Features: A walk on the wild side

The plants that are stealing the show are just as mother nature intended: near-wild species plants without frills or flounces. Whether it's the fluted bog plant Sarracenia flava, the spectacular flower heads of Angelica archangelica or simple but pretty flowering chives, Allium schoenophrasum, these are plants with a pure, natural beauty all their own.

Many of the leading show garden designers have built their reputations on the use of plants which are well adapted to very specific natural environments. Tom Hoblyn, for example, is known for his naturalistic planting schemes, and he's packed his spectacularly beautiful bogland planting for the 'Foreign and Colonial Investments Garden' with species plants from the signature Sarracenia flava to low-growing Asarum europaeum and the royal fern, Osmunda regalis.

"The trouble with modern cultivars is that they're often oversized or the colours are too strong," he says. "I like selected forms of certain plants - that little tweak that mother nature accidentally throws up, maybe - but I don't like it when you get big double hellebores. Big blowsy things are not my cup of tea."

'The Fenland Alchemist', which won Best Courtyard Garden, puts species plants - that is, those which can occur naturally in the wild - directly alongside cultivars artificially bred in a nursery. The effect is a revelation. Bright yellow flowers of ordinary fennel Foeniculum vulgare catch the eye far more immediately than more sophisticated but duller cultivated bronze fennel, Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum' nearby.

Even the giant scarlet oriental poppy, Papaver orientale 'Beauty of Livermere', starts looking brash and gaudy next to the simple corn poppy, Papaver rhoeas. Co-designer Jane Besser hopes the juxtaposition will help us appreciate the delicate charm of species plants and grow a few more in our gardens.

"I think a lot of people are frightened of them," she says. "I think it's because they automatically think, "weed - it's going to take over my garden". But it's such an obvious choice to choose natives - they're happy in our soil, they're happy in our weather, so easy to look after, and beautiful."

Nigel Dunnett uses species plants extensively in his garden, 'Future Nature'. Simple chives are scattered among a sea of Stipa tenuissima, while deceptively delicate-looking sea thrift Armeria maritima and the strappy leaves of Sisyrinchium striatum add to the layers of colour and texture.

Nigel, however, argues you don't have to be a purist: there are many cultivars with simpler, wildlife-friendly flowers that work well, too. He just finds that species plants fit in readily with his aim of creating garden habitats where plants are suited to their place and become part of an ecosystem which looks after the local wildlife too.

"It's this idea of moving away from looking at the individual plant to seeing how they work en masse, in big groups and repeating clumps," he says. "Then the species plants can be a lot more effective, especially because they're often more delicate and they come up through other things rather than being big and overblown and blowsy."

The other big attraction about species plants is their undemanding nature. Maintenance for Nigel involves weeding through once or twice a year, and then giving it an annual cut. Tom, too, believes species plants offer a much easier option to time-pressed gardeners than fussier cultivars.

"There's no spraying, no staking, no feeding, nothing," he says. "You just leave them - let them do their thing, let Mother Nature tell you how she wants to be and let her."

Easy-going, straightforward to grow, pretty and good for wildlife: it's no wonder the scales are tipping in favour of plants which have stayed close to their roots in the wild. As Jane Besser says: " Why do we need all these wow-factor flowers when we've got beautiful ones of our own?"