Vol. 36 No. 1 SPRING 2015 p74-82 Adverts_Layout 1 09/05/2014 08:33 Page 81 PASHLE Y MANOR GARDENS 2014 Mail Order GAPlantRDE ListNS Step inside to find out what DUAL ACTION this beautiful 11 acre garden offers… with slug & snail deterrent As used on the Eden Project and by the RHS Special Events Reduces weed growth by up to 95% including Tulip Festival; Retains moisture around plants Garden Room Enriches the soil and improves structure Café with Terrace Light, easy to use & lasts up to two years OFORpen YOURfrom s tFREEart o fCOPY April to enTHEd of SBeptETHember Telephone: 01206 822007 Deters slugs & snails pashleymanorgardeCns.HATTOcom www.bethchatto.co.uk GARDENS 01580 200888 www.strulch.co.uk Tel: 01943 863610 SEED COLLECTING EXPEDITION Burrow Farm Gardens TO THE HIMALAYA, 2014 East Devon's Secret Garden Why not take out a share @ 60RU 85 in Chris Chadwell’s 29th Unusual Plant and Art plantFair hunting venture, supporting on-going plant conservation and charity projects? An opportunity to experiment with garden-worthy hardy perennials seldom available in cultivation incl. species of: Sunday September 6th 2015Geranium , -Arisaema 11am, Iris, Delphinium until, Nepeta, Lilium 5pm, Polygonatum, Meconopsis, Potentilla, Anemone, Impatiens, Ligularia, Morina, Rheum, Aconitum, Codonopsis, Sorbus, Clematis—and through the CD sent out with the seed, enjoy fine photos To be held at Sussex Prairieswhich provideGarden an exceptional insight into local people and places Detailed prospectus: PHOTO: MARIANNE MAJERUS email: [email protected] Chadwell (HPS), 81 Parlaunt Road, Slough, Berks, SL3 8BE www.chadwellseeds.co.uk CLAIRE AUSTIN Exclusively Mail Order Over 1500 different PERENNIALS, plus 140 PEONIES & 240 IRISES Beau�ful 13 Acre Landscape Garden Dalwood, Axminster www.claireaustin-hardyplants.co.uk Open Daily from 1st April to 31st October 10am - 7pm Nursery, Gi� Shop, Lunches and Teas Tel: 01686 670342 for a taster catalogue www.burrowfarmgardens.co.uk 81 www.pashleymanorgardens.com Contents President’s perspective – My ‘Dream Garden’ The Hardy Plant Society plants, people, places Grasses give light, movement was formed to foster Roy Lancaster 3 and drama to a garden Heather Russell 47 interest in hardy herbaceous George Parker plants. It aims to give An exemplary Hardy Planter A rose helianthus by any other information about the remembered with affection name… Judy Harry 10 Knowing exactly what we’re growing wealth of both well- and often requires detective work little-known plants, and Stars, showgirls and the chorus line Helen Mount 55 to ensure that all worthy Statement plants benefit from careful staging Adventures with seed – plants remain in cultivation Janet Sleep 11 the story of a novice and have the widest Growing from seed and collecting possible distribution. Small gardens and shade it can become addictive Shade is not a problem – it’s an Pauline Cooper 59 opportunity President: Roy Lancaster Bob Brown 17 Small, but beautifully planted Vice Presidents: Dilys Davies, Downsizing focuses the mind on Tony Lord, Brian Mitchell and Bountiful biennials the best-value plants Quick-growing, early-flowering Gwladys Tonge Teresa Farnham 66 plants for every situation Derry Watkins 23 Aconitum – the dark side All communications, including A serious warning membership enquiries, should Desert Island plants Rachel Raywood 69 be sent to: Top Ten plants must be more than good doers: they must take your Downy mildew – the new killer breath away disease of Aquilegia Sally Broome, The Administrator Val Bourne 30 How to recognise it and stop 15 Basepoint Business Centre its spread Crab Apple Way Photographic competition 2014 Carrie Thomas 71 Evesham WR11 1GP Brian Hackett 38 Book Review 73 01386 710317 Rhododendrons – [email protected] unloved and dangerous Letters 74 Highly desirable plants; just one is Advertising enquiries to a rogue The Administrator Peter Williams 41 The editor reserves the right to edit contributions as necessary. The opinions expressed by authors www.hardy-plant.org.uk and advertisers are not specifically endorsed by the HPS. Illustrations as acknowledged. Although all reasonable care is taken, the HPS Front Cover cannot accept responsibility for All submissions to the editor Paeonia mlokosewitschii wins unsolicited material. many gardeners’ hearts. Tony Pam Ratcliffe Bay’s portrait won first prize in [email protected] Collection and editorial matter Category One ©The Hardy Plant Society 2015 of the 2014 01668 281380 ISNN: 0969-1901 Photographic Rowan Lodge Charity No. 208080 Competition. 17 Queens Road Typeset and printed by Wooler Vale Press, Broadway Northumberland NE71 6DR © Tony Bays © Tony From the editor ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy Fig. 3 Holboellia brachyandra, a Crûg Farm introduction from North Vietnam, thriving in Roy’s Hampshire garden. ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy Fig. 3 Holboellia brachyandra, a Fig. 3 Holboellia brachyandra, a Crûg Farm introduction from North Vietnam, thriving in Roy’s Hampshire garden. ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy Fig. 3 Holboellia brachyandra, a Crûg Farm introduction from North Vietnam, thriving in Roy’s Hampshire garden. President’s ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy perspective – plants, people, places Roy Lancaster CBE VMH Fig. 1 y 2014 new year got revising and updating the Nursery dynasty, it proved Moff to a good start previous 2002 edition, and the perfect celebration with the completion of my we were both thrilled and of the company’s 150th final descriptions for the relieved to see its publication anniversary. new edition of The Hillier in April. It includes some One of the plants Manual of Trees and Shrubs. 1500 additional plants and, not in the new Manual is Together with the staff of the together with a new book by Mahonia subimbricata, a Botany Department at RHS Jean Hillier, Hillier, the People, Chinese species which is Wisley, John Hillier and I had the Plants, the Passion, which yet to come into general spent a great deal of time in tells the story of the Hillier cultivation. In a container I have a small plant, grown from a cutting, which provided a charming display of young growth in March. At the same time, in my ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy garden, another Mahonia I have named ‘Silver Back’ was providing an impressive display of yellow flower- spikes which proved unaffected by several nights of below zero temperatures. This ultimately large shrub is a seedling which has inherited its parent’s bold foliage with white undersides. There are many new mahonias entering cultivation just now, especially selections of the hybrid M. x savilliana, some of which are showing good Figs 1 & 2 Paeonia (Gansu Group) ‘Highdown’ at Wisley. garden potential. 3 May is perhaps the busiest and most exciting month in the gardening ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy calendar, so I will limit myself to just two plant highlights which brought me great pleasure. The first involved a visit to Wisley and the sight of a huge plant of the tree peony Paeonia (Gansu Group) ‘Highdown’ (figs 1 & 2) in full flower. It can be found in one of the long borders outside the walled garden. I can still remember Fig. 3 Holboellia brachyandra, a Crûg Farm introduction from North the famous original of this Vietnam, thriving in Roy’s Hampshire garden. cultivar at Highdown in I so enjoyed attending Sussex, where for most of the Society’s AGM at its life it was believed to be Pershore in March, and ‘Joseph Rock’ until careful was grateful to Jennifer research decided otherwise. ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy Harmer for offering to Whatever its history, it is do the driving as I was one of those plants whose recovering from a viral beauty transcends the infection. It was great to rules of taxonomy and see so many familiar faces nomenclature to bring a and to meet new ones pleasure close to perfection too, while enjoying the into our lives. bonus of two excellent A few days later, after talks. It also gave me the watching for several weeks Fig. 4 Kingdonia uniflora on the opportunity of thanking the buds developing, slopes of Mt Omei in Sichuan. out retiring Chairman, I was over the moon to see Vivienne McGhee, and the Holboellia brachyandra welcoming our new one, (fig. 3) on the west wall John Dilks. Given the of our house produce difficulties associated with a sumptuous display of ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy recruiting members to take faintly pink-washed- on Committee roles and white, lightly scented responsibilities, and my blooms. Male and female experience covers many flowers are borne from societies over the years, the leaf axils in separate I cannot praise highly drooping clusters, the enough those who do so males being the larger. for the HPS and help us, Both have deep-red the majority, to enjoy the stalks. Sadly, the females benefits of membership; failed to produce their Fig. 5 Ichthyoselmis macrantha, and this of course includes characteristic large, better known as Dicentra macrantha. the Group committees. sausage-shaped seedpods. 4 This rare twining evergreen climber is one of Crûg Farm’s introductions collected at around 2000m Lancaster ©Roy from North Vietnam’s highest mountain, Fansipan (3,143m), the origin of a goodly number of exciting new introductions in recent years. In three winters my plant has not suffered any damage from occasional temperatures below freezing. Long may it continue. Another highlight of my year was the two- week trip in early June I spent with my friend Jim Gardiner accompanying a group of 26 members of the RHS visiting some of the Fig. 6 Arisaema wilsonii. famous botanical locations in China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. This was my eleventh visit to ©Roy Lancaster ©Roy the Mother of Gardens, as the great plant explorer E H Wilson once referred to it, and it produced lots of surprises, especially in plants seen. One of the most interesting was Kingdonia uniflora (fig.4), a curious and primitive Fig.