Plants

Water hawthorn. Free flowering for most of the year. Very hardy, if protected from frost, it will flower all winter. It dies back for a short time in August. Fragile leaves may be damaged in transit, remove these and new will soon regrow. This plant looks fantastic early and late in the year. The foliage dies back in the summer. Leaves damaged in transit can be removed and new ones will grow.

Flowering rush. Pretty pink flowers in umbels rise above the triangular leaves which turn from red to dark green as they mature. The roots used to be crushed and used as food in northern Asia. Little maintenance is required. Trim just above the water surface after foliage has died back in Autumn to tidy

Cuckoo flower, Lady's smock. Mounds of pale green ferny foliage with pale lilac blooms. It is one of the food plants of the Orange Tip butterfly. No maintenance is required but you may trim seed heads to encourage more flowers.

Dutch rush. This stunning, evergreen plant adds interest to the garden throughout the year. Extremely hardy even 500 miles inside the Artic circle. Leave old growth standing through winter. Cut down in spring when new shoots have grown to about 15cm high.

Variegated reed sweet grass. A relatively vigorous plant but with attractive, pinky-red striped grass foliage in Spring maturing to yellow & white later in the year. It is graced with purplish-green flowering panicles in late summer.

Orange peel plant. It has white flowers, made of numerous bracts, which are prolific from May to September. The leaves, as other Houttuynias, have an attractive orange peel scent, hence it's common name. Little maintenance is required. Trim to tidy as required and after foliage has died back in autumn.

Yellow flag. The only native aquatic iris, it can be vigorous in boggy soil. It is the original of the famous Royal French emblem, Fleur-de-lys. After foliage has died back in Autumn cut back to just above the water surface. If trimming left until spring take care not to damage emerging shoots.

Corkscrew rush. This evergreen is a must-have for any small pond. It has an unusual corkscrew twist to the cylindrical foliage. Although evergreen, cutting it back in early spring encourages fresh new growth. Evergreen. Trim in early spring to encourage new growth

Chinese marshflower. A native of the Himalayas, it is a low creeping marginal that forms dense mats of blue flowers that flower prolifically throughout the summer. Low maintence. Trim foliage to tidy if required.

Lavender musk. Longer & narrower leaves than the other Mimulus varieties with small violet-blue flowers on tall stems. A native of eastern and central North America Little maintenance is required. Trim to tidy but leave foliage to die back naturally to encourage winter bud formation.

Gardener's Garters. An attractive grass type aquatic with narrow leaves that are boldly striped with white, pale and dark green.

Lesser spearwort. Lanceolate leaves with branching stems hold a large numbers of little yellow buttercup-type flowers. Ranunculus means 'little frog'. Little maintenance is required. Trim back after flowering to encourage a second flush.