Featuring my fuzzy socks + Tanacetum densum - the most hardcore + elegant ground cover that the world ever did see
Cool is in the Air
As the air finally starts to cool (fuzzy socks as proff in photo), we're entering the season we've been waiting for: planting time. But if this summer taught us anything, it's that the way our gardens need a rethink.
Some regions spent the season under water restrictions. Others sat through stretch after stretch of 42°C and higher. And if we're honest, most "traditional" French garden plants simply aren't built to take that kind of hydric and thermal stress. The lawns, the hydrangea borders, the thirsty ornamentals we grew up with — they're not going away entirely, but they can no longer be the whole story.
That's exactly the problem Plant d'Avenir has spent the last several years working on.
Grown for an Uncertain Future
Deep in our experimental gardens, we've been trialing a new generation and new partnerships of plants chosen specifically for resilience - species built to handle heat spikes, prolonged drought, and the kind of erratic, extreme weather that's becoming the new normal rather than the exception.
This summer was, in a strange way, the best possible test. Through the quintuple heatwaves, our trial beds were watered sparingly - deliberately, minimally, the way a real garden would have to survive if restrictions hit.
And they came through beautifully.
More fuzzy socks shots - this time with Oregano Thumble's Variety and Thymus longicaulis shaded by the magnificent Caryopteris Heavenly Blue
Right now, as the season's welcome rains roll back in, those same beds are in full bloom, and every plant in our nursery is bulking up and thriving.
Coreopsis Incredible Swirl doing her incredible thing.
And now for some GREAT news.
Introducing the New Collection
We've been growing seeds and cuttings all winter/summer and many are finally ready to be released into the gardens! The new arrivals include architectural trees, drought-tolerant shrubs, gorgeous ornamental grasses, and Mediterranean-hardy flowering plants — all selected for their ability to look beautiful and stay resilient when the weather refuses to cooperate.
Trees & Statement Plants
- Albizia julibrissin 'Ombrella' - the silk tree, prized for its feathery foliage and pink pompom flowers, now in a compact umbrella-shaped form
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Pinus pinea - the iconic stone pine of the Mediterranean coastline, deeply drought-adapted once established
- Morus kagayamae 'Fruitless' - a tough, fruitless shade tree perfect for courtyards and terraces
Shrubs & Climbers
- Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen' (oakleaf hydrangea) - more heat-tolerant than classic hydrangeas, with striking cone-shaped white blooms and fiery autumn foliage
- Lonicera 'Goldflame' (climbing honeysuckle) - vigorous, fragrant, and far less fussy about water than it looks. It's all about your mulching game with this one.
- Passiflora caerulea - the blue passionflower, exotic-looking but surprisingly hardy and drought-tolerant once rooted in
Ornamental Grasses
- Pennisetum alopecuroides - fountain grass, with soft bottlebrush plumes that move beautifully in the wind
- Stipa tenuissima 'Pony Tails' - angel hair grass, fine, silky, and famously low-maintenance
- Stipa arundinacea - bronze-toned, evergreen, and built for poor, dry soils
- Leymus arenarius - blue lyme grass, a true dune plant that thrives on neglect and sandy, well-drained ground
Sages
- Salvia x jamensis 'Melen' — a white-flowered salvia with classic Mediterranean toughness
- Salvia x jamensis 'Pluenn' — its soft pink counterpart, equally happy in full sun and lean soil
- Salvia nutans - Nodding sage, with tall, airy violet-blue flower spikes that dip and sway above the foliage. A striking vertical accent that thrives on poor soil and shrugs off drought once established.
- Salvia verticillata 'Endless Love' - A long-blooming whorled sage, with deep purple flower clusters stacked along the stem from early summer well into autumn. Compact, tough, and a magnet for bees.
- Lavandula multifida 'Torch Blue' - Fern-leaf lavender with finely cut, almost feathery foliage and vivid blue-violet flowers held on tall spikes. More heat-tolerant than classic English lavender, with a longer flowering season.
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Lavandula multifida 'Torch Minty Ice' - The cooler-toned cousin of 'Torch Blue,' with the same delicate ferny foliage but icy lilac-white blooms. Elegant, drought-hardy, and a lighter touch for pale or silver-themed borders.
Eucalyptus
- Eucalyptus gunnii - the classic silver-blue foliage eucalyptus, fast-growing and cold-hardier than most assume
- Eucalyptus parvifolia - a smaller-leaved, more compact option for tighter gardens
- Eucalyptus nitens, the shining gum - vigorous, glossy-leaved, and strikingly fast to establish
Flowering Standouts
- Lagerstroemia (Rose Fuchsia) - long, vivid summer flowering and real heat resilience, a plant practically made for the summers we're now having
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Buddleia 'Flower Power' (butterfly bush) — a non-invasive hybrid and pollinator magnet with two-toned blooms, thriving in exactly the dry, sun-baked spots where other shrubs struggle
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Available Now for Preorder
This collection isn't online yet - for now, it's available exclusively for preorder at the nursery. Come by, see the trial beds for yourself, and talk to us about which of these plants will suit your soil, your exposure, and the climate reality of your particular corner of France.
We built plant d'Avenir because we believe gardens shouldn't just survive the years ahead — they should still be beautiful in them.
Come see what a garden built for an uncertain future actually looks like. And don't forget to take a tour of our website to see all the other options!
See you at the nursery this planting season 🌿