ARCHANTS HARDY PLANTS is quietly tucked away on a small Sussex lane, the two-acre site drifting gently into surrounding farmland and the distant smudge of the South Downs. It looks unassuming, yet this nursery is extraordinary. Marchants does not offer a mail-order service; you must visit in person and, pushing through the small gate, you are instantly wrapped in colour, vigour and exuberance that would rival a flower show. There are no militaristic alphabetical rows, no forlorn-looking imports. The brick raised beds, about knee height, are stacked with flowering plants in generous pots, artfully put together for contrast in colour, form and texture: a golden interlaces fingers with, as crimson tips of ‘Shenandoah’ pick out the deep red in ‘Blackfield’ and ‘Cangshan Cranberry’. Each
