Tuesday 23 February 2016

Corrections!

For some years now I have been in love with a winter/early spring flowering buddleya: strong purple panicles that droop - 'lax panicles' might be a more elegant way of putting it - in what I find is a very attractive way, this on a bush with grey foliage which looks good all the year round. The only problem is that I have been calling it B. officinalis Vicomte de Noailles, when I am now fairly certain it is in fact B. x Bel Argent, this after having seen some photos of the latter. It was certainly acquired from Le Jardin de Rochevielle where you will find both buddleyas. Moreover both shrubs have a special relationship to that nursery: 'Vicomte de Noailles' was discovered by the owners, Jean-François Giraud and Dominque Permingeat, in the famous garden of the Villa Noailles, while Bel Argent is their own creation, an offspring of B. farreri and B.davidii.  So I do not feel too bad about it. Nevertheless I do want to apoligize for misleading people, but on the other hand it does provide me with an opportunity to encourage people to buy the plant, for it really is a lovely addition to any garden.

My second correction, or rather apology concerns a rather slighting comment I recently wrote about a book by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury entitled 'Planting; a New Perspective', the text of which I had found rather boring. I do not feel any need to change that judgment, but on the other hand what I would now like to recommend is another book, 'Dream Plants for the Natural Garden', one of whose authors is again Piet Oudolf, while there is an introduction by Noel Kingsbury, who has for a very long time been Oudolf's great advocate in England. . But as regards 'Dream Plants' there is a co-author, Henk Gerritsen, and may be it he who has made the difference, for the book is not at all boring. It consists mainly of a list of non-woody plants - the brief chapter on 'Tough Shrubs' is the least satisfactory, while bulbs are also included. There are three sections: 'Tough', 'Playful', and 'Troublesome'. If one then look at the subheadings of, for instance 'Part 3, Troublesome', one finds 'Invasive plants', 'Capricious plants', 'Staking', Demanding plants' and finally 'Failing the test', which I hope gives you the flavour of the book and the reason why I like it. It is personal and judgmental. This could annoy, especially when one disagrees, but given the knowledge and experience of the two authors this is neither here nor there: what they have to say has to be worth hearing.  Curiously, since they have almost opposed views about what makes a good garden, their approach rather reminds me of Christopher Lloyd's garden writing; none of them afraid of calling a spade a spade, or rather a bad plant a bad plant.

And I do disagree quite often, or sometimes I think that they are just wrong. For instance writing about Hydrangea quercifolia in the 'Tough shrubs' chapter they state that "it only grows well in moisture-retentive acid soil", when for us with no acid soil and summers that can dry out even the most retentive soil it is our most reliable hydrangea. In their last section 'Failing the test' there are thirteen entries of which one is for 'Gaura lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies', about which they write that it is "a wonderful gap filler, but you have to buy a new batch every year". Well, ours have so far lasted eight years and have increased mightily, but then perhaps I should have already mentioned: both the writers are Dutch and it seems to me that the book is chiefly directed to a North European audience, which does not stop it being enormous fun, and I for one will always consult it before buying herbaceaous plants.

Wednesday 10 February 2016

Call me Daphne!

I have never really got on well with daphnes. I remember that in my Aunt's garden in Bexhill there was a purple flowering D.mezereum which for some reason I thought was rather ugly, though I see that Graham Thomas gives it high marks - "one of the most valuable,hardy,small to medium-sized shrubs for our winter gardens". I have also a various times grown D.collina which makes quite a pleasing small bush though when its lilac flowers are not in bloom, it is perhaps not very noticeable, this in France but much nearer the Pyrenees than I am now. Perhaps my favourite to date , this in another French garden, was D.burkwoodii Somerset, or least that is what I thought it was, though plain 'Somerset' does not have variegated leaves which ours did, so I suppose that it might have been 'Astrid'. Anyway the variegation was rather the point because what slightly worries me about daphnes is that when not in flower they are usually not a very exciting feature. Many of course, make quite small, low shrubs - D.collina and D.petraea to name two - more suited to the rockery than the shrub border, which reminds me to ask what on earth has happened to the rockery? My father adored them and in my youth it seemed that there were a 'must have' feature, but they seem to have gone quite out of fashion. This is odd in a way because in a sense they are as naturalistic as say the now very popular gravel or meadow garden. Perhaps they are too much trouble, too fiddly and time consuming, and I guess that a rock garden which is not well-tended just looks a mess, while say my gravel garden can get away with murder, or I pretend that it can!

Meanwhile back to daphnes in order to report that despite my worries about them - and I have not mentioned my chief worry is that they do not want to be too dry or hot in summer - last year I did acquire two.  Daphne 'Eternal Fragrance' is I fear one of those 'tendance' plants that suddenly everybody wants to acquire only for them all too often to be quickly forgotten. Its attraction is of course the word 'eternal' - most daphnes have a fairly short flowering period often in the late Winter or early Spring, so that one that is always in flower would be very exciting. Mine however managed about a week but it was its first year so I can only live in hope. Then towards the end of last year I was seduced by an item in the excellent Burncoose website - D. x transatlantica Pink Fragrance, which looking at the new Hilliers I see is related to Eternal Fragrance so I am promised a long flowering period, though this time with pink rather than white flowers. And as both names indicate, the chief reason why ones grows daphnes is for their fragrance, so that if they can be planted near a door or beside a path, and I guess preferably in semi-shade, or at least near a source of water, so much better.

Finally a plant that I should have mentioned in my last blog since acquired last year, and seen first in Cornwall - Berberis valdiviana. As with daphnes I have to admit to being only half in love with the 'barberries'. I guess it is the prickles that most of them have in abundance that makes me wary of them, while they can, as in the case of B.darwinii, have rather too bright orange flowers.  But by and large they are easy plants to grow and as regards the many B. thunbergii hybrids they come very often with bright coloured leaves that go an even brighter colour in Autumn. And the good news about B.valdiviana is that it is not very prickly, and its flowers are a saffron yellow.  Spotted from afar, since it is a very large shrub, I had no idea what it was but it certainly made a big impression with what could be called a 'gosh factor', so I am hoping that it will make the same impression here.