Helichrysum

A large genus (500 plus), distributed over the warm and temperate regions of the Old World. Mostly from South Africa and Australia, but the smaller shrubby types found around the Mediterranean are most suited to British gardens. Maybe not as glamorous as Cistus, but valued nonetheless for their grey, woolly foliage, which can be more enhanced during drought. They can have soft rounded shapes, linking between the lower, spreading helianthemums and thymes, whilst providing a backdrop to vertical performers like alliums and verbascums.

The small but numerous flowers in tight flowerheads attract smaller pollinating insects in profusion, including bees, flies and ladybirds: the epitome of a drought-tolerant plant that does it for wildlife, for water and for us with its foliage scent.