Welcome to this
special pdf version of
Issue 18 PLANTS
magazine.
Some adverts have
not appeared or been
changed slightly for
this pdf special
edition, and some
colours have been
added to mono pages
to make it more
attractive and
readable on the web.
The quality of this
issue allows it to be
readable on the
screen of your
computer, but the
quality is not enough
to display the
photographs or other
graphics to the
highest quality as
security against
copyright infrigement.
The original magazine
of course is of the
highest printing
quality.
I do hope you enjoy
this issue and decide
to subscribe to the
real magazine.
Further pdf editions
of PLANTS will be
made available at
different times in the
future. These will
have a charge made
for download, and will
always be at least 1
year behind the print
publishing schedule.
Dirk van der Werff
Editor / Publisher
Special thanks to Stephen
and Gill Taffler, Mike Tristram,
and all contributors especially Lesley, Jaak, Max
and Ellie van der Werff
ORIGINALLY JANUARY 2000
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2
ISSN 1363-5530
Contents
New, rare and unusual PLANTS A Journal for Plant Enthusiasts
56
58
60
61
63
67
69
New Lupins from
Devon, England
by Sarah Conibear
Double Sweet
Williams and Arabis
by Gordon Hunt
Plant Shows
and Trade Fairs
Calendar
Letter from
America by Geoff
Needham
Correspondence
Letters to the
Editor
74
Alternative Plants
by Rosemary Castle
96
98
2000 Catalogue
Review by Dirk van
der Werff
79
81
82
85
Galanthus ‘Richard
Ayres’ by Daphne
Chappell
Plants on show
at Nursery 99
More new plants!
Compiled by Dirk
van der Werff
News &
Updates by Dirk
van der Werff
Nurseryman’s
Notes by Mike
Tristram
Reference Notes
Inside Back
with Antony
King Deacon
FAX FOR FREE (+44) 08700 940180
www.plants-magazine.com
New, rare and unusual PLANTS A Journal for
Plant Enthusiasts is published by Aquilegia
Publishing 2, Grange Close, Hartlepool. TS26 0DU.
Telephone: +44 (0)1429-423165
e-mail:[email protected]
© 2000 AQUILEGIA PUBLISHING and the authors.
PLANTS is available quarterly on subscription @ £46.00
for ten issues (inc. 1 free) or £5.00 (inc p&p) each.
UK only price
$US / $CAN checks accepted as well as Euro cheques
and New Zealand / Australia / Canada / South Africa /
Japan cheques
Credit card orders only online @
www.plants-magazine.com/sub.online1.html
Views expressed are not necessarily those of the
Editor / Publisher.
Photographs © Dirk van der
Werff, Lesley Oliver, Gordon
Hunt, Tim Wood Spring Meadow
Nursery, Ray Brown / Plant
World Seeds, Spring Hill Nursery,
Proculture Plants Ltd., Sarah
Conibear West Country Lupins,
Ian Gowland, Farplants,
Planthaven Inc., Royal Sluis,
John Chappell, Coen Janssen,
Hamer Seeds, PLA Denmark,
Heronswood Nursery, Frank P
Matthews Ltd, Rosemary Castle /
Alternatives.
New rare and unusual
PLANTS
A Jour nal for Plant Enthusiasts
WORLD
E
EXCLUSIV
SPECIAL
OFFER
Sutera diffusus Olympic Gold®
Phlox paniculata ‘Becky Towe’
Geranium ‘Purple Haze’
VOLUME 5
ISSUE 2
Anemone
Anemone barbulata
barbulata
Verbena Splash®
New lupins from breeding
work in Devon by Sarah Conibear
Every year, as the month of May marches on, I feel a sense of
increasing excitement at the thought of seeing our earliest lupin
cultivars producing their first flower spikes. By the end of the
month they are a magnificent display of breathtaking colour, form
and variety which can, and often will, continue well into summer.
Lupinland has arrived!
56
We have spent several years working
on our own genetic lines of lupins, and
our trials are still continuing. Lupins
have an astonishing range of
coloursand our breeding work has
produced some fine examples. The
earlies such as ‘Desert Sun’ (yellow) and
‘Red Arrow’ (red) appear from midMay, maturing in their second year,
closely followed by the lavender shades
of ‘Bishop’s Tipple’, ‘Aston Villa’ (blue
and claret) and ‘African Sunset’
(Pink/orange and yellow). In early to
mid-June new beauties such as
‘Copperlight’ (orange), ‘Candy Floss’
(pinky hues) and ‘Soft Kisses’ (lilac &
white bi-colour) light up the garden
while the our range of lates will appear
mid-June onwards and include the pale
yellow ‘Corngold’ and ‘Blue Moon’
(blue & white bi-colour).
Propagation is always the fun part of
growing any plants. Lupin seed is
produced freely and often in vast
quantities by a plant with a mere 3-5
flower spikes, ripening to a plump dark
brown chestnut with an alarmingly hard
seedcoat. Fresh seed, taken from the
plant and sown immediately gives the
highest percentage germination rate,
with the added help of chitting the seed
One of the commonest complaints I hear about lupins is the slug problem. Lots of people
dismiss these beautiful perennials with the remark "I can’t grow lupins where I live, the slugs
eat them all." Actually, it has little to do with where you live - wet conditions bring up slugs
from below soil level en masse and of course, Spring in most parts of the UK is usually very
wet. Slug pellets are not ideal. But they deteriorate quickly when exposed to the elements,
and are rarely touched by animals or birds unless suffering extreme hunger. As the spring is
a time of plenty the risk in my opinion is immediately reduced. Cover the pellets with a slate
and you double your protection of wildlife and simply put the slugs to sleep. Dedicated
opponents of slug pellets should either buy ducks (Indian Runners adore slugs and snails) or
improve their own Vitamin C diet with grapefruit and oranges. Use the upside down shells
around the crowns of the lupins, check every morning for the molluscs gathering
underneath. The acidity apparently attracts slugs like moths to a candle. Of course, you still
have the problem of disposal, whether it be squashing, drowning, boiling or surreptitiously
tossing them into your next door neighbour’s garden - only joking!
A cautionary note about the lupin aphid. Plump, rounded, and turquoise in
colour, these aphids are the bane of the lupin breeder’s life! They were originally
brought into the UK from America and if they are caught early and sprayed with
a contact or systemic insecticide they are easily contained. But if allowed to
breed unchecked, will quickly smother a plant and suck it dry.
So be alert around the month of May!
coat and a period of soaking in water.
There is an alternative, but you need
patience and it’s time consuming. Nick
the seed coat with a pair of nail clippers
(holding the seed with slightly wetted
fingers helps the grip!).
If you want to sow seed fresh from the
plant, it will be ready by mid to late
August from earlier flowering varieties,
mid September onwards from those
taken from the later flowering varieties.
Seedlings planted in mid-April are less
likely to produce an abundance of seed
in their first year as pollinating bees
become thinner on the ground by the
beginning of the Autumn
Vegetative propagation is the only way
to ensure you have an exact copy of
your original lupin. Lupin vigour
depends on the vigour and genetic
makeup of the seed from which it was
bred so once a new star has been found,
taking cuttings is the only sure fire way
of cloning it. Use a cold frame filled with
a half peat half vermiculite/perlite mix
with a little compost added for texture
and with luck, basal cuttings taken from
mid-February onwards will root with
blissful ease
Modern hybrid lupins are relatively short
lived - 5 years is a good run but some
will continue flowering long after this
period of time particularly if prevented
from setting seed.
Under no circumstances should
farmyard manure, or any manure high in
Nitrogen be fed to lupins. Calcified
seaweed is said to have magical
properties for enhancing the colour of
the flower spikes but without a control I
have not been able to confirm this.
It took George Russell twenty five years
labour back in 1911 to produce the fine
Russell lupins available today. Working
from the original wild Lupinus
polyphyllus species which he had
flowering only in blue-purple or reddish
hues he rogued out every lupin of that
colour on his allotment in Yorkshire to
find new colours and better flower
stems.
We are continuing his work using
modern techniques of propagation to
hopefully produce some of the finest
varieties available for sale in the new
Millennium.
Every day from mid June onwards I visit
the trial fields to appreciate the true
beauty and subtlety of the range of
colours on display, and looking for that
extra special plant to appear from
rootstocks which appear all but dead
during the winter but from which appear
all the colours of the rainbow by early
summer.
I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy
them too. Seee Reference Notes Page
96
Breeding double Sweet
Williams and Arabis by Gordon Hunt
He told me there was a reference to
double Sweet Williams in an RHS journal
in 1935 being originally grown between
1880 and about 1900 when they seemingly disappeared from cultivation, and
that he knew of none being grown at the
current time.
My earliest recollections of gardening was of my maternal grandmother
who lived with us when I was young. She enjoyed growing exotic things for
those times, such as chillies coriander and even banana and pineapple so I
have always had a yen for the exotic....
I had been 99% convinced that it was
unique and was overwhelmed when Bob
confirmed the fact. He asked for a cutting
which I refused - I said he could have the
plant instead as long as I received some
cuttings back!. Unfortunately, I have
many cats using the ‘facilities’ in my garden and I feared that I would lose some
or all of my plants to their antics so it was
good practice to let Pershore have some
of the plants to keep them out of harms
way. He came over that afternoon - he
was very keen - and photographed the
plant in-situ.
I now grow a huge range of plants for
colour all round the year in my suburban garden near Birmingham including
Cordylines, tree ferns, rare double
poppies and I have grown Sweet
Williams as a passion of mine since
1961 both for their perfume and as cut
flowers.
58
About thirteen years ago I was given
“about ten years” to live after a triple
heart by-pass operation and although
now, three years after that deadline,
my wife has to help with me on many
of my projects particularly after my
most recent heart attack in 1999. I
have enjoyed considerable success
with my Sweet William breeding trials.
When I bred my first double Sweet
William I named it after her and the
second one I named after my late
mother.
In 1993 I decided to get really serious
about breeding Sweet Williams after I
visited the Malvern Spring Garden
Show and grew plants from a packet of
Sweet Williams that were from
Thompson & Morgan that were given
away free. When they flowered they
were a mixture of plain white, some
very dark coloured burgundy ones
with a white eye or rim to the edge of
the petal but were mainly self coloured
dark burgundy colour.
I kept the best colours and forms over
the first two years and I started crossing them. The darker colours with
some white in them were crossed with
a white one and also a third plant that
was particularly perfumed. In 1995 I
spotted the first sign of a double and
at this point open pollination ceased
and the plants were potted up and
taken into the greenhouse where they
were re-crossed. On July 12th 1997
my first true double Sweet William
appeared . It was magenta and white
which I named Dianthus ‘Barbara
Hunt’ (PHOTO inside front page)
I had looked in the plant listings for
mentions of a double flowered Sweet
William in different books and I was
pretty sure that plants like it were not
available at the moment. Within the
week I had sent a floret to RHS
Pershore for identification and confirmation of my gut feeling that this was
a first. Bob Ayres at Pershore rare plant
section called me soon after and said
he was quite excited by my plant and
how it had come about.
Twelve days later ‘Margaret Hunt’ (like
‘Barbara Hunt’it is a Carnation-type while
another double, ‘Magnifico’ is a rose-bud
type) appeared, a true pure white double
only slightly smaller in flower than
‘Barbara Hunt’. I kept two cuttings of this
and sent the plant to Pershore and the
care of Bob Ayres. I now have third generation cuttings of both plants and they
grow beautifully both here and at
Pershore. In October 1997 a third double
turned up which was a dusky pink but
the cats put paid to that one and I
haven’t been able to reproduce it again
and there was also a variegated leaf one
with a peach coloured flower - it eventually succumbed in the end.
I have recently had some lilac coloured
doubles and other plants which are
more miniature in stature. Bob tells me
that there were some miniature types
about 1880. Some of mine have very
finely dissected leaves and small flowers
but the stems are very weak - they need
more work. The doubles make a lovely
cut flower with a great scent and the floret will fill the top of a cut-glass bud vase
and lasts for at least two weeks and I
have specifically selected the stronger
stemmed ones for this particular use.
Gordon Hunt suffered another heart attack in 1999 while he was preparing information for
this article and for another future one about his amateur breeding work. Despite the obvous
pain, rehabilitation, hospitals and appointments he has still managed to continue his line of
breeding which now also includes double Arabis in pink and white. “I had been trying to cross
a double white with a single pink for nigh on ten years off and on. The first one with slight
pink colour in the bud was eight years ago but finally, last year some of my recent crossings
opened for the first time and several have double flowers with purple and deep pink patches
at the bottom of the petals and the pink colour goes through the whole floret! I hope the seed
from these is fertile - if not then cuttings will be taken.” One of the best I am calling ‘Nellie’s
Blush Pink’
A dark plum coloured Sweet Wiliam looks to be one of his best to date and some new tricoloured ones are showing a lot of promise. He said in a recent letter. “I am so glad that I
was introduced to PLANTS, I do wish I had known of the number of nurseries and
wholesalers who are interested in amateur breeding work a lot earlier - it would have
helped me out a lot! “I have some trailing types bred from Dianthus barbatus but with shorter, rounder leaves with, at the moment, only one flower per stem with double rows of petals
and star-shaped flowers.” Gordon currently has plants on trial with companies associated
with PLANTS and it should not be too long before he has the opportunity of sharing his dedicated work with people around the world.
59
2000 Shows, Trade Fairs, & Exhibitions
GROW 2000
Saturday &
Sunday 15th &
16th April 2000
Sandown
Exhibition Centre,
Esher, Surrey. Tel:
+44(0)1277
356635 Fax:
+44(0)1277
356566
HARROGATE
SPRING FLOWER
SHOW
There are an increasingly
important number of exhibitions,
trade fairs and shows of interest to
the plant professional and
enthusiast. PLANTS will
endeavour to keep subscribers in
23 countries around the world up to
date with these events. Please
send your details by post or fax as
early as possible for this regular
spot.
www.GLEEbirmingham.com
Fax: +44(0)208301
8649
Fax PLANTS for FREE!
08700 940180
For advertising rates see page 49
Please mention PLANTS
magazine / Aquilegia Publishing
as the source of your
information when you respond
to any of these contacts.
Great Yorkshire
Showground, Harrogate
UK Tel: +44(0)1423
561049)
MALVERN SPRING
GARDENING SHOW
Dirk van der Werff
hotline: Tel: 0870 906
3780
HOLKER HALL GARDEN
FESTIVAL
May 5th - 7th
CHELSEA FLOWER
SHOW 2000
May 23rd - May 26th
RHS Members’ 24 hour
ticket
5th & 6th September
Contact Julie Green:
+44(0)1477 571392
Fax: +44(0)1477
571350
www.four-oaks.co.uk
INTERNATIONAL
SHOWS
IPM SHOW
February 4th - 6th International Plants
Three Counties
Showground, Malvern,
Worcs.
Tel: +44(0)1684
584900)
FOUR OAKS TRADE
SHOW
June 2nd - 4th 2000
Cark in Cartmel, Grangeover-Sands, Cumbria
England. Tel: +44
(0)1539 558838
Essen, Germany,
INTERNATIONAL
GARDEN & LEISURE
EXHIBITION (GLEE)
featuring Nursery@
GLEE (TRADE)
17th - 19th
September
NEC
merica
@
Letter from
e-mail: [email protected]
April 27th - 30th
60
Birmingham, UK Preregister @
It’s 3am here in Sussex, England just after celebrations for the new
millennium - and I’m wide awake, which is just as well since Dirk’s
deadline is NOW! Jet lag doesn’t bother me: I just stay on US time – so no
phone calls before lunch while I’m here! But I do know that plants suffer
from jet lag if they are shipped across the hemispheres in a matter of days.
Two months ago, a South African Agapanthus breeder sent us his latest
selection. It spent Christmas in California – in flower, and caused quite a
stir. I wonder how long it will take to adjust?
Contact: Tony Pittman,
Tel: +44 (0)181
6818166 Fax: +44
(0)181 6818028
MELBOURNE GARDEN
SHOW, AUSTRALIA
April 12th - 16th 2000
by Geoff Needham of PlantHaven Inc.
Talking of California, here’s the
PLANTS ‘scoop’ on
Sisyrinchium bellum ‘Rocky
Point’ which will be available in
good numbers in UK garden
centres during 2000. It was
spotted by Farplants’ grower
David Tristram on one of his
plant finder trips – I might have
been with him that day. I think
I remember the picnic... ‘Rocky
Point’ is a very fine variety:
strong grower, good clumper,
large dark blue flowers, slightly
striated, altogether a neat plant.
David felt it would be even
more impressive with a bit of
virus cleaning, and this proved
to be the case.
Meanwhile, California (Central
Coast) plantsman Dave Fross
was traveling around England
last year and came across a display of ‘Rocky Point’ in a garden
center. "My God" (or equivalent
American expletive) he cried,
"Bruce Cowen from Monterey
gave me that plant and I introduced it 10 years ago. He
probably risked life and limb to
retrieve it from ‘Rocky Point’ on
the Big Sur coast. No matter, it
is a fine variety and I am
delighted to see it being made
widely available."
Winging their way across the
Atlantic more recently, tissue
culture ‘starts’ of stunning
Cotinus ‘Golden Spirit’ (see
‘Plants’ last issue) have established well in Washington State,
and we will be distributing the
first liners to US and Canadian
nurseries later this year. We
will let North American PLANTS
subscribers know when and
where the first plants go on
sale. It’s great to have a shrub
of this significance to get our
teeth into – I can feel a big promotion coming on....
We’ve been having a lot of fun
61
62
promoting Darrell Probst’s Physostegia virginiana ‘Miss Manners’. Only Americans
will get the full joke…"Miss Manners" is the
nom-de-plume for a popular advice column
on manners, etiquette, "how to"- type stuff.
As all botanically aware children know,
Physostegia is the "Obedient Plant" for its
willingness to have little fingers (and big
ones too) swivel its florets and re-align
them. But it is a most DIS-obedient plant in
the garden – creeping surreptitiously below
ground and coming up where it is not welcome! ‘Miss Manners’ is a true clump former, with pure white flowers and good secondary branching. It stays where it’s put,
looking neat and tidy into the bargain. It
will be quite widely available in US this year
– Plant Delights Nursery, Shady Oaks
Nursery, Spring Hill Nurseries will be the
mail order source. Readers of PLANTS will
have spotted the name of Darrell Probst
before – acknowledged expert, collector
and hybridiser of Epimedium and Tricyrtis,
and gifted plantsman – and plant namer:
Little ‘Miss Manners’ is most endearing!
★ Maybe it’s his visits to China, but only
Tony Avent – and the Chinese – would think
of tattooing a Hosta. "People" say the
strangest things…like, "what’s the point of
breeding new Hostas – there are already too
many, and they all look the same!" Well,
Hosta ‘Tattoo’ is different – very different.
It is a sport of ‘Little Aurora’, with small
rounded, bright gold leaves with a wide
green border. Each leaf is "Tattooed" with
the outline of a dark green maple leaf in the
center. ‘Tattoo" has lavender flowers on 10"
scapes in late spring. It is destined to
become a milestone on the road of Hosta
development. You can buy it in the US this
year from Plant Delights Nursery of course,
and from Shady Oaks Nursery.
Greg Speichert’s
Persicaria microcephala
‘Red Dragon’, is a clonal selection from its
Chinese habitat. It tells
you something about a
plant when nurseries
ask for stock to start
producing shortly after
receiving trial plants...
They just KNOW it’s a
winner. Persicarias are
okay if you have a position for them, but ‘Red
Dragon’ will breathe
fire into any garden situation with its bright
red stems and metallic
(pewter, I would say)
foliage. Watch out for
it as a container and
companion plant too.
By no means as quick to
market as ‘Red Dragon’, but
sharing Chinese provenance –
though distant now – are the
Camellia introductions of Dr.
Clifford Parks, Camellia Forest
Nursery, Chapel Hill, North
Carolina. Cliff, a life-long
Camellia hybridizer, is
recognized internationally by
his peers internationally for his
research into the taxonomy of
the Genus. His breeding is
both scientific and artistic, and
very exciting. I hope that Dirk
will allow us to write a special
piece sometime between now
and 2004! We are delighted
that five large US wholesale
nurseries have decided to
produce one of Cliff’s finest, but
never sold, cold-hardy Camellia
japonica selections. The
nurseries are also contributing
valuable funds to Cliff’s
breeding program, which will be
much appreciated by Cliff and
his son, David as they plan their
visit to China next month.
Correspondence
BEDDING PLANTS FOR THE 21ST
CENTURY?
By e-mail from Nurseryman Mike
Lewington ([email protected])
The definition of a bedding plant is
simply a plant that is large enough to
be put straight into a border.
However, common usage of the term
implies that such plants are for seasonal display, and are planted in
mass. Bedding plants are conventionally divided into four kinds, edging,
groundwork, dot and standard. The
plants themselves may range from
annuals and biennials, through to
perennials, shrubs and trees. In the
main, most of these plants are of
Central or South American, or South
African in origin, and therefore qualify
as exotic plants.
In my own plantings I tend to use
large drifts, or clumps of one particular
plant, including the green-leaved
white-flowered form of Begonia semperflorens, Solenostemon (Coleus),
Perilla nankinensis and Amaranthus
cruentus, as well as Dahlia ‘Bishop of
Llandaff’ and D. ‘Moonfire’. However,
most parks and gardens departments
are still turning out pale imitations of
Victorian carpet bedding, although I
wouldn’t deny the impact of a well
thought out and planted scheme.
It occurred to me that the concept of
bedding could be modernised by
drawing on the ideas of the Brazilian
designer Roberto Burle-Marx. BurleMarx, who landscaped Brasilia, would
create what were, in effect, abstract
paintings, and then plant out the
scheme using coloured foliage plants
to correspond with the colours in the
plan. The idea of creating asymetrical
or abstract patterns with bedding
plants, particularly those with
coloured foliage, is an interesting one
with which to play around.
One could also break with the notion
of a harmonious scheme that is easy
on the eye and go for extreme colour
groupings. For example, imagine a
large ‘yin and yang’ symbol planted
out with the nearly black
Solenostemon ‘Palisandra’ on one
side and the magenta Iresine herbstii
‘Brilliantissima’ on the other.
Does anyone else have any ideas
about radically updating bedding
schemes, or the use of bedding plants
in the exotic garden?
✎ Bedding plants in PLANTS? I’m glad that
someone broke the taboo subject Mike, conventional useage of the word ‘bedding’ has rather narrowed down the type of plant used and meaning of
the phrase. I grow all sorts of weird and wonderful
plants (and a few weeds I may add) but I use ‘seasonal bedding’ plants to brighten things up a bit. If I
don’t my wife goes all ‘funny’ on me - I even have to
grow a couple of conifers to keep the peace! Some
folk who have visited my garden are most distressed to see busy lizzies and conifers..........
SEARCH FOR NEW ZEALAND
PLANTS AND NURSERIES
By e-mail from Meg Gaddum of the
New Zealand Plant Finder
([email protected])
Please let all your gardening friends at
PLANTS know that at:
http//:plantfinder.co.nz you can search
for plants that are for sale at 235 NZ
nurseries - it opens up a whole world of
plants you never dreamed were available. You can also buy the New Zealand
Plant Finder books. Using them you can
63
instantly check if an inspiring plant
can be purchased in NZ, or for plant
prtofessionals whether a particular
plant can be sourced from New
Zealand for export across the world!
Over 30,000 plants and seeds are
currently sourced from a database of
almost 40,000 that have been for sale
in New Zealand. Best wishes
✎ Thanks for the information Meg - it looks
like things are going really well for the publication in New Zealand and if I can help kickstart sales across the globe via the web too
then I’m only to happy to help out!
64
CAN YOU HELP?
By e-mail from Jody Haynes, South
Florida Chapter of the International
Palm Society.
I recently joined your PLANTS
eGroup community
(http://www.egroups.com/plants/) on the
Internet and have also discovered the
plants-magazine.com website. As a
webmaster and plant enthusiast
myself (for the Palm & Cycad Societies
of Florida www.plantapalm.com), I
understand the significance of your
site - and your magazine. In addition
to being a webmaster for PACSOF, I
am also the facilitator for a conservation-related, sustainable-harvest seed
bank for plants of all kinds native to
Madagascar. The seed bank is being
developed by an established British
charity called Azafady
(www.azafady.org), in collaboration
with the Montgomery Botanical
Center in Miami, Florida, USA(one of
the premiere institutions in the world
conducting research on and establishing scientifically valuable collections of palms and cycads). As I am
sure you know, there are numerous
species of plants in Madagascar that
would be perfect for introduction into
the nursery trade--and many, many
more that are still undiscovered. Last
month I set up an e-mail community
of my own on ONElist, ([email protected]) and within 24
hours there were over 100 subscribers from over 25 countries (there
are now over 200 subscribers). I see
that there is a considerable interest in
our cause and in seed of Malagasy
plants.
I will also be co-authoring an article
(solicited by the President of the
International Palm Society for their
journal entitled "PALMS") in the next
month or so with Brett Massoud,
founder and CEO of Azafady, on his
organization and the Madagascar
seedbank project. Would you be
interested in publishing an article in
Plants Magazine? If so, Brett and I
would be happy to send you a modified version of the manuscript (more
general in scope and without a bias
toward palms).
Joining this e-mail community will
allow you to be notified of available
seeds and to discuss Malagasy plants
of interest to you. To join the list, simply go to the ONElist website
(www.onelist.com), conduct a search
for "madagascarseed", and click "Join
List". Upon joining the madagascarseed community, please send a
message to the list indicating your
country of origin and plant group(s)
of interest.
✎ Thanks for the notification Jody - I’m sure
there will be much interest from around the
world in your group
‘DEAD’ SEDGES APPEAL
By letter from Tim Fuller, The
Plantsman’s Preference Nursery
Garboldisham, Diss Norfolk
England. Tel: +44 (0)1953 681439
e-mail: [email protected]
In the spring of 1999 I applied for
National Collection status for Molinia
and Carex so there is plenty of extra
work being done, research, chasing
plants, chasing people etc. I am
especially keen in sorting out the
mess over New Zealand ‘dead’ or
‘brown’ sedges as they are often
mislabelled in the UK and probably
elsewhere in the world as well. I was
wondering if I could appeal, through
PLANTS for plants of Carex bigelovii
‘Hareknoll’ (named by Fircroft
Nursery), Carex comans ‘Feebers
Dwarf’ (named by Feebers Hardy
Plants), Carex flagellifera ‘Rapunzel’
(named and sold by Trevor Scott),
Carex muskingumensis ‘Ice
Fountains’ (USA?), Carex nigra ssp. tornata (sold by Ingwersen’s) and ask if
any reader of PLANTS has any other
Carex not listed in the most recent
issue of The RHS Plant Finder. Molinia
‘Dauerstrahl’ and Molinia ‘Staefa’ are
also proving unavailable in the UK.
Could I also make a plea for larger
nurseries and seed companies to stop
inventing new ‘selling’ names for old
plants, e.g. T&M with their Geranium
‘Splish-Splash’ for Geranium pratense
‘Striatum’. Also I see plant labels with
‘Plant Breeders Rights Applied For’ on
them years after the rights have been
refused or rejected.
✎ I hope you have a good response to your plea
for material of various Carex and Molinia varieties
Tim - and let’s hope that ‘older and wiser’ companies take note of the confusion they often sow in the
name of ‘selling’ names.
TRANSPARENCY IS THE KEY TO
NEW PLANT SUCCESS IN EUROPE
By e-mail from PLANTS subscriber /
advertiser Conrad Delaey, Sollya
Nursery, Belgium
I'm running a small but specialised plant
nursery - English style - in Belgium. The
origin of most of my plants is the UK. I
prefer to buy new varieties and young
plants in the UK because then I'm more
sure about the correct naming of the
plants. Something which cannot be said
from Dutch and Belgian nurseries.
I can understand that new varieties whether bred or chance seedlings - are
protected. However, I have some frustrations. More than once I have to see
how varieties that I have been growing
for some years, suddenly get a new
name, and get plant protection registration (Dutch tradition, which some of the
leading British nurseries are learning
now) e.g. Brachyscome melanocarpa.
Some varieties are free for years. In the
UK, Europe, US or other countries, they
are grown by smaller nurseries for years,
and then suddenly get protection...
Anisodontea malvastroides, and some
wild varieties seem to get protection
Sutera 'Knysna Hills'?, Angelonia angustifolia varieties, Sutera breviflora etc.)
Is this because there are more lawyers
than botanists now? For us, small nurseries, it is also difficult to know which
plants 'suddenly' get protection. Once I
was in contact with a European
Community Office who told me I could
get informed after having paid a lot of
Euros. But you have to pay for each
plant family to know which cultivars are
protected. There should be a central
database that can be checked free,
through the Internet for example. But I
think that's exactly what those big
money companies are afraid about:
botanists and plant connoisseurs would
find out that there is a lot of misrepresenting of the facts
Another big frustration is the so called
export licences. Although the European
commission makes efforts to allow free
competition within the E.U., so that anyone can buy products in the country he
wants to, big companies have contracts
with the wholesalers in different countries. So I'm supposed to buy in
Belgium, and I am no longer allowed to
buy certain protected varieties in the
UK. (Although I’ve been buying some of
them for years in UK). The funny thing is:
young plant companies are not allowed
to sell certain varieties to continental
customers, but then those varieties are
not grown or sold on the continent,
because the big money companies
don't want to grow them... So THEY
decide which plants can be grown in
which country. Instead of stimulating
the plant market, they are blocking
them, surely anti-competitive?
I'm now searching for the following:
1. How and where to get the exact
information about which varieties are
protected.
2. Someone who can make a study
about the legal position of these regulations, that seem to be prohibiting free
trade between EU countries - eventually
I want to complain officially at the
European Commission.
✎ Well then, some very pertinent points and
some questions that deserve some response from
people in other parts of the New Plant chain.
Is there a case that all details about plant registra-
65
tion should be held on a freely available Internet site
(once testing and trialling is finished) so that the
whole process of registration, protection and trialling
of ‘new’ varieties is transparent?
So that we know that a ‘new’ plant really is a ‘new’
plant and not just a little known wild variety given a
cultivar name? So that we know that a ‘new’ plant
is a distinct improvement over another variety, not
just one that flowers one day earlier or has a flower
that is one shade of yellow different to other varieties available and perhaps three inches smaller
but doesn’t actually perform any better in the garden?
What about ‘new’ plants that perfom fantastically
well in a polytunnel, in perfect conditions but once
it is set in the garden it refuses to perform?
If the whole process is transparent ( and I know in
the commercial world that secrecy is important at
many stages) then there may well be advantages
to both the public and the trade being able to see
the published results of trials and the background
to new varieties launched on the world market. Is
there a conflict of interests that disallows free
Europoean trade?
66
Let me know your thoughts - whoever and wherever you are. The letter below also touches on a
similar subject - and both were received after Mike
Adcock’s letter in the last issue about the survey
about Plant Breeders Rights he is conducting at
the University of Sheffield.
INTERNET DANGER
By letter from Peter Dealtry of
Genesis Corporate Marketing
Consultancy (+44 (0)1553 776343)
There is much excitement and enthusiasm for publishing information about varieties on the Internet, making sales and
spreading the word about the new plant.
All this is great stuff and adds to knowledge, whether scientific, commercial or
for the sheer enthusiasm of it.
However, I would like to sound a note of
caution. It is clear that certain senior officers of countries which have Plant Patent
schemes (Utility Patents) or Plant
Breeders’ Rights schemes under the
UPOV system, are getting very concerned about the disclosure of information and offers for sale which are coming
through the Internet. The risk that a
breeder takes is that, without his permission, information is flowing about which
could be construed as offers of sale for
disposal of the goods for which he may
be considering an Application for a Plant
Patent or Breeders’ Rights and the office
receiving that application may ultimately
decide that the plant is in ‘common
knowledge’, ‘pre-disclosed for Patent
purposes’ or has been sold. They may
take it that the breeder has condoned
these actions and that the Applications
for Rights or Utility Patents may be either
disbarred or cancelled.
This is a particularly serious matter when
Internet correspondence is reaching
countries which are particularly sensitive
on this issue, such as Japan or the USA. It
is happening in some circumstances that
very knowledgeable and competent people are making such web sites available.
Not only are varieties included in there
which have not been marketed in the
country where the web site is located but
that the acknowledgement that the plant
has an Application for Euro Breeders’
Rights is not included either. On closer
investigation it turned out that the organisation concerned had not even bought
any plants but simply listed it on a mail
order basis to see what business they
could get and then buy the plants in.
Suffice to say that the breeder had not
given permission for this to take place. ✎
Well then.... here’s another angle on a similar field
as the last letter.
PLANTS has published debate before about
nurseries and even wholesalers in different parts
of the country and across the globe ‘accidentally’
propagating protected material. Nurseries and
some wholesalers in the past have certainly been
guilty in that they have not marked the plant labels
as protected material.
I have never heard of people being punished for
propagating plants illegally, in which case where is
the law that should be preventing such things
going on? Also, if databases, books, magazines
and internet usage of plant names all carried the
protected symbols, whether ® ™ or (P) it would
make it less likely that ‘mistakes’ whether genuine
or not would happen - even the ‘bible’ The RHS
Plant Finder does not mark protected varieties for
goodnes sake. In the fast moving world of information and the Internet it may be worthwhile for the
Plant Protection laws to be tightened in many
ways. Discuss??
Some original
Alter natives
by
Rosemary
Castle
ALTERNATIVES is my tiny, mildly neurotic mail order initiative tucked
away in the Forest of Dean in West Gloucestershire, England. There are
plants and a catalogue, so it must be a nursery... but this is not always
how it feels when one specialises from home in unusual forms of
common wildflowers, many of them better known as weeds.
Weeds or not, I believe that most gardeners would be surprised at the diversity conjured by the likes of nettles,
buttercups and plantains. With a little
imagination and sensible management
(such as timely cutting back or growing
in the right place and in the right company) their forms and varieties can be
enjoyed in the garden just as much as
more popular plants. That’s the theory
anyway.
If nowhere else, many would-be menaces can be appreciated in containers.
There is nothing new about confining
variegated ground elder Ageopodium
podagrarium ‘Variegatum’ to a pot, but
combine it with the deceptively delicate foliage and extraterrestrial flowers
of peloric toadflax, Linaria vulgaris
(Peloric form) and you have something
really refreshing. Equally good are the
various forms of white clover, Trifolium
repens which can be overpowering in
some situations but look superb trailing
over terracotta or stone. I particularly
like the new variegated cultivar
‘Douglas Dawson’ (in whose garden it
was discovered), which has an outstandingly rich red/pink colouration in
foliage and flower and a neater habit
than the darkly alluring ‘Wheatfen’.
Since its birth in 1997 Alternatives has
been fortunate in acquiring many such
wonderful plants, but it also has a
growing number of original introductions to its name. One of the strangest
to come true from seed is a doubleflowered form of great willowherb,
Epilobium hirsutum, named ‘Caerphilly
Castle’. Equally full of character, but
largely sterile, is the hybrid willowherb
Epilobium x subhirsutum. This uncommon, naturally occurring cross between
E. hirsutum and E. parviflorum may not
be the tidiest of plants, but it redeems
itself with a long succession of rich,
pinky-purple flowers over hoary leaves
and a much less invasive habit than its
parent, E. hirsutum.
“I started seeing odd plants in 1991 when a purple-stemmed elder revealed itself in a
local hedgerow. This discovery (named Sambucus nigra ‘Castledean’), led to fruitful contact with other admirers of the common elder and its forms, among them Martin CraggBarber of the nursery Natural Selection. Most recently we have collaborated on a new
book, Appreciating Lawn Weeds, promoting closer consideration (as opposed to closer
mowing or indeed, killing) of some of our commonest lawn plants. E-mail enquiries to
Rosemary Castle at: [email protected]. For a 2000 mail order catalogue (U.K. only),
please send 3 x 1st class stamps to:
Rosemary Castle, Alternatives, The Brackens, Yorkley Wood,Lydney, Gloucestershire, GL15 4TU.
67
68
Further introductions include a beautiful, but tricky yellow-leaved form of red
clover Trifolium pratense ‘Nina’ and a
very easy silverweed, Potentilla
anserina, with pure yellow foliage
named ‘Shine’. Should you need
reminding, silverweed is an underrated, much trampled
native species with
low-growing silkylooking feathery
leaves, yellow flowers and a strawberrylike running habit. Its
golden form, (not to
be confused with the
variegated cultivar
named ‘Golden
Treasure’) is very
striking and just as
vigorous as the type.
stalked yellow flowers are wide open
and although smaller than those of
Creeping Jenny, they are produced over
a much longer period from May well
into August. Two cultivars are offered
here: ‘Pale Star’ charms with its creamy
pale yellow flowers
above mats of deep
green foliage, while
‘Little Sun’ blazes
away with bold, rich
yellow flowers up to
twice the normal
size. Both petals
and leaves in this
form are unusually
rounded.
Originally found
as a scruffy, halfsuspected
weedkiller victim
on the A48, it
transcended
every withheld
expectation when
taken into care
Of similarly delicate
foliage, but taller growing is the variegated mugwort Artemisia vulgaris
‘Woolaston’. Originally found as a
scruffy, half-suspected weedkiller victim
on the A48, it transcended every withheld expectation when taken into care.
The young leaves are marbled and
speckled in the very palest green, giving an ethereal, misty effect throughout
spring and summer, especially if cut
back towards flowering.
The native yellow pimpernel
Lysimachia nemorum brings further surprises. A common woodland plant akin
to Creeping Jenny Lysimachia nummularium but with more pointed foliage,
yellow pimpernel has been strangely
neglected in cultivation. (I remember it
being briefly featured as something of a
revelation in Channel Four’s TV series,
Wild About The Garden). Its delicately
For the brave or just
foolhardy there is
also an everexpanding collection of creeping buttercups (Ranunculus
repens), including several variegated
cultivars and a rare (non-variegated)
form named ‘Gloria Spale’ with primrose yellow flowers.
With few exceptions, the plants are
tough and easy to grow, but for those
who like to fret over their acquisitions
the daisies (varieties of Bellis perennis)
offer most satisfaction. There is a
miniskirted form with extra-short rays, a
temperamental hen-and-chickens (proliferous) selection, several double-flowered cultivars and one aptly-named
‘Odd Bod’ (found by a lady in a Sussex
churchyard) whose flower heads resemble tiny green cauliflowers.
The accent is on the strange and unexpected: the familiar in unfamiliar guise.
These may not be your regular ‘must
have’s’, but they can still entertain and
intrigue.
CATALOGUE
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
THE PLANTSMAN’S PREFERENCE (Tim
& Jenny Fuller)Lynwood, Hopton
Road, Garboldisham, Diss, Norfolk,
IP22 2QN, England. Tel: +44 (0)1953
681439 FAX: +44(0)1953 688194
MAIL ORDER, e-mail:
[email protected] NO credit cards,
Catalogue cost: 4 x 1st class
stamps, Export to EEC. Ring for
availability
This is the fifth catalogue from the
Fuller’s and the selection of plants gets
better every year.
Over 400 grasses including 90+ Carex
and over 350 hardy Geraniums means
this is a very exciting place for plant
enthusiasts with a leaning towards those
species! Among the interesting ones that
form part of the Geranium listing are:
Geranium ‘Strawberry Frost’ (mentioned
in the Bradley Gardens / Ford Nursery
catalogue review in the last issue of
PLANTS - anyone have a photograph and
know where it originated?). This one has
purple-brown leaves and pretty pink
flowers while Geranium asphodeloides
‘Prince Regent’ is a sought after form. So
too is a seedling from Geranium
‘Brookside’ with pearly grey-blue flowers
called Geranium ‘Blue Pearl’. Geranium
‘Little David’ is a G. psilostemon x G.
sanguineum ‘Minutum’ cross. A rare
individual indeed it has bright red
magenta flowers all summer on small
plants while G. ‘Little Gem’ (G. x
oxonianum x G. traversii) is a recent
hybrid that has brighter (even brighter?)
more intense colour than G. ‘Russell
Prichard’. Their own introduction G. x
oxonianum ‘Red Sputnik’ is also listed,
this one has narrow petalled flowers in
magenta-crimson. Another of their own
is Geranium phaeum ‘Blue Shadow’
introduced in 1998 with amethyst
flowers with a blue appearance especially
in the shade “The bluest phaeum we
have seen”. Dan Hinkley’s Carex nigra
‘On-line’ makes an appearance here... all
the way from Washington State (although
the catalogue says Oregon). Greyishgreen foliage margined with yellow with
a creeping, arching habit makes this one
a winner as is the japanese introduction
Carex ‘Silver Sceptre’ with its pale green
and creamy striped leaves making
creeping tufts. The Plantsman’s
Preference also sell the non flowering
deep blue Festuca ovina ‘Söhrewald’.
Those of us familiar with Bowles’ Golden
Grass Milium effusum ‘Aureum’ will be
interested to see a form from the
Moscow Botanic Garden, Milium effusum
var. esthonicum which has green foliage
and pendent flowers on a plant 1 metre
high.
There’s a good selection of perennials
too including the new form of Corydalis
flexuosa called ‘Norman’s Seedling’ (who
is Norman... and is there a photograph
you could lend me?) that has purple
veined greyish foliage with blue flowers
shaded grey and purple. Two recently
introduced Euphorbias from the Fullers
make their catalogue for 2000 too.
Euphorbia ‘Garblesham Enchanter’ has
lime flowers over dark leaves and red
stems while Euphorbia ‘Purple
Preference’ is a “superb all year round
foliage shrub, leaves flushed purple with
gingery coloured flowers in spring
growing to 75cm” Last but not least is
the new Omphalodes verna ‘Elfenauge’
pale sky blue flowers. You would be daft
not to order this catalogue and visit the
nursery in
2000!
69
Dirk van
der Werff
REVIEW 2000
CATALOGUE REVIEW 2000
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
70
Jac. ch DE VROOMEN
(Contact Dirk Rietveld)
PO Box 25, 2160 AA
LISSE, HOLLAND. Tel: +31
252 419029 Fax: +31 252
412848 e-mail:
[email protected]
WHOLESALE ENQUIRIES
ONLY
This catalogue is in English
and costed in £ sterling so
it is ideal for the small
specialist nursery and the
larger garden centres - and
if you are based in the USA
or Europe they can also
send catalogues for your
markets too - see the
website or e-mail to find
out more or ring Dirk
Rietveld for more
information. Friends who
have received orders have
been delighted at large
field grown divisions of
plants expertly packed.
The plants... there are
some really beautiful
plants offered in the latest
2000 catalogue and the
worldwide contacts of De
Vroomen have really come
up trumps. I love the Iris
ensata breeding work now
on offer such as Iris e.
‘Eden’s Paintbrush’,
‘Eden’s Purple Glory’ and
‘Eden’s Artist’ which are
stunning and exclusive to
De Vroomen. If you love
Paeonia then additions to
their catalogue like ‘Early
Bird’ - a one first
introduced in
1939 by
Saunders.
It is a cross
between P.
tenuifolia
and P.
veitchii var.
woodwardii
or the
double
deep-pink P.
GOSCOTE NURSERIES
(Derek Cox), Syston Road,
Cossington,
Leicestershire, LE7 4UZ,
England. E-mail:
[email protected] website:
www.goscote.co.uk Tel:
+44(0)1509 812121,
Fax:
+44(0)1509
814231 MAIL
ORDER ALL
YEAR ROUND
-Show garden
and 1000
plants on display.
Catalogue cost
5 x 1st class
stamps. Export
to EEC. ALL
CREDIT
CARDS.
Derek Cox has
been working in the nursery
trade since 1942 and since
1964 Goscote Nurseries has
been an established supplier
of high quality rare and
unusual hardy plants, many
‘Nancy Nora’. Hostas are
very well represented and
De Vroomen have selected
some of the best to add to
the 2000 catalogue. Hosta
‘Fire and Ice’ is a a sport
from H. ‘Patriot. H. Cherry
Berry’ has amazing red
foliage stems and flower
stems as a feature. Hosta
montana ‘Mountain Snow’
is beautiful while the
folded and twisted foliage
of ‘Whirlwind’ may not to
be everyone’s
liking...Bergenia cordifolia
‘Eroica’ is a new selection
with interesting foliage
colour changes
throughout the seasons
and the newer Anemone
of them trees and shrubs
which are not often grown.
Among the trees offered in
the Millennium catalogue are:
Eleutherococcus
sieboldianus ‘Variegatus’
growing to six feet and with
five part cream edged
leaves as well as Acer
ginnala with striking
autumn foliage and
Betula tianschanica
‘Trost’s Dwarf’ which
was all the rage not
so many years ago.
The rare variety of
the Tulip tree
Liriodendron tulipifera
‘Aureomarginatum’
which grows to a
magnificent tree of
40 ft tall in its lifetime is also offered in this catalogue. There’s also five
pages of a wide range of
conifers and the shrub selection is really something. The
selection of Japanese Maples
alone is excellent. How about
‘Andrea Atkinson’ has
vibrant pure white single
flowers and orange
stamens with glossy
foliage. The recent
Campanula ‘Mystery’ is
available in large numbers
as are some of the
stupendous diploid
Hemerocallis varieties
such as ‘Innerview’ a
creamy lavender with a
yellow centre. A new
Tradescantia ‘Danielle’
with superb large white
flowers is one worth
noting for the future.
Absolutely first class
catalogue and first class
product. Dirk van der
Werff
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
the fine Acer dissectum
‘Ukigumo’? “One of the finest
variegated maples. Leaves
splashed or margined cream
or pink”. A ‘new’ Aucuba
(1984) from Boskoop in the
Netherlands ‘Rozannie’
which is compact and vigorous is also on offer and
Cornus alba ‘Ivory Halo’ is
one of 27 Cornus in the catalogue. They include Cornus
kousa ‘National’ while the
Hibiscus selection include the
recent releases H. ‘Lavender
Chiffon’ and H. ‘White
Chiffon’ featured in recent
past issues of PLANTS.
Syringa ‘Goscote Purity’ is
their own recent Lilac introduction. It is a sweetly scented pure white variety. There’s
a full page of entries under
Magnolia for fans of these
fantastic plants and there’s
also a good show for
Bamboos, Hebes and also
Berberis. I haven’t come
across Berberis x lologensis
‘Mystery Fire’ before and nei-
FRANK P MATTHEWS LTD
(Nicholas Dunn)
Berrington Court, Tenbury
Wells, Worcestershire
WR15 8TH England. Tel:
+44(0)1584 810214 Fax:
+44(0)1584 811830.
Catalogue FREE , wholesale only
This a Wholesale catalogue
only and came to my attention at Four Oaks show last
year when the company
launched their two new
trees. Prunus ‘Fragrant Cloud
(Shizuka’) is a deliciously
impressive deep purple
foliage throughout the
summer turning bronze in
the autumn. The leaves are
shiny when they first
emerge and matt velvet in
texture later and in early
May the tree is laden with
rose pink double flowers. It
is actually less vigorous
than ‘Kanzan’ and is ideal
for the smaller garden.
‘Royal Burgundy’ (PHOTO
centre pages) has been
around for a while, particularly in North America but
Nicholas Dunn has taken
the initiative and decided
to introduce this fine new
tree to the UK. Among the
ornamentals that this company also offer wholesale is
the beautiful new
Sambucus nigra ‘Black
Beauty’ (Page 2 PLANTS
Volume 5 Issue 1). Among
the choice Sorbus on offer
are Sorbus ‘Chinese Lace’
with deeply cut foliage
scented variety raised in
turning purple red in the
Japan that has semi-double autumn with dark red fruits
flowers and bronze young
and Sorbus ‘Eastern
foliage. Prunus ‘Royal
promise’ is one with fernBurgundy’ is a sport of
like leaves and big bunches
Prunus ‘Kanzan’ with of pink fruits - I’ve never
seen this one
before but it
sounds quite
something!
ther have I seen Potentilla
‘Floppy Disc’ which has large
salmon-pink flowers.
There’s a small selection of
my own favourite,
Pittosporum, with the terrific
‘black’ leaves ‘Tom Thumb’
featuring as well as Spiraea x
vanhouttei ‘Pink Ice’, another
favourite.
There’s a good selection of
climbers too with Clematis
prominent and the recent
Campsis ‘Indian Summer’
also listed (PLANTS Volume
4 Issue Page 143). This is a
truly excellent selection of
trees, shrubs and climbers
(with lots of other goodies
too). A solid, classic selection
rather than featuring too
many un-tested new varieties
it is a good addition to the
armoury of any self respecting plant enthusiast, be they
an amateur, a professional or
a plantaholic with lots of
spare space!
DIRK VAN DER WERFF
Prunus tenella
‘Firehill’ “is the
best dwarf form
of Russian
Almond” while
71
CATALOGUE REVIEW 2000
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
the striking Prunus versicolor has white, pink and
pink& white flowers on
the tree at the same time weird but wonderful?
If you want the “finest
white weeping cherry we
have seen” then plump for
Prunus ‘Snow Showers’.
Dense single white flowers cover the pendant
branches and the tree
maintains a small neat
habit! There is a huge
range of Crab apples in the
catalogue including the
very showy ornamental
72
Malus ‘Rudolf’ which has
large pink flowers, deep
green foliage and small
red ‘nose-like’ fruits. Or
how about another new
introduction? Fraxinus
aurea ‘Pendula’ has bright
yellow stems. There’s a
good selection of Birch,
Snowy Mespilus and
Acers too... Acer ‘Simon
Louis Freres’ is a beauty
that I would love to grow pink purple and cream
variegated leaves make
this a truly outstanding
item if you have the space
in your garden and a life-
time of patience to see it
at its best!
There’s a lot of interest
among gardeners now for
interesting foliage and
flowering ornamental
trees and the selection of
varieties in this catalogue
is well worth your time
and effort if you are looking for a wholesale company who love their ornamental trees and who
have a flair for doing all
the hard work and selecting only the best!
DIRK VAN DER WERFF
IN BRIEF....IN BRIEF.....IN BRIEF.....IN
Fragrant Flora (Glenn Lewis), RR5, Site
21, C-11, Gibsons B.C. V0N 1V0 CANADA
e-mail: [email protected] Tel /
Fax: 604 8856142 Minimum plant order
$CAN25.00 / USA Minimum CAN $100.00
Mail order from March to May.
This is a substantial 135 page catalogue with
excellent selections of trees, shrubs, climbers
and perennials. Glenn also breeds fragrant lilies
and many of the plants in the catalogue are
noted for the scent.Cistus monspeliensis has
very aromatic leaves in hot weather alongside
the yellow-bossed pure white saucer-shaped
flowers while Lonicera modesta var. lushanensis is a really rare shrub from China. Agastache
mexicana ‘Toronjil Morado’ is a large lavender/
magenta flowered plant and Erysimum
‘Walkers’ is a Canadian found plant with cream
and lilac marbled flowers and there’s Euphorbia
broteroi from Portugal.
There’s plants for everyone here, enthusiasts
will love it in Canada and the USA and wholesalers may find a few plants they didn’t know
about. Very worthwhile. Dirk van der Werff
COLLECTORS CORNER PLANTS (Pat
Neesam) 33, Rugby Road, Clifton-underDunsmore, Rugby Warks, CV23 0DE,
England. Tel: +44(0)1788 571881. Catalogue
cost 6 x 1st clas stamps NO credit cards. No
minimum UK mail order charge.
This fifty plus A4 page loose-leaf catalogue is
constantly updated as plants and ‘new’ plants
become available. Many new additions to
T&M and Plant World Seeds are available
from Pat Neesam as young established
plants if you don’t have the time or inclination
to grow your own new and rare plants from
seed. Ferns, grasses, and perennials dominate the list and there are many rare and
interesting beauties in a comprehensive list
for the enthusiast. How about Echinops
‘Arctic Glow’, an apricot pink Lychnis chalcedonica ‘Morgenrot’, Silene thessalonica is
one I haven’t come across before and
Sphaeralcea munroana with bright coral pink
flowers is becoming more popular.
There’s shrubs, tree ferns... One to get if you
haven’t ordered yet!
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
DE HESSENHOF (Hans
Kramer) Hessenweg 41,
6718 TC Ede HOLLAND
Tel: +31 8617334 Fax:
+31 8612773 Minimum
Export Mail Order is
Ff250.00, Autumn only.
Catalogue cost is DM10
(Germany), £3.00,
Ff30.00 (France),
Eurocheque, cash or
IRCcoupons. Nursery
open 2nd March November. RING FIRST!
Catalogue in Dutch
The famous Hellebore days
are March 2, 3 & 4th 2000
when more than 3,500 hellebore enthusiasts from
Germany, Holland, Belgium
and England gathered to buy
and view plants in 1999.
Some of the additions to the
2000 catalogue include: the
plant which won the Botanical
Prize at the famed
International Nursery Fair at
Bingerden last year,
Polystichum setiferum
‘Greenlace’ which is an
extremely fine-textured fern.
As well as that there is a comprehensive selection of shade
lovers from Geranium (G.
‘Terre Franche’, Pulmonaria (P.
altaica found by Josef Halda) to
hardy ferns and Hepatica (H. t.
‘Eisvogel’) as well as a good
selection of other good plants.
These include Astrantia major
‘Roma’ a superior Piet Oudolf
selection with red/pink flowers
(PHOTO next issue of
PLANTS), and another of his
plants Salvia ‘Dear Anja’(S.
nemerosa x S. pratensis). If
you’re heading to Holland this
year, this is one nursery not to
miss - tell Hans that PLANTS
sent you!
Dirk van der Werff
............Letters and News Extra ............
✱ From subscriber and photographer Ian
Gowland. (PHOTO Page 78)
I bought some plants of a terrific rose in France
and would like to recommend it to fellow subscribers to PLANTS. I bought 2 roses back in 1996
at a cost of Ff33.00 each per rose, I have no further
information on current prices from Pierre Orard, they have been growing Rosa ‘Vogue’ for some 30
years. VOGUE(Boerner) 1949. ‘Pinocchio’ x
‘Crimson Glory’ It was from the same seed pod
as the climbing Rosa ‘Fashion’ and it is a floribunda of more vigorous habit. Rosa ‘Vogue’ has
glossy, purple tinted foliage and has beautifully
formed flowers of the purest pink. Contact them at:
G.A.E.C., Au Jardin des Roses, ETABLISSEMENTS HORTICOLES ORARD, 56, Route de
Lyon, 69320 FEYZIN, FRANCE TEL: 04 78 70 32
36 Fax: 04 78 70 33 68
✱ From Rhonda Williams ([email protected])
The Alaska Rock Garden Society expedition to
China and Tibet 2000 is now offering seed shares.
Ten team members led by Dan Hinkley of
Heronswood Nursery will be travelling and collecting in Zhongdian, Shuduhu, Tianchi Lake area,
Dabaoshan, Sichuan, Xiaoxueshan, Daxueshan,
Deqin, Dali, and Cangshan Mt. A prospectus can
be requested by furnishing a SASE and $2.00 to
The Alaska Rock Garden Society, C/O Teena
Garay, P.O. Box 2653, Homer Alaska 99603 USA
PLANTS ON CD
Plants on CD is a unique plant encyclopaedia
incorporating information about approximately 600
plants and around 800 photographs. Each plant
description is accompanied by at least one photograph and a sound recorded description. This program is ideal for beginners and experts alike, giving
an extensive range of indoor and outdoor plants.
Plants on CD has been recognised as a valuable
tool for students of horticulture and garden design
as well as offering employers at nurseries and garden centres the opportunity to educate staff and
customers.
The information provided includes topics such as
description, growing conditions, propagating information, ease of growth, and uses. You can add
plant information, photographs and sound recordings to build up your own plant library. These features make this Cd unique. This is the first Cd to be
produced by the company and we will be producing
a plant quiz early in the New Year, which is aimed
to be both entertaining and educational. The company will also be producing a series of Cd’s later in
the year. These will cover individual plant groups
such as Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Aquatic plants,
Alpines, Bamboos and Grasses, Plants from Seed,
and Pests and Diseases.
Price inc. P&P UK £29.99 TEL. 01294 204020
FAX. 01294 204040 e-mail :[email protected]
73
Galanthus ‘Richard Ayres’ one of the “finds of the century”
by Daphne Chappell
Varieties of the double woodland snowdrops have been grown in
gardens for many years. Galanthus nivalis ‘Pusey Green Tip’, the name
self explanatory and G. n. ‘Walrus”, with long, thin, tusk-like outer
petals, are loved by some, loathed by others.
Another, guaranteed to make folk swoon or
swear, is G. ‘Boyd’s Green Double’, an upwardfacing ‘bottle-brush’ of a flower having narrow
green petals which prompts its other name, the
‘Green Horror’! It was discovered by William Boyd
in 1905 and although described as difficult to
grow, can still be found in collections today. As
beautiflul as the previous variety is ugly and the
darling of all the doubles, is the yellow G. n. ‘Lady
Elphinstone’. The centre of its flower is
sometimes likened to scrambled egg, or apricots
and cream, and it is well represented in
collections being surprisingly easy to grow in
most gardens.
‘Doubling’ in flowers is a result of the plant’s
pollen-bearing anthers having evolved as extra
petals. Plants like this are usually sterile, but
sometimes enough anthers
Daphne Chappell has survive to make the plant
been a keen gardener capable of breeding. The work
done by Greatorex in the
for 30 years and with
her husband John has 1950’s using a fertile woodland
made three gardens in snowdrop Galanthus nivalis
Gloucestershire. Her
‘Flore Plena’ to fertilise the
interest in snowdrops Crimean species, G. plicatus
arose from researching produced a tribe of strong, tall,
plants and nurseries
double flowers with tight
for the NCCPG when
rosettes of inner petals
she met the gardener marked, to varying degrees,
who grew bulbs for the with green. G. ‘Ophelia’ and
Giant Snowdrop Co.
‘Desdemona’ are perhaps the
From a few bulbs given
most widely grown of these,
to her in 1985 she has
now amassed a large being of easy culture and quick
to increase, as are most double
collection of unusual
snowdrops with plicatus in their
species and garden
cultivars and as well as blood. G. ‘Lady Beatrix
running the Snowdrop Stanley’, another popular
Group affiliated to the snowdrop, was at first thought
to be the double form of G.
Cottage Garden
Society also organises caucasicus but is now
two annual snowdrop considered a hybrid. Beautiflul
lovers days held in var- from the moment its pointed
ious venues throughbuds push through in January it
out the country.
is one of the most widely grown
Daphne also loves
of hybrid double snowdrops
perennials and opens being very reliable in
74
her garden as part of
the NGS until
September.
cultivation.
Where fertile, double woodland snowdrops exist
along side specialist collections bigger and better
hybrids are occurring. At Anglesey Abbey, a
National Trust property outside Cambridge and
home to a collection of unusual snowdrops, a
giant, strong-growing double has been found. It
has been named G. ‘Richard Ayres’, to honour
Anglesey’s recently retired head gardener. Like
the Greatorex doubles G. ‘Richard Ayres’ has G.
nivalis ‘Flore Plena’ in its make-up, but this time it
is thought to have crossed with the species G.
elwesii. G. ‘Richard Ayres’ settles well after
transplanting and is very quick to increase; the
marks on its inner petals can vary, as can G.
elwesii itself, and sometimes up to five outer
petals are produced. But it is the size and ease of
culture that makes this snowdrop one of the finds
of the century.
The double elwesii snowdrops already known
can possibly be attributed to the bees and
serendipity; they are undeniably attractive but
small, fickle and often difficult to establish. G.
‘Ballerina’, with narrow, pointed leaves and neat
double flowers marked with green at the base
and apex of its inner petals, G. ‘Warburg’s
Double’, with convolute leaves and similarly
marked petals, whilst the semi-double G. ‘Ryton
Ruth’, found in a neighbour’s garden by the
author, has ‘eye-spots’ similar to the form of G.
elwesii often referred to as ‘Whitallii’. In all three
the green markings can vary and whether these
will prove to be good garden snowdrops, only
time will tell.
We often read these days of the restoration of
old gardens and who knows what there is waiting
to be discovered. In February 2000, to celebrate
the blooming of the first flowers of the Millennium,
‘Galanthophiles’ will hold their annual Gala in
Oxfordshire with a combined visit to the garden
where, amongst a long established collection of
snowdrops, one of the very first G. elwesii
doubles was found over thirty years ago. The
garden is now in its fifth year of restoration and
the snowdrops are being brought back to life.
Who knows what the bees will have been up to!
Nursery 99
Nursery 99, a smaller component of GLEE 99 (International Garden
and Leisure Exhibition) at the massive NEC complex in Birmingham
was a huge success drawing nurserymen, gardens centre staff and
plant professionals (as well as a few enthusiasts...) from the four
corners of the earth for a great horticultural show.
✱ One of the most stunning plants
seen for many years at any show was a
stunning sport with unique variegated
foliage. Almost white leaved with green
veins and bright yellow sunflower-like
flowers Heliopsis ‘Loraine Sunshine’ stole
the show for my mind. Originally found by
Brent Hanson of Rhinelander Floral Co. in
Rhinelander, Wisconsin USA it is named
“in memorial for Loraine Marks, a valued
employee and great gardener whose
happy, cheery personality always brought
sunshine to her work and those around
her.” Promoted in the US by Blooms of
Bressingham North America it is the first
of many plants to be promoted in this
country by Blooms of Bressingham from
the North American continent after years
of the UK arm exporting ‘new’ plants to
gardeners across the pond. Promoted by
the Blooms Wholesale liason with RA
Meredith & Son (Fax: +44(0)1452
741405), Chairman Ted Meredith looked
very pleased with the superb response
from growers and plant lovers at the first
appearance of this plant in the UK.
✱ Ceanothus ‘Silver
Surprise’ is a sport from
Ceanothus ‘Yankee Point’ that
was put on show by Bransford
Garden Plants and should be
available as a wholesale item
from their catalogue in 2000,
(+44(0)1886 833533, e-mail:
[email protected]) and enthusiasts
should be able to pick one up from a local
garden centre or shed late spring or in
early summer. Bransford also
showed plenty of container
grown Chilean bamboo (Chusquea culeou)
and also had plenty of interest in the dwarf
Alstroemeria ‘Inca Fox’
✱ Farplants Sales Ltd (+44(0)1243
553311 e-mail: [email protected])
also had a variegated Ceanothus on show
to interest garden centres. Ceanothus ‘El
Dorado’ comes fast on the heels of their
terrific success with Ceanothus ‘Pershore
Zanzibar’ in the last two seasons. See
Page 80
79
Both Hillier (Fax: +44(0)1794
368813) and Notcutts (+44(0)1394
445440) showed the Plant of the Show
Cotinus coggygria ‘Golden Spirit’ and said
that sales for the late summer market in
the UK had gone ‘better than good’ and
Notcutts themselves have more than
25,000 ready for the new season in 2000.
Hillier also had Tradescantia ‘Sweet Kate’
(PLANTS Volume 5 Issue 1 page 35)
gathering lots of interest at the stand
alongside Cistus ‘Thrive’ a sport from
Cistus corbariensis with lots and lots of
large white flowers that will be arising
money for the Greenfingers Appeal.
✱ Webbs of Wychbold (Tel:
+44(0)1527 861365) gained good
exposure for Coen Jansen’s Geranium
‘Chocolate Candy’. Bright pink flowers
atop deep chocolate coloured leaves
should make this one a real winner.
(PLANTS Volume 4 Issue 4 page 150)
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
More plants for 2000...........More plants for 2000.......
Viola ‘Eye of the Tiger’
CEANOTHUS ‘EL DORADO’
Lavandula viridis
'SILVER GHOST'
in a frost free, but well-lit
greenhouse / conservatory or porch.
It originally was spotted in
New Zealand by Wayne
Horrobin of Horrobin &
Hodge Nurseries as a
sport of Lavandula viridis
who registered Silver
Ghost as a PVR name and
it has been undergoing
trials in the UK and
Europe before the first
release of material for
2000. Other additions to
the Norfolk Lavender catalogue for 2000 include
Lavandula 'Roxlea Park'
and the smallest variety
ever released, Lavandula
'Miss Muffet'. Henry Head
Sutera Olympic Gold®
(PROSUTV) EU APP 98/1080
80
Viola
‘Summer Pudding’
(PHOTO Back page PLANTS Volume This plant was discovered in 1996 at Yoder Toddington
This fine new variegated
Sutera diffusus Olympic Gold®
5 Issue 1) This is a new world exclu(Farplants, Ceanothus grower at Littlehampton) as a
lavender comes hot on
(PHOTO Back Page) is a selection
sive viola selected sport in a crop of Ceanothus ‘Zanzibar’. “We decided to
the heels of Lavandula
made at the Proculture Plants Ltd
from a large seed bulk it up as: It’s a better nurserymans plant and It looks
Nurseries by Francis Muzuro
Walberton's(TM) Silver
raised viola breed- better in late winter-early spring than ‘Pershore
(ProCulture Production Director) at
Edge which was released
ing programme in Zanzibar’.There is less yellow in the leaf so less tendenEvesham in Worcestershire, England
last year into the UK marNorfolk, England. cy to get affected by cold. We also only had a 2 yr excluin 1998. Olympic Gold® is a vigorket. Henry Head at
‘Eye of the Tiger’ sive on Zanzibar. The flower colour is mid blue, slightly
ous trailing clone with striking foliage
less
bright
than
Zanzibar
and
the
flower
heads
are
Norfolk
Lavender
would unfortuthat is green with a strong golden
smaller and roundish (3cm long x 1.5cm wide) on some(www.norfolk-lavender.co.uk)
nately not set
edge. The plant has large white flowwhat extended stems. The habit is upright with stiff laterhas
the
exclusive
mail
seed and a
als growing out at 45 degrees, much like ‘Yankee Point’
ers, continually produced, and is also
order rights for Lavandula
method for
and ‘Skylark’. This is in contrast to ‘Pershore Zanzibar’
'self-cleaning' in that the flowers drop
viridis
'Silver
Ghost'
in
encouraging
whose stems arch over in a lax habit (like the species C.
from the plant when finished keeping
Europe for 2000.
rooting of cutthyrsiflorus it came from). Royalties from ‘El Dorado’ will
the plant looking pristine throughout
go to the Specialist Plant Unit at Pershore College to
tings has now
It has silver and white
the season. It has already been trialled
fund further development. There is an application for EU
been estabmarkings on the leaf, and
in Australia, Japan, USA and Europe
lished and this Plant Variety Rights. Farplants have 18,000 going to
although it is one of the
and test-marketed in the UK in 1999
leading
garden
centres
in
April.
4lt
pots
will
retail
at
striking plant is now
and will be available in large numbers
more tender lavenders, it
£13.99” Neil Robertson, England.
available in small numbers, only as
in the UK and Europe in 2000. The
will overwinter succesfully
plant is naturally self branching and
young plants from Thompson &
compact and is resistant to scorching
Morgan Young Plants. Viola ‘Eye of
(PHOTO centre page) This plant was selected at the Sahin (www.sahin.nl/) Viola trials in
outside but can be affected by strong
the Tiger’ boasts old-gold petals inlaid
Holland a couple of years ago where all known species and varieties were grown together,
sunlight while under glass.
with an intricate web of velvet black
many hybridised and something like 120,000 plants were in the trial. This particular beauty
Enthusiasts should be able to easily
veins which contrasts with the fresh
is propagated - from cuttings only - by Bob Brown at Cotswold Garden Flowers at Evesham,
buy this plant by mail order and in
dark-green foliage - all with a nice
England. (www.cgf.net) (FREE Catalogue
garden centres in 2000 while trade
viola scent. It is frost hardy due to its
enquiries should be channelled
+44(0)1386
833849).
He
describes
it
as
"stewed
raspberries
and
redcurrants
lightened
with
parentage and is a ‘day length neuthrough Proculture Plants Ltd. Ebreadcrumbs, at its best on warm summer evenings". Spring Hill Nursery (www.myseatral’ variety and will flower at any time
mail: [email protected]
of the year. It was only available last
sons.com/) have the exclusive North American rights and have also profiled it in their
Proculture Plants Ltd, Knowle Hill,
summer from Thompson & Morgan
Spring 2000 Select Premier Edition catalogue for Preferred Customers (Order toll free 1Badsey, Evesham, Worsecstershire,
Cottage Garden Collection Catalogue
800-582-8527).
WR11 5EN Fax: +44(0)1386 832839
www.thompson-morgan.com) at
Dirk van der Werff
Dirk van der Werff
£10.00 for 6 plants or £18.00 for 12
plants. To place an order or to
Angelonia ‘AngelMist™’ P.P.A.F.
request a catalogue in the future
from the UK please ring
Angelonia is a relatively new species to the
purple stripe - it has a bushy and upright habit
+44(0)1787 884141 DIRK VAN
world commercial market but increased breedand very unlike anything yet to be used in
DER WERFF
ing and selection work by Ball Seed
spring/summer containers. Angelmist™ thrives
This is a stunning flowered new perennial variety
in warm conditions and is ideal for most UK
(www.ballseed.com/)
straight from Japan. Thompson & Morgan offered
patios and similar climates in North America.
(www.ballfloraplant.com/) in the USA has
Verbena Splash®
this plant as part of the Autumn Collection 1999
given Royal Sluis Ornamentals in the UK the
They don't generally set seed unless in much
catalogue
which
is
mailed
to
UK
customers
only.
A
This new paint-splash effect Verbena
opportunity to bring their new series called
warmer climates - look out for it in garden cennovelty of the traditional Japanese wild flower it
series in 5 colours from cuttings is from
Angelmist™ to commercial fruition for the year
tres in 2000. Growers wanting to offer it next
wholesale company Hamer Flower
reaches 20-40cms and spreads some 30cms
year in the UK should contact Royal Sluis. Tel
2000.
‘AngelMist™’
P.P.A.F.
is
available
in
six
Seeds Ltd (Sheraton House, Castle Park,
depending on soil and location and has alternative
different colours - deep plum, lavender - which
no: 01565 722624, Fax no: 01565 723472. ECambridge, CB3 0AX Tel: +44(0)223
layers of ragged petals in a deep yellow and green.
includes white markings, pink, purple - also with
mail: [email protected]
327520. Contact: Phil Bailey). It won
It prefers a neutral to acidic soil which is well
the Best New Product award at Four
white markings, white plus the striking bicolour
(PHOTOS inside back page)
drained and in deep shade. Dirk van der Werff
Oaks 99. PHOTO front page)
Adonis amurensis
'SANDANZAKI'
www.plants-magazine.com
81
Please remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
6
Ceanothus ‘El Dorado’ Page 80
Prunus ‘Royal Burgundy’
Page 71
Viola ‘Summer Pudding’
Page 81
Osteospermum
Nasinga® Cream Page 84
Helleborus ‘Pacific Frost’ Page 83
77
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
Geranium maculatum ‘Elizabeth Ann’
(Volume 5 Issue 1 Page 10)
75
78
Rosa ‘Vogue’ Page 73
Physostegia
‘Miss Manners’
Page 62
Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’ Page 62
Lupinus ‘African Sunset’
Page 46
Ranunculus repens
‘Gloria Spale’ Page 68
Lupinus ‘Soft Kisses’
Page 46
Sisyrinchium idahoense var. bellum
‘Rocky Point’ Page 62
Four Oaks and New World Plants hit the Web, Future
Plants makes it’s mark and even more new plants.....
You may be interested to check out the some new web sites that I’ve recently
produced in association with my Internet partner Paul Wilderspin.
82
www.four-oaks.co.uk/ is a new, much
expanded website for the biggest UK
wholesale young plant company based in
Cheshire. They also have affiliated cash and
carry companies across the UK and have
exclusive licences to propagate plants such
as Surfinias exclusively in this country. On
the web site you
can learn all about
Tiarella
‘Heronswood Mist’ this go-ahead
companyt for the
(PHOTO inside front
new millennium,
page) Nurseryman
and find out how
Dan Hinkley of
Heronswood Nursery, to contact them
withyour own new
Washington State
plant discoveries.
USA told me: “Tiarella
The site also cov‘Heronswood Mist’
showed up in a flat of
ers their new 2000
seedlings of Tiarella
introductions
wherryi in our nursery
including a new
in 1993, and we kept it variegated Petunia
in the garden for evaluspootted by a
ation until 1997 when
PLANTS subscriber
we gave it to Dan
on the continent!
Heims at Terra Nova
Nurseries in Oregon
to bulk up. It is one of
the plants that has
come out of culture
better than it went in,
being more stable and
more uniform in variegation. We have
found the autumn tints
that have developed to
be quite sensational,
taking on good pinks
suffused with the yellow and green.”
7530 NE 288th St.
Kingston, WA 98346,
USA Tel: 360 297 4172
Fax: 360 297 8321
www.newworld plants.com/
puts this leadingedge UK plant
wholesale company at the forefront
of new technology
and one of the
premier new plant
garden web sites.
All the information
about Rod
Richards’ company is now on-line
and will be added
to in the coming
months on a regu-
lar basis. If you are thinking of approaching a
company about protecting and investing in
your new garden plants then this is one of
the prime places to check out before you
hand them over with your signed Test and
Trial agreements. You will be able to see
some of his 2000 plant releases like the
exclusive Geranium ‘Silver Shadow’,
Helleborus ‘Snowdon Strain’, Verbascum
‘Summer Sorbet and Cerinthe ‘Golden
Bouquet’ on-line as well as other introductions and how to contact the company.
If you want an eye catching, fast loading
no-nonsense website to promote your company on the World Wide Web then e-mail
me at [email protected] for more
details. We’re not the cheapest but we’re a
long way from being the most expensive and we know something about plants and
plants people!
✱ Future Plants vof. (P.O. Box 409,
2200 AK Noordwijk, The
Netherlands, Tel: (+31)
252-624466, Fax: (+31)
252-6244533, www.future-plants.nl E-mail:
[email protected]) was founded in
Holland in January 1998. The company specialises in the application, management and
exploitation of cultivation rights for exclusive perennial plants. Future Plants vof.
intends to safeguard the exclusivity of its
plants with legal protection and action and
currently controls the cultivation rights of 20
new perennials at the moment and in the
next five years it intends to increase this to
approximately 80 varieties according to
spokesman Cees Marbus. The UK Licensee
is Bridgemere Nurseries Trading Ltd. Future
Plants partners are: Mr A. Zoet: Relationship
Manager, famous hybridiser and landscape
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
gardener Mr Piet
Oudolf, Mr H.
Oudshoorn: grower
and hybridiser, Mr A.
Geerlings: grower. For
more information
please contact Mr
Zoet (+31) 252412385, fax: (+31)
252-421392.
✱ Genus
Plants of
Chippenham, Wiltshire, England have
released a new mail order catalogue for the
1999/2000 season. It features an extensive
list of unusual perennials and the unique
selling point is that all plants are available as
large 'plug' plants. All plants are grown at
the Genus Plants Nursery located at new
headquarters in Startley, Wiltshire. Each of
the species available can be ordered in any
quantity in multiples of six. This flexible sys-
tem means customers can order one each of
six different varieties or six of the same or
two each of three varieties etc. and all for
£11.49 inc. p & p. Discounts are available
for 18 plants or more. The Genus Plant Club,
Startley Hill Nursery, Startley, Chippenham,
Wilts, SN15 5HQ or on their website at
www.genusplants.com or Tel: +44 (0)1249
720674.
✱ The Journal of Horticultural Science
and Biotechnology may well be of interest
to some subscribers to PLANTS. The journal
publishes refereed scientific papers of high
standing on applied and theoretical aspects
of horticultural research and the application
of biotechnology. It’s way beyond the scope
of my small brain but the journal has an
excellent reputation and publication of
poapers is rapid and papers requiring little
or no revision may be in print in under 20
weeks from submission. It will cost you a
few more quid than PLANTS though at
Ray Brown at Plant World Seeds in Devon has a number of good plants to grow from seeds in his
excellent catalogue issued at the end of 1999. Geranium pratense ‘Purple Haze’. Bred from the
‘Victor Reiter’ forms that have been about for a number of years in small quantities,
these plants grown from his seed have leaf colours from bronze to
beetroot and the flowers are usually blue but sometimes pale violet,
mauve or purple. Many other seed companies made a pitch for this
one as their BIG one in 2000 but Ray kept his breeding work to himself
and releases it as his exclusive for 2000. Other plants worth mentioning include Helleborus ‘Pacific Frost’ (pic centre pages) - originally
mentioned in the very first issue of PLANTS when it appeared briefly in
the catalogue of Beth Chatto. Named after Pam Frost in whose garden
in Canada it appeared it is a real beauty and comes pretty much true
from seed. Papaver ‘Chedglow’, an opium poppy, comes from the hand
of ‘That Plant’s Odd’ nurseryman Martin Cragg Barber at Natural
Selection nursery. Splashed leaves are not to everyone’s liking but for
variegated plant nuts it’s heaven! Senecio ‘Goldplate’ was collected during Ray’s 1994 trip to Chile in wet meadows below a volcano. Perhaps
the biggest herbaceous Senecio with flat yellow heads atop tall purple
stems! Veronica grandis is an impressive giant from Japan, 12 inch spikes
of deep royal blue on three foot tall stems. Anemone barbulata (front
page) is a species from China, blue backed white flowers in dense sprays on top of long stems
makes this one stand out while Dierama ‘Blackbird’ (inside back page) is one of his recent selection with deep blackberry coloured bells. Send 3 x 1st class stamps or 3 x International Reply Coupons
abroad PLANT WORLD BOTANIC GARDENS (PLANTS), ST MARYCHURCH ROAD, NEWTON ABBOT, DEVON
TQ12 4SE, ENGLAND Tel / Fax: +44 (0)1803 872939.
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
83
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS as the source of your information
£120.00 for six issues! (or $240.00)e-mail:
[email protected]
84
✱ New from Spring Hill Nursery (Jim Freid,
Senior VP Product Development Tel: 001(309) 5892404 Fax: 001 (309)589 2019) in the USA for 2000
are: A new exclusive Orange/red hybrid tea called
Rosa ‘Cancun’, Silene ‘Clifford Moor’ (see front cover
PLANTS Volume 2 Issue 2) via Planthaven Inc. and
originally discovered at Yorkstock Nursery in Yorkshire
by Pandora Thoresby and Laurie Reed. Lamium ‘Anne
Greenaway’ from Bob Brown at Cotswold Garden
Flowers was around a few years before the very similar Lamium ‘Golden Anniversary’ was launched and
Senior Vice President of Spring Hill Nursery Jim Freid
has also plucked another of Bob’s plants for stardom
in the US, Viola ‘Summer Pudding’ is a beautifully
coloured Viola. Hosta ‘Loyalist’ from Walters Gardens
is also added to their catalogue for 2000 along with
the very interesting repeat blooming Encore series of
Azaleas. Physostegia ‘Miss Manners’ (very dark
foliage), Heuchera ‘Petite Pearl Fairy’ from Holland
and the tall bi-coloured Phlox ‘Starburst’ is another
Spring Hill exclusive. Look out for the new website
too, www.myseasons.com
✱ PLANTS subscriber and contributor Karen
Platt recently published Growing from Seed, A
Complete Guide to Sowing Seed Successfully. (ISBN
0-9528810-47). It is a guide to sowing successfully
over 5,000 genera with special instructions for species
where necessary. It is available directly from her at 35,
Longfield Road, Crookes, Sheffield S10 1QW UK. No
credit cards £9.99 inc postage, add £1.00 Europe,
add £2.50 Rest of the World.
www.seedsearch.demon.co.uk
✱ Coen Jansen, the esteemed Dutch nurseryman
/ plantsman was kind enough to write recently and
enclosed a slide of a double Nicotiana grandiflora
(PHOTO inside back page). “It’s a pity that it is sterile”
he says.....
✱ If you enjoyed Daphne Chappell's piece about
Galanthus 'Richard Ayres' onpage 74 you may well
fancy being part of the Galanthus Gala 2000 at
Abingdon, Oxfordshire on Saturday 19th February.
Morning lectures followed by a large plant sale where
snowdrops unavailable elsewhere will be on offer and
during the afternoon there will be a visit to the newly
restored garden at Kingston Bagpuise House to see
the snowdrops. Ring Daphne for details and booking
forms +44(0)1531 890265 e-mail: [email protected]
Osteospermum
Nasinga® White
Osteospermums have been one of
the European and even worldwide
plant successes of the 1990’s. These
South African daisies have been very
amenable to culture for the summer
months in temperate climates but
breeding and selection work started
in Denmark to produce plants that
were more compact, free of disease
and virus and whose flowers stayed
open in lower light conditions. Cape
Daisy® Osteospermum breeding
was initated by Carl Aksel Kragh
Sørensen at his nursery Gartneriet
Petersminde in 1984 and became a
commercial Osteospermum line in
1992 with the introduction of Cape
Daisy® Zulu and Cape Daisy®
Zimba. When the breeding was
originally initiated its main concern
was to provide healthier plants, which
was a serious problem at the time.
Success was quick and new
breeding lines were set up to
continue to improve plant health and
garden performance. Cape Daisy®
Nasinga® White is a vast
improvement on Cape Daisy®
Namaqua - it continues to flower
throughout the summer. The petals
which are reddish blue on the
backside and the spoon shape
creates a colour blend of white and
reddish blue. Nasinga® White needs
only very little growth regulator. “This
is the best Osteospermum I’ve ever
grown” said nurseryman Geoff Lang look out for Nasinga® Cream in 2001
(see PHOTO centre pages)
www.cape-daisy.dk/
PLA International ApS takes care of
agreements concerning trademarks,
protection, control, promotion, and
marketing world wide.
PLA International ApS, Postbox 95,
DK-3400 Hillerød, Denmark.
Telephone: +45 4824 2710, Fax: +45
4824 2708
e-mail: [email protected]
www.pla-int.com/
Also of interest is Geoff Lang’s fine
Osteospermum sites on the Internet
www.gbnl.freeserve.co.uk/HomePageHome.html
www.sunshine-plants.fsnet.co.uk/
Dirk van der Werff
Dirk van der Werff
N
urseryman’s
otes
by Mike Tristram
Binsted Nursery, West
Sussex, England
A number of variegated Phlox have arrived to brighten gardeners’ borders in recent
years.
Plants such as Phlox paniculata ‘Norah Leigh’, ‘Pink Posie’ and ‘Darwin’s Joyce’,
have appealed to a wider market than just variegated plant enthusiasts. But now I
believe Phlox paniculata ‘Becky Towe’
out-classes these varieties on all
counts.
Flowers
Phlox paniculata‘Becky Towe’ has
brighter and better flowers than any
other variegated Phlox. ‘Pink’ has been
said to be an exaggeration for some, but
in this case it would not be a sufficient
description! ‘Becky Towe’ has delicious
salmony carmine rose flowers with a
darker magenta eye, inherited from its
parent variety ‘Windsor’. They are
sweetly scented, a good size (up to
37mm / 1” across), and abundant from
July to September in the UK.
Foliage
The foliage of ‘Becky Towe’ is also quite
exceptional. Where the other variegated
border Phlox are broadly cream-edged
paling to white at flowering time, ‘Becky
Towe’ has broad golden leaf edges
which pale to buttery-cream at flowering
time. And for extra, the golden spring
foliage is often handsomely accented by
a bronze overlay colouring on the tops of
the young shoots.
Habit and maintenance
Phlox paniculata ‘Becky Towe’ is a
vigorous grower and seems to be
relatively mildew resistant (the leaves
have a glossy shine when in active
growth, maybe the shine and the
mildew resistance are both attributable
to a thick waxy cuticle?).
Grown in the garden it has sturdy stems
and is relatively compact for a border
Phlox, flowering at 50cm-70cm (20"28"). I have not seen or heard of the
golden foliage scorching in bright sun
(though like any border Phlox, if the
roots dry out then the leaves will shrivel
and ‘burn’, so it does need moist fertile
soil whether in sun or in light shade). I
expect ‘Becky Towe’, like other Phlox
paniculata, to be fully cold-hardy (to
around -25 degC).
Stability
Once above ground, ‘Becky Towe’ is
100% stable (I’ve never seen a reverted
side-shoot or tip, even following
pruning). From below ground, all-gold
shoots (which wither away) or all-green
shoots (which can be easily nicked out
with a sharp knife just below ground) are
rare and normally do not occur at all
unless it is planted too high and the
85
roots are disturbed or exposed.
Reversions are rarer than in, for example,
‘Pink Posie’ which was stable enough to
be awarded Plant Breeders’ Rights - so I’m
happy to describe ‘Becky Towe’ as stable.
Non-UK growers seeking trial material or
licensing information please e-mail me
([email protected]) or write to me
at Binsted Nursery, and I will put you in
touch with the agent for your country.
Origins
Phlox paniculata ‘Becky Towe’ was found
in April 1990 by keen plantswoman and
Hardy Plant Society member Mrs June
Towe, as a sport in her garden in
Shropshire, England.
86
Mrs Towe named her new plant after her
pet dog, a much-loved Flatcoated
Retriever. In the long run, she plans for
Becky’s breed to benefit from a share of
the royalties that may be earned by her
plant. ‘Becky Towe’ is not the first or the
only new plant introduced by Mrs Towe,
she has also made selections in other
genera including Iris.
A great future in gardens - and
commercially I’m reluctant to make
predictions too often, but in this case I’m
confident that ‘Becky Towe’ will be a
winner world wide. Propagation initially
appeared slow, but we initiated it in our
laboratory and tissue culture works fine,
and now we are also finding that cuttings
from juvenile material and from plants in
the ground can work well too. Growers
and agents from countries around the
world including the US are excited about
‘Becky Towe’.
First wholesale sales through garden
centres will begin in spring 2001. In the
UK, Farplants will be promoting ‘Becky
Towe’ through garden retailers. EU PVR
has been applied for (Application File
Number 1999/1579), and applications
will also be made for variety rights and
patents in other countries.
Plant Introductions Need
Consenting Breeders
There are some very fast-moving nurserymen about who pick up new plants
that are released in one country and take
them to another to bulk up and introduce
there.
This is laudable enterprise. Often, as gardeners, we are simply grateful to them to
bring us the chance to grow these exciting novelties as soon as possible.
But sometimes the breeder intends and
is reserving his legal right to protect the
plant with Breeders Rights or Patent
overseas. In that case it may be quite
unethical (even if not illegal) for the
nurseryman to take the material across the
border and introduce it. Reputable
nurserymen will never knowingly preempt
the breeder in this way. To do so would
damage the nurseryman's reputation
among breeders and might also disrupt
the breeder's own planned launch with
another nurseryman licensee.
Why doesn't the breeder always apply
for protection straight away? Because
protection is only for a limited period, and
also because it would generally be foolish
(unless a similar product might be bred by
someone else) to invest in PBR costs
earlier than necessary. And 'necessary' is
not until after first sale with breeder
permission has been made.
UPOV recognizes this principle by
permitting the breeder to protect their
plant provided it has not been sold WITH
Mrs Towe is keen to see her plant being enjoyed by gardeners who will appreciate it, as
soon as possible - and the commercial wholesale release date, spring 2001, is a long
way off. So we are offering a few pre-release plants to PLANTS subscribers.
These are well-established young plants (9cm pots) which should perform well planted
out in UK gardens in February or March 2000 - a very new plant for your new
millennium’s garden.
Please send a cheque for £12.50 (includes p&p) made out to ‘Binsted Nursery’, to: Mike
Tristram, Binsted Nursery, Binsted, Arundel, West Sussex BN18 OLL.
Orders must be in by 15/2/2000 and plants will be mailed at the end of February 2000.
N.B. Conditions: Only available to UK private addresses, 1 plant only per address.
Orders taken subject to availability; cheques will be returned if we cannot supply.
It is a condition of sale that buyers will not allow the plants to be propagated from,
nor send them outside the UK.
BREEDER PERMISSION in the country in
question (for more than one year - or
anywhere else in the world for more than
four years).
If you have introduced a plant without
permission and the breeder then protects
it, you may agree to pay royalties and
apply for a license. If you have acted in
good faith then you may be licensed, but
the breeder might simply tell you to
destroy the plants you have (especially if
the breeder perceives that you have
treated his interests casually).
It is not in any reputable commercial
nurseryman's interest to get into this
situation in the first place. It can happen
all in good faith. But are there ways to
avoid it? There are some simple principles
of good practice that should help, close to
hand.
If you are plant-hunting and the plant
you find is being protected (eg has a label
indicating PPAF=Plant Patent Applied For,
or PBR App Pending or similar), then
before taking any such plant out of the
country you should ask the breeder's
permission - which you will probably get
in exchange for a Trialling Agreement that
keeps the control in the breeder's hands.
The breeder may say they have no
intention to protect in your country or that
it is more than four years since first sales
anywhere, in which case you are free to
take the plant and introduce it. Or the
breeder may invite you to collaborate with
them for protection, if they have not made
plans with others.
There may be nothing on the plant that
says it is the subject of a protection
application or grant, but it might still be
so, for example if it has lost its label
carrying licensing information. If you have
any reason to suspect it has not been in
commerce for at least four years, then
usually it is not difficult to ring up a
regional UPOV/PBR agency. They will tell
you whether the plant is on their lists and
if so who is the breeder or agent.
By all means take the plant if finding
the breeder initially proves difficult, but do
not contemplate offering it for sale
anywhere until you have taken all
reasonable measures to establish that
there are no breeder's rights actions
pending.
At the same time maybe breeders and
87
88
agents need to help ourselves more in
this. Any publicity we can give to our
new plants specifically mentioning that
there are plans to protect them and a
licensing structure in place, will help to
alert nurserymen to the need to seek
breeder consent for any imports. For
example the Morden Research Centre
publicised availability of their Monarda
Petite Delight, for which Farplants are
European agents, as being through a
named worldwide licensee/agent
structure, in a horticultural magazine
article (though this has not prevented
some plants turning up where they were
not expected). And PLANTS magazine
now provides an ideal forum for this kind
of publicity (of which I have taken
advantage in this issue by offering my
name as contact point for worldwide
enquiries for Phlox 'Becky Towe'). Also,
as a condition of a UK marketing license,
for example, we should perhaps insist
that labels not only state eg 'EU PBR
applies - Propagation for sale illegal
without a license' and give the grant
number, but that they also state eg 'Not
to be taken outside the UK'. Such a
statement is not legally necessary and I
doubt it is legally enforceable either
(possibly it could even be challenged as
anti-competitive!).
But labelling in this way might help
to establish a culture under which
breeders' rights pending are given a little
more consideration by some plant
introducers, and breeders' consent is
sought. That's all we need.
Bankruptcy - Protecting your
Plants and Royalties
Several sizeable nurseries have
recently gone into the hands of receivers
LINGEN NURSERY
AND GARDEN(P)
in the UK, and a few others have clearly
got into financial difficulties. The causes
of these sad events are never single or
simple - though low prices, whether as a
matter of policy or forced by buyers,
may be a common thread.
Protected new plants, with sensible
licensing structures, may often achieve a
better price than older commodity
varieties in our market. But if the nursery
selling your plants goes to the receiver,
you might stand to see as little of the
royalty due on all the plants that have
been sold, as most other creditors will of
their money.
Lingen, Nr. Bucknell, Shropshire, SY7 0DY
Nurseryman Kim W Davis
A Horticultural Haven set in the magnificent
Water Meadow
Nursery & Herb
Farm
Award Winning Nursery specialising in hardy
unusual perennials for wet and dry borders.
NCCPG Collection of Papaver orientale
Mail Order. Catalogue £1 or visit our web site
www.plantaholic.co.uk Open from March to
October. Wednesday to Saturday inclusive 9.005.00 E-mail:[email protected]
To minimize the impact of this, it is
important that your Licensing
Agreements should be set up and
managed to ensure payment as
promptly as possible and prevent a
backlog of royalties due from
accumulating. And they should specify
what will happen in the event of the
licensee going bankrupt or making any
arrangement with their creditors.
Likewise Trialling Agreements should
specify what will happen to plants under
trial in this event.
This has not been a priority
consideration for most of us in the past.
Breeders Rights have been about for
such a short time that we simply have
not had a lot of major companies going
under owing royalties - but it was only a
matter of time. There will never be any
total protection in business but maybe
there are ways to protect breeders'
royalty income better. I would be
interested in other PLANTS readers'
suggestions on how best to handle this
difficult issue.
Long Acre Plants
South Marsh, Charlton Musgrove,
Nr. Wincanton, Somerset BA9 8EX
tel / fax 01963 32802
Specialists in choice ferns
perennials & rare bulbs
New Autumn unusual fern & bulb mail
order list 3 x 1st stamps for copies
Wholesale fern / unusual perennial
list available from Spring 1999.
Marches. Our delightful gardens are extensively
planted and house the National Collections of
Iris sibirica and Herbaceous Campanula,
together with other large collections including
Primula, Auricula, and Penstemon. Specialist
alpine and herbaceous nursery.
Afternoon tearoom, Mail Order (also
within EEC), send 4 x 1st class stamps (0Int.
Reply Coupons from EEC) for fully descriptive catalogue. Visitors welcome daily 10am 5pm Feb - Oct inclusive.
SUBSCRIBE ONLINE TO PLANTS
MAGAZINE - KEEP YOUR CONTACT
INFORMATION FOR NEW RARE AND
UNUSUAL GARDEN PLANTS
AROUND THE WORLD UP TO DATE!!
90
www.plants-magazine.com
Desperately Seeking
Issues 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 12, 13 &
16 of PLANTS. Clive Larkman, Larkman
Nurseries, PO Box 567, Lilydale,
Victoria 3140 Australia.
e-mail: [email protected]
Desperately Seeking entry is FREE send details to the Editor!
PURELY
PURELY
PERENNIAL
PERENNIAL
THE ‘GROWING’ NURSERY
Very large range of
Auriculas, Herbaceous,
Shrubs etc.
Many newer varieties
Winter / Autumn opening
7 Days 9 Till dusk
Closed January
9 Lees Lane (B5358)
Newton, Macclesfield
Cheshire SK10 4LJ
(2 miles from Wilmslow)
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS when you respond to advertisements
45.00
plants
AQUILEGIA PUBLISHING, 2, GRANGE CLOSE, HARTLEPOOL,TS26 0DU ENGLAND
Name........................................................Address.............................................................................
........................................................................................City.............................................................
State...................................................................................................ZIP...........................................
email...................................................................................................................................................
Cheques / Checks payable to:
WEB DIGITAL ISSUE 18 FLYER 2004
"...I must congratulate you on the production of a fine publication full of
exciting features on new plants...." Martin Smith / NCCPG UK
* check prices only
for one year £28.00 / $66.00 *
two years £50.00 / $120.00 *
includes shipping
SUBSCRIBE
Dirk van der Werff’s
Download PLANTS Issue 18 free of charge!
or subscribe securely with a credit card on-line
www.plants-magazine.com
".....What a wonderful publication.... PLANTS is a great contribution to the world of horticulture.
Prof. Michael A. Dirr Georgia
EUROPE/
JAPAN/ Y7,000.00
NZ / $NZ115.00
AUST / $A90.00
CAN / $80.00
1 year for:
cheque prices only
“Great contacts. The latest details on new rare and unusual garden plant varieties from around the world,
the people who created them and the nurseries that sell them” Jacob Wickens, New York
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS when you respond to advertisements
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS when you respond to advertisements
AT LAST !
FRESH RARE SEEDS
Geranium pratense ‘Purple Haze’,
Helleborus ‘Pacific Frost’, Papaver
‘Chedglow’, Senecio ‘Goldplate’, Veronica
grandis, New Geraniums, Aquilegias and
Violas. Many not in cultivation
0 R D E R Y O U R F R E E 2 0 0 0 C A T ALOGUE NOW
HUNDREDS MORE COLOUR PHOTOS IN
OUR LATEST EXCITING CATALOGUE
Send 3 x 1st class stamps or 3 x International
Reply Coupons abroad
PLANT WORLD BOTANIC GARDENS (PLANTS),
ST MARYCHURCH ROAD, NEWTON ABBOT,
DEVON TQ12 4SE, ENGLAND.
92
GARDENS / NURSERY OPEN 9.30 - 5.00 PM, 7
DAYS A WEEK
APRIL TO END OF SEPTEMBER
www.plants-magazine.com
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS when you respond to advertisements
Manor Nursery
and Garden
❁
Over 1000 varieties of interesting and
unusual garden plants listed, many of
which can be seen growing in the 1/3rd
acre garden, and most of them produced in our own propagation units. For
mail order, send 2x1st class stamps for
price and availability list, or see our
more detailed catalogue on the Internet
www.gardenplants.co.uk
Visitors are always welcome.
Nursery and Garden open daily
9am to 5pm (Dusk in Winter)
Manor Nursery, Thaxted Road,
Wimbish, Saffron Walden,
Essex CB10 2UT
SOUTH AFRICAN SEED SPECIALISTS
PO BOX 53108, KENILWORTH,
7745 CAPE TOWN, SOUTH
AFRICA
e-mail: [email protected]
FLOWERING VINES THE YEAR ROUND?
THE NURSERY FOR CLIMBERS INSIDE / OUT
T H E P L A N T S M A N N U R S E RY
Collectors of seed from all over Southern Africa from the Zambezi to Cape Point. Our
ever-changing catalogue lists over 2,000 species of South African native plants, from
Abutilon to Zaluzianskya and everything in between. Looking for something new? Try
our catalogue first!Please send £1.00 (cheque or postal order) for catalogue.
“There is always something new out of Africa” Pliny the Elder
Schizophragma / Lapageria / Clematis rehderiana / Hydrangea seemannii / Mutisia
OVER 450 CHOICE VINES AND WALL SHRUBS. LARGEST COLLECTION
OF ARISTOLOCHIA AND HARDY AND TENDER VINES
Year round Worldwide mail order service. Scores of new introductions from USA and Asia
Send £2.00 (refundable against purchase) for our superb illustrated
catalogue with over 110 colour pics and 450 descriptions and much more
The Plantsman Nursery, North Wonson Farm, Throwleigh, Okehampton,
Devon EX 20 2JA England e-mail: [email protected] www.plantsman.com
Extraordinary
Plants
● Grasses ● Shrubs ● Climbers ●
Exotics
Cerinthe major purpurescens,
Coreopsis rosea ‘American
Dream’, Cyperus rotundus,
Euphorbia ‘Excalibur’, Heptacodium
jasminoides, Melianthus major,
Kirengeshoma palmata Send 6 x 1st
class stamps for interesting catalogue: Collectors
Corner Plants, Dept (PL), 33 Rugby Road, Clifton,
Rugby, Warks, CV23 0DE
“PLANTS has definitely made many more
people aware of my nursery’s existence, and it
has been a very affordable way of doing so.
Large publications are VERY expensive for
small businesses and are not always directed
at my desired target audience - PLANTS has
proved VERY effective in hitting that audience.” Jane Hollow, Nurserywoman,
Pounsley Plants, Devon, England
BOOK THIS SPACE FOR ONLY £20
IF YOU ADVERTISE FOR FOUR
CONSECUTIVE ISSUES - Ring Dirk
on +44(0)1429 423165
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS when you respond to advertisements
PLEASE remember to mention PLANTS when you respond to advertisements
Inside back with
Antony King-Deacon
SOLLYA
NURSERY
all’s in a name
PROOSDIJSTRAAT 56
B-8020 HERTSBERGE
BELGIUM
Probably the smallest
but most specialised
nursery in Belgium
T
his lunchtime, having a glass of my
usual at the bar of the local hostelry,
I was accosted by a rough sort of chap
wearing a flat cap. He was upset. He
wanted a word in my shell-like. I
braced myself. Writing a weekly page
on gardening in the Eastern Daily Press
Saturday Magazine I get such flack
now and then. This chap's problem
was that last Saturday I used three
Latin words and he called me a bloody
snob. All I could do was to apologise
and try not to do it again.
he private lives of garden writers
are often thus intruded into. Usually
it's a request for advice on their
Marrows. Now and then it's a complaint, as if the 40p they paid for the
paper gave them such rights. I speak
as one who replies to every
Antony King-Deacon’s single reader's letter, even
love of gardens and
paying the postage.
plants was conceived
owever, horticultural
when he lived in the
Latin does present a
South Cottage at
Sissinghurst in Kent, perennial problem to the
England when he was professional garden writer.
Sir Harold Nicholson’s You must strive to find a
nurse-companion thir- balance between correct
ty years ago. After a
nomenclature that is both
career as a journalist
on Fleet Street he took expected and informative
to the enthusiast, and the
early retirement with
his wife and moved to common names that are
Norfolk. He has since what the casual gardener
become a garden
only understands. My
designer and writer
compromise is to throw in
and contributes to The
Daily Telegraph, The a periwinkle, a Red Hot
Poker, a Busy Lizzie and a
English Garden and
Spindle Tree here and there
many other publications and he is also
to quell the riot and continGardening Editor of
ue with the correct names
the Eastern Daily
as needs must.
Press. He loves
owever, brushing
plants, his wife and
animals, not necesmyself down after this
T
98
H
sarily in that order.
H
morning's dust up I have resolved to
write an article on my page that might
- feint hope - explain why Latin is necessary in the world of plants. Those
flat-capped and hostile to Latin are, it
seems to me, bigoted zealots who
want to cheapen and make bland the
world of gardening. They must have a
common name for their common
minds to bond with, if you will pardon
my grammatical lapse.
will not put it like that, of course, else
the roughing up might get physical. I
will simply explain that botanical Latin
is not a kind of freemason's code
dreamt up to confuse lesser mortals. It
is, rather, an essential short-hand by
which a plant reveals itself. From it we
know from whence it comes (and thus
what conditions it requires to grow
well), the shape of its leaves, if its
flower is double, its colour, its scent its
resemblance to other plants, those
plant-hunters after which it is named a myriad snippets of information so
valuable to the plant-lover.
ost importantly of all, this information is of great importance to
the future health and well-being of
THE PLANT. That sylvatica indicates
that it is a woodlander and therefore
invariably thrives in leaf-mould and
semi-shade may be irrellevant to the
impulse-buyer at the garden-centre
with a light soil in full sun. That a potplant is bought for the bedside table of
a blind aunt is graveolens may not
offend the giver, but poor old aunt is
repulsed.
o, I will resist the flat-cap brigade
and persevere with the semaphore
of Latin. I will take comfort in the
knowledge that those in the know will
know I know.
I
M
S
I SELL ORDINARY PLANTS
Ordinary because they’ve
been tried and tested over
many years and not found
wanting
Bob Brown, Cotswold
Garden Flowers, Sands Lane,
Badsey, Evesham,
Worcestershire, England
CATALOGUE FREE
10 minutes from Bruges.
Appointment preferable
More information:
Proosdijstraat 56
B-8020 Hertsberge, Belgium
website/catalogue:
http://www.tuininfo.com/sollya
plantsmagazine.com
Catalogue & website: Dutch, French, English
www.plants-magazine.com
“...I am very glad to have had such a lot of response,
about the promotion of our Begonia rex ‘Escargot’ by
PLANTS and the PLANTS web site. I received 50 enquiries
from around the world. Everybody was very enthusiastic.
The responses were from enthusiasts, collectors and
growers, asking for young plant material...”
DICK ALDERDEN (Agro Advice Office/
Plant Innovations Projects) HOLLAND
Advertising rates
FULL PAGE 130MM x 190 MM-£240.00
HALF PAGE 130MM X 90MM- £135.00
115 MM X 50 MM - £45.00
55 MM X 85 MM - £35.00
60 MM X 40 MM - £25.00
FULL PAGE FOUR COLOUR £285.00
PLANTS
FULL PAGE FOUR COLOUR £320.00
10% DISCOUNT FOR 2 CONSECUTIVE
ADVERTS
20% DISCOUNT FOR 4 CONSECUTIVE
ADVERTS
INSERTS £265.00 PER 1,000
Book now before your competitors!
CHECK PRICES WITH CURRENT PRICES
[email protected]
Dianthus ‘Barbara
Hunt’ Page 58
Tiarella ‘Heronswood Mist’ Page 82
Galanthus ‘Richard Ayres’
Page 74
Galanthus ‘Richard Ayres’
Page 74
Buddleja ‘Honeycomb’ Volume 5 Issue 1 Page 20
double-flowered
Nicotiana grandiflora Page 84
Phlox paniculata ‘Becky Towe’ foliage in spring Page 85
Angelonia ‘Deep Plum’
Page 81
Dierama ‘Blackbird’ Page 83
Angelonia ‘Purple Stripe’
Page 81
THANK YOU FOR READING THIS SPECIAL pdf
VERSION OF PLANTS Volume 5 Issue 2 (Issue 18)
DIRK VAN DER WERFF
EDITOR / PUBLISHER
[email protected]