Celebrities

Before attacking the subject of the title I want to return to my previous blog, since amongst the plants that I use rather a lot of are two non-stars that I failed to mention. The first is Viburnum tinus, a plant that I at one time I positively disliked. Evergreen yes, but a leaf that in my view is not nearly as attractive as cotoneaster lacteus which I wrote about last time; flowers that one might call winter flowering, or at least late autumn and early Spring - but do these come into the dingy white category? - and apparently in certain weather conditions it may give off an unpleasant smell, though I am not sure that I have ever noticed this. Why have I changed my mind, sufficiently so to plant not exactly a hedge, but rather a line of them ? One reason is the need to find something evergreen, if for different reasons, camellias, conifers and rhododendrons are not an option, this the same reason why I have become keener on the cotoneaster. One can also do more or less what you like with them, which is to say that they will take really quite hard pruning, and this has practical advantages. But the chief reason is that they by and large make more impact here than they did in the areas of England where I gardened. Curiously given its non-starring qualities Viburnhum tinus does not like cold weather, and indeed can be killed by heavy frosts. This meant that very often in Kent when the plant should be looking at its best, it could look rather ill. Here this is less likely, and perhaps even more importantly our hot summers significantly increase its flower power, as it does for quite a number of shrubs - for instance the chaenomeles, or as we used to call them the Japonicas. I first noticed this when in a garden near to the Prado in Madrid in March I saw these marvellous evergreen shrubs covered in dazzlingly white flowers, and wondered what the hell they were; none other than the humble Viburnham tinus. There are a number of hybrids, which I used to try in the hope that I would grow to like the family more - Eve Price and Gwenllian come to mind, but I am not now convinced that they are a great improvement on the bog-standard.

In between I have planted Teucrium fruticans, another non-star, but in our neck of the woods a very useful one. Silvery leaves and pale blue flowers that appear rather at the same time as the Viburnum tinus, which is to say late autumn and early Spring with usually a lull in mid-winter, though much depends on the weather, it can grow really quite large, which is to say a good one and a half metres high, and the same as regards width, or perhaps even wider, as it has tendency to flop. But also like the viburnum it can be heavily pruned and indeed I have seen it quite seriously clipped to make slivery balls to go with box or yew topiary. Incidentally its close cousin, T. fruticans Azureum, in my view comes in the star category, being a much daintier plant, with much stronger blue flowers, but like all stars it needs more cosseting. Even better, but harder to find - Pep: Filippi is one source - is T. fruticans Ouarzazate (Moroccan town), which has even stronger blue, almost purple flowers. At this very moment it is in full bloom, as yet not affected by the current cold spell.

This diversion has not left much space for Celebrities, but at least I can provide a definition. They are plants, whether woody or herbaceous, that out of the blue hit the headlines, or at any rate are to be found on almost every stand at a Plant Fair. Some times they just last a year, perhaps two, and then they disappear, or at any rate just become part of the crowd. Some times they are revivals - about twenty five five years ago the penstemons were rediscovered - sometimes they are new discoveries - Corydalis flexuosa with the lovely blue flowers and fernlike leaves, that, alas, dislike our hot, dry summers, I think comes into this category. More frequently they are new hybrids such as Albizia Summer Chocolate. The latter I fell for about two years ago but then decided that I positively disliked it and gave my plant away. But that is the problem with celebrities. At the time they are 'must have' plants, but to become stars they have got to pass the test of time. Many don't.