plant of the month 2005

December 26, 2006

Plant of the Month 2005

january 2005	february 2005	march 2005	april 2005	may 2005
*june 2005*	*july 2005*	*august 2005*	*september 2005*	*october 2005*
*november 2005*	*december 2005*

Plant of the Month - January 2005
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This plant, Chrysosplenium macrophyllum, has gone from strength to strength, producing runners in the damp soil from one of the spring lines and has made a very healthy colony. The flowers are welcome at this time of the year and are very obvious. This is quite different in stature to our native species and other introduced species grown in this garden. Is it correctly identified though?

Plant of the Month - February 2005 top
This Crocus (tommasinianus 'Whitewell Purple') is one of the wonders of spring, although today (13th) with snow on the mountains, one does wonder if winter has really relinquished its icy grip! The honey bees work these during sunny spells when it is not too cold resulting in pollen sacs with characteristic red pollen. These corms are a new planting as has been mentioned in what's new. Hopefully they will increase each year and provide some delight to everyone passing.
Plant of the Month - March 2005 top
March 1st - being Welsh myself, this day has to be celebrated with one of the traditional emblems of Wales - the Daffodil. There is nothing to beat the beauty and sophistication of the wild species, Narcissus pseudonarcissus (2nd thumbnail). This is the true emblem and it seems an irony that people wear all these other blowsy hybrids in their button holes. It is interesting that no matter what plant genus you could mention, our efforts to 'improve' the original species seem to have lost this delicacy. We cannot better nature itself! The third thumbnail is another perhaps wild species - the Tenby daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus 'Lobularis'. Whilst very common and looking very naturalised in parts of Pembroke, it seems probable that it was introduced from Northern Spain several centuries ago - perhaps. Last year the origins of the Welsh name for the Daffodil were discussed and I would refer you to that discussion. By the way, the two species of Narcissus above are obtained from commercial sources not wild collected.

Plant of the Month - April 2005 top
A North American plant, Camassia leichtlinii subsp. leichtlinii, which comes into growth early in this garden, it is a wonderful sight with tall spires of intense blue. It is easy to grow and slowly increases and there is a good clump growing near the path up to the side. It has been there for at least ten years and reliably flowers every season in April. It is said to be good for naturalizing in grass, which reminds me that I must try this out in the lawn so there is colour after the Crocus tommasinianus have finished flowering.
Plant of the Month - May 2005 top
At long last, this plant has over wintered and still is healthy. Other plants of Myosotidium hortensia I have tried usually last one season, fail to flower and die. Slug killer is as usual essential otherwise the leaves are ripped to shreds. It grows by one of the water butts in gravel which is constantly moist and has had three flower heads. Will it set seed? - we shall see. It is a plant that grows wild in the Chatham Island, New Zealand, usually close to the sea in wet, moist areas. It is said to be borderline hardy in the UK.

Plant of the Month - June 2005 top
Embothrium conccineum Lanceolatum group, what a wonderful and spectacular plant. To convey how spectacular it is and how its common name is so appropriate - the Chilean Fire Tree - is difficult and hopefully the first photograph goes some way to give some idea of how the flowers can glow as if they are on fire. This has to be the plant of the month.
Plant of the month - July 2005 top
How many times have I tried to get this plant established, both in this garden and others I have planted? It typically languishes and fades into oblivion! I planted Tropaeolum speciosum obtained from Crug Farm last year and planted it at the base of a Pinus strobus seedling (now 12 feet high) and promptly forgot about it until this July when one morning walking up the path onto the side, there it was in all its glory. Now some people say it can become a weed, well, what is the definition of a weed? This plant certainly will never be unwelcome in this garden.
Plant of the month - August 2005 top
A Salvia with a difference - Salvia omeiana BWJ 8062 'Crûg Thundercloud' - it grows in shade and in humousy soil that does not dry out. This is a wonderful plant with yellow flowers has been selected by Bleddyn from Crûg Farm. The underside of the leaves in this selection are of the darkest purple and the challenge is to show this feature to its best as well. It was found in E'meishan, Sichuan, China in 2000 and has been given a varietal name 'Crûg Thundercloud'. If you grow this from seed, some plants will have green undersides to the leaves and are not as desirable, hence the varietal selection and all seedlings with this dark purple underside to the leaf have the above varietal name. When you buy it, do not be put off by its straggly habit - it does not look its best in pot culture, but put this in the ground and wow, you really do have a plant of distinction. The next question is whether this plant will go into general horticulture - it should, it really deserves to, but will it? How does a plant actually stand the test of time? Is it because some huge company decides to propagate it and it lands up in B&Q (dread the thought)? We are back to trends in gardening and luckily there are some of us who ignore the latest fashions and just get on with growing good garden plants - and this is one of them.
Plant of the month -September 2005 top
Wonderful and quite spectacular example of the genus Hedychium - the Ginger family - Hedychium densiflorum 'Assam Orange'. This is a good garden plant and far hardier than one imagines but needs to be put in a warm sunny spot in our growing zone. It is strong growing and forms a large clump; the flowers are an usual colour break and are nicely scented. It is also an useful addition to the group of late flowering plants in our gardens. In colder areas mulching during the winter months would be strongly advised.
Plant of the month - October 2005 top
Mahonia confusa has wonderful foliage, attractive divided leaves with a glaucous white underside. The flowers are pale yellow and quite small but flowering during this month making it a valuable plant in the garden. It has a quite sophistication and that is what makes it so endearing. Honey bees have not been seen on this yet as all the other Mahonias are popular with the bees for nectar.
Plant of the month - November 2005 top
Sarcococca wallichii is one of those gems introduced by Bleddyn from Crug. Even when not in bloom, the fresh green foliage is a bonus with much larger leaves than usual for the Sarcococcas we are used to in general cultivation. The flowers are insignificant but wonderfully scented. On one of the days the flowers were being photographed, the flowers were covered by tiny insects. So far the plants grown in this garden seem to withstand the frost levels we normally withstand, who knows what will happen with a really hard winter, but this comment probably applies to a great many plants grown here!
Plant of the month - December 2005 top
A real gem this time of the year, I have fallen in love with this plant. Ruscus aculeatus has been grown in gardens for centuries, it can stand drought and shade, it is a more of a peculiarity with its characteristic spiny cladodes with its true leaves reduced to tiny appendages. Plants tend to be unisexual and therefore to have the red berries, both sexes have to be planted. There are hermaphrodite clones in commerce. This plant is not R. aculeatus but another species with a mediterranean distribution - R. hypoglossum 'John Redmond'. This is considerably smaller than R. aculeatus and the berries are impressive and at Christmas they are a brilliant red. This is very slow growing and is said to come true from seed and to have originated as a sport of R.hypoglossum in a garden in Southern Ireland. I have no idea how accurate this story is, facts can get distorted.
Oh dear another year almost gone as this is being written. There have been a lot of new plantings over the year mostly originating from Crug Farm Nurseries. The acid test is whether or not these pants survive to next year in a healthy state. Plants with an untested, unproven horticultural origin, first or second generation wild collected do really come with a 'health warning', i.e. do not expect them all to survive! We shall see and undoubtedly we shall see further additions to the failures page!
'Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple, more direct than does Nature, because in her inventions nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous .' - Leonardo da Vinci .