Plants for purpose: Continuous or repeat flowering plants

If you want masses of romantic blue-purple flowers for months on end in the summer, look no further than this hardy, healthy geranium. Give it well-drained soil and an open spot in your border and it will reward you with stacks of flowers from May until September. This really is one of the ultimate low maintenance, great value for money plants!

A very pretty little plant which, once established, will shower you with a hazy cloud of the softest yellow flowers on wiry stems appearing above bronze tinted green leaves all the way from June until September.  It’s a hardy perennial so it will die down over winter.  The leaves don’t appear again until late spring so it’s a good idea to mark its position with a small cane at the end of the year to avoid planting over it!

Once upon a time, hydrangeas would only flower once a season but not anymore! This mophead hydrangea flowers on both old and newly grown stems so, not only will it flower constantly throughout the summer from June until September, it also means you can prune it any time of the year without worrying if you’re cutting off next year’s flower buds.  Its flowers can change colour depending what type of soil you have; pink flowers for alkaline soil and purple-blue for acidic. An added bonus is that the leaves turn red and gold in the autumn.

How about adding a repeat flowering climbing rose to your garden, to grow against a house wall or outdoor structure? This lightly, sweet scented, white beauty tinged with pink will repeat flower throughout the summer and its stems are easy to train up a pergola, arch or obelisk.

One of the glories of the autumn flower border, these will repeat flower from July right the way through to October, especially if you cut the flowered stems down by about half although best to stop cutting the flowered stems in the autumn as the growth will help protect the plant during a cold winter.

This variety is what is known as a cactus leaf dahlia.  It has deep red flowers with a near black centre and its petals are long, narrow and pointed.  You’ll need to stake it as, when in flower, it grows to the majestic height of 1.7m and a width of between 50cm and 1m.  If you want a bushier plant then pinch out the growing tip and remember to lift and store the tubers over winter unless you’re able to protect the plant with a thick layer of mulch.

These dainty looking plants produce spikes of small, pale-pink flowers from peppermint scented leaves all the way from July to October. Their light and airy branch structure means they can be placed at front of the border where you can best appreciate the scent of the leaves as well as the very pretty flowers.

These herbaceous perennial plants look stunning planted in drifts in the flower border with their elegant narrow, tapering white flower spikes, flowering from July to September. As the flower spikes are so slim, they can be planted front, middle and back of border without obscuring other plants.

Perfect for most gardens whether you’re wanting a cottage garden, container garden or a tiny courtyard space, these pincushion flowers will brighten it up. Bees and butterflies love them too and they’ll keep pumping out those pretty flowers from June all the way through to September.

There are many repeat flowering shrub roses to choose from but this apricot-orange flowering variety with arching stems will bring beauty visually as well as from its light scent of spiced apple and cloves. Perfect for a mixed or full rose border to pack a real punch.