More interested in flowers?

Then track down the national collections of Michaelmas daisies (Asters) and their relatives, which put on a grand show from August 'til October. The National Trust have a collection at Upton House, nr Banbury, Oxon, with 104 different types to gaze upon. Within the rose garden of Temple Newsam public park in Leeds there are 159 different types, and not to be outdone, there are at least 260 variations at Picton's nursery, near Malvern, Worcestershire. Here, many of these colourful plants are on sale, so you can bring back a souvenir for your garden.

Wakehurst Place in West Sussex also offers Asters along with Sedum, and the pink poker flowers of bistort in the water gardens. The national collection of birches adds to the colour.