Craspedia Drumstick

Perfect golden spheres, two or three centimetres across, sitting on completely straight unbranched wire-like stems. Nothing else in a summer border has this geometry. Everything else curves, spreads or moves. This looks machined.

That is exactly what makes it valuable in an arrangement. A few stems of craspedia among softer, irregular flowers do what a sculptor does by setting a sphere next to something rough. It also dries almost exactly as it looks fresh, holding its yellow for years and warming gradually to mustard, which is why we grow it here at Salle Moor Hall Farm for the dried range.

Be realistic about it as a garden plant. The foliage is a scruffy grey-green rosette and it contributes nothing to a border. This is a cutting crop, grown in a row and harvested. It comes from Australian and New Zealand alpine grassland, it is half-hardy here and will not survive a British winter outdoors, and it needs a long season, so sow it early under cover. Slow to get going, and reliable once it does.