Greg doesn’t mention in his comments here that he was actually the Head Gardener for Burgess Park for many years until his untimely death in December 2024. You can read detailed blogs about his modus operandi for the park meadows here: https://www.friendsofburgesspark.org.uk/?s=meadows+greg

Full list of specified plants at St George’s. I can’t confirm if this is exactly the plants used in the end, but have found most things on the list are present in varying quantities. I’ve reclassified the asters in the previous comment, and some other species in this list may also have had their names changed in the last decade. I think my favourite are the bright scarlet starry flowers of Silene regia, or ‘Royal Catchfly’.

Short Prairie

Asclepias tuberosa
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
Callirhoe bushii
Carex testacea
Dianthus carthusianorum
Echinacea pallida
Echinacea paradoxa
Echinacea purpurea
Erygium yuccifolium
Galium verum
Galtonia candicans
Kniphofia triangularis
Liatris aspera
Linum narborense
Oenothera macrocarpa var incana
Oenothera tetragona
Origanum vulgare
Penstemon barbatus
Rudbeckia fulgida var dreamii
Scutellaria baicalensis
Silene regia
Silphium terebinthinaceum
Veronica incana

Eremurus stenophylla
Pulsatilla vulgaris
Schizachyrium scoparium
Sedum ‘ Red Cauli’

Taller prairie

Symphotrichum oolentangiense
Eurybia divaricata
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘ September Ruby’
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
Coreopsis tripteris
Echinacea pallida
Echinacea purpurea
Erygium yuccifolium
Gillenia trifoliata
Penstemon barbatus
Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker’s Red’
Rudbeckia fulgida var dreamii
Silene regia
Silphium laciniatum
Silphium terebinthinaceum
Solidago speciosa
Tradescantia ohioensis

Cimicifuga simplex
Eupatorium maculatum ‘Riesenchirm’
Lobelia tupa
Panicum virgatum ‘ Shenandoah’
Rudbeckia maxima
Veronicastratum virginicum ‘ Lavanderturm’

Woodland shade mix

Ajuga reptans ‘Jungle Beauty’
Aruncus diocus ‘ Kneiffii’
Epimedium ‘Frohnleiten’
Epimedium x rubrum
Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Rubra’
Galium oderatum
Helleborus foetidus
Helloborus x hybridus ‘ Ashwood Strain’
Liriope muscari
Omphalodes cappadocicum
Polystichum setiferum ‘ Herrenhausen’
Eranthis hiemalis
Narcissus pseudonarcissus
Scilla sibirica ‘ Spring Beauty’
Bupthalmum salicifolium
Heuchera villosa
Lathyrus vernus
Primula elatior
Primula veris

Hedges

Pittosporum tobira
Crataegus monogyna
Fagus sylvatica
Acer campestre
Carpinus betulis

Blocks of grasses

Pennisetum alopecuroides
Calamagrostis acutiflora

Best wishes, G. Smith

Dear all
In reply to the question about the plants at St George’s, especially the names of the different asters:

The prairies at St George’s Way, designed by the famous Mr Hitchmough, are a wonderful mix of North American species found growing wild in the mesic and dry prairies of the USA, an additional mix of mainly European species in the shadier areas, plus a small selection of other wild flowers (ox eye daisy, false chamomile). There are also poor attempts by the well meaning but misguided head gardener to fill in a few gaps with Pheasants Tail grass from the Mediterranean (Amenthale lessonia). These we will move in Spring to the mounds since it clearly doesn’t fit with the rest of the planting, though would have looked ok aesthetically… and finally a few experiments with Echium’s pininana and candicans that also don’t fit with the planting since they are from the Canary Isles but would look so nice in flower that we may plant as dot plants in barer sections.

Firstly the asters have done very well in the cooler weather this summer. Last year most of them were a little frazzled in the summer heat.

Unfortunately many members of the aster family have been reclassified into new genus’ including all the ones on the lists.

So Aster azureus (taller pale blue one) has now been renamed as the much more easy to spell ‘Symphyotrichum oolentangiense’
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=d209

… the amazing white aster was Aster divaricartus but now called ‘Eurybia divaricata‘

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=h170

Finally the genus of A. Oblongifolius (shorter pale blue one) and A. novae-angliae ‘ September ruby’ (crimson) have also changed to Symphyotrichum .
https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=j490

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/354033/i-Symphyotrichum-novae-angliae-i-Font-Face-times-New-Roman-September-Ruby-FONT/Details?returnurl=%2fplants%2fsearch-results%3fnm%3dAster%2bnovae-angliae%26aliaspath%3d%252fplants%252fsearch-results

The latter is the one that draws the eye most but either they are creating variable coloured offspring with variable shaped flower or there are other cultivars than September Ruby also present, as the colours vary from deep crimson to purpley pink and even some salmon-y pink ones.

Hopefully I am correct with the above info, I’d like to say I knew this all by heart but can only truly confirm that I’ve finally noticed there is a second y in Symphyotrichum.

As for the rest of the plants, it is a bewildering selection, and I’m still trying to work them all out myself… I’ll type the list up in a separate comment. If people have further questions about the other plants at St Georges or elsewhere please let me know, and I will do my best to answer in an at least vaguely accurate manner.
Cheers,
Gregory Smith