The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) issued by the Royal Hoticultural Society (RHS) helps gardeners find reliable, consistent plants that will provide particularly good value in the garden.The award is granted after trials at the RHS’ garden at Wisley in Surrey and/or assessment at specialist collections or discussion at meetings. There is a set list of criteria that plants have to meet to be deemed worthy of the AGM. For more information on the AGM please visit the RHS Website.
Nursery owner, Tim Fuller, has been involved with judging the trials at RHS Wisley since 2008.
AGM Very similar to the well known A. sphaerocephalon but this has light yellow flowers. Well behaved and very pretty mixed with grasses. Drained soil in sun. 60cm.
syn. Stipa arundinacea - Pheasant Tail Grass. Green foliage tinted orange and red in late summer and autumn. Wispy flowers form a cloud above the foliage in late summer. 1m. Not dry.
AGM Grey leaves with nearly white undersides and long tapering spikes of white flowers from midsummer into autumn. Deciduous, best in a sheltered position in full sun in drained soil. 2m.
Clumps of brilliant butter yellow new foliage in spring with black flowers on this selection of the native sedge. Best in damp to wet soil in part sun. 60cm.
AGM An excellent small flowered pom-pom type of hardy Chrysanth in a glowing acid yellow. A lovely contrast to the warmer colours in autumn. Drained soil in sun, 90cm.
Glowing greenish yellow winter stems are the main reason for growing this dogwood. Small clusters of white summer flowers followed by white berries. 2.4m if you don't cut back to a stump every year..
AGM A good clear, rich yellow form with arching spikes of upward facing flowers in mid to late summer. Drained, but good soil in full sun for the best flower. 90cm. From Rowallane in N. Ireland.
AGM Probably the largest flowered Crocosmia, easily to 8cm across when happy. Open, narrow petalled flowers in a clear orange with a yellow throat. 80cm. Sun.
AGM Low growing patches of blueish green ferny foliage and tough creamy flowers with a little lilac pink at the base in spring. Decent soil in shade. 30cm.
Miss Willmott's Ghost. Very pretty biennial with rosettes of paddle shaped leaves and strong upright stems of spiny silvery flowers in summer. Drained soil in sun. 60cm.
AGM Near white flowers soon flush pink then near purple on dark burgundy stems over clumps of striking leaves the same colour. Full sun, drained soil. 60cm.
AGM Large scarlet and rich magenta flowers in good numbers on this vigorous bushy hardy Fuchsia. Average soil in part or light shade for best growth, can scorch in hot sun. 90cm.
TENDER AGM Rarely seen now this vigorous species from Mexico has large pale green leaves and big bunches of incredibly long tubed orange-red flowers with distinct creamy-green sepals. Potentially 2m!
AGM A elegant species with slender bright reddish pink flowers with purple corollas and red filaments. Smallish but broad leaves try to be evergreen. Borderline hardy - drained soil in a sheltered position, light shade. 60cm?
AGM Unusual lanceolate leaves on a willowy upright plant producing masses of elegant red and purple flowers from midsummer. Distinctive reddish stems. Should be hardy in drained soil, best in some shade.
AGM Beautiful narrow golden leaves on this elegant hardy fuchsia, often tinted red with cooler weather. Delicate looking red flowers drip from the stems in summer and autumn. Potentially to 1.5m but usually less.
AGM Striking milky white flowers in short branching spikes above fresh green foliage on this clump former. Sterile so no self-seeding. Ordinary soil in sun or part shade.
AGM A mound of large pale blue flowers veined crimson. 45cm. Flowering June-August onwards. Reasonable soil in open or sunny position. Unique colour for a long flowering plant.
AGM This brilliant hybrid from Cambridge Botanic Garden has intense blue flowers with white centres from May to July and September onwards. Open position in average soil. 60cm x 90cm. Named after a street in Cambridge.
A recent introduction with very compact growth and masses of small deep pink flowers in late spring. Not really a groundcover but a spreading patch to 15cm high.
A distinct colour break from Coen Jansen in Holland. Low mounds of divided, deep green, leaves studded with masses of bright salmony pink flowers May to September. Drained soil in sun.
AGM An unusual form with many bright rosy pink flowers with reddish veins on a compact plant to 20cm. For drained soil in sun, ideal for the front of a border.
