What plants are your best "doers" in your garden?

I think it would be worth a try, Alice. I have two near the house in an east facing bed. The sun goes off them in the afternoon. They stay low and throw out longish branches which can be cut back if needed. Sometimes I stake a branch if it is so heavily laden with flowers it flops too much. I've been very pleased with how long it flowers. I wonder if not being blasted by the sun all day helps this?
Like most plants it would probably take a couple of years to get its roots down and then perform well.

Nell8 I like the look of the rose you have mentioned (Surrey). I have a raised bed in my front garden against the house wall but unfortunately it only gets the sun from about 3.00pm in mid-summer. Do you think it would be suitable for that position? I see that it is more of a ground cover rose, and that would be ideal for this bed as I have a large fuchsia and a Sarcococca that both do well there and would like something to fill the gap in between.

I've been impressed by these plants which do well. I garden on clay with added organic material.

Abelia "Edward Goucher" semi-evergreen, medium height, easily pruned, pretty pinks flowers over a long period
Clematis "Miss Bateman" white flowers early in year, happy against north facing fence
Rose "Surrey" pink flowers over very long period, easy to keep pruned in a mixed border, disease resistant
Bowles's golden sedge is an evergreen grass which looks lovely as small clumps in north facing border esp. in Spring when it has a bright limey green colour

Germanshepherdsmum

The heat and drought haven’t done some of my Japanese anemones any favours this year Grantanow. For some reason the earlier flowering pink ones have suffered worst.

Mine looked nearly dead but I gave it a severe haircut and it's come back again. It's in a pot, not sure whether to plant it in a border or not.

I also like verbena bonariensis; it flowers on and on, attracts wildlife, and I love the airy height. I grow gaura in pots and it seems fine. I would not be without many members of the narcissus family and muscari in the spring. This year I've grown a lot more wild flowers, and ox-eye daisy, clover, bird's foot trefoil have done well. I also love evening primrose and valerian, but it does mean I'm constantly pulling out seedlings! For a real long do-er, I reckon nasturtiums take the prize! Years ago I planted a variety of nasturtium seeds, some common, some less common, and since then, I've had self seeded ones billowing beautifully around. I use the flowers and leaves in salads too.

The heat and drought haven’t done some of my Japanese anemones any favours this year Grantanow. For some reason the earlier flowering pink ones have suffered worst.

In our garden the plants that are the best doers are the ones that roe and red deer don't eat, so mainly ones that do/did well on ancient pasture (deer are browsers rather than grazers, which makes a difference). Also ferns. Trees do pretty well. When we are too old and decrepit to mow and pull up gazillions of downy birch, ash, sycamore, holly and other tree seedlings we will gradually be hemmed in by a forest.

As everyone predicts our summers will get hotter and drier, I have this week been listing those plants that have coped well and those that have really struggled. My phlox have not liked it, neither have gaura’s, hebe’s and cosmos. Rudbeckia’s, penstemon and all the daisy family have thrived. Through the winter I will be planning what will have the best chance of surviving. Our gardening club is planning a trip to Beth Chatto’s gravel garden to get ideas. I live right in the centre of England ( Beds, Bucks border) and we are really suffering with drought conditions.i

Hypericum: good news for me ,AskAlice. I got two of these for my birthday this month.

Japanese anemones

MrsKen33

We seem to have the ideal conditions for camellias and hydrangeas, so we have lots of those. Also several trees which will need sorting in a while.

We are definitely on limey soil- and if there is one thing I've learnt over my 50+ years of gardening, it to go with plants suited for your conditions. Trying to fight it always ends in tears and disappointment. I have 2 hydrangeas in pots, and that is it.

My Calendulas have done well this year.

Lovely planting ideas Grany. Watch the thyme, mine spreads everywhere, swamping the other plants.

Hydrangeas are very easy to propagate. Take a non flowering stem, about 10 cms. Remove all but the top leaves, then either put in a jar of water, or preferably dip in rooting powder and plant in a small pot of damp, 50% compost 50% grit. Keep in a sheltered place, cold frame or greenhouse.
Next spring there should be new leaves appearing, when roots appear at the bottom, pot on to a larger pot.
It’s quite a slow process at first, but very satisfying to see your own plants growing and flowering.

Just sprinkled wild flower seed masses of wild flowers on unfertilised soil

There are big rocks on the side of my daughters detached house I am living in I added some pebbles made a rockery growing alpines including thyme seven plants altogether.

Quite pleased with it.

Talking of leggy, I Chelsea chopped some of my sedum Autumn Joy as an experiment, and left the rest. The jury is out on whether it was the right thing to do, the chopped part will be out a couple of weeks later, but the flowers will be much smaller. I might chop a few whole plants in different parts of the garden next year just to prolong the season.

It's very pretty Alice. I have one like that and the changing colours as the flowers age are lovely. It should be ok with those trees around it. It was definitely the heat which spoiled mine this year rather than lack of water - especially the strong breeze at the same time (we live near the coast) which scorched the flowers. Let's hope for better luck next year!

We saw a hydrangea like that at the garden centre the other week, they're lovely.
But we couldn't think of a suitable space for it.

Please excuse the state of the lawn!!!

Photo of Wine Corner - the new hydrangea is on the right. The roots are shaded but this little corner gets the mid/late afternoon sun. I hope I can keep it going Germanshepherdsmum as it's the first hydrangea I have planted.

Callistemon21 Penstemon Apple Blossom is an absolutely beauty!

My hydrangeas have really suffered this year, despite watering. Such a shame. The only one not to have suffered is in a very shady spot.

The word leggy seems to pop up in lots of my posts - I do maintain the shrubs, honest, but some years circumstances have meant that I've missed pruning one or two and they got out of control very quickly! I do all the gardening, including the veg beds, myself. OH's only garden job is to mow the lawn, which he enjoys and I hate!

Yesterday I bought Hydrangea Pinky Promise and I've planted it this morning in my Wine Corner to replace a leggy lavender that I'd had for years. It has conical flower heads that are supposed to change from white to pale pink to deep pink through July, August and September. Fingers crossed!