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The trial of Cortaderia , pampas grass, has been both dramatic and intriguing. As it comes to a close, with some entries still looking good very late in the year, there was one that stood out above all the others - ‘Evita' (click the picture to enlarge). Except part of the point is that it didn't...
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A week or two back I wrote about delphiniums which came back for a second burst of flowers long after their main flush in June. The last couple of times I was taking a look at the Wisley flower trials I also noticed some other perennials looking good late in the season. The Kniphofia trial has been a...
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Tall Bearded Irises are amongst the most dramatic and colourful of perennials so the very best of them must be really impressive. And they are. The RHS Iris Sub Committee - yes, there's a sub committee just for irises - has recently had its latest awards ratified and three Tall Bearded Irises performed...
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This year's dahlia trial at Wisley has been unusually fascinating and I'll be reporting on a number of its features over the next few weeks. Picking up on recent trends, this year twenty one of the entries were grown as individual plants in pots to assess their value as container plants. Immediately...
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One of the glories of the Wisley trials field in early summer are the delphiniums. Tall and magnificent - taller than they ever get in most people's gardens, I have to say, what with all that manure - they're a real spectacle. But then after a few weeks of glory, they're gone. Or are they...
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Dahlias are becoming increasingly fashionable. In particular, single-flowered and collarette dahlias are catching everyone's eye so after trialling many of them in recent years the RHS has produced a twelve page full colour bulletin entitled Open-centred Dahlias . Written by Wisley's Sue Drew...
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The trial of annual climbers at Wisley has thrown up some stars and some disappointments. Both extremes are to be found amongst the ipomoeas. In recent years botanists have decided that, although superficially it looks very different, Mina lobata is so closely related to Ipomoea that it should be moved...
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We all know the old cottage garden annual Love Lies Bleeding, Amaranthus caudatus . But down on the Wisley trials field right now is a trial of these impressive and easy-to-grow annuals - with almost thirty other entries alongside that familiar favourite. They come in an amazing variety. As well as the...
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One of the benefits of looking over the trials regularly through the season is that it's possible to pick up points that would be missed by simply checking the trials while they're at their most colourful. So the other day I cast my eye over the trials of pinks, three months after their peak...
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Celosias used to thought of mainly as pot plants, and they were also favourites for decorating events at town halls and other municipal venues. But I grew celosias as summer annuals in mixed borders a few years ago and they were superb. As the summer climate improves and as more adaptable varieties are...
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Alongside a new look Wisley Flower Show , starting this coming Friday morning and closing on Sunday afternoon, the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee is running a series of three Kniphofia Open Days. Kniphofias are dramatic, colourful, sometimes statuesque perennials which are currently enjoying a revival...
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Most trials concentrate on a particular type of plant - usually one genus like Dahlia or Dianthus . But occasionally a whole group of similar plants from a wide variety of genera is trialled together because they have useful similarity - and this year it's the annual climbers. These are invaluable...
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One of the most exciting developments on the Wisley trials in recent years has been the new opportunity for visitors to vote on their favourite plants. For a number of selected trials, voting papers and a voting box are set up alongside the trial. Just tell us your favourite, add a quick comments to...
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Lots going on amongst the vegetable trials at the moment. The all-female cucumber trial is being grown in a polythene tunnel in the way that most keen home veg gardeners will grow them. This is not a sophisticated commercial poly tunnel with heat for chilly early summer night, and fans to keep the air...
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One of the interesting things about the Wisley trials is that not only do they highlight plants which are deserving of an Award of Garden Merit (AGM) but they also highlight plants which are unusually poor and so serve as a warning to gardeners not to grow them. The Kniphofia trial, one of the season's...
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