surviving an average British winter is in a greenhouse or it is a short-lived
perennial that is unlikely to flourish beyond two years anyway - and even then
only if the local slugs and snails are on a diet.

This book cuts through the horticultural sales pitches by listing 100 plants
which, for little care beyond the essential watering at planting time, can
reliably be expected to thrive in just about any garden. These plants are all
but indestructible - pests give them a wide berth, they will prosper in any
reasonable garden soil and will withstand anything that the UK climate throws
at them. Divided into sections for shrubs, conifers, climbers, perennials,
grasses, annuals, alpines and bulbs and with each entry having a Value For
Money (VFM) rating out of 10, this easy-to-use guide will prove invaluable not
only for the new gardener but also for old hands who are fed up with wasting
time and money on plants that all too rapidly lose the will to live. With
these suggestions, you can be assured of year-round colour and interest in
your garden for the minimum of effort.