HH

Yes, that’s right, HH, not HRH. Random hieroglyphics, coded scratches? Not really. These were the initials of the maker or one of the makers of our small Byre, his sharp Carpenters chisel in hand and immortality achieved in a few swift strokes topped and bottomed with bold, crude serifs. More often seen are carved marks left on old timber framed buildings to aid their construction. The section of oak bearing these less commonly seen initials was discovered when chain sawing our mountain of discarded timber produced by the Byre build for firewood. It had come from oak timbers cut out to make the openings for Velux windows (what would HH have made of these I wonder?). It then struck me the green oak he used may have germinated in the 16C, a chance sapling left to grow in a hedgerow or light woodland and 200 years later deemed ready for felling. What an archaeological legacy then under our noses! Buildings by their nature can hold onto their marks for centuries but for gardeners using our palette of flowers, grasses and shrubs the act of leaving any permanency is virtually impossible. Have you noticed how a planting when left alone can change dramatically from one year to the next without your help? The planting of a tree is by its nature an emphatic statement, though even with a potentially longer time frame to the other plants mentioned there essentially remains no difference. Like it or not, ephemerality and impermanence go hand in hand with all the plants and gardens we create - they conform to the Buddhist precept that ‘all is transient’. So, what compels us to do it? Actually, a compelling and unique canvas with which to play. We can touch, move, change and view it from every angle. Our noses can be tantalised by elusive morning, day, evening and even night time scents and saturated colours in summer sunshine will overwhelm us with their stridency as they tangle amongst a multitude of multi–toned background greens. The passing of the seasons ties us profoundly to the cycle of life, from birth to death, and enduring the melancholy of winter enables us to enjoy even more the burst into spring and the strong sense of rebirth. There is of course so much more. The Gardener should remember - nothing is fixed, all is transient but within this at times fragile gardening craft of ours we are all able to find at some level a vein of creative satisfaction and provision of an endless larder of food nourishes our souls as we attempt to make our earthly paradise. My advice then for the coming year? Covid or not, what choice do you have? – roll up your sleeves, plant yourself in the border and get on with the task in hand. Now over to Hannah for an update on the Nursery……

POTS, PEAT AND PEST CONTROL

There’s nothing so invigorating as a good spring clean! Our potting shed is utterly transformed. The shelves are stacked to the rafters. The surfaces are clear. The tools are in order, and the tea making station – immaculate. We are ready to start afresh and look forward to the year ahead. Having always been proud of our low carbon footprint on the nursery and our garden

1 heaving with biodiversity, we have decided, this year, to push him well. He is a name to watch. Great thanks also go to our dear friend David who our environmental credentials even further. ventured where many men fear to tread in his white chariot delivering our plants to the Firstly, on your visit to the nursery, you will notice the new taupe pots we are using. wilder corners of Sussex. These are recyclable, but please do check with your local authority. Also, feel free to return Nearly there! Matt (Hannah’s husband) came to our aid with the sensible suggestion that your pots to us. As long as they are clean, not broken and from Marchant’s, we will be our old (and rattling) label printer be put into retirement. Old out, new in! His skill and happy to accept them. help with computers is unmatched – ta Matt. Have you seen I wonder our beautiful For too long now, the horticultural world has had its head buried deep in the Peat. website, now approaching its first anniversary? To suggest its great design and style is We had already reduced the peat in our potting mix, but from summer onward, we are completely symbiotic with Marchants garden, nursery and philosophy is an turning to an entirely peat free compost. We will be monitoring this very carefully and understatement. The addition of social media, pictures and much liked videos moves making sure we still deliver the same level of quality that you have come to expect here it onto a high level indeed. Barbara and Simon, how can we thank you enough. at Marchant’s. The biggest thank you of the past year is held for my dear supporting wife, Lucy. We are also getting to know our bugs! Ask Graham for an interesting fact on earwigs! Her double digging days may be over but what she achieves EVERY day with her Learning the difference between beneficial insects and pests is an essential part of unstinting, boundless energy is truly remarkable. For Lucy, the hose pipe can now horticulture, enabling us to use one to combat the other. This is exactly what we are doing remain coiled – it is back to the studio, the place where her creativity with textiles can by using nematodes to treat pests we find on the nursery. The little live bacteria are kept in blossom once again. the fridge until the conditions are right to set them free among the plants. As long as we don’t confuse them with the porridge oats! THE NURSERY So just a few changes, but still the beautiful plants you have come to expect from us. We look forward to welcoming you again onto the nursery. And maybe, we’ll let you view Now 23 years old, Marchants Hardy Plants is one of the country’s leading small nurseries the pristine potting shed! and has featured in virtually every periodical, paper and television programme in the country. The range of handsome herbaceous perennials and ornamental grasses we grow ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS is as varied as you will find and suited to both contemporary and traditional gardens alike. We pride ourselves on the fact that all plants offered for sale are propagated at the Given Covid-19, 2020 has been a wondrous and testing year in equal measure. Please Nursery and most can be seen growing in the garden too. We also grow many plants in forgive the length of my acknowledgements - I have many wonderful people to thank. numbers too small to warrant an appearance in this list so we hope a visit to Marchant’s A crucial and disturbing shift in our workforce just when Covid -19 was impacting itself will always prove stimulating. on everyone at the beginning of the first lockdown (March 2020) brought the plans for Our plants are grown in various pot sizes to suit the plant. Through the season plants Marchants future seriously into question. It is no understatement to say that Hannah who are sometimes potted on. We therefore reserve the right to change prices accordingly. had worked here for 5 years, like manna from heaven, came to our rescue. In fact it was more than that – she saved us and our thanks will never meet the measure of gratitude OPENING HOURS that is owed to her. Torrey, Hannah’s daughter with holiday time helped immensely, watering, skilfully propagating sempervivums and placing labels by the thousand –‘Torrey Thursday 25th March until Saturday 23rd October 2021. Thursday to Saturday inclusive label hands’ we should have called her! 10.00 am. - 5.30 pm. We like to enjoy lunch between 1.00 and 2.00pm. As the unpredictable year progressed others thankfully joined us too. Becky, the first, Other times, strictly by appointment only. helped with the extended nursery work load bringing her enthusiasm and wisdom in many We require 3 days notice for the collection of orders. matters to the potting bench. Henry, having moved from Parham and having sniffed us The Nursery does not provide a mail order service. out, decided to stay. Luckily for us! His skills and pace are hard to match in the garden. Henry also provided a bonus in the form of his great pal Jean, our first volunteer but a passionate gardener to boot. If only we could lure her from her demanding job with kids. Stoic John, now retired, has bundles of energy and common sense to put to good use and he and I on his volunteer days pace like mercenaries through the garden leaving no hedge untrimmed or blade of grass uncut. Harry, all 6’ 8’’ of him, is current head gardener at Charleston House and enjoys an internship of one day a month here to learn the finer points of propagation and possesses a daunting sponge like memory which should serve 2 3 THE GARDEN Plant List 2021

The garden at Marchant’s after 21 years of development begins to show signs of maturity. ACAENA microphylla ‘Copper Car pet’. An indomitable but controllable, £5.80 Our trees in particular have gained a solidity which makes for a marvellous internal creeping New Zealand Burr with attractive bronze-purple foliage carried on backdrop to the other diverse range of plants we grow. However, it is the broad landscape wiry stems. 10cm. of the Sussex Weald and range of South Downs 3 miles distant which has provided us *ACANTHUS mollis ‘Rue Ledan’. An extremely beautiful white flowered £7.20 with sustaining inspiration. Our plantings are expressive of a more contemporary form, apparently the result of a dog’s regularly cocked leg on the type plant. naturalistic style - we have aimed to create a garden which melds with the timeless beauty My own experiments in the garden with this technique have proved fruitless of the remarkable vista beyond. so far. Full sun. 2m. AGM. OPENING HOURS & GARDEN ENTRANCE FEES ACIS autumnalis. An oddball Snowflake, tiny white lampshades on dark £5.50 stems in autumn. Pure charm. 10cm. AGM. Thursday 6th May – Saturday 23rd October. Thurs - Sat 10.00am to 5.30pm. ACONITUM The stately Monkshoods for the little input they demand of From £6.20 Please note: Nursery opening date (Thursday 25th March) is not the same as Garden us offer rich rewards in return. The following embrace the colour variation opening date. we find among them and provide the last rich toned flowers of the Other times, strictly by appointment. gardening year. Individual - £5.50 A. ‘Bressingham Spire’. A fine old, deep violet-blue clone - ‘strong enough to Children under 16 - Free of charge resist a tornado.’ (Alan Bloom) Flowering through July-August. 90cm. AGM. A. carmichaelii ‘Arendsii’. A meritorious old hybrid (1945) from Germany, Organised Garden visits still holding its own in the late summer border with its bold upright spikes of blue, helmet-like flowers. 1.8m. AGM. A. c. ‘Kelmscott’. Fine spikes of rich blue to enhance the September border. AGM. Visits from Societies, Gardening Clubs, Private Parties, etc, are warmly welcomed and we A. c. Wilsonii Group . The last to flower with handsome spikes of rich, violet-blue have space for parking large coaches, cars, etc. A visit to Marchants can also be combined hooded flowers. Marvellous in association with tawny coloured Heleniums. with one of several fine gardens in the area making for a rewarding day out. Flowers of this colour and quality are worth their weight in gold. 2m. For further details visit www.marchantshardyplants.co.uk or contact us at: A. napellus ‘Bergfürst’. Early summer flowering in a rich indigo. A real winner. Marchants Hardy Plants, A. sachalinense subsp. yezoense Tall (2m+) and with handsome deep green 2, Marchants Cottages, foliage, the small heads of flowers are rich violet blue. Possesses ‘presence’. Mill Lane, Laughton, A. ‘Stainless Steel’. From Holland, the spikes of muted grey-blue flowers of this East Sussex, BN8 6AJ notable recent introduction have turned more than a few eyes. 1.8m. AGM. Tel: 01323 811737 AGAPANTHUS No plants match the African Lily in the floral pageant. From £7.20 Flowering from mid-summer, their flower heads come mainly in the blue and violet-purple spectrum, not forgetting white, with heights varying between 30cm IMPORTANT – DO PLEASE READ and 150cm. It is old hat to think of them as plants for pots only. They respond best when given hearty soil in full sun where they should reward one with flowers for many As all of our plants are home grown it is not possible to have all plants ready at years. However, do consider when planting their dislike for being overshadowed by any one time. This is particularly true at the start of the season in March. To avoid aggressive neighbours. The following are hardy, trouble free, tough as old boots disappointment, please note that plants marked with an asterisk in the catalogue and are propagated the old-fashioned way, that is from seed and by division. (i.e*) may not become available until mid-May or even later in some cases. A. ‘Blue Belle’. Short stature and neat heads of incredibly rich violet blue flowers, That is particularly true of our Grasses crop, many of which only become ready not far removed from the colour of our native Bluebell in fact.Get it?! in June. Therefore, if you are making a long journey do please phone in advance A. caulescens Unusually, the great fat leaves ascend the stems creating a curious to check availability. tropical effect. The heads of large mid blue flowers have a strong median stripe and are born on chunky stems. May vary. 90cm+

4 5 A. ‘Cheney’s Lane’. An exceptionally strong growing, free flowering pale blue A. ‘Silver-Blue’. What it says on the Tin, simple silver blue. The flowers are nicely form selected by Four Seasons Nursery. 1.25m. flared (campanulate)and its stems short (60cm). All in all, a pretty, gay plant. A. ‘Findlay’s Blue’. Slender arching 1m stems support handsome rich blue, A. ‘Windsor Grey’. A plant of noble habit with broad green leaves and subtle campanulate flowers. A plant I first came across at Powis Castle, it has coloured flowers in September being a mixture of white, grey and palest settled well in our Sussex clay. lavender. 1.2m A. ‘Flore Pleno’. Balloon like, striped buds open to reveal the many petalled *AGERATINA altissima ‘Chocolate’. Snake root. Striking black-purple £6.20 double flowers. Uncommon. 50cm foliage and domed heads of white flowers in autumn. An asset on all accounts A. ‘Hannah’s Crosses’. Crosses between two of our very best Agapanthus. for any fertile border in full sun. 1.5m. Fantastic short, rich blues. A. ‘Marchant’s Dark Hybrids’. With the help of our Bees we hope that *ALCHEMILLA conjuncta. Delicate cut foliage with a silky underside £5.80 2 different closely planted violet-blue selections will yield seedlings of forming a silver edge. Charming. equal calibre. Strong plants offered. 1m+? *A. erythropoda. All the attributes of ‘Lady’s Mantle’ but on a Lilliputian scale A. inapertus The true species characterised by its small heads of drooping making it perfect for smaller scale plantings. 5cm. Full sun. tubular flowers, mid blue in this form. Divisions. 1m A. venosa. A plant I grew at the beginning of my gardening career (40 years ago!) A. inapertus subsp. pendulus ‘Graskop’. Intense deep cobalt flowers in and enjoy to this day. Exactly halfway in proportion between erythropoda and small heads on a plant of modest proportions but huge quality. The clone the ubiquitous A. mollis. we offer was procured from Kirstenbosch BG and is I believe, the true ALLIUM lusitanicum ‘Summer Beauty’. A handy small growing onion for £5.80 clone. 60cm. the border front with green fleshy linear leaves and shallow domes of lilac-mauve A. ‘Jodie’. Dick Fulcher’s superlative selection. Tall (1.3m), late (Sept/October) flowers. 30cm. and with mid blue flowers which seem to sing for an age in the autumn light. A. ‘Millenium’. A chance hybrid selected in America and noted for the quality and A. ‘Kew White’. Acquired from Great Dixter who received it from Kew. colour of its pinkish- purple summer umbels over green strapped leaves. 40cm Handsome broad leaves and pristine white flowers with dark anthers. 75cm. A. senescens subsp. glaucum. Kept lean, this chive relative has charming A. ‘Lady Moore’. Forming tight clumps, this is reckoned to be one of the twisty foliage and of interest for a long season. 25cm best short white forms. Small heads of flowers. 45cm. A. thunbergii ‘Ozawa’. A tiny Japanese species which brings the allium season to A. ‘Loch Hope’. A magnificent clone with showy rich blue flowers in late a close with its late flurry of pale purple flowers over narrow glossy leaves in summer. 2m+. AGM. Sept/Oct. 15cm. A. ‘Liliput’. A very old short selection of African Lily with small heads of ALSTROEMERIA Colourful, fleshy rooted exotic perennials whose look From £8.00 bright blue flowers. Great for border front or pots alike. 40cm. belies their hardiness. Most have an abhorrence of being moved once A. ‘Marchant’s Midnight Blue’. Another Marchants selection and an established so be warned and place well. improvement we think on ‘Midnight Blue’. Marginally taller, it possesses *A. ‘Evening Song’. A very unusual purple toned cultivar, hardy and as easy rich blue flowers that are more conspicuously flared. A classy candidate to grow as the rest. 1m. for the border front. 45cm. *A. ‘Friendship’. An old AGM winner, pale yellow with the usual flecking A. ‘Marchant’s Night Sky’. Arguably our darkest Agapanthus, a provocative associated with Peruvian Lilies. Wonderful for picking. 1m violet-black. It needs prominent placing – this is a recessive colour which *A. ‘Mars’. Carmine with a smidgen of brown and with bold yellow splashes can be missed in a border! 1m. to the topmost petals. 1m. A. ‘Marchant’s Neptune’. Bred here, now old stable. Pale milky blue lockets *A. psittacina. A Brazilian exotic with narrow trumpet flowers in crimson of A. inapertus persuasion (i.e. hanging down), beautiful in tandem with tipped with apple green, the interior decorated with dark guidelines in the more grey than green foliage. 1.2m preparation for an insects’ ball. Mulch in winter. 60cm. A. ‘Platinum Prince’. No king, no queen, but the first word which came *A. ‘Red Elf ’. Large glowing carmine flowers are born in a seeming non-stop to mind when naming this new subdued pale grey-blue cultivar. A lovely display for months. It belongs at the border front and will survive bitter colour for the garden. 70cm winters uncomplainingly. 45cm A. ‘Quink Drops’. Our own superb A. inapertus hybrid selected for the intensity and richness of its slightly pendulous flowers. Stands out in an *ALTHAEA cannabina. From a tight rootstock, twiggy stems grow to 1.8m £6.20 Agapanthus crowd (if that is the right collective noun). 1.2m or more supporting, through summer, 2cm wide palest pink hollyhock like flowers backed by green calyces. Charming and easy given good drainage. 6 7 *A. officinalis alba. A somewhat coarse, leafy plant saved by its tissue paper Harbingers of spring and perfect bedfellows for all your other Spring flowering £5.80 white flowers and the sap from its roots from which Marsh Mallows were plants. apparently once made. A. nemorosa ‘Blue Eyes’. A charming, old, double white Wood Anemone whose central stamens are surrounded by the stain of a purple eye. 10cm AMMI majus. A terrific lofty annual/biennial umbellifer holding its shallow £5.50 A. nem. ‘Virescens’. A beautiful curiosity, the flowers having metamorphosized domed discs of pure white flowers on 2-3m stems. Impeccable grey winter tracery. into a loose ruff of bright green bracts. 10cm. AGM. AMSONIA. are in the family of Apocynaceae (as if you didn’t know!) and £6.20 A. nem. ‘Parlez Vous’. A strong plant collected behind the 1st World War are among our favourite perennials. Subtle, understated (C. Lloyd’s least trenches in France. Silvery lavender-blue chalices, superb with dark purple favourite words) long lived and easy to grow (not on pure chalk, alas.) They Hellebores. 10cm are good mixers and will rub shoulders with all manner of plants including ANEMONELLA. From £6.20 grasses. The following are all strictly clump forming. Charming North American woodlanders with thalictrum-like foliage and delicate anemone-like flowers to match. They are A. ‘Graham’s Hybrid’. A possible A. taebernaemontana hybrid occurring quite demanding requiring humus rich soil in partial shade. The following are here. Good foliage and clusters of pale blue-mauve flowers together with propagated from divisions of lovely seedlings selected here. fall colour. 80cm. A. thalictroides. Divisions are offered and will be mixed in variety: White, A. hubrichtii ‘Ernst Pagels’. This strong clone was I believe selected by great pale pink, single and double flowers. Take your pick! Dutch Nurseryman Hans Kramer. Delicate pale blue Periwinkle like flowers A. t. ‘Pink Fairy’. in May are followed a copious dome of handsome narrow foliage. 1m. A notch darker pink than the following. Semi-double. A. t. ‘Flushed Nymph’. A. hubrichtii This is the narrowest leaved Amsonia making a fine, season Pale pink semi-double. long foliage plant and invariably colours well in autumn. Small, starry china ANTHERICUM ramosum. Starry white flowers in summer on branched £6.20 blue flowers emerge from deeper buds. A first class, long lived plant. 60cm slender stems creates an airy effect when established - sun and good drainage A. orientalis Awash with small starry slatey-blue flowers (not unlike the preferred. Border, pot or meadow even? 30cm. Periwinkle’s) displayed on willowy leaved stems through early summer. An exercise in understatement but always admired. 40cm. *ARUNCUS ‘Horatio’. A super hybrid from doyen nurseryman, Ernst £6.20 A. orientalis ‘Turkish Form’. A more recent wild collection of this Turkish Pagels. Graceful tapering cream plumes on reddish-bronze stems held above endemic. A strong, solid plant that is much longer flowering. intricately cut foliage. 120cm. *A. ‘Short Seedling’. Clearly an ‘Horatio’ seedling after which it takes its *ANCHUSA azurea ‘Loddon Royalist’. A veteran Borage whose coarse £6.00 habit but at half the height. Easy to accommodate. 50cm. foliage can be forgiven for the pay-off of brilliant azure flowers through summer. Boy, does it need drainage – loves chalk! 80cm. ARUM italicum ‘Tiny’. A rare marbled leaf form growing no taller than £5.80 20cm. Particularly good amongst winter/spring bulbs. Summer dormant. ANEMONE . The following are the late summer/autumn flowering From £6.20 branch of this extremely versatile genus. They are mainstream plants known ASTER (SYMPYOTRICHUM) Our Autumn gardens would be dull From £6.20 to all and once settled require little attention. We hope to offer the following things indeed without the contribution of these colourful and for the most part, from mid-summer. easily managed plants. The following all display a good resistance to mildew. Please *A. hupehensis var japonica ‘Bodnant Burgundy’. Richest-pink fine-petalled note that many of our Asters will not become available until summer. Asters have (slightly doubled?) flowers over a compact plant. 60cm. Not quite the recently changed their names to, amongst other things, Symphyotrichum (Get lightest pinot noir, but a good rich colour. your tongue round that one!). However, we prefer the beautifully named Asters *A. x hybrida ‘Géante des Blanches’. Large semi-double white flowers, the (meaning star) and so, for now at least, we will keep to the old nomenclature. narrow ray petals forming a rather flat flower. Robust. 4 ft. A. ‘Chilly Fingers’. Avondale Nursery’s lucky seedling with narrow pale *A. x hybrida ‘Good Deep Pink 2018’. This new seedling is still being lavender blue petals. The generous sprays may need a supporting truss or assessed but was selected for the depth of its purple-pink colouring. two. 1.2m approx. Selecting plants takes time! A. ‘Ice Cool Pink’. Our own clump forming selection bursts into great sprays *A. x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’. Pristine and pure – reckoned to be the best of 2cm wide pale blue-pink flowers in September. 1m+ white. 4 ft. AGM. A. ‘Iolanthe's Spirit’. A present from our garden but parentage hard to gauge. *A. x hybrida ‘Rag ged Robin’. A seedling raised here from a Japanese selection. The prolific purple flowers are long born starting in early August and The deep pink narrow sepals make for a ragged, charming appearance. 40cm maintaining their quality through September. 1.5m. 8 9 *A. ‘Prairie Pur ple’. A well-behaved clump former whose self-supporting (and very effective) palest lavender Aster. A possible ericoides hybrid with wiry stems bear swags of single, large dusky purple daisies. 1.5m its pale green fine foliage. 1m+ *A. amellus ‘Framfieldii’. An elegant hybrid, not dissimilar to ‘Violet Queen’ ASTRANTIA ‘Buckland’. The pale green ruff of bracts and rosy pink From £5.80 but a slightly paler violet. Sept/Oct 40cm. AGM. stamens make for a flower of great beauty. An old clone now that can still *A. amellus ‘Violet Queen’. An old cultivar selected by Karl Forster and which hold its’ head high. 60cms. AGM. remains unchallenged. Large, rich violet flowers in Sept/Oct. 40cm. AGM. A. major subsp. involucrata ‘Canneman’. Originally a Dutch seed strain, *A. cordifolius ‘Little Carlow’. Wiry stems struggle to support the sheer the plants offered are divisions of a fine, large greyish-green flowered weight and number of large, lavender-blue flowers, a colour particularly form, stained with reddish purple. A hearty grower, flowering for weeks enhanced by the autumn light. 120cm. AGM. in early summer. *A. ericoides ‘Blue Star’. Myriad, lavender blue flowers with pale yellow A. m. ‘Ruby Wedding’. Richest of ruby-red flowers over a long season. centres over wiry growth in October. Charming. 40-50cm. AGM. A. ‘Roma’. Our thanks to Piet Oudolf for being granted a license to sell his *A. ericoides ‘Yvette Richardson’. With its fresh green foliage, pale distinct selection. The large flowers are rose-pink, almost as beautiful as lavender–blue flowers and compact habit, this is a super plant for the A. maxima, but fortunately this is an easier plant to grow and repeat border front. 40cm. flowering too. 60cm. AGM. * A. ericoides var. prostratum ‘Snow Flurry’. A benign green carpet of prostrate foliage eventually erupts in October into a dazzling display of BAPTISIA ‘Nelson’s Navy’. Bears the usual good, slightly glaucous foliage £6.80 tiny white blossoms, a late bonus for bees and humans alike. 10cm. AGM. of this Genus. The flowers are deep navy-blue making it the darkest Baptisia A. glehnii ‘Aglenii’. A leafy plant to 1.5 m crowded with heads of white we grow. 1m daisies through the Autumn and followed by attractive fluffy seed heads. *B. seedlings ex ‘Starlite’ and ex ‘Nelson’s Navy’. Lucky Dip seedlings £6.20 *A. laevis ‘Or pheus’. Richest indigo blue. Sells on sight. Bulks well as you raised from 2 fine cultivars. They should flower for you in 2022. Become would expect for A.laevis..! a patient gardener! *A. lanceolatus. The plant we grow under this name has white flowers, is BERGENIA stracheyi Alba Group. This form has very neat, small leaves £5.80 short and wiry and has an humble air about it which reminds us of Erigeron and in Spring produces dumpy 15cm spikes of white flowers that fade to karvinskianus. 15cm. palest pink. Charming. *A. lateriflorus var. horizontalis. I have grown this for years and I love the sunny September days when its covered in 100's of white flowers and as many bees…. A name change from Stachys to Betonica is what you are now going to have *A. novae-angliae ‘Andenken an Alma Pötschke’. The best coloured New to get used to! England Aster. Good sized rich purply-pink. An eye catcher at the time of BETONICA macrantha ‘Superba’. Whorls of good sized rose-purple £6.20 the year when you need it. flowers over handsome, leafy clumps. A first class, bomb proof plant suitable *A. novae-angliae ‘Marina Wolkonsky’. Our darkest purple New England for lazy gardeners. 50cms. Aster. Sells on sight. B. officinalis ‘Alba’. A neat, short plant, effectively a white form of the *A. novae-angliae ‘Quinton Menzies’. A bold purplish-pink carrying above and likewise, pert enough for the border front. hundreds of flowers on its strong stems. 1.2m AGM. B. off. ‘Hummelo’. An Ernst Pagels selection producing neat spikes of lilac- *A. trifoliatus subsp. ageratoides ‘Ezo murasaki’. Small purple flowers, purple flowers in mid-summer. 60cm. pleasingly late, combined with mildew resistance make for a tough, easy B. off. ‘Marchant’s Pink’. This deep pink seedling cropped up on the going Japanese aster. 60cm. nursery here and just like the others belongs to the border front battalion. *A. turbinellus ‘Leaflet’. Said to be an improvement on A. turbinellus B. off. ‘Blush’. Tight clumps of neat crimped leaves form the summer under hybrid but can splay with the sheer weight of foliage and flower it carries. carpet to stiff stems topped with clusters of blush pink flowers. Very These are large, lilac-pink with a blueish caste and born in great profusion. pretty, even in winter with its pert, preserved seed heads. 35cm 120cm. *CALAMINTHA nepeta. Becomes a buzzing bee heaven in summer with £5.80 *A. x frikartii ‘Mönch’. With a little aid from pea sticks this is arguably the its massed pale blue flowers. Highly aromatic foliage. 30cm. finest Aster for elegance and flower power giving a succession of clear *C. nepeta ‘Blue Cloud’. Summer droughts it would seem sort out the men lavender-blue flowers from mid-summer onwards. 75cm. AGM. from the boys. This flowers unabashed for months on end oblivious to the *A. ‘W ishee Washee’. Not the name of a Window cleaning firm but our new parched soil in which it grows. A great bee puller too. 30cm.

10 11 *C. n. ‘White Seedling’. A dainty white flowered form selected from *C. ‘Old White Variety’. Bob Brown informs us this was introduced by E.H. seedlings of the above. 20cm. Wilson which is hard to believe. Elegant and airy, the small flowers burst from apricot buds and are more ivory than white. Gorgeous scent. 80cm. CAMPANULA ‘Cr ystal’. A brilliant newcomer from Avondale Nursery. £6.20 This summer we may also be introducing to the nursery in small numbers A hybrid (with associated vigour), fulsome bells of palest amethyst open C. ‘Heda’ (Deep Madder red), C. ‘Herbstfeuer’ (Madder red, bold yellow eye). from purple washed buds. Any half decent soil in full sun. 50cm. C. lactiflora ‘Dixter Presence’. Christopher Lloyd’s own selection which we CLEMATIS x diversifolia ‘Hendersonii’. Typical large mid violet-blue flowers £6.50 acquired from the great man himself. Large, profuse bell flowers of mid-blue can festoon this plant - if you grow it well that is. With its naturally lax habit, are carried in open heads. 1.4m. it may require some gentle trussing up. 80cm. *CARYOPTERIS x clandonensis ‘Dark Knight’. Easy 'Bluebeard' shrub £7.80 CONVALLARIA majalis ‘Hardwick Hall’. A beautiful and vigorous Lily of £6.20 for late season colour. Prune hard in spring for best flowering. Darkest. the Valley’ with larger flowers than most and particularly good broad foliage. Long grown at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire. 30cm. CENOLOPHIUM denudatum. Short of a better description, let’s call this £5.80 Parsley on Speed. Good ferny foliage, refined white flowers and a sympathetic CORONILLA valentina subsp. glauca ‘Citrina’. This glaucous, leguminous £7.50 candidate for more relaxed plantings. 1m. shrub bears its remarkable display of pale yellow, scented flowers for months on end but does demand a sheltered site. 120cm+. CENTAUREA bella. A neat border front plant with silvery evergreen cut £6.00 foliage and a generous summer display of lilac-pink flowers. 30cm CORYDALIS solida var. solida ‘George Baker’. A legendary plant from £5.25 C. simplicicaulis. As C. bella but a notch smaller in all its parts. A very pretty the woodland floor of Transylvania. This tuberous form has glowing deep front liner. 20cm. coral pink flowers and likes a half shaded spot in the garden. 15cm. CEPHALARIA gigantea. A robust, handsome and long lived perennial, with £6.20 CROCOSMIA. We can think of no better way to enliven the late summer From £6.20 pale yellow flowers, and a fine reputation as stalwart of the larger border. 2m+ border than to use these dazzling performers. They love moisture (not boggy) and lots of sunshine to perform well, and need dividing every now and then CHAEROPHYLLUM hirsutum ‘Roseum’. A very effective mauve-pink £6.20 to keep them in good fettle. ‘Cow Parsley’ relative with typically lacy foliage. As one renowned garden writer *C. ‘Hellfire’. Bordering on a true red, this is the best Crocosmia to have puts it, ‘few plants can hold a candle to it in May’. 70cm. come our way in years. 90cm. AGM. CHAMAENERION angustifolium ‘Album’. The ethereal white flowers £6.20 *C. masoniorum ‘Dixter Flame’. C. Lloyd’s offering, pure scarlet, broad of ‘Rose-Bay Willow-herb’ always draw favourable comments unlike its terror ribbed leaves and an accommodating 70cm. striking running roots. Whatever - Bon courage! 1.5m *C. ‘Okavango’. Large peachy-orange flowers, deliciously vulgar. From the C. a. ‘Stahl Rose’. The prettiest form of Rose-Bay Willow herb we think, Bob Brown stable. 60cm pale pink with crimson calyxes. Exquisite – but like the above, how it runs. *C. ‘Paul’s Best Yellow’. The substantial rounded golden-yellow flowers go *C. dodonaei. A humble, small growing and non invasive Willow-herb with £6.00 hand in hand with a plant of strong constitution. 60cm. pale green foliage and prettily shaped rose pink flowers. We’ve always had *C. ‘Severn Sunrise’. Everyone comments favourably on the weird peachy- a soft spot for it. 40cm. rose colour of this award winning plant. A challenge to place this colour well but terrific with purples. 60cm. CHRYSANTHEMUM Useful plants for the cutting garden or border alike. £6.20 *C. ‘Apollo’. A richly coloured and small flowered plant in a beautiful CYCLAMEN hederifolium. The classic Ivy leaved Cyclamen, a martyr in £5.00 autumnal tint of copper-orange. 1m dry shade. *C. ‘Cottage Apricot’. Single flowers, a beautiful shade of apricot-orange CYNARA cardunculus. Cardoon Seedling progeny raised from a spectacular £6.50 fading to an apricot-pink. 70cm. silver cut leaved form which occurred here. It may be a hybrid of the plant *C. ‘Dixter Orange’. A deep satisfying orange semi double. Works wonders below but fortunately lacks the wicked spines. 2m+ here in a mixed planted pot. 50cm C. c. ex Chelsea Physic Form. A spiny, aggressive brute, presumably to *C. ‘Emperor of China’. A legendary plant, the pink quilled double flowers keep animals at bay, with handsome, deeply cut leaves. At 1.8m, easier and burnished red foliage culminating in a rich November display. 80cm. managed than the above but watch those spines!

12 13 DAHLIA x coccinea. We have several coccinea hybrid parents planted in From £6.20 *DISPORUM longistylum ‘Night Heron’. A Dan Hinkley selection From £6.80 the garden from which we collect seed. These vary from tall, short, from red (China). The foliage/stems a sinister purple black when emerging eventually through to orange. The seedlings will also vary but we’ve yet to see a dull turning green. The flared celadon green flowers bring to mind Solomon’s Seal one among them. to which it is closely related. 70cm. *D. ‘Cardinal Star’. Our very own beautiful Cardinal red single Dahlia. 2m high, ECHINOPS bannaticus ‘Blue Globe’. A coarse plant in leaf maybe, but From £6.20 the large flowers radiate like stained glass. worth growing for the blue, insect attracting globes alone. At 1.2m, the tallest *D. ‘Mexican Black’. A said Dahlia/Cosmos hybrid. Hmmmm? Very Dahlia globe thistle in our range. like with dark stems, good foliage, deep wine-maroon flowers with pronounced E. b. ‘Blue Pearl’. An uncommon form with paler flowers than most, a good boss of yellow stamens and scent too if you’ve imagination. 1.25m. mid-blue in fact. 90cm. *D. ‘Ex Mexican Black’. The parent plant possesses chocolatey purple red *E. ritro ‘Veitch's Blue’. Coarsely cut spiny leaves give rise to pale stems flowers, whereas these flowering sized seedlings will tend to vary. supporting spherical heads of rich blue flowers and with the asset of being *D. ‘Ex Mini Jaffa’. A less stable strain as yet but can produce glowing strictly clump forming. 90cm. orange single flowers. Best selected in flower. EPIMEDIUM Did you know these plants are members of the Berberis From £6.80 DELPHINIUM requienii. A self-seeding annual/biennial with fleshy lobed, £5.80 family? Look closely at their flowers and foliage you’ll see the connection. Not glossy leaves and remarkable spires of soft blue-mauve flowers in early/high too difficult to please, they require humus rich soil, shelter and a dose of shade. summer. 2m+. Their new foliage is often beautifully tinted and their Columbine like flowers *DIANTHUS anatolicus. Over dense mats of grey-green foliage hover £5.80 beguile all those who encounter them. We tried so hard to reduce our offering deeply fringed flowers in the pink spectrum. Give it lots of sun. 15cm+. fearing the work load was excessive. We love them too much. Therapy beckons. *D. arenarius. Deeply fringed white flowers with a knockout scent, over E. ‘Amber Freckles’. Pale yellow ground colour to the flower overlaid with light green prickly mounds of foliage. Uncomplaining given good drainage. amber-rose freckles. A Marchant’s introduction. D. carthusianorum. Considerably taller than the type (to 90cm) but with E. ‘Arctic Wings’. Blackthorn Nursery's scintillating large white flowered grey foliage and the same startlingly bright pink flowers. selection. *D. cruentus. In effect grows and behaves like D. carthusianorum but the E. ‘Bieke’. Masses of spidery lemon yellow flowers. Repeat flowering into flowers are scarlet. summer. 30cm. D. deltoides ‘Leuchtfunk’. Saturated crimson flowers, like splashes of blood E. x versicolor ‘Discolor’. Subtly contrasted flesh pink and amber yellow over a mat of deep green foliage. flowers, a perfect match for the young copper coloured foliage. 30cm. E. ‘Egret’. DIASCIA ‘Emma’. Narrow leaved suckering clumps and a profusion of £6.20 One of the best of the new hybrids from the continent with dusky deep pink flowers - exactly what we expect of these marvellous, fat white sepals and an underskirt of clean yellow petals. E. fargesii ‘Pink Constellation’. hardy plants. 30cm. Starry lilac-pink flowers with a purple D. personata. A one off seedling of D. ‘Hopleys’ spotted in our car park! underskirt and particularly elegant slender toothed foliage. 30cm. E. grandiflorum ‘Freya’. Carries the same attributes but with slightly smaller bubble gum pink A beautiful Ep.gr. nanum hybrid, now quite rare with flowers. 1m+ purple flowers and paler spurs. 20cm. E. g. ‘Freya mk II’. A re-selection of Freya, and a strong and healthy plant DICTAMNUS albus. The resinous, aromatic Dittany of Crete in its orchid £6.50 it is too! 20cm like, glistening white form. Slow we find but worth the wait and once E. g. ‘La Rocaille’. Ivory white suffused with palest celadon green, long settled a long lived plant. 90cm eventually. spurred flowers. 35cm. D. albus var. purpureus. AGM. The equally beautiful mauve-purple form. E. g. ‘Marchant’s Sulphur Queen’. Selected from a batch of hand pollinated Raised from our very fine plant. seedlings, the long spurred flowers are quite large and in a gentle sulphur DIERAMA pulcherrimum ‘Venus’ Fishing Rod’. Rosy lilac-mauve bells, £6.20 yellow tone. 20cm. sometimes paler, are elegantly held on wand like arching stems. Hearty, E. g. ‘Nanum’. The smallest of the Epimediums we grow. A delight. 10cm. AGM. retentive soil gives best results. 1.5m. E. g. ‘Bronze Trim’. Bred at Marchants from the white flowering Ep.gr. ‘Nanum’, but with a pronounced dark bronze leaf margin. 15cm. DIGITALIS parviflora. A notably different Foxglove whose basal leaves £5.80 E. ‘King Prawn’. A cross between E. wushanense and E. latisepalum from give rise to spikes of small, narrow tawny-brown flowers. 60cm. the fanatical Epimedium stable of Desirable Plants in Devon. The colour 14 15 of the flowers resembles part cooked prawns, hard though that might be ERYNGIUM X ZABELII This group are basically E. alpinum hybrids. £6.80 to imagine. Most are exceptional with steely blue ruff-like bracts but they are not always E. ‘Marchant's Twin Set’. Our own pukka seedling with tubby bicoloured easy to grow well preferring we think good drainage but not dryness. flowers of crimson–purple and lilac pink. 20cm. *ERYNGIUM x zabelii ‘Big Blue’. From Blooms, another selection to add E. ‘Peachy’. A Marchant's hybrid with hints of pink and yellow. Charming. to the Circus of zabeliis. Good dense steely blue in the spiny narrow bracts, E. x perralchicum ‘Fröhnleiten’. Airy panicles of unspurred lemon yellow inflorescence and stem and up there with the best. 80cm. AGM. flowers in spring. The handsome evergreen leaves remain unblemished *E. x z. ‘Cobalt Star’. All in the name, an impeccable star from Elizabeth throughout winter, making it an altogether classy garden plant. 35cm. Mc Gregor of the most glorious, eye catching Cobalt Blue.1m. E. × warleyense ‘Orangekönigin’. The small flowers of this selected form *E. x z. ‘Indigo Star’. A sister to 'Cobalt Star', but a little paler. Also from are burnt orange adding a quite different tone to this genus. A good Elizabeth Macgregor. evergreen too. 40cm *E. x z. ‘Jos Eijking’. A newer cultivar gaining a reputation for its strength ERIGERON ‘Dignity’. Large, aster like flowers with elegant narrow ray £6.20 and size. Good steely blue over a mound of silvery leaves. 90cm petals. Good for the border front. Pale violet. 30cm. *EUCOMIS ‘Jamie Compton’. Purchased from Great Dixter, I can find From £6.80 E. karvinskianus. An obliging daisy, whose white flowers age to deep brick-pink, no reference to this plant. Bronze hued throughout, it is a fine upstanding born for months on end. Will seed itself surreptitiously and cannily. 20cm. AGM. fellow and begs a really sunny spot. 80cm. E. ‘Schneewittchen’. In effect a white version of ‘Quakeress’ and a plant we *E. pallidiflora. A fantastical, succulent creation. Basal leaves, stem and palest particularly enjoy here for its simple style and long flowering season. 50cm. green flowers all topped with a Pineapple like flourish. 1m. AGM. *E. pole-evansii ‘Pur purea’. A very strong, handsome plant purchased from the E. ‘Quakeress’. The narrow lilac-pink ray petals make for a dainty flower. late nurseryman Michael Wickenden. Growing to 1.2m the whole plant is cast An old hybrid yet to be superseded. 60cm. with bronze-purple. E. ‘White Quakeress’. The white equivalent of E ‘Quakeress’ now a very old plant and still proving its worth. 40cm *EUPATORIUM maculatum Atropurpureum Group ‘Orchard Dene’. £6.80 ERODIUM ‘Marchant’s Seedlings’. Our gravel paths have often proved £5.80 Stood out in the Wisley trials with its huge heads of showy flowers and good seed beds. This time it is the turn of our ‘Storksbills’. Ferny foliage, pale dark stems and deservedly awarded an AGM. or deep pink flowers, blotched or otherwise, they will all be beautiful. Money *E. m. A. ‘Riesenschirm’. Stately, stout purple stems rise to 2m+ climaxing for old rope? We spotted them! in a display of dusky rose-purple domed flowers heads. A metropolis for all manner of insects in late summer. AGM. ERYNGIUM The Eryngos, with their well-designed defence mechanisms, From £6.00 are a prickly bunch of characters but make, with both their flowers and their EUPHORBIA. Given reasonable drainage the Spurges are easy to please and £6.20 foliage, striking garden plants. What’s more, they’re not difficult to please, given give us all that we should expect of a plant. Do however be cautious of sun and reasonable drainage. In cultivation they are divided between species from the white sap they exude when torn or damaged. It can burn skin badly. Europe and South America, plus the odd hybrid. If you don’t grow them, why E. donii ‘Amjillasa’. Emerging tight clumps of gold & green spring foliage not give them a try? is followed over a long summer season by large heads of bright golden *E. bourgatii ‘Fine Form’. A form with particularly deep metallic blue flower lime bracts/flowers. Originally a Kew collected seed strain, this is a heads and bracts. In the wilds of the Pyrenees and Picos mountains it grows in mid-border must-have. 1m poor, stony soil. 60cm. E. epithymoides ‘Midas’. Not difficult to imagine the bracts and flowers of *E. b. ‘ G. S. Thomas’. Not so highly coloured as the above but remains this brilliant spring flowering plant having been touched by King Midas’ highly effective with its larger conspicuous bracts 40cm. hand and consequently turned to Gold. 45cm. *E. x oliveranum. An old E. alpinum hybrid, now hard to find, both stems E. x gayeri ‘Betten’. Akin to a E cyparrisias dosed up with speed and with and spiny bracted flowers being cobalt blue. 60cm. AGM. no inbuilt brakes. A gay, pretty plant mind you which could have its uses *E. planum. An unfortunate name for such a good garden plant. Always but not for the faint hearted. 50cm provides a reliable, generous display of its small silvery-blue flowers. 100cm. E. ‘Jade Dragon’. Said to be an E. amygdaloides hybrid, the eye catching *E. planum ‘Blaukappe’. Laxer and shorter than the species but with all green flower heads fade to an equally beautiful dusky red over a period of the same floral attributes. A clumper for the border front. 60cm. many weeks. A great favourite here. 60cm 16 17 E. seguieriana ssp niciciana. The attractive compact mound of narrow conjuring up a vision of their amorphous, weed suppressing blankets and glaucous leaves is enhanced by small summer heads of chrome flowers. smothering in the process our enthusiasm too. In their favour, both colours and A showy front liner but craves good drainage. 30cm length of season are a boon and most are a doddle to grow. The answer to this conundrum is simple. Use them sparingly. *EURYBIA divaricata. We appear to be in the minority in loving this £6.20 *G. ‘Blue Cloud’. Pleasing cut foliage and not too rampant growth, combined humble plant. Wiry black stems support a shower of small narrow rayed, with pale silvery-blue flowers through most of the summer. A superb garden white daisies. Gertrude Jekyll liked it too – so there! 40cm. plant. 45cm. AGM. FERULA communis ssp. glauca. A spectacular fennel climaxing (after 3 years) £6.50 *G. ‘Brookside’. We find this a less vigorous plant than some of the blues, in a towering display of yellow ochre flowers in umbels on anything but ‘humble’ but it more than compensates with the size, colour and sheer quality of 3.5m high, fat, glaucous stems. Breath-taking against a blue summer sky. its pale eyed flowers. 40cm. AGM. F. species ‘Ex Crete’. One of the Fennel Giants of the Med, this one from *G. clarkei ‘Kashmir White’. In spite of its age remains a superlative Cranesbill. Crete reaching 2m + with typical glorious foliage and yellow flowers. Superb! Large, white with mushroom-pink veining. 30cm. *G. ‘Khan’. A G. sanguineum hybrid with huge, deep bright pink flowers. One *FICUS carica ‘Black Ischia’. £10.00 This variety is slow with us but bears medium of the very best. 30cm. sized purple fruits which, when fully ripened by sun, are lusciously sweet. Prolific. G. macrorrhizum ‘White-Ness’. Easy sun or shade creeping groundcover. A generous gift from confirmed Fig Pig Christopher Lloyd. Tends to be more winter deciduous than most but don’t panic, its worth it FILIPENDULA vulgaris ‘Multiplex’. Over cut, carrot like basal foliage, £6.20 for the apple green emerging foliage and the purest white flowers. 30cm. AGM. flower stems carry creamy-white clouds of tiny double flowers. A charming G. maculatum ‘Espresso’. The name is derived from the extraordinary coffee plant of Cottage Garden character. 45cm. brown colour of the leaves. The lilac-pink flowers are nothing to write home about. 40cms. *FOENICULUM vulgare ‘Smoky’. Bronze Fennel. A good deep bronze seed £6.00 G. ‘Nimbus’. Produces masses of pale violet-blue flowers over handsome cut strain with a marked bloom to the young stems. foliage for most of the season. 50cm. AGM. FUCHSIA You may gather from the following list that we are rather fond From £6.80 *G. nodosum ex ‘Whiteleaf ’. Seed raised progeny which should come true to of Fuchsias, particularly when they are as hardy and long flowering as the form. Noted for the intense violet-magenta colour of the flowers. 40cm. following. Best pruned hard in spring. *G. ‘Orion’. A super hybrid from Holland with enormous violet-blue salvers. F. ‘Dying Embers’. With an aubergine corolla, and garnet sepals, we are very Stands apart in a Geranium crowd. 50cm. AGM. taken with this smouldering beauty. 60cm. AGM. *G. ‘Patricia’. A G. psilostemon hybrid, possessing all the brilliant radiance *F. hatschbachii. We are struck by the svelte elegance of this Fuchsia’s Willow/ of that plants magenta flowers. They are however larger. This together Sarcococca like foliage, not usually a commented on asset in this genus. The with its short stature make this a first rate plant. 60cm. AGM. flowers are typical F. magellanica colour but with notably long stamens. Brazil. G. phaeum ‘Lily Lovell’. Large purple-mauve flowers. One of the best selections One to take home in the hatchback perhaps? Boom, boom. AGM. of the Mourning Widow Cranesbill. *F. ‘Hawkshead’. An elegant, hardy Fuchsia with white flowers, the petals G. phaeum var. lividum. Large and pale greyish lavender/mauve flowers in late tipped with a hint of a tint of green. 75cm. AGM. Spring and early Summer. It can look very beautiful in partial shade. 30ins. *F. magellanica ‘Floriade’. Brought back from the US by us in 2005 this hardy, *G. pratense ‘Southease Celestial’. Wonderful huge cupped salvers of erect Fuchsia has since graced our garden admirably with its aubergine-purple luminescent lavender-blue. A chance seedling from the late Adrian Orchard and carmine flowers through late summer/autumn. 1m+ of Southease Plants – lucky devil! 60cm. F. m. ‘Thompsonii’. Wonderful in its’ full glory in late summer. The slender red G. ‘Sabani Blue’. Brilliant violet blue notched flowers over strict clumps of and purple flowers held on arching stems associate beautifully with blue softly hairy leaves. Fanfares the start of the Cranesbill season in May. 30cm. Agapanthus. 150cm or more. AGM. *G. sanguineum ‘Album’. The Bloody Cranesbill bled dry in its pristine white F. microphylla. A sweety-pie possessing the smallest leaves and flowers form. 30cm. AGM. (bright shocking pink) of those we grow. 60cm. *G. s. var. striatum. A not so Bloody Cranesbill, its large rounded pale pink flowers studding the low mound of cut foliage through summer. 10cm. AGM. GERANIUM It’s easy to fall for a Cranesbill, don’t you think? Most From £5.80 G. wallichianum ‘Edinburgh’s Botanic Garden’. A very beautiful late summer gardeners have so you’d be in denial if you hadn’t at some point had a flirt with Cranesbill with lightly veined pale silvery blue flowers. Branching habit, spread 1m. them. But it is the hackneyed catchphrase ‘good ground cover’ which chills me, 18 19 GEUM It’s flattering when you find a plant that does well for you. The Geums £6.20 leaves and spikes of orange orchid-like blooms in September, this award are one of our trump cards, breezing through the winter in our sticky clay. That winning Himalayan Ginger brings a touch of the exotic to the border. Protect said, any well structured soil other than dust dry will accommodate them. If they with a mulch in winter. 2m+. AGM. start to ‘go back’ they’re telling you they need dividing. *H. densiflorum ‘Assam Orange’. A hardy, leafy Ginger whose spikes of G. ‘Bell Bank’. Raised by Geoffrey Smith (what happened to him?) many years orange flowers add a touch of exoticism to the late summer border. 90cm. ago. Large, telling copper-pink hanging flowers seemingly form a troupe of *H. spicatum ‘Tibet Form’. We grow this medicinal herb for its exotic foliage suspended tutus. 40cm. and for its scented spikes of yellow flowers which are followed by cheering G. ‘Borisii’. A reliable ‘doer’ with clean tangerine-orange flowers. 20cm red fruits perched in orange lined seed pods. It has proved hardy, has grown G. ‘Borisii seedling’. This arose out of a clutch of seedlings of the above. It is a to 70cm and prefers, we think, a little shade. softer orange, has notched petals and yellow stamens and is very pretty indeed. HEDYSARUM coronarium . The wayward spreading stems of this legume £6.20 30cm will be forgiven when it comes to enjoying the abundant rich wine-crimson G. ‘Café au Lait’. Not the strongest cup of coffee you will see and maybe even flowers over the summer months. 60cm. more Peach Lassi. Take your pick! 25cm G. ‘Dawn’. Flowers freely enough, soft yellow with apricot orange tints. From HELENIUM The species Sneezeweeds are native to America but in From £6.20 Geum collection holder Sue Martin. Nurserymen’s hands have been selected for decades. They are among the G. ‘Herterton Primrose’. Immensely impressive, the pale lemon flowers are well easiest grown and richest coloured herbaceous perennials of summer and autumn. displayed above neat foliage, and the plant has a refined look, a word not H. ‘Dunkle Pracht Mk 2’. Deep rust-red flowers. Our own re-selection commonly used in association with Geums. 15cm which is good to have back in our list. 1.2m. G. ‘Lemon Meringue’. I will be ribbed for this name but why not name something H. ‘Fiesta’ A cheering bi-colour, with dusky red centre and golden yellow after your favourite pud? petal edge. Strong and reliable. G. ‘Mai Tai’. The large semi -double flowers take on the colour of the classic H. ‘Lambada’. A very rich mahogany come reddish-brown. A corker. 1.5m. cocktail, a glowing rosy-apricot. 30cm H. ‘ Moerheim Beauty’. Fox red-brown flowers. An old hybrid, still holding its own after 70 years. 1.2m. AGM. GLADIOLUS ‘David Hills’. A gorgeous hybrid of uncertain parentage, its £6.80 H. ‘Ring of Fire’. From Holland, the flowers are reddish brown made more modest sized red flowers are flame and yellow within. 60cm. striking with a central and outer zone of yellow. Upright, free flowering G. papilio. S. Africa A melange of celadon green, slatey grey lilac and dusky (Sept/Oct.) and superb in warmer autumns. 1.2m. AGM. rose pink suffuse the hooded flowers creating a plant of remarkably H. ‘Rubinzwerg’. Rich, deep mahogany-red flowers over a long season on a restrained beauty. Not for everyone I guess. 60cm. plant of short stature make this a valuable addition to the range. 75cm. AGM. G. ‘Ruby’. A glorious plant and the star of the show here last year. A ravishing H. ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’. Fantastic long display of large flowers, a mixture rich ruby red, even darker in the throat. of burnt orange and ochre yellow. 1.2m. AGM. GLANDULARIA ‘La France’. The ambitious stems of this bedding type £6.20 H. ‘Septemberfuchs’. Late flowering, with tawny red-brown flowers, a lovely verbena will gladly weave themselves to great effect through neighbours. Domed colour to enrich the autumn border. 180cm. heads of bright lilac-mauve flowers throughout summer/autumn. Winter green. 45cm. H. ‘Tie dye’. Characterful quilled yellow flowers, purplish red on their underside. 100cm . *GLAUCIUM flavum f. fulvum. The Horned Poppy in its pale orange form £6.00 H. ‘ Zimbelstern’. A very strong large flowered yellow form with complimenting with handsome silvery rosettes – good the year round. 45cm. orange flecks and brown boss of tight stamens. 150cm. *GLYCYRRHIZA yunnanensis. A highly decorative herbaceous Chinese £6.80 HELIANTHEMUM ‘Cheviot’. Large flowers the colour of pale water £5.80 liquorice, the orb-like brown burred seed heads the size of overlarge golf balls melon flesh. Grey foliage. are scattered on sturdy stems. A remarkable sight in autumn/winter. Sun + H. Double Orange. Sniffed out on my travels, a lovely semi-double apricot drainage. 2m+. orange. Green foliage. *GYPSOPHILA ‘Rosenschleier’. A spreading ‘Babies Breath’ covering itself £5.80 H. ‘Henfield Brilliant’. Blazing vermillion red. AGM. in a hazy mist of tiny pale pink double blossoms through mid-summer. AGM. *HELIANTHUS giganteus ‘Sheila’s Sunshine’. A whopper (2.5m+) From £6.80 *HEDYCHIUM ‘Tara’. With tropical-looking, slim-line Canna like From £7.20 with pale sulphur yellow daisies through autumn.

20 21 *H. ‘Lemon Queen’. Helianthus are generally speaking coarse plants. This *HESPERANTHA ‘Marchant’s Seedling’. Large flowered and tending £6.20 variety is redeemed by the quality and generosity of its autumn crop of towards coral pink. We find them unpredictable here, and believe like so many large pale lemon daisies. 2m. AGM. S. African plants they prefer retentive soil. *H. orgyalis. A beefier version of H. salicifolius and referred to in the plantfinder under that plant. The large lemon yellow flowers are carried on dark stems HEUCHERA americana ‘Harr y Hay’.. A bold plant whose purple foliage £6.80 but still no plant for shrinking violets. 1.5m+. forms a statement making mound topped in early summer with equally strong spikes of white flowers. 1m. HEMEROCALLIS We are unabashedly fond of Daylilies. These From £6.50 H. ‘Brownfinch’. Among a plethora of plum-purple cultivars this silver mottled, indestructible border perennials will with little fussing give years of pleasure. green leaved variety provides a welcome change. But it is the generous crop of The tragedy is they have become so grossly vulgarised in breeder’s hands. Fortunately, terracotta-brown flowers that are its greatest attribute, held on 60cm spikes virtually all the following species and stylish old cultivars pre-date such immodest, for weeks through the summer. brazen treatment. H. sanguinea ‘Alba’. Received a hard won AGM in trials yet is rarely met with. H. ‘ American Revolution’. Suave, dusky black-purple flowers, rather sinister in Why? Its plain green leaves perhaps. This is a wonderful plant whose ivory an odd, appealing sort of way. 75cm. flowers age with remarkable grace, a feature not normally noted in white H. ‘Butternut’. This is our own name now for a plant bought from a reputable flowered plants. Early summer onwards. 60cm. AGM. Nursery under the name of H. ‘Hyperion’ which it clearly isn’t! The soft H. villosa ‘Autumn Bride’. The bold hairy foliage of this striking plant catches orange-yellow flowers of Butternut tint are born long into late summer and folk out. In August myriad white flowers appear on lofty spikes. ‘Oh it’s a meld well with crimson Persicarias. 1m. Heuchera’ – all is well with folk again. 1m. H. citrina x ochroleuca. An extremely graceful hybrid given to us by Piet Oudolf H. villosa ‘Autumn Bride Seedling’. Raised from seed of the above and to our and bearing sweetly scented narrow fluted yellow flowers on stems well above eyes, virtually the same in appearance. the foliage. 75cm. H. villosa ‘Felt Room’. A present from Germany in the mould of H. ‘Autumn H. ‘Conspicua’. A worthy old cultivar, now rare, with large flared trumpeting Bride’ but with longer fuller spikes of flowers we think. 1m+ flowers in deep crimson red with a yellow throat. 75cm. H. ‘Corky’. Zestful, lemon yellow flowers from mahogany buds. Never HOSTA Having been shaken to the mid-ribs by the Hosta boom, my From £6.80 disappoints. 60cm. enthusiasm for these ubiquitous plants still remains a little tepid. That said, H. ‘Graham’s Orange’. Raised at Marchants and settling well, the flowers are used discriminately and particularly in pots (where slugs can be kept at bay) more an amber-orange. Super with purple flowering plants. 45cm+ they can be very effective. H. ‘Golden Chimes’. With its golden flowers, mahogany on their reverse, dark H. ‘Cally Atom’. Cally Garden’s fine selection with blue toned, dense heart stems and free flowering habit, this nearly 50 year old hybrid has yet to be outclassed. shaped leaves and fat flowers on chunky 25cm stems. A delight. H. ‘Laughton Tower’. Thinking the horticultural world short of a new Daylily H. ‘Devon Green’. No razzmatazz with this one. Rather: simple, elegant, deep or two, I successfully bred this fellow. At 1.5m+ high, it looks down on its bottle green shining leaves. Very satisfying. 40cm. AGM. overblown American peers in a very haughty and satisfactory manner. By the H. ‘Krossa Regal’. Arguably the finest blue Hosta available. Makes a large, way - the small fluted flowers are apricot-orange. sculpted clump in time. AGM. H. lilioasphodelus. Another good ‘Day Lily’, this one with large clean yellow *H. plantaginea var. japonica. Revels in full sun, which encourages the flowers, great poise and an unforgettable scent. Early summer. 75cm. production of huge white, deliciously fragrant flowers. Refreshing pale green H. ‘ Red Precious’. An uncommon old English cultivar that deserves to be foliage. Excellent in pots. AGM. better known with flared flame red flowers, ochre yellow on their reverse. H. ‘Thumb Nail’. Lilliputian in scale, the name refers to the leaf size. Pleasant At 45cm just about perfect for hotting up the border front. AGM. pale violet flowers on 20cm stems maintain the symmetry. H. ‘Siloam Red Toy’. Small, rather neat blooms, slightly flared revealing their H. venusta ‘Variegata’. A little charmer with neatly variegated cream and green charming soft madder red colouring. They say size doesn’t always count. 75cm leaves and abundant pale violet flowers. Becoming rare. 15cms. H. ‘Stafford’. Large mahogany-red flowers of ravishing quality. An exemplary The following is a sport of the above having occurred here and has so far old hybrid which still holds its own in the Daylily stakes. 120- 150cm. AGM. remained stable. Being small probably best grown in pots. H. ‘Stoplight’. A large flowered spider, airy enough not to be blowsy. Carmine H. ‘Sporting Chance’. Neatly shaped small elliptic green leaves have a clean red with chartreuse and yellow throat. After initial scepticism on my part it is central zone of cream variegation. Very smart. time for me to eat my socks. Pass the salt please. 80cm 22 23 IRIS No Iris flower could be described as long lasting but at least they From £6.80 K. ‘Sunningdale Yellow’. Clear yellow with a smidgen of ochre. First poker off make up for it by being fabulously flamboyant and are often produced in the blocks in June. Classy. 90cm. AGM. large numbers, albeit for a short season. K. thomsonii var thomsonii. Well spaced, narrow spikes of soft orange flowers. I. ‘Berlin Tiger’. From Tamberg, the great Berlin breeder comes this Prominent among Kniphofia due to its very long flowering season. 120cm. pseudacorus hybrid. Its heavy brownish- purple veining creates a flower K. ‘Timothy’. A mid-season variety with slender spikes of beautifully toned of mustard yellow/brown colouring. A vigorous plant for good soil. AGM. amber-pink flowers. 80cm. AGM. I. pallida subsp. pallida. This ancient Iris has silky flowers of clear lavender LATHYRUS grandiflorus. The largest flowered of them all, with purple and £7.50 blue and is deliciously scented with a hint of orange blossom. Its grey carmine flowers but alas, no scent. A great scrambler. AGM. foliage is grand too, lasting well into the autumn. 1m. LEUCANTHEMELLA serotina. The Hungarian Daisy survives with From £6.50 The following forms of Iris sibirica flourish in full light on our heavy clay soil glee here, muscling its way through our unforgiving clay and rewarding us and are capable of growing in shallow water too. with a brilliant late display of gay white daisies. 2m. AGM. I.s. ‘Berlin Bluebird’. A very striking colour, as near Gentian blue as you will find in a sibirica. Uncommon. 75cm *LIATRIS spicata. A Compositae from N. America which has the temerity £6.00 I.s ‘Emperor’. Quite large rich purple flowers of satin texture. Tall and to unfold its spikes of violet-mauve flowers in reverse order, that is from top to elegant. 1m+ bottom. Perhaps it started life in Australia! 60cm. I. ‘Prussian Blue’. Incredible, saturated deep blue flowers, a rare colour in *LIBERTIA ixioides ‘Helen Dillon’s Form’. £7.50 this group. The German breeder Herr Tamberg received an AGM for it This is a very good form, the in 2003 and rightly so. 80cm. tough evergreen leaves forming a dense architectural clump, bronze hued in winter. Carried on dark stems the three petalled brilliant white flowers create I.s. ‘Southcombe W hite’. Pallid white flowers, not large, with ghostly grey a sparkling effect. 90cm. veining. 90cm. I.s. ‘Sparkling Rose’. An elegant, well shaped flower in an unusual rose- *LINARIA ‘Dial Park’. This Toadflax bears large mauve-pink Snapdragon £6.20 purple. Introduced in 1968! 40cm flowers (fading to white) for months. Unlikely to make old bones. I.s. ‘Summer Sky’. A graceful slim-line flower, like a dancer on points, lavender *L. ‘Peachy’. An excellent new hybrid Toadflax whose Snapdragon–like pale blue with just the right amount of yellow for perfect balance. 90cm. yellow flowers are highlighted with soft pink. Suited well to chalk or free I.s. ‘Tropic Night’. Intense violet-blue with a pale zone on the haft of the draining soils. 1m. falls. 90cm. *LOBELIA laxiflora var. angustifolia. A curious species from Arizona £6.50 *KALIMERIS incisa. The plant we grow under this name is uncommon, £6.20 looking vaguely Penstemon like in leaf, but with cheering bright red tubular clumping, has serrated leaves and is decked with pretty medium sized ice blue flowers, yellow in the throat. Full sun. 75cm. flowers through summer. Suffers neglect with nonchalance. 60cm. *L. tupa. A classy, eye catching plant with pale, sage-green leaves and dark From £6.50 K. mongolica. Little known - a tough, clumping plant, its display of large pale stems terminating in a spike of claw shaped cherry red flowers. Needs lavender-blue daisy like flowers off the blocks in late summer. The need for retentive soil and some shelter but worth every effort to grow well. 120cm. supporting pea sticks its only vice. 1.2m. LOVAGE This less commonly used herb can make a huge plant. Celery £5.80 *KNIPHOFIA The ‘Red Hot Pokers’ are anything but these days, coming From £6.80 condensed so use with discretion. 2m. in a much wider range than hitherto – from pale cream to bright yellow, pale LYCHNIS coronaria. This, the more commonly seen form, is far from ordinary. £6.20 coral to burnt toffee. Their vertical spikes can provide a dramatic feature in The retina blasting colour of the purple–magenta flowers is almost without any border, given sun and drainage and what’s more, are hardy to boot. parallel in the flower repertoire. AGM. K. ‘Cobra’. A strong ‘Poker’ basically coral and cream coloured before finally L. coronari. Wild collection . This wild collected form bears vivid shocking ageing to cream. 75cm. pink flowers and is noticeably paler than the above. 60cm. K. ‘Painted Lady’. Noted for the long and slender flower spikes. Orange with hints of amber. 1m + *LYTHRUM salicaria ‘ Blush’. The soft pink flowers of this form are a good £6.20 K. rufa. The squat cluster of narrow flowers are slightly curved, straw yellow antidote to the richer coloured forms, such as the following. 60cm. AGM. below, terracotta red on top and held on 75cm stems over grassy foliage. *L. s. ‘Zigeunerblut’. Translates as ‘Gypsy Blood’. Vivid magenta-purple flower Elegant and seems hardy. spikes. A Gypsy with blood this colour would be in serious need of a transfusion. 90cm. 24 25 * L. virgatum. The branched stems of this widespread European and Asian OMPHALODES cappadocica ‘Cherr y Ingram’. In good soil this semi- £6.50 species carry myriad small, deep lilac-pink flowers for weeks in mid-summer. evergreen will reward you with hundreds of brightest blue ‘Forget-me-not’ Has a quality that becomes addictive to use and associates well with grasses flowers for weeks. 30cm. AGM. too. 90cm. *ORIGANUM ‘Bristol Cross’. An O. laevigatum hybid with long pink and £6.00 *L. virgatum ‘Pale Form’. A strong constitution but delicate and beautiful chartreuse pipes of interlocking bracts held at right angles to the wiry 30cm high to look at and very long summer flowering. The flowers create a haze of stems. Think you could do better than that description then? palest pink and its look charmingly natural. 70cm *O. laevigatum ‘Hopleys’. Small glaucous leaves on branched wiry stems *MATTHIOLA incana ‘ Alba’. Deliciously scented, the pure white flowers £5.80 support a plethora of rosy-purple flowers. A Bee-puller par excellence. 45cm. enhanced by the grey foliage. We enjoy the spent seed heads in winter too. AGM. 30-40cm. *O. l. hybrid. Bought incorrectly as laevigatum, a fine wiry plant. This is pleasing but beefier with rose-purple flowers. MELANOSELINUM decipiens. A big Mamma of an Umbellifer from £6.50 *O. ‘Marchant’s Seedling’. Madiera related to Angelica. Carries its huge umbrella of dowdy, Cow Parsley A seedling selected by us for its good constitution pink flowers on thick banded trunks to 2m+. There ain’t nothink quite like it and vigour. The mauve-pink flowers will have Tortoiseshell butterflies and mighty more fun than growing sunflowers. Monocarpic. queuing to get into your garden! 40cm. *MEUM athamanticum. With feather fine foliage and small pads of white £6.20 ORNITHOGALUM pyramidale ‘Short Form’. Masses of white, green striped £6.20 flowers this gently unassuming native plant may just win your heart. We have flowers are borne on 30cm spikes in May-June. A charming, uncommon and found it to be long lived. 30cm. sterile form. We are trying it in grass. MOLOPOSPERMUM peloponnesiacum. A rather sophisticated perennial £6.20 PAPAVER orientale ssp paucifoliatum. An uncommon sub-species of £6.50 umbellifer with sharply etched fernlike foliage. The yellowish heads of flowers Oriental Poppy with large saucer shaped flowers of glowing orange-vermilion. and handsome seeds are carried on stout 120cm stems. My own collection from a ‘Biblical’ meadow in Armenia, 2004. 60cm. NEPETA The Catmints – and we love them just as much as they do. From £6.20 PELARGONIUM Who could fail to be endeared by these charming From £5.80 *N. ‘Florina’. An excellent selection from Christian Kress, Sarastro Nursery, subjects, flowering plants par excellence for potwork, each with highly individual Austria. Lovely contrast between the pink flowers and lilac calyx and more scented leaves. Don’t kid yourself they are hardy as they’re not and will need compact and tidy than the old ‘Dawn to Dusk’. 70cm cosseting against winter’s cold. *N. grandiflora. Most forms of this plant are garden selections. This is the type P. abrotanifolium. Tending to a trailing habit, the handsome cut silver-grey species with good deep blue flowers and a somewhat leafy habit. Put it on a leaves bear small white flowers, their upper petals feathered with purple. horti-diet and it will certainly be better for it. 70cm *P. ‘ Attar of Roses’. Perhaps the best scented foliage of them all making it N. nuda. Upright growth and a subtle misty display of tiny grey-lavender excellent for culinary use. AGM. flowers for weeks. Fans of strong colour will no doubt pass it by. 1.2m. *P. ‘Angel Eye's Orange’. Large flowers, flame above (with crimson streaks) *N. n. ‘Romany Dusk’. Paul Barney’s (Edulis) collection noted for its suave and salmon below. Shockingly ‘Eye-Shocking’. dark stems and almost white flowers. *P. ‘Capri’. A leafy scented mass of pale green foliage spattered through N. racemosa ‘Toria’. At 30-40 cm useful for its short stature. Typical froth of summer with chiselled pale red flowers. pale blue flowers. P. ‘Deerwood Lavender Lass’. A popular scented leaf introduction to our *N. r. ‘Walkers Low’. A Tomcat of a Catmint with a vigour to match. Deep range. Wide and sprawling, almost trailing reddish stems with 'oak' shaped lavender-blue flowers. 60cm. AGM. leaflets and a long succession of small bright pink flowers in clusters. *N. ‘Upright Form’. A synonym perhaps of N. ‘Joanna Reed’, it remains a P. exstipulatum. Makes a woody shrublet dressed with sharply scented, fringed cracking plant. Upright it is and a good rival to the brilliant N. ‘Walkers Low’ grey-green leaves and small pink flowers, the topmost petals crimson-purple above. A gift from a Belgian chum. 90cm. feathered. 30cm P. ionidiflorum. A green leaved species with showers of vivid pink flowers OENOTHERA lindheimeri. Formerly Gaura. Wand like stems airily display £6.20 through summer. delicate white flowers from pink buds, seemingly borne by the thousand through *P. ‘Graveolens’. Pleasing crimped foliage whose scent is almost a match for summer/autumn. Entrancing here in a duet with Miscanthus ‘Kleine Fontane’. ‘Attar’ above. Small pink flowers are a minor bonus. 120cm. AGM. 26 27 P. ‘Old Spice’. Small menthe scented scalloped leaves, pale silver-green and you can provide them with the necessary moist soil that they require. Be sure to dinky white flowers for months. enjoy their pungent and spicy scent. P. sidoides. Velvety scalloped silvery leaves, the dark violet-purple flowers, though *P. paniculata. The type species as grown by Great Dixter with soft mauve small, make a resonant statement. Very attractive and almost hardy. AGM. flowers held in pleasing light heads and the usual enveloping scent. 1.5m. *P. p. ‘Burgii’. PENSTEMON ‘Unnamed Cherry Red’. Produces a brilliant and long lasting £6.20 Dense heads of mid-pink flowers with a dark eye. Christopher display of cherry red flowers but with narrow, elegant foliage – a big ask usually Lloyd selection. P. p. ‘David’. with Penstemon.75cm. All singing, all dancing award winner from the US with noticeably larger flowers than other whites. AGM. PERSICARIA. Whilst the foliage of the following could not be described From £6.20 *P. p. ‘Geisha’s Glance’. Our own pretty small flowered selection, white with a as being refined, their flower shape, colour range and extraordinary length of developing soft carmine pink eye against a background of apple-green flowering season lift them, for us, onto a very high level. They also partner a wide foliage. 90cm. range of grasses superbly. We have gathered a number of newcomers from the *P. p. ‘Kirchenfuerst’. A very intense, stand out in a crowd deep reddish-purple. continent and offer several below. *P. p. ‘Konigin der Nacht’. A hard to find Phlox in England, yet a star of the P. alpina. A robust but, most importantly, non invasive ‘knotweed’ with a RHS trials. Lavender pink with a rosy pink eye. Over 25 years old! AGM. serious flowering intent, the creamy-white plumes produced unabated from *P. p. ‘Marchant’s Darkest’. Rich purple pink. A winner, we humbly suggest. June to Oct/Nov. Dusky rose seed heads are a bonus. 2m+. *P. p. ‘Mount Fuji’. By any standards an old clone but remains a great doer. P. amplexicaulis ‘Alba’. The exception to the rule in providing cool white Small flowers, pure pristine white. 120cm flower spikes. POLYGONATUM curvistylum. Those among you more familiar with From £6.80 P. a. ‘Fine Pink’. Slender spikes, a tad darker than ‘Rosea’ and thereby fills a green/white ‘Solomons Seal’ will be enthralled by this Himalayan species. From useful niche. the axils of the narrow leaves hang small mauve flowers in clusters. 35cm. P. a. ‘Pink Lady’. Slender pale pink tapers, look closely and you will see the P. falcatum ‘Silver Striped’. individual flowers are bi-coloured. Too long missing from our list. A distinct and rare form with a reasonably clean Uncommon. 1m. silvery stripe to the centre of each slender leaf. A collector’s item. 15cm. P. lasianthum. A gift from plantsman extraordinaire Dan Hinkley. His own P. a. ‘Jo & Guido’s Form’. An uncommon form, neither red nor pink and with Japanese collection with remarkable purple stripes suffusing the newly a distinct hint of salmon in the colour. 1m with us but probably taller in unfurling leaves. Small creamy, celadon tipped flowers follow. Rare. 30cm. damp soil. *P. odoratum ‘Red Stem’. P. a. ‘Marchant’s Red Devil’. Fat, bold red spikes from summer onwards. Being Remarkable for the brilliant ruby-red stems which shorter than most red forms makes it a handy addition. 70cm. hold foliage and flowers. 40cm. P. verticillatum ‘Rubrum’. P. a. ‘October Pink’. From Coen Jansen comes this good mid-pink, its season A great, leafy plant bearing whorls of narrow leaves. starts however in July with us. Sussex air perhaps. 90cm It is under these at each axil that clusters of small, deep pink speckled flowers hover. Principally, enjoy it for its foliage. 1.65m P. a. ‘Orangefield’. A game plant, not too tall and flower spikes of a most beautiful shade of soft pink heading towards coral. There's nothing quite POTENTILLA recta var. sulphurea A delicate pale yellow flowered form of £6.20 like it. 100cm. this upright, much branched, green leaved cinquefoil. *P. a. var. pendula. Possesses a grace which most Persicarias in this group lack P. ‘Vogue’. A little paler than P. recta sulphurea, exposed to plentiful summer but equally long flowering. The drooping flowers are a distinct purple-magenta, sunshine the flowers fade to near white. Extremely useful for its colour and the more so in cooler, wetter weather. 60cm. long flowering. 40cm. *P. a. ‘Rosea’. Upright spikes of small, pale pink flowers held in crimson calyces RANUNCULUS gramineus ‘Pardal’. With its gay large chrome yellow flowers £6.20 creating for weeks a charming two toned effect. Partners Panicum and in Feb/March I well remember the stir this plant’s introduction caused 30 years Miscanthus superbly. 120cm. or more ago. It still manages to turn eyes today. 30cm. *P. a. ‘Taurus’. A classy Bressingham Gardens introduction, the spikes of vibrant ruby-red flowers are the darkest and richest of those we grow. 120cm RODGERSIA podophylla. Ample palmate leaves emerge in spring strikingly £7.50 bronze flushed, eventually turning green but retaining their beauty until autumn. 90cm. PHLOX It is a sign of the times, that we must adjust our planting in the garden £6.20 due to climate change. Our beloved Phlox has been fried to a crisp over the past *ROSA x odorata ‘Bengal Crimson’. A legendary rose with strong thornless £12.50 few heat ridden summers. We continue to offer a small range here and hope that growth and a year long display (virtually) of loose, relaxed single crimson flowers. Capable of climbing if trained. AGM. 28 29 ROSCOEA x beesiana. An uncommon hybrid and whilst old, retains its vigour. £6.50 as ‘Useful for rough places’. No wonder it does well at Marchants! 1m. June flowering, the lower petals of the pale yellow flowers become purple *S. guaranitica ‘Blue Enigma’. Magnificent royal blue flowers from mid-summer streaked. Good soil and a little shade suits. AGM. until frosts. We find this the most reliably perennial form and it requires no staking. 150cm. AGM. RUDBECKIA. Stalwarts of the herbaceous border and like wily From £6.20 S. microphylla ‘Cerro Potosi’. Large carmine pink flowers and remarkable politicians will go on and on for years with little encouragement. blackcurrant scented foliage. Makes a lusty plant. 50cm. AGM. R. fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’. The mind boggles as to how Susan S. m. ‘Marchant’s Chalk White’. More ivory than white. Our own seedling received her black eyes. Perhaps staring at her namesake for too long for this raised surprisingly from the brilliantly coloured S. ‘Cerro Potosi’ above and is a bold yellow. In fact, yokes of free-range eggs spring to mind. Whilst equally long flowering. 60cm. brazen, it remains a peerless plant. 90cm. AGM. S. m. ‘Pink Blush’. A remarkable plant on account of its hardiness, length of *R. laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’. The large bright yellow drooping petals and central season and the shock value of its, well, shocking pink flowers. 45cm. green cone make for a plant of enormous quality. Tangos beautifully with *S. m. ‘Wine and Roses’. Newish form from the Dyson stable, named for its Salvia uliginosa through the autumn. 2m+. striking purple and red flowers the lower lip of which fades to soft rose pink. *R. maxima. Quirky leaves like coarse silver spinach, sport stiff stems carrying S. ‘Nachtvlinder’. The name is Dutch meaning Night Moth. Very appropriate equally quirky snooty flowers, bright yellow with chocolate brown cone. A really given it is perhaps the darkest flower colour you’ll find in this group - great profile plant offering bird fodder too. 60cm a dark night purple. AGM. *R. subtomentosa. A notch softer in colour than some of the former and S. nemerosa ‘Amethyst’. This distinct selection from Ernst Pagels sways more gentler therefore on the eye. The central cone resembles a maroon button. 120cm. to the lavender/lilac spectrum than other cultivars and is a useful plant where *R. s. ‘Henry Eilers’. Having first seen this in Bavaria, thought it a must have. vertical lift is required. 30ins. AGM. The petals are clear yellow and quilled, giving the plant a deft lightness. *S. nemerosa ‘Ex Amethyst’. Seedlings of the above. Flowers through August-Sept. but may need a pea stick or two. 1.5m. S. ‘Silas Dyson’. Glorious deep wine red flowers with fat lobes for months on *SALIX eleagnos. Narrow silver-backed leaves give this shapely shrub the £8.50 end. Makes a semi-shrubby mound, a little brittle when young. 1m+. appropriate name of ‘Rosemary-leaved Willow’. Given space, it will make a great S. stolonifera. The deep green foliage of this Mexican sage is deeply ribbed contribution in any reasonable soil and needs little pruning. 3m+ while the large tubular flowers are a startling bright orange. Said to prefer a *S. purpurea ‘Nancy Saunders’. A remarkably elegant form of the purple modicum of shade. Hardy? We have found it so. Osier, its slender blue-grey leaves adding considerably to the effect. Small *S. x sylvestris ‘Blauhügel’. The value of this group of salvias cannot be over grey catkins in Feb-March 2m+. AGM. stressed, providing colour over a long period. The flowers of this dependably good, short form are lavender-blue. 40cm. AGM. SALVIA. Like human beings, the ubiquitous Sage comes in all shapes and From £6.20 S. ‘Trelissick’. A twiggy salvia of microphylla persuasion with cream flowers. sizes, and also like humans, some are noticeably fussier and more demanding The 'hood' being peach-pink. 60cm. than others. They are truly worthy plants, giving us a spread of colourful flowers S. uliginosa. Wand-like stems carry clear sky-blue flowers, not large but freely throughout summer. There should be a plant here to suit every taste. produced over a very long season. We find it impossible to tire of this plant S. ‘Amistad’. A splendid new long flowering S.guaranitica hybrid (with associated but beware - it is rampant if it likes you. AGM. hardiness issues). The rich purple flowers held in black calyces. 1m. AGM. *S. verticilata. ‘Pur ple Rain’. A Piet Oudolf selection made some years ago, S. atrocyanea. Bolivia/Argentina A leafy autumn Sage whose large blue-violet yet still difficult to hold a candle to. If deadheaded regularly, continues with flowers are clasped in persistent purple stained bracts. Deciduous but hardy. 1m+ a display of its purple flower spikes for weeks on end. 45cm. *S. ‘Blue Note’. No better plant for chirping up a border for months with its brilliant, blue-purple flowers. SALVIA yangii – Formerly, Perovskia, or Russian Sage. Another name From £6.50 *S. chamelaeagnea. A South African sage which has proved hardy with us. The change to keep our heads spinning! combination of a white/pale blue lip, pale blue hood and reddish calyx is a S. ‘Blue Haze’. Long missing from our garden it has now returned, courtesy of delight. Its pungent leaves will remind you of germolene scuffed knees days. a dear friend. The broad, silvery uncut leaves make for a chunkier plant than S. ‘Christine Yeo’. A hardy stalwart hybrid sage covering itself in small purple the following. It is also taller by far, capable of reaching 1.5m. flowers for months. 60cm S. ‘Blue Spire’. In a well drained soil the spires of small lavender-blue flowers *S. glutinosa. Known apparently as ‘Jupiter’s Distaff’, this sticky Sage has large make a fine vertical accent. Invaluable for its late flowering display. 120cm. AGM. coarse basal leaves, pale yellow flowers and is described in one eminent book *S. ‘Little Spire’. Like ‘Blue Spire’ in every respect but at 60cm, much smaller. 30 31 SANGUISORBA The Burnets are among the rising stars of the From £6.50 Distinguished by the fine little hairs on the leaves. A very effective small Horticultural stage having attained their own trial at Wisley. We have been ‘London Pride’ for the border edge. 20cm using them for an age and find them exemplary used in association with our S. x g. ‘Pink Froth’. Forms tight evergreen rosettes of deep bottle green foliage, many grasses. We are always adding new varieties to our list. Please note that its 20cm stems covered in tiny pink flowers. Spring. plants marked with an asterisk (*) will not become available until May. *SCUTTELARIA incana. Skullcap An unassuming leafy plant until late £6.20 *S. ‘Blackthorn’. An inspiring newcomer to our list. Fuzzy, pink and upright summer which is when its spikes of pretty lavender-blue flowers will catch all and admired by all. 1.5m. but the dullest eyes. 40cm. *S. ‘Burr Blanc’. We spotted this saucy white seedling here amongst a batch of seedlings in 2004 and it has performed very well in the garden even in drought SEDUM We have commented before on the problems which have assailed our £6.20 years. Quite unlike other white forms, the flowers emerge from celadon green Sedums (of which we were once well known). Our advice is to keep your eyes buds and retain a fresh appearance for weeks on end. 120cm. to the sale benches or better still ask when you visit to see what we’ve been *S. canadensis hybrid. Probably a species, this is our own name for this short inspired to propagate. S. Canadensis look alike. Upright spikes of white flowers for weeks, holding SELINUM wallichianum. £6.20 its structure & seed heads well. 1.2m. From the Himalayas, this refined Umbellifer is like a vastly superior ‘Queen Anne’s Lace’. The fresh green lacy foliage is crowned in *S. ‘Cangshan Cranberry’. We so value this super plant for its Sept-Nov. display of dusky red flowers on self supporting, upright stems. A Dan Hinkley June with flat umbels of white flowers supported on stout, ribbed stems. 120cm. AGM. *S. wall. ‘West Acre Form’. collection from Yunnan Province, China in 1996. 2m+. Differs from the above with its red flushed stems, S. menziesii. Conspicuous maroon burrs, the largest and first to flower in mid- a prolific display of slightly domed flowers and if anything, even finer foliage. 1.2m . summer. Our good form is always admired by customers unfamiliar with this SEMPERVIVUM We’ve enjoyed gathering a small collection of From £5.00 genus – the best recommendation of all. 1m. AGM. Houseleeks over the years, and of course lovely pots in which to grow them. *S. officinalis ‘Arnhem’. The burrs of this lanky burnet hover like a swarm of Kids seem to love them as much as we do. We hope to have the following for sale. small raspberries on wiry, branched stems, holding their colour for weeks. S. ‘Blue Boy’, S. ciliosum x grandiflorum, S. ‘Holly’, S. ‘Irazu’, A great favourite here during summer. 2m. S. ‘Lady Kelly’, S. marmoreum brunneifolium, S. nevadense hirtellum, *S. off. ‘Martin's Mulberry’. A marked step forward for the genus with this S. ‘Rubin’, S. ‘Spiders Lair’, S. ‘Stuffed Olive’, S. tectorum glaucum , etc. introduction from West Acre Gardens. Plump, deep burgundy floating burrs on strong, self supporting stems. Super. 1.5m+ *SERRATULA tinctoria var. seaonei. A modest, little known plant which £5.80 *S. ‘Pink Tanna –Form 2’. Longer and more slender burrs than the original makes its unassuming entry late in the season with fuzzy pale violet aster like form. A very good plant. 1m. flowers over deeply cut foliage. Charming. 30cm. *S. ‘ Red Busby’. Selected here for its capacious growth and strong stems which SISYRINCHIUM idahoense ‘Pale Form’. Large flowers a most beautiful £6.00 terminate in a teeming mass of fat deep wine red burrs. 1.75m. shade of grey-blue. 15cm. *S. ‘Sanguine Dwarf ’. Hard to believe, this was a seedling raised here from S. ‘Dragon’s Eye’. A striking introduction from America with pale lavender S. ‘Arnhem’. At 35cm, very cute. flowers and penetrating dark violet eye. 15cm *S. ‘Scapino’. Like a throng of unleashed, suspended red caterpillars this is a S. ‘Marchant’s Seedling’. This short dark violet seedling occurred on one of colourful and playful introduction from nurseryman Christian Cress and our raised beds and has pleasantly stood the test of time. 15cm. worthy of the border front. 1m+ S. ‘Salome's Glance’. Veined violet flowers with an alluring dark centre. 15cm. *S. tenuifolia ‘Pink Catkin’. Burnets give rise to bountiful seedlings. This one S. ‘Volupte’. Large, full flowers of pale violet over a tussle of narrow iris like escaped the hoe and resulted in a very pretty creation with long pale pink leaves. catkin like tassels in September. 1.6m SOLIDAGO rugosa ‘Loysder Crown’. £6.20 *Sanguisorba tenuifolia ‘Pur purea’. Divisions are offered from a plant Once proving an herbaceous border brought back from Holland in 1997. The hanging tassels make quite a change backbone, now less favoured. This Dutch selection is a fine plant, sturdy, and in character from many of the above. 1.8m in clear lemon yellow. *SPHAERALCEA incana ‘Sourup’. A hardy erect sub shrub invariably nipped £6.80 SAXIFRAGA x geum ‘Dentata’. The leaves in this form look as though From £5.50 by winter cold whose pale sage green leaves are in harmony with its soft orange they’ve been histrionically set upon with a pair of pinking shears! mallow flowers produced all summer. 1.25m+. S. x g. ‘Fuzzypeg’. Much better than our original name of ‘The Hairy One’! 32 33 *STROBILANTHES rankanensis. A handsome late flowering perennial £6.80 T. ‘Purple Eye’. A neat plant with flattened narrow glaucous leaves. Stems bear providing a show of sizeable hooded pale violet-blue flowers over a copious umbels of pale lilac starry flowers, the contrasting ‘eye’ formed by the central mound of large leaves. 80cm. purple Corona. 25cm. AGM. T. ‘Snow White’. Large heads of purest white flowers with no hint of pink. Crisp *SUCCISA pratensis. Dainty lavender-blue, Scabious like flowers held From £6.20 effect. on 90cm spikes over evergreen basal clumps. Completely dependable and a T. ‘Sweet Syringa’. Quite full petals (for a Tulbaghia). Lilac toned, just the colour cocktail bar for tortoiseshell butterflies in Sept/Oct. of the plant we all grew up with in our parents ‘Shrubbery’. Intriguing sweet THALICTRUM aquilegiifolium ‘Small Thundercloud’. A corker of From £6.20 scent of sliced garlic bulb. Hmmmm? 35cm a plant, T. aquilegiifolium in miniature. Creates considerably more than a storm T. violacea ‘Alba’. Simply put, the white form and as with other forms, long in a teacup with its generous clouds of purple flowers. 40cm. flowering and virtually vice free. T. ‘Black Stockings’. Euphemistically named, the flower stems are in fact T. v. ‘Harry Hay’. Given to me by legendary Harry Hay it seems appropriate to purple and support, as is usual for this Genus a fuzz of rosy-purple flowers. name it after him. A form of T. violacea, it carries darker than most large lilac- 1.2m. AGM. mauve flowers with a pale purple corona and is quite distinct. 45cm. *T. delavayi. W. China. The small, nodding rosy lilac flowers with their prominent T. v. ‘Large Flowered Form’. Prodigious 10p sized flowers, like small windsails stamens provide an entrancing display on their tracery of wiry stems in summer. in pale lilac-pink. 40cm. A refined plant in every respect. 1.5m. *VERBENA bonariensis. Erect, skeletal Giacometti like stems bear clusters of £5.80 *T. ‘Elin’. Vigorous and imposing hybrid (T.flavum glaucum x T.rochebruneanum) tiny lavender-purple flowers through summer and autumn. Its transparent 2.5 metres+ AGM. structure is beautiful in winter too. 150-180cm. AGM. *T. ‘Ulrike’. A Skyscraper of a Meadow Rue its strong stems lurching to 2.5m+ *V. hastata. Erect stems terminate in a branched candelabra arrangement of with typically delicate foliage and showers of lilac-purple flowers in summer. tiny purple flowers. 90cm. Strangely, its parentage remains unknown. V. macgougalii ‘Lavender Spires’. Being sterile (discovered after a hunt for seed) £6.00 *TRIFOLIUM pannonicum. Many large creamy yellow heads all summer £6.20 unlike many verbena, don’t expect seedlings! Purple flowers progress from tip over clumps of trefoil leaves. 35cm. to bottom leaving an attractive long cord like seed head. First rate. 1.2m. *T. rubens. An unusual clover, the short spikes of soft red flowers make an *VERNONIA arkansana. Iron Root So called because of its brutishly tough £6.50 excellent contribution to the mid-summer flower border. 45cm. roots. A late perennial which should be better known. Leafy 1.8m+ stems are *TRITONIA disticha subsp. rubrolucens. A Crocosmia relative (corm), its £6.20 topped in Sept/Oct. with a display of small crimson-purple aster like flowers. sweet strawberry pink lily-like flowers suspended on wiry stems through VERONICASTRUM The following list is arguably one of the best in the £6.80 September. Hardy. 60cm. country. We love these classic American Prairie plants. Their bold, erect outline TROPAEOLUM polyphyllum. A bizarre Nasturtium with sprawling mounds £6.80 match them perfectly to planting with grasses. What’s more, they are long lived of silver foliage and yellow flowers. Desirable but infrequently seen. 10cm. AGM. and for the most part, very easy to please. Flowering from June. V. ‘Adoration’. Piet Oudolf’s striking selection with large branched flower spikes, TULBAGHIA These medicinal plants are named after Rijk Tulbagh, Governor £6.20 lilac with rose purple tips.1.5m. of the Southern Cape Province (18th C) and a buddy of Carl Linnaeus. Lucky V. sibiricum var japonicum ‘White Apollo’. A present from Nurseryman Tulbagh we say, to have had such a pretty, hardy group of long flowering plants extraordinaire Coen Jansen, though we know nothing of its origin. Offered named after him for perpetuity! for the first time – long pure white tapered flower spikes and greener and T. ‘Cosmic’. One of many new cultivars coming to the market place. This is leafier than the American forms of V. virginicum. 1m+ vigorous with lilac flowers and contrasting corona of golden yellow. 50cm. V. sibiricum. ‘Kobaltkaars’. From Dutch nurseryman friend Hans Kramer, T. ‘Fair y Star’. T. cominsii x violacea gives us this dainty narrow leaved plant. bearing mid-violet coloured spikes 1.25m The clusters of pale lilac-mauve flowers are carried on 30cm stems for months. V. v. ‘Album’. The beautiful white form, buff-pink in bud, and difficult to hold T. ‘John May Special’. This plants large flowers and strong growth really do a candle to. 120cm. make it a contender for the best of the bunch. 60cm V. v. ‘Diane’. A good white form somewhat shorter than V.v. album. 120cm. T. ‘John May Seedlings’. Prolific seed set last summer means we will be offering V. v. ‘Erica’. A form which has settled down well with us. The flowers are pale strong young plants this summer. Interesting! rose pink. Raised by eminent nurseryman, Ernst Pagels. 120cm. 34 35 V. v. ‘Lavendelturm’. A strong growing form we find, with large airy heads of *C. x a.‘Overdam’. Finely variegated leaves form a bold clump and in spring £6.50 pale lavender–lilac flowers. 2m. AGM. are attractively tinted with pink. The spent flowers are as effective as the V. v. f. roseum. Soft pink flower spikes followed by persistent warm, coppery above. 1.8m. seed heads in winter make this a favourite here. 1.5m *C. brachytricha. The autumn plumes emerge smoky purple and are highly £6.50 effective. A great sight in a grouping. 120cm. AGM. VIOLA cornuta. A pure cornuta with small, deep purple flowers. A generous £6.20 C. varia. Possesses all the attributes of the above. However, the flowers of £6.50 gift from a customer who has grown it for over 30 years. AGM. this species are held on graceful, arching stems. 60cm. V. c. ‘Gypsy Moth’. Pale lavender-blue and cream. From the talented Elizabeth MacGregor. *CAREX muskingumensis ‘Little Midge’. The Palm Sedge in its smallest £6.50 V. ‘Inverurie Beauty’. The abundant fair sized mid-violet flowers are carried on form, a fuzz of fresh greenery for the border front. 15cm. lengthy stems making them ideal for Tuzzy-Muzzies. 30cm. AGM. *C. m. ‘Oehme’. A striking form with a swish golden band to the edge of £6.80 the leaf. 45cm. GRASSES CHASMANTHIUM latifolium. The intriguing flat flowers of Wood Oats are £6.80 green on opening and persist in winter when they become copper flushed. Admire The grasses revolution of the last 20 years has seen the introduction of many new them in the garden or better still, pick them for the house. varieties but has also importantly prompted a reconsideration of their uses with the result CHIONOCHLOA rubra. Only when this plant had increased in girth here did £7.50 that grasses are now being employed in a much more creative way by gardeners and garden we realise it was alive! The fine copper coloured leaves form handsome dense designers alike. They have become an essential part of the English gardening vernacular and tussocks. Effective in the border or pots. AGM. regardless of their fashion status and prominence in garden magazines features (and despite one prominent garden writer commenting to me five years ago that grasses had DESCHAMPSIA cespitosa ‘Tardiflora’. A Karl Foerster selection of the £6.80 probably had their day) in all probability, they are here to stay. tufted hair grass flowering, more tardily than most, from July. 75cm. In the wild they are pioneer plants, surviving in open spaces where, wind pollinated, D. c. ‘Tautrager’. New to us from the continent it grows to 90cm and has they grow in lean soils with little competition from other plants Their requirements in the proved to be a strong upstanding plant. Effective both singly and in drifts. garden are also easily met but the light provided by sunshine, particularly when low cast, is ERAGROSTIS curvula S&SH 10. Far superior to the form we had been £6.80 one of the most important ingredients of all. The striking of light and its refraction offering, by mid-summer the flowering stems knit together into a billowing through the seemingly delicate flower heads and seed heads of many grasses creates an airy mass which persists long into the winter months. 90cm. effect that few other plants can match. Grasses are very much part of our own vocabulary at Marchants, making an important *HAKONECHLOA macra. The fresh, plain green leaves of this form make £6.80 connection between the garden and the landscape beyond. They are seen a welcome contrast to the ubiquitous variegated form. AGM. at their best between July and October so why not pay us a visit to see how we use them HELICTOTRICHON sempervirens. A classic grass, forming a tufted mound £6.80 and to discover the remarkable beauty they can bring to a garden. of steely grey foliage. The stems bow gracefully under the sheer weight of the IMPORTANT Many of our grasses are propagated in spring and will not therefore flower panicles. 70cm. AGM. become available until the end of May/early June. They are marked with an asterisk (*). *IMPERATA cylindrica ‘Rubra’. The intensity of colour of the ‘Blood Grass’ £6.80 *ANEMANTHELE lessoniana . The evergreen clump of bronzed foliage will £6.20 increases with the passing of the summer months, reaching by September by mid -July have erupted into a cascade of fine, brown-pink flower panicles. a glowing beetroot red. Requires good soil and full sun to excel. 30cm Within a month they will have faded to a mist of Gold. Needs good soil to give LUZULA sylvatica ‘Marginata’. The cream leaf margins of the Wood Rush £6.80 of its best. 50cm. AGM. make for a refined plant, made even better when topped by a haze of reddish brown flowers in early summer. 40cm. AGM. BRIZA media ‘Limouzi’. This Quaking/Totter Grass always steals hearts with £6.20 L. s. ‘Aurea’. The refreshing golden leaved form of the above. 40cm. its insect-like rustling, dark flowers on wiry stems. 45cm. MELICA uniflora f.albida. The Wood Melick creeps about benignly, its’ £6.20 CALAMAGROSTIS x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’. The vertical thrust of this £6.80 spikelets spangled with tiny bead like white flowers. Understated and utterly plant, together with the bleached biscuit pallor of the spent flowers and stems charming. 40cm. provides a unique and highly effective feature from summer onwards. 180cm.

36 37 MISCANTHUS My conversion to this Genus happened many years ago From £7.95 *M. s. ‘Punktchen’. Pale narrow bands develop on the leaves as the seasons on a visit to Ernst Pagels’ Nursery in North Germany where he had spent many progress, eventually becoming distinct. Very free flowering with pinkish years selecting seedlings. The result of his work has provided us with some of the flowers and comes highly recommended. finest autumn flowering grasses available today. This also accounts for the large *M. s. ‘Rosi’. A very handsome newcomer from Germany, bolt upright and with number of German names one battles to get ones tongue around. a dark, smouldering look about it. Fine autumn colour comes as a bonus 2m+. Flowering at the same time as Pampas Grass, they do not suffer the same *M.s. ‘Rotfuchs’. Deep rust-red narrow plumes, fading to a bleached charcoal- unfortunate suburban connotation and are much easier to accommodate in mixed purple. 2m+. borders. Their beauty lasts long into the winter, as long that is as their bleached M.s. ‘Sarabande’. Extremely fine elegant leaves form an erect column, erupting stems are able to resist the vagaries of winter’s inclement weather. Flowering on in September in a display of copper-gold plumes. An American selection. their annual growth, Jan/Feb heralds the start of the shearing season when they 180cm. AGM. are carefully cut back (we use a hedgetrimmer here) to 5cm or so before the new M.s. ‘Silberspinne’. The vertical thrust of elegant narrow leaves and upright seasons growth begins. flower heads of brown-purple make this selection one of the finest. Splendid M. nepalensis. This possesses the most beautiful flowers of any Miscanthus, winter structure. 180cm. small fountain-like tresses of braided gold silk. We struggle with it in cold *M. s. ‘Silver Sceptre’. Bolt upright with arguably the finest foliage among winters but many find it quite easy. 120cm Miscanthus of medium height making it a particularly good grass for M. sinensis ‘Adagio’. At 1.2m this American selection has proved to be the statement making. Marvellous in flower too. A lucky Marchant’s seedling. 1.8m. shortest in our collection and is thus ideal for the smaller garden. Makes a M.s. ‘Yakushima Dwarf ’. Extremely productive, casting up masses of golden tight, narrow leaved clump and covers itself in silvery buff, thin plumes. AGM. plumes. Its narrow foliage, compact habit and beautiful shape, lends it to *M. s. ‘Beth Chatto’. The last Miscanthus from Ernst Pagels, nostalgically punctuation and landscape planting. Classy. 120cm eventually. named after his dear friend. The very fine leaves arching at their tips and MOLINIA The following are without exception among the most From £7.20 narrow light brown flowers make for an elegant grass. 1.5m+ atmospheric of grasses. Arising from non-invasive clumps, their erect stems bear *M. s. ‘China’. Like the following, one of the darkest, but just a notch later. in summer slender spikes of black-purple or brown/tan flowers. Their transparent 1.5m. AGM. nature makes them ideal candidates for the border front, enabling the eye to pass *M. s. ‘Ferner Osten’. An early display of dark purple flowers held well above through to vistas beyond. To cap it all, their bright, bleached stems make a strikingly narrow leaves, continues thereafter over a long season. A great favourite here. beautiful addition to the late autumn/early winter garden. 1.5m AGM. *M. caerulea ssp. arundinacea ‘Bergfreund’. Tiny bead like flowers in silvery- *M. s. ‘Flamingo’. A cultivar with extremely beautiful pendulous, purplish pink brown create a floral mist and are at their most entrancing when suspended flowers. 1.8m. AGM. with droplets of water after rain. 2m. *M. s. ‘Gewitterwolke’. The name ‘Stormcloud’ refers to the dark grey spent *M. c. a. ‘Karl Foerster’. Handsome purple flower inflorescence. The perfect flowers and purple stained stems. The chunky, broad foliage takes on fine choice for a one man show at the border front! 180cm. Highly recommended. colour in late autumn too. 150cm. AGM. *M. c. a. ‘Transparent’. Only a pedant would argue about the differences *M. s. ‘Ghana’. A distinct narrow habit, upright brown flowers and superb between this and M. ‘Bergfreund’.They are both highly effective garden plants reddish, purple-brown autumn colour make this a real winner. 150cm. AGM. but require moist summer ground to give of their best. *M. s. ‘Hermann Mussel’. In effect, like a beefier M.s.‘Yakushima Dwarf’, flowering well into November. Very impressive. 1.5m The following forms (ssp. caerulea) require the same cultural conditions as From £6.80 M. s. ‘Kleine Fontäne’. Drooping flower heads in shimmering pink. This is the above but are much shorter in growth. indeed a very beautiful and totally reliable ‘Small Fountain’. 120cm. AGM. M.c.c. ‘Dauerstrahl’. Guilt leads me to confess this grass suffered neglect here M. s. ‘Malepartus’. The stir this plant caused when it arrived from Germany for years. A reappraisal followed replanting and last summer few were the days continues to this day. Dramatic, upright spikes of purple flowers in bold when its soft arching beauty wasn’t appreciated at the border front. 70cm. contrast to the broad, arching leaves. The foliage takes on glorious amber/ M.c.c. ‘Dark Defender’. Marina Christopher’s recent selection has proved itself apricot tints in late autumn. 180cm. a real star, the dark bronze heads unusually persisting well into winter. 90cm. *M. s. ‘Professor Richard Hansen’. Another Ernst Pagels selection, with M.c.c. ‘Heidebraut’. As ethereal as the following but at 1.2m just a notch taller. upright foliage and sentinel, silvery flower plumes held on lithe stems well M.c.c. ‘Moorhexe’. At 1m, with wispy panicles this is a useful intermediary above the leaves. 2.75m. between the short and tall forms. AGM.

38 39 M.c.c. ‘Poul Petersen’. This is Piet Oudolf’s choice for planting ‘en masse’. P. a. ‘Herbstzauber’. Looking like an obese pincushion, and softer toned than Who am I to argue? 70cm the above, the brown bottlebrush flowers of this fine German selection always draw positive comments. 50cm. PANICUM. The ‘Switch Grasses’ of North America are a valuable From £6.80 *P. macrourum. Unequivocally one of the most interesting grasses we grow. addition to our flower borders. Strictly clump forming and trouble free, they The flowers, not unlike cream-white pipe cleaners, are held aloft on stiff erupt in September/October into a shower of tiny reddish-purple, bead like 180cm stems. Need we say more? flowers. At the same time, the foliage assumes crimson-purple hues, contributing *P. orientale. Beth Chatto’s description - ‘pink and mauve caterpillars on wiry greatly to the general effect. stems’ takes some beating. A beautiful grass when grown well and holds its *P. amarum ‘Dewey Blue’. Differs from the following selections in being paler own against the following newer introductions. Loves chalk. 45cm. AGM. in both leaf and flower colour and with a more arching habit. We love it. 120cm. *P. ‘Fairy Tails’. An American selection which has performed well in the *P. virgatum ‘Black and Blue’. As the name suggests, this panicum has a blue- garden here. Bolt upright, it is the last of the orientales to come into flower black leaf which colours further into the autumn. 1m. with us. 75cm. P. v. ‘Blue Darkness’. Another of the dark Panicums, this one with a striking P. o. ‘Shogun’. One of the taller forms of P. orientale and able to hold itself contrast between the green and dark blue-purple markings on the leaves. 1m. reasonably well. 1m. P. v. ‘Cheyenne Sky’. New short form of Switch Grass. Glaucus young foliage *P. o. ‘Tall Tails’. Much more vigourous than the species at 1.5m with long colours well in autumn. 50cm. arching creamy-buff fingers of flower. A classic hybrid. P. v. ‘Heavy Metal Mk2’. A seedling of ‘Heavy Metal’ which has grown stronger *P. thunbergii ‘Red Buttons’. A newish fountain grass with conspicuous, big than its parent with us but with all the attributes, particularly the grey foliage. bug sized copper-red flowers through summer. Has proved hardy here. 90cm. P. v. ‘North Wind’. We so enjoy this plant with its strong vertical habit, forming *P. villosum. Spectacular long display of huge white Caterpillar-like flowers, a green column in the border. Good bronze and copper tints in autumn too. irresistible to kids (and adults too!). Hardy here but doesn’t get its annual The golden flowers hover halo-like just above the foliage. 120cm. haircut until spring. 50cm. AGM. P. v. ‘Rubrum’. An old variety, but one which performs very well with us, flowering profusely and with superb autumn leaf colour. 1m. POA labillardierei ‘Marchant’s Needle’. A seedling raised here. The grey £6.50 P. v. ‘Shenandoah’. Particularly dark red flowers in this form and characteristic foliage is noticeably narrow, a clump resembling a bizarre Pincushion! Flowers red staining to the foliage too. 1m. not yet observed. 40cm? P. v. ‘Shenandoah’ (True) As much for academic reasons are we offering this *SCHIZACHYRIUM scoparium ‘Blue Heaven’. Little Bluestem. A variable £6.50 plant, a gift from Ewald Hugin who received it in turn from Nurseryman clumping grass, this leaden blue selection has impressed us with its seasonal Hans Simon, its discoverer. Like the above, this has deep burgundy infused colour development climaxing in autumn in red, purple and orange. Its biscuit foliage but is shorter than the above. 60cm. coloured seed heads are also good. 40/50cm. P. v. strictum. Bolt upright with a particularly airy flowering inflorescence. We love it! 120cm. *SPOROBOLUS heterolepis. The grass Piet Oudolf uses so well en masse £6.20 P. v. ‘Warrior’. Produces a great misty head of ruby flower spikelets that remain not only for its looks but scent too – crushed coriander. Ours is the strong attractive in winter long after their colour has been sapped. 120cm. Pensthorpe Wildfowl Park form. 60cm. PENNISETUM The Fountain or Feather Grasses might better be called From £6.50 STIPA gigantea ‘Gold Fontäne’. A German selection. Our parent plant From £6.80 the Animal tail Grasses, their flowers mimicking in a cute sort of way Squirrel, performs very well here normally producing a copious number of flowering Rabbit, Lamb, Deer, even Rat. We think them versatile and easy to grow but stems. For us, the foliage seems noticeably compact. AGM. drainage is important and in harsh winters 1 or 2 may quake. They are grown for S. lessingiana. Syn. Needle Grass. Slim points of gold flowers emerge from fine their spectacular flowers, less so for their plain foliage. glaucous green foliage. Looks extremely romantic in the breeze – oh dear, I’m *P. alopecuroides ‘Black Beauty’. A selected clone of the following with getting carried away! 1.2m. AGM. spectacular dark, busby-like flowers in autumn. Admired by all. 90cm. This S. tenuissima. Forms a green mound of seemingly hair fine foliage, covered in and the following forms of P. alopecuroides enjoy moist, not dry soil. summer by a smoky haze of pale straw flowers. 40cm. AGM. *P. a. ‘Hameln’. A shorter, denser form of this great plant but still demanding S. tenuissima ‘Wind Whispers’. New here, online research tells me it ‘sways in moist soil to give of its best. 50/60cm. the merest breath of wind’ –‘Shimmers in the breeze’ with ‘Skeins of tangled Gold’ – but – what the hell does it look like?

40 41 FERNS SHORT LIST

ATHYRIUM filix-femina ‘Frizelliae’. The Tatting Fern So distinct From £7.20 The plants below are all worthy of our main list but are stocked in numbers too small to and pretty with pinnae reduced to circular lobes, well spaced along the arching take the honours. Descriptions are therefore limited and plants are offered on a first come wiry mid-rib. 40cm. AGM. first served basis. A. niponicum var. pictum. The elegant and beautiful Japanese Painted Fern in ACANTHUS dioscoridis. In early summer over spineless, grey-green leaves, £6.20 shades of grey, silver and dusky purple. Needs shelter and good soil to give the flower stems rise to little more than 1ft to bear beautiful clear pink flowers. of its’ best. We offer divisions of a very fine form. AGM. To our eyes, the gem of the genus, revelling in a baked, hot spot. A. nip. var. pic. ‘Marchants Selection’. Our own ‘Painterly’ selection of the remarkably beautiful Japanese Fern. Likes it cool. ALLIUM obliquum. Medium sized spherical flowers, pale yellow – a favorite £5.80 here. 40cm. POLYPODIUM The polypodies are marvellous garden plants, easy to From £7.50 grow, tolerating dry semi-shade and requiring only half-decent soil in which to ASTER ericoides ‘Ringdove’. In character close to the ericoides types. £6.20 prosper. The new fronds emerge in summer, and their green cloaks retain a Explodes from tiny buds into a constellation of small pale lavender-blue rayed remarkable uplifting freshness throughout the autumn and winter months. flowers with sulphur yellow centres. A favourite here. 50cm. AGM. P. cambricum. The Southern Polypody is a no thrills and spills fern with a BUPLEURUM falcatum. The small flowers of this short-lived perennial are £5.80 simple, beautiful clarity of outline. Collected by us in the Languedoc where acid yellow, held in airy clouds on a tracery of wiry stems. Unsurpassed for it thrived among rocky terrain. 20cm. effect, it will seed freely when happy. 60cm. P. c. ‘Cristatum’ (Old Form). Both pinnae (basically frond side leaves) and frond tip carry curled crests making for a distinct Polypody. Discovered in CENTAUREA macrocephala. Great Caucasian Knapweed is a ‘roughneck’ £6.50 Cork in 1854. sort of thistle, redeemed by its chirpy yellow globe flowers clasped by golden P. c. (Cristatum Group) ‘Grandiceps Fox’. A strong growing form with large brown bracts. Good for drying apparently. 90cm. terminal ruffled crests to each frond. 30cm. AGM. DIANTHUS ex ‘Tatra Fragrance’. Seedlings of a striking patterned and £6.20 P. c. ‘Hornet’. A curio discovered in Wales but unlikely to win a Fern beauty scented form from the Tatra Mountains. These should flower from early contest. Interesting none-the-less. 15cm. summer onwards. P. c. pulcherrimum ‘Pulcherrimum Addison’. An extremely neat and beautiful fern with neatly incised and layered pinnae creating a dainty, lacy effect. 20cm EUCOMIS zambesiaca. At 30cm a small-scale E. pallidiflora but equally £6.80 P. c. pulch. ‘Dwarf Form’. Equally good but a tad shorter than the other forms we grow. characterful. Hardy and just the plant for a classy stoneware pot. P. c. ‘Richard Kayse’. Discovered in 1668, surely the oldest plant in our list. GERANIUM wallichianum ‘Buxton’s variety’. £6.20 The pinnae are distinctly pointed in this sterile form which is claimed to be A legendary ‘Cranesbill’ from one of the most beautiful. 30cm. AGM. the Himalayas. The white-eyed, spode blue saucer flowers peak, with the arrival of cooler Autumn days. Spreading habit. 30cm. P. c. ‘Whilharris’. Generally shaggier in its appearance, the lobes of the large 35cm long fronds are also deeply cut, each vaguely resembling a small GLADIOLUS tristis. Small flared scented primrose yellow flowers. A far cry £7.20 Christmas tree. AGM. from the gross flowers bred for the cut flower trade. A great favourite here. P. glycyrrhiza. Bold bi-pinnatifid fronds whose classic, simple line could not be improved upon. The root apparently tastes of liquorice. 45cm. HEBE hulkeana . Less common than it used to be, this New Zealand evergreen £7.90 P. gly. ‘Longicaudatum’. A fern of character with bipinnate fronds each one has also long borne the indignity of being described as half hardy. Balderdash! terminating in a long pointed tip. 30cm. AGM. Given sun and drainage it will live for years and reward you with long sprays of P. gly. ‘Malahatense’. Easily distinguished by the fact it bears 3 distinct frond spectacular lilac flowers in early summer. This will make you rethink Hebes. shapes on any one plant. 30cm LINARIA ‘Plummy’. Seed raised and maybe variable. The colour is described £6.20 POLYSTICHUM setiferum ‘Congestum’. As the name suggests, a neat £7.20 as blue-purple. Sounds enticing. congested form which maintains its tight growth. 25cm. MERXMUELLERA macowanii. – My dear friend John Coke alerted me to *P. s. ‘Pulcherrimum Bevis’. We hope to offer divisions (not wayward £ Please ask! the existence of this Grass as we travelled up Mike’s Pass in the Drakensburg micro-props) of this blindingly good form of the Soft Shield Fern. Mountains, SA. We soon found it and 4 tiny seedlings were backpacked to Few ferns can match it. AGM. England where they survived and grew. One has been in Marchants Garden 42 43 ever since, has made a bonny plant and may be the only plant grown in British gardens. I will eat my words if otherwise! It forms a tussock, is long lived and its beautiful long plumes are persistent, the colour of old gold. We have 10 plants for sale of this rarity – yours for £40.00 per plant MYRRHIS odorata. Sweet Cicely. Particularly refined cut foliage, pungent too. £6.20 The flat heads of creamy white flowers are also delicately scented. 60cm. MISCANTHUS sinensis ‘Dronning Ingrid’. Salutes the name of Ingrid, £7.95 Queen of Denmark. A shorter growing form whose foliage in sun becomes distinctly purple flushed. 1.3m. OMPHALODES cappadocica ‘Lilac Mist’. Given by a dear old friend. £6.50 A very beautiful shade of lilac and a great plant we think and just as easy as O. ‘Cherry Ingram.’ POLYPODIUM cambricum semilacerum ‘Falcatum O’Kelly’. The fronds £7.80 of this Irish Polypody stand apart for being long and very slender. The pinnae have the distinction of curving like little arms in prayer towards the tip. 30cm+. POLYSTICHUM setiferum ‘Acutilobum’. A sharply etched fern, the 60cm £7.80 long ladder-like fronds being no wider than 80mm. A form of P. setiferum and therefore quite easy. STIPA pseudoichu. Pale creamy-white narrow plumes over fine evergreen £6.80 foliage. Irresistibly tactile. 90cm. AGM. TULBAGHIA ‘Fairy Snow’. – In effect a white version of T. ‘Fairy Star’. £6.50 A pleasing, dainty and long flowering plant for full sun. 30cm. THALICTRUM dasycarpum. Rarely seen this N. American Meadow Rue £6.80 boasts good foliage, dark purple stems and a summer display of shaggy cream come celadon green flowers. Subtle – we love it. 1.8m.

A plea for carry bags and strong boxes

We spend many hours collecting boxes from a number of sources for you to take your plants safely home. It is an enormous help therefore if you can provide your own boxes or bags and moreover a sure way of becoming a favourite customer. Many thanks for your consideration.

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