While I was photoing the miserable spartiums I couldn’t resist snapping these jolly heathers nearby. Erica arborea, they seem to have no intention of becoming tree-like but they flower reliably every year whether the grass gets cut or not.
Pamela mentioned a while ago what a great plant Euryops pectinatus is, and I have to agree with a photo of one of my many plants blooming away today next to a dwarf Polygala that I’m very fond of. This Euryops has lovely cut-out grey-green leaves. Another winner, although slightly less hardy, is this small-flowered Euryops with bright green needle-like leaves whose name I’ve forgotten. I was surprised to see it being grown at Hidcote Gardens because mine was badly burnt by a hard frost some years ago although, as you can see, it grew back from a surviving branch.
Eriocephalus africanus has also been mentioned elsewhere, here with a Salvia teucrium ‘Azurea’ which I brought back from Turkey because it looked particularly floriferous.