Monday 28 December 2015

Californian Ribes


Ribes speciosum
Ribes speciosum
Not rare but a classic with its rich red somewhat fuchsia-like flowers dangling all along the undersides of the branches in spring. The leaves are gooseberry-like and glossy fresh green and the red stems are viciously thorny.
Ribes speciosum
Best trained on a sunny wall, but surprisingly tough with a little protection.
sold out


Ribes cereum
Ribes cereum
An attractive Californian species with profuse palest rosy white flowers in spring among small shiny leaves on a compact gnarly shrub.
Ribes cereum
An ideal species for Mediterranean style gardens growing among other sun-loving drought-tolerant species.
3L pots ~ £12



Ribes aureum gracillimum
Ribes aureum
Related to but not the same as the more familiar eastern buffalo berry - R.odoratum. This has similar tubular yellow flowers, but tinted red at the tips, and it is a much more compact plant.
Ribes aureum
The flowers appear early among the new leaves rather than on bare branches. There might even be some orange berries if you're lucky.
£12




Thursday 3 September 2015

Ugni molinae PAB 1347

Ugni molinae
Previously identified as U.candollei - this taller more open form is perhaps less hardy but more elegant. Provide shelter and/or grow among other shrubs. Very choice. Thanks to Gary Firth for this.
Ugni molinae
£15




Wednesday 2 September 2015

Commelina dianthifolia


Commelina dianthifolia
A very pretty little plant, making a succession of intense gentian-blue flowers in early summer. Easy in a sunny spot and well drained soil. Quite hardy but mulch it just to be on the safe side.
10cm pots ~ £5




Friday 31 July 2015

Brighton Plants in Amateur gardening

Amateur Gardening July 2015
Overjoyed to see that Steve Bustin has done an excellent job of writing about the nursery in the 25th July 2015 issue. You can have a look at it here

Monday 6 July 2015

Two hardy Crassulas

Crassula is a huge genus of mostly tender succulents from Africa. Two species however have proved hardy enough, given a well drained soil and full sun, to do well in UK gardens.

Crassula sarcocaulis
Crassula sarcocaulis
A neat little succulent shrub, like a tiny bonsai tree with narrow green leaves and heads of rich pink flowers in summer.
Crassula sarcocaulis
Very tough – at least in the south and west of the UK, and especially if kept on the dry side in winter.
1L pots ~ £8


Crassula sarcocaulis alba
Crassula sarcocaulis alba
Exactly the same as the common pink-flowered plant but with – you guessed it – white flowers
3in pots ~ £6



x Chitalpa tashkentensis

x Chitalpa tashkentensis
A hybrid between Catalpa and Chilopsis. Most of us know what a Catalpa looks like, but Chilopsis is less familiar - it's a willowy looking shrub (known locally in the south-western USA as Desert Willow) with masses of pink Catalpa type flowers in summer among narrow leaves and is very lovely. Unfortunately Chilopsis does not grow well in the UK, probably because of the unpredictable damp climate. The hybrid though (created in the botanical gardens in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, hence the name) is an excellent and adaptable substitute, making a large shrub or small tree, flowering freely in late summer. Any well-drained soil in sun.
These are vigorous young plants.
1L pots ~ £12




Chlorogalum pomeridianum

Chlorogalum pomeridianum
The Soap Lily - a relative of Yucca, Agave, Polianthes and Camassia from the western USA. Simple but very elegant white asphodel type flowers are produced on tall rigid stems over a long period in summer above rosettes of undulating grey leaves. Hardy and easy to grow in full sun on a very well-drained soil.
2L pots ~ £9





Wednesday 24 June 2015

Iris lactea

Iris lactea
A graceful medium-sized western Asian species with beautifully marked violet and cream flowers. In the wild it grows in well-drained sunny conditions which might lead us to imagine it doesn't need much moisture, but in fact good flowering depends on plentiful water in spring.
£7



Monday 22 June 2015

Spiraea densiflora splendens

Spiraea splendens
The Spiraeas are a another group that is unfairly ignored due to a few nondescript but all too common representatives but S.splendens is a neat little shrub with small rounded pale sea green leaves and vivid pink flowers.
Spiraea splendens
Very pretty indeed, and easy too, given sun and free drainage. Thanks to Dennis Carvalho once again, for the seed.
1L pots ~ £9




Monday 15 June 2015

Titanotrichum oldhamii

There's been a lot of excitement over the last decade or so, about hardy plants that belong to what are normally assumed to be tropical groups. The palms, bananas, Zingiberaceae and Impatiens are already becoming well known. Next I'm sure will be the Begonias and Gesneriaceae. This is one of the latter...
Titanotrichum oldhamii
Classic gesneriaceae - sturdy basal rosette of fleshy crinkly leaves and stems of foxglove like flowers emerging from the centre. The flowers are a very striking bright yellow, deep red inside, and the leaves are purple on the reverse.
Titanotrichum oldhamii
Not well tried outdoors in the UK, but the main problem overwintering temperate gesneriads usually is not the cold so much as keeping them dry in winter, This doesn't seem to be a problem in this case. Titanotrichum is best in a moist woodsy soil, and it is imperative that it does not dry out in summer, or else the flower buds will turn to tiny tubers (gemmae). A solid and vigorous woodland perennial - so far at least...
Rare and in short supply.
sold out

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Abelia sp. from Peter Catt

Abelia sp from Peter Catt
Very excited about this one. I need to get the source details from Peter. Soft rosy white flowers with orange inside among relatively large (2in) very shiny foliage (Abelias are not known for their attractive foliage.)
Abelia sp
This species seems to have an unusual trailing habit, so would be ideal for a bank or raised bed or perhaps a large pot. It's certainly choice enough to be worthy of a prominent place on the patio
Has so far proved very vigorous and hardy.
4L pots ~ £16




Wednesday 27 May 2015

Jamesia americana

Jamesia americana
Looks like a cross between a Deutzia and a Viburnum and is in fact a close relative of the former, but from the western USA, rather than Asia. I have it on good authority that this never flowers in the UK - mine evidently haven't been informed. 
I have two forms - the 'normal' form, a medium sized shrub with leaves about 2ins across, and a compact form from Larimer Co. Colorado, which has smaller, more textured foliage. Both are flowering at the moment.
Jamesia americana
I've been keeping them with the other Californians in a relatively open sunny hot place but I now suspect they are better in a moist semi shady situation. 
2L pots ~ £12




Wednesday 22 April 2015

Miss Green died last week. She was 96

Miss Green died this morning. She was 96
I've worked at Pool Meadow for the last 10 years and Miss Green has been the most excellent person to work for - always interested in new and interesting things for the garden even up to a few weeks ago when we went to Plantbase and bought a whole load of new and wacky Australian and South African plants.
She also made a huge contribution to the setting up of Brighton Plants - both financial and letting me take cuttings and seeds from her collection, and just generally trusting and encouraging me. Brighton plants would probably exist without her input but it wouldn't be anything like as good as it is. I am hugely grateful and everyone who knew her will miss her terribly.

Please have a look at the Pool Meadow set on Flickr to have a look at her garden.

Monday 20 April 2015

Iris attica yellow

Iris attica
One of a number of exquisite miniature bearded Iris species from the eastern Med and western Asia.
Iris attica
Requires excellent drainage, full sun, and protection from excess wet in winter (and spring slugs) but is fully cold hardy. Ideal for troughs and raised beds.
10cm pots ~ £5



Sunday 29 March 2015

Impatiens tinctoria

Impatiens tinctoria
An old favourite from East Africa and surprisingly hardy given a good pile of straw over the tubers in winter to stop them freezing. Forms a thicket of tall juicy green stems clothed in quite large lush green leaves and topped from late summer until it freezes with heavily fragrant white flowers.
Impatiens tinctoria
The flowers have a very long spur behind, adapted to the long-tongued moths that pollinate them in the wild.
Impatiens tinctoria
Remarkably easy given plenty of moisture and, as I said, a good thick mulch in winter.
1L pots ~ £8




Friday 20 March 2015

Plant Fairs 2015

Great Comp Spring 2014
My mate Andy Sindon at Great Comp last spring


Great Comp Spring Fling - Sunday 12th April
11am - 5pm,
Great Comp Garden,
Comp Lane, Platt, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 8QS
01732 885094

Plantsman's Paradise, Petworth
Saturday 18th April
11am - 4pm.
Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 0AE
01798 342207
Adult £5, Child free, NT members free
A second date in mid June is yet to be confirmed

Great Comp Summer Show
Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th August.
11am - 5pm,
Great Comp Garden,
Comp Lane, Platt, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 8QS
01732 885094

Sussex Prairies Unusual Plant and Art Fair
CANCELLED due to flooding
Sunday 6th September
Morlands Farm, Wheatsheaf Road (B2116), Near Henfield, West Sussex, BN5 9AT
01273 495902
www.sussexprairies.co.uk

Great Dixter Plant Fair
Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th October
Northiam, TN31 6PH
01797 254048
www.greatdixter.co.uk

I am more than happy to bring along plants for you to pick up on the day if you let me know in advance. I may ask for prepayment if the plant is in short supply and likely to sell out.

Hope to see you there

Steve

Friday 20 February 2015

A Zabelia by any other name would smell as sweet


I got into a spirited debate a few months ago with a visitor to the nursery about changes of scientific names. I know it’s something that infuriates many gardeners. I think the spark in this case was the recent changes to Abelia, but it could have been any number of other instances where well-established and time-honoured names had been changed, seemingly on a whim by a bunch of egg-heads who want nothing more than to change things for change’s sake, to justify their continued employment and perhaps to see their name in print.
With this particular visitor I could hardly get a word in edgeways, so incensed was she, so the exchange wasn’t very productive. All I could do was to try to assure her that there was another side to the argument. One of the problems is that the academics are used to talking to other scientists and even when they write in less learned publications, they are not always good at getting their ideas across to the layman. I was in the belly of the scientific beast for a few years so perhaps I’m in a better position to bridge the gap. Having said that it’s a good ten years since I was there so I’m not up to date with the latest findings.

Firstly I’m sure there must be some that simply don’t like change. Some people only feel comfortable with things being ‘the way they always have been’. What this actually means is that they want things to be the way they were when they were young, ignoring the fact that many of the names they take for granted were new names then. After all, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about Funkia or Megasea, including the 96 year-old lady I work for. We have all accepted the new names (Hosta and Bergenia respectively.)
My first point then, which I think most of us would agree on is that at least some changes are inevitable and acceptable and that resisting all change on principal is just stubbornness. I assume most of us aren’t like that.
My photocopy of one of the early drafts of the
 angiosperm phylogeny, complete with my
excited scribblings
I should own up here though. When I was at the Joddrell at Kew, back in the mid-nineties, doing my MSc thesis (on the classification of Lilium and Fritillaria) I did find the whole thing completely wonderful. I remember seeing what must have been one of the early drafts of the Angiosperm Phylogeny – the flowering plant family tree - there on the wall, five or six sheets of A4 taped together and pinned to a notice board, showing how the plants I knew (and many I didn’t) were related. I took it down and photo-copied it and I still have it. It was a wonderful thing to look at – as the periodic table is to chemists or the Rosetta Stone to archeologists – everything was there, laid out in its place, connected to everything else. (Well – not everything. The angiosperm phylogeny has been added to and improved ever since. If you want to see the latest have a look at the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group web pages http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/ but it is pretty hard to get a grip on if you’re not used to the terminology. For a more approachable version have a look at The Tree of Life http://tolweb.org/tree/)
All this has become possible partly due to the fact that we can now ‘read’ DNA (and related molecules like RNA), and also to the recent massive increase in computing power. Molecular analysis has made it possible to get a grip on how things are actually related, not just on what look similar, and a scientific classification is all about relatedness – about evolution. (If you have a problem with evolution you won’t have much time for what I’m saying here.)
My second point then is that since the early nineties, when DNA analysis came of age, there has been a sort of renaissance in classification (taxonomy, systematics) not just of plants but of all organisms. A huge amount of new data based on evidence rather than personal (albeit learned) opinion has become available. It’s going to take a while to settle down, but if it seems like everything is changing at the moment, plant-names-wise, there’s a very good reason for that.

‘But what does all this have to do with gardening?’ I hear you cry. ‘Why should we have follow what the scientists say?’
No reason at all. As horticulturalists we would be perfectly within our rights to come up with our own system. To some extent we already do. We classify plants according to flower colour or edibility, season or size. We use common names when they are convenient (I can’t imagine ever talking about a Taxus hedge) and we have an elaborate system of cultivar names more Byzantine than anything the taxonomists have dreamed up. But I’d be reluctant, partly because I’m interested in the science and I like scientific names. Mainly we will carry on using the scientific system because coming up with a completely new one that is robust and consistent would be such an onerous task.

But in any case, I would carry on using the scientific system because I think it’s useful. It may sound strange but I use it all the time. Running a nursery full of plants that not many other people are growing means that I constantly have to make guesses about what kinds of conditions a plant might respond to. When I start working with a new plant I want to know two things – ‘Where does it come from?’ and ‘What is it related to?’ I know that the Primulaceae and Ranunculaceae don’t like their seeds drying out. I know that the Brassicaceae generally like alkaline soils where the Ericaceae do not. I can guess that Malus trilobatus can be grafted onto Crataegus but not onto Prunus. I know that any new members of the Euphorbiaceae and Solanaceae are likely to be poisonous but that the Malvaceae and Brassicaceae will probably be edible. I know that susceptibility to disease is often governed by relatedness – potato blight infecting tomatoes for example. And so on and so forth. There’s no point even trying to do this if we don’t really know what belongs where.

I know there are plenty of exceptions but I find that being able to make educated guesses from general knowledge about plants is more useful than not. And in any case, like I said, I just love that big picture – that all these plants (and all the other life forms too) are interrelated in time and space.

Monday 9 February 2015

Phlomis samia

Phlomis samia
A very unusual species grown for its smoky suede brown flowers. These are born in whorls on upright stems like other Phlomis, but this is a hardy herbaceous perennial, dying down to a leafy rosette in winter, rather than a shrub. There are a few other herbaceous Phlomis, including the more familiar russeliana and cashmeriana but despite the less colourful flowers I like this one best. Tough and adaptable.
3L pots ~ £9