Mid-border plants (40-100cm)

Medium-height plants for the middle of a border.

The middle tier, roughly 40 to 100cm, is the body of the border and where most of the flowering happens; get this layer right and the whole bed works. These plants sit between the low front edging and the tall back-of-border specimens, so they need enough height to be seen over the front planting without blocking what stands behind. Plant in interlocking drifts that overlap their neighbours by flowering time, so as one group fades another rises through it. Repeat a few key plants along the bed to give rhythm and stop it looking like a collection of one-offs. These plants occupy that workhorse mid-height band, the long-flowering perennials and compact shrubs that carry a border through the season.

Border Builder is a garden border planner for iPhone and iPad. Pick from the 576 plants below and it works them into a full plan: how many of each, where they go, and how the bed reads through the seasons.

576 plants for this