Perfect partners #7

Amaranthus 'Marvel Bronze', Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset' and Eschscholtzia californica

Perfect partners #6

Trollius 'Alabaster', Iris sibirica 'Dreaming Yellow', and Rodgersia aesculifolia

as seen in 'Music On The Moors', winner of Best Courtyard Garden Chelsea 2010

Perfect partners #5

Tulipa 'Chinatown', Heuchera 'Beaujolais' and Anemanthele lessoniana

as seen in the Floral Pavilion at the Malvern Spring Gardening Show

Perfect partners #4

Juniperus squamata 'Chinese Silver' and Erica carnea 'Springwood White' spotted at Wakehurst Place, Sussex, earlier this month. Who said the old conifer-and-heather combo was boring?

Perfect partners #3

Betula utilis, Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', and Galanthus nivalis. A little island at Wakehurst Place earlier this month: perhaps the black-and-white snowdrops-and-lilyturf thing is becoming a tad clichéd nowadays but I don't care. This looked fabulous.

Perfect partners #2

Cornus alba 'Sibirica' and Hamamelis x intermedia 'Pallida' lighting up a corner on a gloomy February day at Capel Manor's gardens in Enfield, London, underplanted with Erica x darleyensis 'Silberschmelze'.

Perfect partners #1

Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' and Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Silver Magic', spotted at Wisley on a frosty day.

(By way of explanation: We've been set an assignment for the Plant Design course I'm doing at Capel Manor to compile lots of plant combinations that we particularly like, so since it's going to take me all year to do, I thought I'd share them as I go along.)