Wallflowers (Erysimum) usher in the early summer with a flourish of brilliant colour and, often, rich, spicy scent. They are often treated as spring bedding and make a perfect partner for tulips – choose contrasting colours to add zing and excitement, or match the colours more closely for a more harmonious combination..
They’ll keep flowering long after the tulips are gone, though, and even into a second year if you give them a haircut after flowering. Or you could always choose perennial wallflowers like ‘Bowles Mauve’ which flowers profusely from spring till late autumn and lasts with no more than a light midsummer trim for years.