Just got back from Stamner Nurseries where I feel, as a neighbour put it, like a 14-year old girl in the high street on a Saturday. Thank goodness Madeleine was there with her Treasurer’s hat firmly on to restrain me from my financially unhingeing love affairs.

After our flights of colourful fancy at the wonderful workshop we had with Bridgette and Deborah at The Garden House back in March, we’ve realised that the Preston Circus Planters are (sigh) only 1m x 1.5m and cannot accommodate all the riches we planned for them.

However, we’ve been able to stick to the great idea of having four different planting themes for the four planters. Next to the Duke of York’s cinema there will be the ‘formal’ theme, with lavender and purple sedum surrounding a red-stemmed cornus alba siberica, and the ‘cottage garden’ with fluffy perfumes pinks, oranges and leafy greens. On the traffic islands, the planting themes will be ‘seaside’ blue, silver and yellow (by Hare and Hounds) and ‘prairie’ lime, ruby and yellow (by Circus Circus).

Here’s what we’ve got for planting on Saturday:

Formal planter

• 1 cornus alba siberica
• 4 lavender Hidcote
• 2 sedum ‘Purple Emperor’
• Trailing lobelia (dark blue) to be sourced

Cottage garden planter

• 1 acanthus mollis
• 4 alchemilla mollis
• 2 dianthus ‘Moulin Rouge’ PBR
• Rosa ‘Surrey’ to be sourced
• Calendula from seed
• Cosmos

Seaside planter

• Agava americana mediopicta to be sourced
• 4 x Festuca glauca
• 2 x Santolina chamaecyparissus
• 2 x lampranthus orange
• 1 x Rosmarinus prostratus
• Eryngium bourgattii  to be sourced
• Gazenia
• Calendula

Prairie planter

• 1 x Miscanthus Purpurascens
• 4 x Carex everillo
• 2 x Euphorbia ‘Ruby Fens’
• 1 x Gaura lindheimeri ‘Passionate blush’