Euphorbia cyparissias (Cypress Spurge or Bonaparte's Crown)

Frothy from far away, full of symmetry and structure and engineering up close*. This is a cracker of a ground-cover plant for hot sunny banks or tricksy dry spots under trees. It has a feathery quality that belies its tough and adaptable nature: it’s naturally found on dunes, grasslands and headlands in the wild, so handles dry spells and windy exposure rather well. It’s one of those inexorably-spreading perennials which looks after itself. We'd suggest planting a few, generously, in a big space so you can watch their edges join up in a very satisfactory manner in areas where not much else sticks. The leaves are needle-like, a bit blue-ish, and they produce masses of greeny-yellow flowers in summer. These Euphorbias associate really well with other dry garden stalwarts like Lavenders (purple and chartreuse? YES!) so if you’re after a punchy planting scheme then you need these.

In the brightest spots, their blooms can become tinged with a very cheerful apricotty orange and they’re generous about producing them. They are hardy, and resistant to all kinds of pests and deer won’t touch them because of their milky sap, which you should avoid too. Plant them in any aspect, either exposed or sheltered, on any free draining soil that you can get a spade into.

 *A bit like Dolly Parton.