Thrift (Armeria maritima) was one of the plants that I grew in my first garden and I have loved it ever since. It is a delightful tough little perennial that grows, in spring and summer, as a small clump of tufting, grassy leaves with white, pink or red button flowers on slender stems. Their ideal home is rocky, well-drained ground near the coast (perfect for Somers gardens). They grow beautifully in cold and warm temperate regions but are not much good in the sub-tropics and certainly won’t survive in the tropics. They also show no signs of self-seeding so won’t grow into the coastal foreshore or other bush areas.