Tag Archives: Plant Heritage

Six on Saturday

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The warm sunshine of the last few days has done wonders for the garden and brought out the heat lovers like the Tuscan jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, which is now covered in starry flowers wafting their sweet scent over the patio.

Naturally, the roses have also loved the heat, and ‘Roald Dahl’ is one of my favourites. It reminds me of my Granny’s powder puff on her dressing table, but I could be making that up. It was a very long time ago! Roald is one of those David Austin types with clusters of huge flower heads which need supporting or they end up on the floor!

My National Collection of hardy Tradescantias has been recognised with a new plaque which now sits proudly at my entrance gate, surrounded by Clematis ‘Etoile Violette’. The hope is that it may prompt a few questions about why Plant Heritage exists and the work it does to preserve and maintain threatened species and cultivars. Mine is just one of around 600 National Collections around the UK in gardens, stately homes, botanic gardens and arboretums.

My little forest of self-sown Delphinium requienii is thriving in the front garden, despite being far too close together. This compromises their height, which is two feet shorter than usual, but has the added benefit is more flowers for the bees and other pollinators. This biennial form of Larkspur is unique, in that it does not get attacked by slugs and snails due to its glossy, almost leathery leaves which are apparently inedible to our slimy friends. The seedlings sit in place all winter without any damage and rise perfectly intact in the spring.

My favourite clematis at the moment is the texensis variety ‘Princess Diana’ which is absolutely covered in small, fluted dark pink flowers. Elegant and beautiful like Diana herself. I am unashamedly a Royalist and hope to acquire the equally beautiful ‘Princess Kate’ very soon.

Hardy Fuchsia ‘Whiteknights Pearl’ which was moved earlier this year to a more suitable position, has emerged unscathed and is flowering again like nothing happened. A little shorter than usual perhaps, but that is understandable having lost a lot of established roots. She will recover and prosper in her new, improved position and delight us with her dancing ballerina flowers for many years to come.

Have a great weekend

David

Six on Saturday

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There are some plants in the garden that I rarely look at, much less talk about. They are just there, lurking in the background, unexciting, marking time. Then, one day, they do something which gets my attention and I take notice. This Echinops ritro is such a plant. Ugly and untidy, just spiky leaves for most of the year before a sudden explosion of colourful azure blue flower balls appear accompanied by the almost constant buzzing of honeybees.

Allium ‘Millenium’, a bargain from the forecourt at Lidl a few weeks ago, is now showing what makes her one of the best late summer flowering ornamental onions for the front of a sunny border. Another great bee favourite, and will multiply over time to make a decent clump.

As some of you will know, I am a ‘Plant Guardian’ for a number of rare or unusual plants which have either lost favour with gardeners and nurseries or were literally lost to cultivation due to war, disease or such other catastrophe. This Dahlia ‘Winston Churchill’ came to me in this year’s Plant Heritage Plant Exchange as one such plant, or tuber to be precise! It is such a pretty flower and strong grower, I am surprised it isn’t grown more. However, with thousands of alternatives on offer, it is a crowded market!

Another plant I often walk past without noticing is this pineapple lily, Eucomis bicolor, which has been in the same big pot for thirteen years and enjoys the partial shade of the corner by the side gate. I donk a bit of water and feed on it when I think about it but then feel guilty when the beautiful flower spikes appear in July and August. A record 21 this year! It does get shoved under the greenhouse staging for the winter where it stays completely dry for several months before being put out again in May when the new fat red shoots appear.

The Rudbeckia laciniata was divided and replanted earlier in the year which may explain why it is not quite so tall this summer, although it may have been the very dry June, it did flop quite a bit! Normally around 7 feet tall, it is barely 5 feet this year. Still one of my favourites though and seeds itself around a lot so I always have loads of young plantlets to share.

I have finally got a colony of Purple Honesty, Lunaria annua, to grow in my garden after years of trying to coax it in from the adjacent hedgerow. It is such a fickle plant, only growing where it likes, and it has chosen a shady spot under the Photina hedge facing north, which is just fine by me.

Finally, this is my apple tree! Now fully clothed in Clematis ‘Alba Luxurians’, the one with the rather odd white flowers splashed with green tips. In truth, it is an old and decrepit apple tree which produces tasteless fruit and is only useful to hang the bird feeders on so this was a good decision. The clematis needs a bit of a hand to get going so the trunk is wrapped in green square mesh for the petioles (leaf stems) to twist around, although the rough bark of the tree trunk and branches do offer some support. It will get chopped back to 18″ in December and I will then no doubt spend hours unpicking the dead bits out of the wire mesh! Hey ho!

Have a great weekend

David

Six on Saturday

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The exquisite beauty and scent of Sweet Pea ‘Betty Maiden’ is overpowering as I walk down the path. She is certainly one of the strongest fragrances in my little collection of Sweet Peas and one I will always cherish.

The first Dahlias are in flower already including this ‘Union Jack’, also known as ‘Star of Denmark’, which I am lucky to be looking after and propagating for Plant Heritage. It is a rather sickly looking plant with spindly stems which flop under the weight of the rather garish flowers but it flowers profusely until the first frosts.

It is proving to be a very good year for roses with very strong flowering and lots of healthy foliage and few greenfly. This ‘Let’s Celebrate’ is a good example of the sheer quantity and quality of blooms. Much admired at my Tradescantia Collection Open Day on Thursday along with several others equally as good.

Just exquisite! Rosa ‘Isn’t She Lovely’. Yes she is! Perfection.

The Alstroemerias are beginning to flower with ‘Indian Summer’ the first. They took a while to get over the tough winter and fight their way through the 10cm of mulch I piled on top of them in November. I will start pulling them for the vase this weekend to keep them flowering. If you don’t already know, they are twisted and pulled like Rhubarb, never cut. The pulling stimulates more flower buds to form.

I do think these Nectaroscordum siculum are clever! When the drooping bells are pollinated by bees, they turn themselves upwards and close up like little pixie hats!

Couldn’t resist one more, the rock rose, Helianthemum ‘Wisley Primrose’, a sprawling sun lover for the dry garden which has incredible flower power for such a small plant. Not fussy about soil or moisture levels or nutrients but must be able to sunbathe all day!

Have a great weekend.

David