Themes came thick and fast at Andrew Fisher Tomlin’s recent talk for the Surrey group: not surprising really considering his portfolio career as a garden designer, lecturer, member of the selection panel for Chelsea Flower Show and Trustee for Thrive the horticultural charity.  Based on his own views and those of his peers, his topic was ‘New Planting: a Prediction of the Gardens and Plants that will Become Iconic’ focusing on what is important in gardens now and what will stand the test of time.

Most of the gardens he selected are either renovations or new developments using brownfield sites and for a tour of some unusual gardens follow the links on the name.  Andrew has been the designer of the wetland area and included the Olympic Park, 250 acres of new parklands created from former industrial land and using 4,000 semi-mature trees, over 300,000 wetland plants and acres of annual and perennial meadows designed to flower during the London 2012 Games; The Eden Project famously created in a former clay mine and containing the largest green house in the world;  Parc André Citroën in Paris, once a car factory, now a fascinating park of many different gardens, fountains and helium balloon rides;  Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, opening in June 2012 and containing vast vertical planting sculptures; The High Line , a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side in New York.  

For restorations Andrew selected: Trentham Gardens Stoke on Trent where Tom Stuart Smith has done a contemporary revival of the famous Italian Gardens; Charlton House, a Jacobean mansion in Greenwich, where perennial planting is used for all year interest; Scampston Hall in Yorkshire, with Piet Oudolf perennial plantings; again in Yorkshire Broughton Hall Utopia is an award winning building designed by Sir Michael Hopkins set within the original walled garden, which has been redesigned and restored by Dan Pearson; Broughton Grange in Oxfordshire with its redesigned parterre by Tom Stuart-Smith based on cell structure; The Alnwick Garden in Northumberland with its amazing Cascade and celebrated Poison Garden created from a derelict and forgotten site.

Poison Garden, Alnwick

An insight into the budgetary conflicts of garden design – it costs £75/metre/year to plant and maintain an annual bedding scheme, reducing to £6 for shrubs and an amazing £1/metre/year for a perennial meadow.  The Borough of Greenwich clearly had this in mind when choosing the planting for Charlton House.

Future developments will see an increase in interest in grey water and rainwater harvesting as well as a move to reusing materials on site.  Andrew never takes soil away from a garden, it is reused within the development.  If this requirement extends to reuse of hard materials this could have interesting outcomes – crazy paving using concrete slabs could be seen as a style early adopter.

Diseases will continue to affect what we can grow.  Phytophthora ramorum was found on nursery stock in 2002 and in the wild in 2009.  Cameraria ohridella the Chestnut leaf miner, first found in Wimbledon ten years ago, is spreading at the rate of 40-60km/year.  Micropropagation at Duchy College is enabling clean stock to be propagated, but old sanitary methods such as steralising tools and avoiding walking on open soil in different areas of our gardens are things that we can all do.

The iconic plant list was interesting in that I knew most of the plants mentioned, but it did prompt some gasps of surprise from the audience starting as he did with Verbena bonariensis.  “A weed” was one of the comments, but I agree with Andrew, although it does self seed, it is a remarkable plant, which doesn’t need staking, is see-through and easily removed if it has seeded in the wrong place.  After this starter, a grass which might have induced a groan if shown first was greeted warmly, Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ a statuesque variety, followed by: Snowy woodrush, Luzula nivea; Sedum ‘Matrona’, European Plant of the Year 2005; Echinacea purpurea, the 108 listings in the Plant Finder under this name evidence the popularity of this plant; almost matched by the 97 entries under Astrantia major; Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’ apparently popularised by Alan Titchmarsh; and finally Dierama, the angel’s fishing rod.
For shrubs: Myrtle; Hydrangea paniculata Pinky-Winky; small cultivars of Buddleja; Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla ‘Black Lace’;  the Chinese rice-paper plant Tetrapanax species and finally a new arrival – Lavandula ‘Kingston’ not available until later in 2012.
For trees choose from: Amelanchier lamarckii; Malus × robusta ‘Red Sentinel’; Aesculus indica ‘Sydney Pearce’ as seen in Kew Gardens, which does not seem to be affected by the problems hitting most of our horsechestnuts; the Preston Twins in Brighton, part of the National Collection of Ulmus; a reluctant mention for the ubiquitous Betula utilis var. jacquemontii, a feature in many Chelsea show gardens; and the English Oak Quercus robur, also listed in the Plant Finder as French, Polish or Slavonian Oak.

Finally a mention for Grow your Own; Forest Gardening as done by Robert Hart and written about by Martin Crawford; Conceptual gardens as seen at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and Urban and community gardens.

And all this in an hour.  There are days of potential research coming from this talk – I am starting with Forest Gardens, something I know nothing about.

The header for this posting; have a look at this unusual view of the classic Cascade at Alnwick Garden.

Charity Duck Race down the Alnwick Garden Cascade

The talk was very entertaining involving giant ears, a cycle helmet and three very large photos of his brother-in-law. I won’t detail the talk, as there was just too much to write down. He covered taxonomy, history, essential oils, distribution, cultivation and pruning, DNA profiling, pests and diseases, allelopathy and bees.

A few snippets to tease you with: Lavandula ‘Hidcote’ is the best selling individual plant in garden centres.

If you have even seen one of Downderry’s displays at Hampton Court or Chelsea Flower Show (see above), you will be mesmerised by their perfection. One of the reasons for this is that Simon’s wife, Dawn, picks off any brown florets from the white lavender with a pair of tweezers. So think of poor Dawn next time you see them.

The Lavandula ‘Hidcote’ that he grows comes from a hedge of lavender grown by the daughter of the nurseryman, Thomas Carlile, who obtained the original plant from Lawrence Johnson of Hidcote, who was the introducer of the plant from Southern France.

A PhD is underway at Sussex University to discover the best ornamental plants to attract bees, and Downderry recommended and supplied the lavender that they are using.

Plans for the future of the collection include:

- testing Lavandula stoechas hybrids for their tolerance of soil alkalinity/acidity

- a proforma plug trial

- peat-free compost trial

- herbicide (the use of lavender essential oils as a herbicide) trials

- DNA profiling

So what are lavandin and linalool?

Lavandin is Lavandula × intermedia, the hybrid of Lavandula angustifolia and Lavandula latifolia. It is very widely grown and dominates the world’s production of lavender oil.

Linalool is a mono-terpine and one of the major components of essential oils but toxic to young plant tissue (hence the herbicide trials).

If you want to know more, I suggest a visit to Downderry!

Galanthus 'Magnet'

Like getting out of the Underground at Sloane Square during Chelsea week, we didn’t need directions to Brandy Mount in Alresford.  We just followed the line of determined and well wrapped up enthusiasts making their way to see Michael Baron’s Scientific National Plant Collection of Galanthus.  Despite the sub zero temperatures, Gill and I were soon taking our turns to crouch down and view the exquisite snowdrops growing in clusters all around the one acre garden. 

Everything is labelled so if you are lucky you will be able to buy a pot of your favourite at the sales table.  But don’t delay, the plants go very quickly.  I loved the ‘Marmite’ approach of this label and when I saw a specimen in the garden was able to nip back and buy the last plant.

Michael spent some time with us explaining how he segregates new plants in a cold frame to check for disease and allow the material to increase in size before planting out into the garden.  Viruses are a serious issue for galanthophiles and Michael has written an interesting article on the subject in the latest NCH newsletter.

Even if snowdrops aren’t your favourite plant there is plenty to see in the garden.

Hamamellis pallida

Alpines in glass houses or stone troughs.

A beautiful potager with rhubarb forcing pots.

A National Plant Collection of Daphne.

Daphne kamtschatica

and the all important tea and cakes, which last year raised over a thousand pounds for a local charity.  Asking about the rosettes on the walls we also found out that most of the Daschunds in Alresford are related and there are regular birthday parties for the dog families.

Gill put Michael on the spot by asking which is his favourite – not a moments hesitation – Galanthus ‘Lulu’ was the answer.  I suppose after thirty years of collecting, you know your plants.
This is Michael’s last season of Open Days, so get there while you can – NGS opening, Saturday 11th February; Snowdrop Open Day, Sunday 12th February; Open to raise funds for restoration work on the Bells at St John’s Church, Alresford, Sunday 19th February.  11.00 – 4.00. 

Apple juice of course

The Plant Heritage stand was well placed between our much loved BROTHER sponsors and our new sponsors… HOZELOCK.  Champagne was flowing on the Hozelock stand throughout the day – the Hozelock team stressed that they didn’t drink a drop, do we believe them?!  A little photocall took place at 2.00 in the afternoon to seal our sponsorship deal and to publicise their support of the Threatened Plants Project.  For the romantics amongst you, Hozelock are running a Valentine’s competition - tell them what you cherish most about your garden and you could win a gardeners treat.

Michael McIllmurray shows how it’s done

Jo and Nicola, with our very own friendly Collection Holder, Michael McIllmurray (Maxillaria) spent the day chatting to just about everyone at the Event and handing out our news and press releases to all.   Michael brought some highly scented flowers from his beautiful South American orchids and their lovely fragrance drew in the passersby.

A very pleasant visit to Margaret MacLennan in Essex, to see her Galanthus Collection. The weather was not the most hospitable, but luckily Margaret and her husband were, so it was immense fun.

Margaret in her greenhouse, showing us her ‘workstation’

Margaret is an enthusiastic twin-scaler , a method of propagating bulbs which stimulates the basal plate to produce more, from sections of the original bulb. This is the method she has used both to bulk up her collection, and also to provide material to swap with other growers. She also propagates bulbs for others. Her greenhouse is meticulously set up with all the equipment she needs at hand.

Part of the collection in cold frames, protected from clumsy pheasants.

And the collection, with coded labels indicating what stage it is in the propagation and growth process is displayed in frames, raised beds and woodland beds through their extensive Essex Garden.

Galanthus ‘Richard Ayres’ one of the most photogenic of the collection.

Galanthus ‘Heffalump’, one of my favourites from the Collection.

Margaret’s Collection is open by appointment, but you will have to check well in advance; Galanthophiles spend this time of the year gallivanting from collection to collection, so are rarely in one place for long!

Ready to go

I assume that many people have favourite pieces of equipment or tools.  My Grandmother wouldn’t let me sew unless I used a thimble and now I wouldn’t be without one;  at work, a cheap Parker fountain pen is always on my desk - I think that my signature is so much more elegant in ink than in biro; and now the pair of Felco secateurs I was given as a birthday present many years ago, are clipped onto my jeans whenever I go out into the garden, whatever the time of year. 

As with many expensive items, for the price of a cheap pair of secateurs you can send them away to be serviced.  They come back refurbished with a new blade as well as any nuts, bolts or springs cleaned, oiled or replaced.  Reunited, I can put away my spare non-Felco secateurs and get on with pruning the roses, once this snow has melted.

I should now ‘listen again’ to GQT from last week when Bob Flowerdew was talking to  students at Sparsholt College about tool maintenance; then I really will be ready for the new season.  This item starts about 30 minutes into the programme and although some pictures would be useful, it’s enough to get me started.

I had been worried about links to ‘listen again’ programmes becoming defunct, but I see that this episode is forecast to be available until 12.00am Thursday 1st January 2099.

Joanna, our roving reporter and workshop facilitator reports:

Day 1
Andrew Gaunt, Plant Health and Seed Inspector, FERA and NCH Hedychium updated us on all aspects of plant pests and diseases and emphasised the important role of each National Plant Collection Holder as a genetic resource.  David Rose from the Forestry Commission talked on tree diseases – present concerns and future trends.  In particular the ‘Armageddon’ of all diseases …..  Phytophthora ramorum.  First found in the South West of the UK – and now alarmingly creeping across the rest of the country.  David’s own theory is that climatic stress appears to be the main initiating factor for many diseases now found.  Sally Smith – Organic gardening trainer and consultant gave us many tips on how to garden organically and emphasised the benefit of maintaining good soil.   She told us to resist the urge to squish our pests such as slugs and snails and to remember all living things are inter-related and inter-dependent – including us!

Day 2
Barry Clarke, (NCH of Rubus, Asclepias and Lobelia)and head propagator for Hilliers, excelled himself with his engaging style and the very practical nature of the workshop meant that everyone went away having put the theory into practice. 

Gary from the Sussex group

Susan Barley of NFU was thrilled when Barry gave her a family Malus grafted with three additional cultivars.

Barry, Susan and tripod Malus

Everyone went away with grafted specimens to nurture and ten intact fingers.

Gardeners from Regents Park and Buckingham Palace

And if the camera never lies, it looks as though Joanna got involved as well.

Joanna and Richard Mayall (Betula)

We very much appreciate the support of our other sponsors for these workshops, Brother Uk Ltd, The Mercers Company, The Topinambour Trust and The Tanner Trust. 
And a message from Gillian and the team in National Office; thanks to Jack and Joan for the cake, the ginger parkin is just as good as I remember it.

Recently there has been a lot of boxing up of materials to go into temporary storage while building work is done on the library, but last week I had to unpack some of the ‘glass case’ books, rare and/or valuable books kept in a locked case.  The first box contained a copy of ‘The first and seconde partes of the Herbal of William Turner Doctor in Phisick’  printed in 1568.  Four hundred and forty four years old and still available to us today.  This was the first English herbal (book on herbs and plants) to scientifically record the plant kingdom and was such a landmark publication that it led to Turner being christened the ‘father of modern botany’.  In the twentieth century this book had been beautifully rebound and given to ‘Prudence A. Bosanquet from Mother, February 28. 1948′ who in turn gave it to the RHS in January 1977.  The skills I learned at the Research workshop held in the Autumn, helped me to look up and understand the Lindley Library catalogue record for the book which reveals many more details about the provenance and contents of this book. 

Apart from being an amazing book my interest was sparked as Turner came from my home town, Morpeth in Northumberland.  Although it is not known if he ever returned to his birthplace after he left to study at Pembroke College in Cambridge, Morpeth celebrates the connection with a Turner Garden in the centre of town.  A recreation of this garden was awarded a Bronze Flora medal at the 2004 RHS Bicentennary Chelsea Flower Show.

To further the feeling of a personal connection with the man, Marilyn Tweddle, wife of my father’s history teacher, co-produced a modern facsimile edition that faithfully reproduces the beautiful sixteenth century black-letter text and woodcut illustrations. It also contains a modernized transcript, translating the gothic script of the original into something more easily read.

Four more boxes held other wonderful volumes but nothing matched the thrill of that book taken out of the first box.

Crocus in the wild are found from Portugal in the west to China in the east with distribution peaking in Turkey.  David has made many plant hunting trips in the Iberian peninsular and Turkey, and it is from the west of Turkey that he introduced C. gargaricus to cultivation in the 1980s. 

Once the glass on the coldframes had thawed we got a close up view of some exquisite flowers in shades of blue, purple, lilac, striking gold and white .  Plants in square pots completely fill the frames and are arranged by type, each one with a numeric code for the plant name and an accession number.  As it was still cold, most of the flower goblets remained closed, showing off the beautiful markings on the outside of some of the blooms.  After enquiring about the conditions in my garden, David gave me a pot of C. gargaricus, (still rare in cultivation but not particularly difficult,) which should do well in my south facing chalky beds, and noted down the accession number, so he could take it off his database.  Such attention to detail means that not only the plants are being conserved, but their provenance is recorded, an essential part of the educational and scientific value of a National Collection.

Crocus gargaricus, opened up in the heat of the car on the way home.

Although many Crocus are easy to grow, some are more demanding and David shares his plants with other growers to insure against loss.  Other Collections are held by Tony Goode in Norwich, the E.A.Bowles of Myddelton House Society and at RHS Wisley.

P.S. The plant I was given was named as ‘Crocus gargaricus S9312 Turkey, Mugla, Goktepe, Kozagac – Mentese’ and when I asked David what the rest of the name means I got the following fabulous description -

“S9312 is the field note collection number; S for Stephens, 93 is 1993, 12 is the 12th seed collection that year.  Mugla is a district in SW Turkey, Goktepe is the name of a mountain, Kozagac and Mentese are two tiny villages on that mountain and the Crocus were found up a dirt track between the two villages. I could add that the altitude was c. 1830m and the soil ph was c. 8.3 on degraded limestone and terra rossa. The Crocus were growing in bare soil patches between dwarf Quercus coccifera under sparse Pinus brutia.”

All of a sudden I am inspired to start my own accession list, and this will be the first entry.