Do most of the plants in your
As always, however, there is a little jeopardy involved when we three start reminiscing about our successes and failures in this regard….
So many of my plants remind me of people I’ve known and places I’ve been. I will certainly remember that my dear friend Moni gave me the crazily pretty David Austin Rosa ‘Boscobel’ (where Charles II hid in oak tree to escape Oliver Cromwell, in case you’re interested) – a rose I had been ogling for ages, I can tell you!
My son, who works in a nearby nursery, has given me some very special trees, including Gleditzia which glows like the sun, and a ‘family’ pear tree (‘Beth’, ‘Concorde’ and ‘Conference’) – this is a rather clever idea for saving space when three different varieties of pear are grafted on to one rootstock, which then becomes one tree – all three varieties fruit magnificently on mine.I believe there are fruit-growers who have managed to grow dozens of different varieties of apple all on one tree.
Laura has given me some real treasures over the years, although she knows they’ll have a dodgy future compared with all the pampering they have been used to. A stunning Cornus kousa has battled through all the neglect, having planted it in a pretty exposed position.
This is a good gift for someone like me – any aspect, in sun or shade, very hardy, and liking a well-drained soil. It’s slow at first (and mine certainly was!) but now it’s 12 years old and has delightful white bracts all over it in late spring, and vividly bright autumn colour – a tree/shrub to put on your wish-list.
I have kept a handsome Astelia chathamica going that Laura gave me, and I even managed to keep a very pretty Isoplexis canariensis for a few years before I got blasé and left it out to face a nasty frost alone.
You know what it’s like when you have Great Aunt Mildred round for tea and you have to unearth all the knick-knackery she’s given you? Well, it’s always a little nerve-wracking when Laura peers round my plot and asks where I have put her so-kindly-given such-and-such….at least I have the advantage of a
Yes, a walk around my
Plants or cuttings from our parents’
Each year there are additions from our latest acquisitions at the Chelsea sell-off, and they are great reminders of the larks we had that year. Elaine always insists we buy roses – I think because she is a secret masochist and knows they will bring the most pain to us and everyone around us on the journey home. But I have to admit that the purchase of the rose ‘Simple Peach’ at Chelsea was an out-and-out winner.
At least half the plants in my
Exactly. The little plants I greedily squeeze into my hand luggage after a trip to Laura’s, all rosy-cheeked following their idyllic childhood in a Sussex polytunnel, look in need of a defibrillator or possibly euthanasia after a month in Scotland (three separate attempts with Phytolacca Americana, our feature picture this week, after which I had to run up the white flag or risk being reported to the RSPCP.)
But it’s inexplicably peeving when someone says they won’t gift you a plant because where you are is too windy (or cold, wet, chalky, acidy, snaily, etc.) Although you’ve moaned about these conditions on Facebook for months, suddenly you’re sure you’ve got the perfect home for any prospective gift. Gardeners are truly gripped by a special endorphin when the prospect of a new-to-them cutting or seedling is in the offing.
Like my sisters, I remember every plant given to me by friends and neighbours, some of whom are no longer alive (not because they were squeezed into my hand luggage, before you start to make any connection) and it’s lovely that their memory lives on in my
However not every gift is a blessing. For instance I rather long to consign my Stachys macrantha to the compost heap, its insipid purple flowers are ‘meh’ in the extreme. Problem though – Elaine gave it to me 25 years ago – the wretched thing’s got diplomaticimmunity!
Do let us know which plants in your
This elegant, shade-loving grass looks fabulous in a pot, and in keeping with this weeks theme, holds a special place in Louise’s heart – the main reason it’s her Great Plant this Month.
With all the gorgeous summer flowers opening everywhere, you need some beautiful foliage plants to set them off. In this short video, we choose 10 of our favourite candidates:
Everyone’s visiting gardens at the moment, and why wouldn’t you! But how are you going to make a note of the names of all the lovely plants you spot? Jot them down on little bits of paper that you then lose, or write them down in a beautiful little garden notebook that we’ve got in our online shop at the moment? It would make a wonderful
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6 replies on “Plants with a special place in your heart”
Phytolacca americana (with a small ‘a’ in americana!)
I heard of an American woman who was having a party for her young family and friends and decided to liquidise the fruit of the Phytolacca and had extremely disastrous fatal effects.
A woman was seen eating the fruit of Atropa belladonna in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. When challenged, she replied, “Back home in Colorado we go to the mountains in late summer and eat the berries. Any that are sweet are O K.” Not so. The same misconception is about mushrooms is that it is safe to eat those where you can peel off the skin. Don’t try it with poisonous ones.
A family in Leith harvested some dark red berries from a walkway and made them into jam. A doctor was called when they became violently sick, but with no fatal results.
Well done Caroline!
No contest, you are an outright foliage winner this week.
What a lovely read! My grandmother had the most beautiful rose garden and every time I see a rosebush it takes me right back to her backyard. Plants really do hold memories, dont they? I recently started growing herbs on my windowsill and even that small connection to nature has brought me so much joy. Thanks for the reminder to appreciate the plants around us!
Ah, Megan – so glad you enjoyed it! Your grandmother’s garden sounds an idyll – what a special and precious memory to have. When we three sisters were children, our mother’s garden was full of lupins and catmint and both those plants remind me every time of the happy games we played among them. Hooe you have lots of success with your herbs, all the best, Elaine
What a lovely post! My grandmother had a massive fuchsia bush when I was growing up and I have been trying to recreate that memory in my own garden for years. Finally got one established last spring and it is blooming beautifully this year. Plants really do hold such special memories. Thank you for sharing these wonderful stories!
Thank you for writing in, Tom – we are always so pleased when people take the trouble to let us know they like we write. And well done for getting that fuschia growing and looking great – they can be tricky customers at times. We hope you have a smashing gardening summer, all the best, Elaine (and the other two..)