My Garden

The Hampton Court show is over… the work begins on restoring the turf to its natural state. I’ve been hunting out interesting plants all week and all through the floral marquees there are plants to catch the eye. Many never feature in the TV coverage or in other write-ups so now let’s round up some more of the most interesting.

At the front of the Desert to Jungle exhibit I spotted an unusual Solanum. Growing for its large, boldly marked foliage – and, with a bit of luck, its hairy white fruits – Solanum quitoense reaches 4-6ft and, when I grew it, made a dramatic summer foliage plant in a tropical style border. And if you grow it in a pot you can move it into protection for the winter and so have an even more impressive specimen the following year.

A species of Crocosmia never seen before in Britain was on show on the exhibit staged by Cornwall’s Trecanna Nursery. From 9,000+ft on Table Mountain in South Africa, the orange-flowered Crocosmia pearsii is unusual in being only 18in high and flowering very early – qualities which nursery owner Mark Wash is already working to add to the new varieties he has on the way.

The Big Plant Nursery had two interesting ferns on show. The pale young growth of Blechnum fluviatale are covered in rusty hairs and the long narrow fronds are upright at first, eventually becoming almost horizontal. It appreciates very moist soil, will take a little sun but prefers shade and is hardy down to about -7C. Blechnum gibbum ‘Silver Lady’ has upright fronds emerging from a tight crown, the slender parallel-sided divisions are a pale, slightly yellowish silvery green and have a bright fresh look. In three or four years it will develop a short trunk like a miniature tree fern and will take -4C. They also showed some rare forms of Ginkgo biloba, the maidenhair tree, growing in terracotta pots.

A yellow scutellaria I’d not seen before caught my eye on the Hopleys Plants stand. With bright yellow, snapdragon-like flowers and a trailing habit, Scutellaria havanensis was lovely snaking across gravel and would be ideal tumbling out of a raised bed.

Jacques Amand always shows an intriguing collection of  plants and this year the range ran from the tall slender spikes of Eremurus to some fascinating arisaemas. The striped flowers of Arisaema fargesii and the speckled foliage of A. elephas were especially appealing.

Finally, over in the Plant Heritage marquee we saw the beginning of a new enthusiasm for Asclepias on the stand from National Collection holder Barry Clarke. Amongst the best of all plants for attracting butterflies, as well as the fiery, though very vigorous, A. syriacus, I was especially taken with the pastel lavender flowers of A. sullivantii.

So many exhibits, so many great plants. That’s it for another show.


* It struck me that exhibitors could do themselves a favour by issuing press releases to help garden writers and TV researchers find the interesting plants. Very few exhibitors seem to have done so and there’s a story on every stand. The RHS even provides a guide on how to write a press release, one on how to contact the press and a range of other info on how to publicise exhibits and plants. And of course, if nurseries are introducing new plants, I may be able to feature them on my RHS New Plants blog. Nurseries can email me about them by clicking here.

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In recent years what seems like floods of heucheras have appeared in nurseries. These fine foliage plants for the front of the border and for containers provide colour in a wide range of unique shades. Many are good, a few, it has to be said are, not good at all - and a few are simply superb.

After the initial torrent, I think gardeners became a little jaded but a new series from France has fired up everyone's enthusiasm again. And many featured on the stand from Plantagogo. This is perhaps not a name which endears itself to RHS traditionalists, but as the plants look so good here at the Show I'm sure even the stuffiest of old-timers will be tempted? And on their exhibit two impressive new introductions from two of the world's leading creators of new Heuchera varieties caught my eye.

From France's Thierry Delabroye comes ‘Tiramisu', a variety in the new style which as foliage plant enthusiasts - and everyone else - talking. The prettily lobed foliage opens in chartreuse yellow with a light network of brick red veins. Then as the season develops the red colouring fades and the foliage takes on an overlay of silver. Finally, in the autumn, those brick red tones reappear.

Unlike many varieties, those from Thierry Delabroye including the yellow ‘Citronelle', chocolatey ‘Mocha', coppery ‘Caramel' and ‘Pistache' in pistachio green, have blood of Heuchera villosa which brings two great benefits: genuine reliance to weather of all kinds and, as the plants mature, increasingly large leaves which can be up to 15cm across.

Also on the Plantagogo stand, from Dan Heims of Oregon, and so new it's not in the RHS Plant Finder and never before seen in Britain, is ‘Blackberry Jam', in silvery mauve with charcoal veins and blackberry undersides to the leaves. (Note that both these creators of new heucheras give their plants foodie names!)

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There’s nothing so flamboyant as a dahlia. But the Gold Medal winning exhibit from The National Dahlia Collection held in Cornwall by Winchester Growers, featuring both traditional varieties and some too new to have been seen before, proves that they can also be subtle and refined.

And what a range. Banked from close to the ground to the canvas roof of the marquee, the display is unusual amongst dahlia displays not only for showing such a vast range of varieties but also for staging them in pots. Most dahlia displays at RHS flower shows feature cut blooms arranged with one variety to a vase, in tiered rows. But by growing the plants in pots not only can far more varieties be shown but their foliage can be appreciated and it’s easier to create a display on which one variety swirls around another. It’s quite a spectacle.

Top dahlia-breeder Mark Twyning is here at the show, talking to visitors about dahlias, and he’s the man responsible for creating some of the best of recent dahlia introductions. It’s a great opportunity for him to appreciate what people are looking for in dahlias and for them to learn from a real expert.

Amongst his varieties are ‘Twyning’s After Eight’, with purple bronze leaves and white flowers lightly stained pink on the backs of the petals. The contrast is dramatic. Another of his, ‘Magenta Star’, with single magenta pink flowers against a dark foliage lit up the very top of the exhibit whilst visitors are also getting the chance to see his very latest variety, ‘Twyning’s Revel’, in vibrant reddish-pink shading to a yellow centre.

Meanwhile over on the Avon Bulbs stand, is a rather different dahlia. Dahlia coccinea var. palmeri was collected in South America by botanist Dr James Compton. Its daintily cinnamon-spotted, bright orange, single flowers are not so very unusual but the foliage! Repeatedly split into the most slender of divisions, it’s finer and more delicate than the foliage of any dahlia I’ve seen – quite the opposite of so many varieties.

And Alan Street of Avon Bulbs told me that it’s been left outside in clay soil in Somerset for seven years and it comes up again undamaged every year, growing at a foot (30cm) a week at times as it races to 8ft (2.4m) high and 6ft (1.8m) across. Perhaps Mark Twyning can do a little creative breeding to add that lacy look to his lusciously dark-leaved varieties.

For more on the National Collection click here, and to order rooted cuttings for delivery next year start here

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 It wasn't just me then that was totally bowled over by Jekka's Purple display in the Floral Marquee at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. The judges awarded Jekka 'Best Exhibit in the Floral Marquee' which for her last exhibit in the floral marquees is quite an accolade. Especially as she has now received that award two years running.

Next year she will be creating a show garden at Chelsea which will keep her more than fully occupied.

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Show gardens are fantastic. Each one is a snap shot inside the head of its creator or designer and every single one has a different message and a different style.

When you look at them for their aesthetic beauty you don't always see the deeper levels, hidden messages and practical logistics that have gone into every square centimetre.  

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 One of the main reasons gardeners and garden lovers visit flower shows is to glean ideas for their own gardens. Most show gardens, large or small, have elements that can be translated easily into domestic plots.

The Homebase Room with a View Garden was designed by Philippa Pearson. Her inspiration were the Rievaulx Temples and Terrace in North Yorkshire. "the garden was built to enjoy and access views of the hillside," she explains. "I was really inspired by the viewing gaps, so I've tried to bring accessing views and vistas on different levels into this garden."

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Most keen gardeners can remember something inspiring from their childhood days in the garden. Our playstations were old coal bunkers, secret gardens among the shrubbery and temporary dens of runner beans. It's often those memories that encourage us into the wonderful hobby of gardening.

The National Year of Reading Garden at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is designed to bring gardens, plants and books alive for children. It captures an essence of garden designer, Sally Court's own childhood but it isn't what she calls a 'children's garden'. "Children prefer adult gardens, they like to be intrigued and explore. This garden is a path that leads through a garden of imagination. In my childhood we had garden trails and there is an element of that here. We didn't have tree ferns though, we used to have secret trails through the rhododendrons."

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We are constantly bombarded with advice, instructions and what can sometimes feel like emotional blackmail about saving the planet and helping the environment. As gardeners we are already doing a lot by growing flowers for insects, providing wildlife habitats and recycling waste material into garden compost. But we can all do more.

The London Wildlife Trust's Future Garden at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show demonstrates how we can adapt our gardens to the changing climate by using recycled materials and plants with low water requirements

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All this week  the multicoloured exhibit of lilies from Wilford Bulbs has brought sunshine to a very soggy show and now the rain has passed us by for a change it still gleams brightly. But I was struck by something unexpected: there were very few familiar varieties on show. A quick check in the RHS Plant Finder revealed that almost none of them were listed! So this was a whole exhibit of lilies most of which were available from no one in the RHS Plant Finder.

And they varied from the startlingly flamboyant to more demure and discreet varieties. ‘Aktiva’ has pink flowers with delicate spotting towards the throat and pale edge while ‘Nuance’ has huge white flowers with a pink streak in each petal. Others include ‘Shocking’ and ‘Tiber’ while some like ‘Aukland’ and ‘Kabona’ have never been in the RHS Plant Finder. But Pam Cross of Wilford Bulbs pointed out that such large flowers of varieties like ‘Nuance' are not necessarily a good thing.

“The breeders keep trying to breed lilies with a large a flower as possible but some lilies have flowers which are far too large to use in most mixed bouquets,” she told me. “And now that breeders are crossing Oriental lilies with Asiatic lilies, the result is an Asiatic lily with scent. But not everyone wants a scented lily, for many people the scent is just too strong.” The very attractive much smaller flowers of  ‘La Reve’ are much

But I was sad to hear from Pam that she and her husband Tony, who founded the nursery 45 years ago, and planning to retire and do what most nurserypeople don’t have time to do – create a garden of their own. So Wilford Bulbs is up for sale and with some great new varieties in the pipeline this is a great opportunity for someone wanting to run a gardening business. Their exhibit, by the way, won a well-deserved Gold Medal. A fitting tribute.

For details of the nursery, click here. 

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For some people – men, mostly, it has to be said – it’s how hot chilli peppers are that counts.  But for Perry and Ali Drew-Cook of Cookoo Box Chillies there’s far more too it. They’ve been growing chillies for twenty years so they’ve seen enthusiasm grow, especially in the last five or six years. “Chillies are really good plants for the patio or around the barbecue,” said Perry as he checked the labels on their exhibit. “They’re valuable ingredients in so much cooking these days with a flavour that’s far more subtle than just the heat.” “And chillies should look good and taste good,” added Ali.

But when the variety ‘Medusa’ came out, with slim upright fruits gathered tightly on bushy little plants, they were so disappointed. It looks wonderful, ideal for small containers and around the patio, but the flavour is almost non-existent. So they created a new variety, ‘Cookoo Box King Good’, in the same style. It’s as attractive as ‘Medusa’ but with its fine flavour ‘Cookoo Box King Good’ combines both good looks and taste. It’s so new it’s not yet in their catalogue.

Perry also had some advice on growing chillies. “Don’t grow them in the greenhouse,” he said. “Plant them round the patio, in containers or raised beds. But they don’t like wind so a patio garden in often ideal.

“Some varieties are rated hotter than others but it’s not that simple,” says Perry. “Some people like hot chillies, some people like them milder. But you can get both from the same plant by picking them green for a mild flavour and red for more heat.

“Watering also plays a part. Plants grown dry produce hotter chillies than those grown with more water and a good soak four days before picking will make them less hot.”

Perry has a number of other chillies of his own raising. ‘Chill Out’ has purple foliage and small black fruits and a plant brought into the house and set against a white background looks very stylish.

For more on chillies from Cookoo Box Chillies, take a look at their website.

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