THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Boring Plants Are Great
You will probably see these plants in quite a few gardens, they are well-known and a bit old hat. Only today we spoke with a gardener who complained about Verbena bonariensis being too common, too over-used, too tall and too boring.
Geez! We were overwhelmed by the anger. It hasn’t done that much wrong and we must say, we don’t think that of Verbena bonariensis.
Which is why we want to give a shout out in this blog to plants that are given a bad deal by people, just because everyone has them or knows them. They may be boring in the garden media, little seen at Chelsea, but they are hard-working, fabulous plants that deserve their status as popular garden plants – just checkout the image above from the park in Chelmsford – the yellow of the Rudbeckia have been flowering for what seems like months, without having to do any work to keep them that way – and now, on a dull Autumn day, they shine like a lamp calling the weary traveller home.
Here then, raise a glass, to these boring plants!
Salvia
Stipa
Kniphofia
Sarcococca
Hellebore
Buxus
Sedum
Lavender
Poppy
Miscanthus
Geranium
Eupatorium
Alcea
Peony
Alchemilla
Euphorbia
Nepeta
Epimedium
Perovskia
Geum
Sanguisorba
Primrose
Cyclamen
Foxglove
Hemerocallis
Liriope
Hosta
These are boring and ubiquitous plants – but if you were to plant your garden with the above list, the above pictures, you would have a wonderful and wildlife friendly garden.
And that is not boring at all.
The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus
Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …
Waltham Place Topiary Workshop 2026
With the European Boxwood and Topiary Society, I run two workshops each year at Waltham Place, one of my favourite gardens. The next topiary workshop there will be on Friday September 4th 2026. Details and how to book yet to be announced, but get in touch with them now to get on the waiting list, as last year we had double the amount of people wanting a place than we had space for. The Waltham Place website is here – topiary workshop 2026. See the teaching page for how else I can help you with the topiary in your garden …
Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones
I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …