It's worth the risk!

We have a fairly new flower bed in our garden that we just haven't yet managed to get how we would like it. I want a sort of cottage garden look with some plants at least that will attract butterflies and bees.

When visiting a local garden centre near to us I noticed that they were selling perennials at only £1.99 each. These were packed in plastic bags filled with compost so I suppose they could just refuse to grow but we decided at the price we would try a few.

Some were named varieties but others weren't which doesn't bother me too much as I want some colour so I'm not too bothered which varieties I have bought as long as they perform. Anyway I'd only lose the name labels and forget which varieties I have bought!

The plants that I chose are photographed below. The photos were taken from the packaging and so please forgive the quality

The plants will be potted up and kept in our cold greenhouse for the time being and then fingers will be crossed. I already have one or two blue/purple flowering plants growing in the bed so the colour scheme isn't going to be sophisticated. I don't know whether the plants will enjoy the conditions in the bed or not but at the price it's worth the risk.

Has anyone any favourite easy growing perennials that they would recommend? The soil is clay but with plenty of compost added, it is under a crab apple tree which we intend to prune back a little and does get rather dry (that's a joke at the moment) but it is in a light position.

So far the plants that seem to be doing well in the border are the ones shown on the right. I have a couple of penstemons, the white flowering one has brown leaves, a couple of heuchera - Plum Pudding and Pewter (which has silvery leaves), some dicentra, a low growing geranium  with brown leaves,  a clump of bergenia, a veronica and a salvia.

Wish I could remember the names of all the varieties but my list is in a safe place!