What is your favorite plant in your garden?

[tiredandgrumpy]

And what conditions suit it best? I'm thoroughly enjoying tackling our garden and gaining control over the mess we inherited. I'm looking to develop more of the beds so recommendations gratefully received. (I have been through books and looked at neighbours gardens, but thought your suggestions might throw up some good ideas).

Bumping as I would really value your suggestions.

I love my blueberry bush. This is the first year I have had it (planted last autumn) - it had beautiful red autumn folliage, then pretty white flowers, and now is laden with fruit . I have mine in a large container (half barrel) in ericaceous compost mixed with sharp sand. It is currently being slightly bullied by some poppies which have sprung up a bit close after my over-enthusiatic seed-scattering but still looks happy enough!

Cool! Dh said over the weekend that he'd like to get blueberries. Do you know what type it is? Apparently the garden centre had about 10 different varieties.

Y blueberries are pretty & practical!

My favourite is the Kiwi as it's huge! It's a pot in the v sheltered part of my garden. Needs fleecing in winter but otherwise it doesn't need a lot

Today my souvenir du doctor jamain Rose (sorry about spelling iPhone trying to help). Beautiful colour fabulous scent. Was my fave Rose before monty don mentioned it btw. Likes a bit of shade. Also courgettes. And geranium psilostemon.

Ceanothus 'Puget Blue'
Peony 'Bowl of Beauty'

I don't know where you are based, but I recommend you head to the Beth Chatto garden. You can see what is possible in a dry garden/damp garden etc, and the plants are available to buy as well.
If you are gardening for the long term, the last thing you need is a treadmill of buying trays of petunia plug plants & slapping them in where there's a space. THink Perennial, preferably drought & cold tolerant - you will thank yourself a year or 2 down the line.
(yes ceanothus is a bit frost delicate but I luuuuuuurve those impossible blue flowers )

my favourite is the jasmine for the scent. Is in a large pot next to a fence so I can move it to shelter in the winter. Am also loving the strawberries at the moment, planted 3 plants couple years ago and they have spread everywhere. Picked 2 big bowls full yesterday, and more to come.

hollyhocks! they don't flower the first year you plant but they are amazing when they do. i would love a peony tree

The blueberry I have is Chandler - it seems very healthy.

While not really a long-term choice, I am presently also in love with my night scented stock, as it makes the whole garden smell wonderful in the evenings (please note that my garden is tiny!). I am also loving the sweetpeas, although next year I am going to be more selective about varieties/colours - this year I got 25 mixed plants for £cheap, but I have managed to plant a sort of pinky-coral right next to a reddish one, and it's a bit... startling. They are not the most fragrant lot I have had, either. But still lovely.

I would also love a peony tree and am considering getting a magnolia to plant in a big pot - any suggestions for varieties that will thrive in a container?

Right now it's my foxgloves that are my favourite. Tall, elegant and in lovely combinations of pink and cream with speckles. Doing really well in the semi-shady spot I've got them in. I've seeded some new ones already for next year.

I love the sage family of shrubs they flower happily and self seed prettily.I've got a dark red 'scarlet pineapple' and a gorgeous dark blue 'dorisiana' that has just arrived on it's own, as well as the common sage, I'm a great one for ground cover which they do well!

jasminoides trachelospermum or false jasmine is my favourite - the flowers smell like jasmine with the added benefit of it being an evergreen - lots of pictures of it here

Sorry i just reread yr, question and the conditions in my garden are sandy,alkili and it drains well but it is in mid S.W. France!

Soil in our garden veers towards clay, but has been much improved over the years with lots of added compost (we're close to a river, old floodplain). North Bucks. Moved in about 9 months ago, first thing I did was remove all the ivy that crept everywher and robbed everything of nurtiets, dug almost all the beds up and added blood fish and bone liberally, was thouroughly rewarded this year with masses of flowers from everything! (rented the house next door for 2 years, so know what the garden looked like before)

This year's best performers and greatest bringers-of-pleasure:

foxgloves - planted them last autumn, overwintered well, HUGE spikes, goes on and on, reached my shoulder height! Tons of bees buzzing about,

Alliums - so pretty! bought the bigger types, mid-border.

David Austin rose Sceptered Isle - masses of the most beatiful pink flowers, no sign of disease yet, awesome rose!

Inherited rock roses - masses of flowers front of border, I have gone and bought some more!

Hydrangea Limelight - bought it last year, most beautiful flowers, just starting to push flowers now, so pretty. Flowers last ages.

Bought shedloads (180+) bulbs from Peter Nyssen Ltd, just google them. Spring bulbs looked great, also planted lots of lillies, just starting to flower now and so worth it! The huge Asiatic lilies especially worth it! Prices very good, much much much cheaper than the garden centre! and great quality

I will stop now! Happy gardening!

PS bought about 50 Snakeshead lily bulbs from Thompson and Morgan, about 5 came up and flowered :-(

my bleeding hearts. Love shade, so easy to grow so pretty

Acanthus - fabulous glossy leaves and those wonderful architectural. spiky flowers. They seem to grow anywhere and throw out lots of seedlings.

Heuchera - they come in all sorts of shades, lovely textured leaves, they do fine in the sun but flower with lovely fine flower stalks of usually a contrasting shade to the foliage if they're in the shade. They're evergreen and you can divide them every couple of years to increase your stock. You can get them small to start off with and have them in pots for a season, then plant them in garden and let them grow away.

Globe artichokes, huge sculpturing, arching silvery leaves and a gourmet meal time after time.