We are working to conserve the nations garden plants for people to use and enjoy today and tomorrow
Our Suffolk Group held a very successful Daffodil Study Day on April 2nd at the home of Collection Holders Jim Marshall and Sarah Cook. Here's a little summary of the day (reproduced from the group website). There were twenty two Plant Heritage members in all at the event hosted at Hullwood Barn on Sunday 2nd of April. Darren Andrews …
Tucked between the busy M25 and A3 motorways in Surrey, Painshill Park was created in the 18th century by the Hon. Charles Hamilton, as a fine example of naturalistic landscape. Hamilton was among the first plant enthusiasts to introduce new species and hybrids from the USA, some of which are still present at Painshill today. …
A great account of the “Plants for the future” workshop which was held last week at RHS Wisley Garden. Many Collection Holders were present (Roger Parsons Sweet Peas, Claire Austin Hardy Plants, Hoyland Agapanthus and Tulbaghia, Plantagogo heucheras..) and the essential role of National Collections as source of genetic material for plant breeding was discussed.
I was really excited to be invited to a special workshop at RHS Wisley, entitled ‘Plants for the Future’, which brought together plant breeders, product developers, growers, national collection holders, plant licensing companies and other enthusiasts, all with the common interest of NEW PLANTS! The knowledge and skills in that room were quite phenomenal. I was asked to be on the panel too!
We had ‘cream of the crop’ speakers too, first up was Simon Crawford, who I admire for his horticultural networking, knowledge and eye for new plants.
His talk covered ‘breeding for the garden’, and interestingly explored the fact that plant breeding should give the home gardener a basket of options, not necessarily telling the gardener how to use a plant specifically.
He felt that the main important attributes were: visual impact, fragrance, sound (which is broader than you first imagine, such as the noise of bees…
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You might remember Gillian's article earlier this year, "Measuring the Marigolds" on the Dispersed National Collection of Calendula. To celebrate the Bronze Medal awarded to the display at Hampton Court Flower Show in July, a social event was organised a month ago at Bristol Zoo Gardens: Representatives of the community groups growing Calendula across Bristol (schools, community gardens, youth groups, …
When it comes to the horticultural industry, the main news item at the beginning of this month has been the grant of a Royal Chartership to the Institute of Horticulture. On my way to the celebratory event held at Hatfield House (Herts), I stopped to visit the National Collections of Taxodium and Carpinus held at …
The Suffolk National Collection Holders meeting was held last week at one of the country's largest collection of Hostas, near Stowmarket. Local collections news included a Trial of Campanula 'Prichard's Variety' by NCH Sue Wooster and interesting developments on Sarah Cook's collection of Cedric Morris Irises. We were treated to an impressive diversity of cakes, …
Before Hampton Court week kicks off, here’s a belated blog post about France’s biggest plant fair, the Journées des Plantes de Courson. A little over a month ago now, Mercy and I were kindly invited by Plant Heritage’s French counterpart the CCVS to hold a joint stand with them at the spring edition of Courson: …
In the past weeks you have been invited to discover the wonderful gardens of Norfolk, such as the private garden of the Bishop of Norwich, The Harralds, Bressingham, The National Collection of Fuchsia introduced by James Lye and East Ruston Old Vicarage. Last but not least in this series of posts about the AGM weekend, I have to talk about the …
Thanks to Gillian, you had already discovered the National Collections of Crocus held by Myddleton House in Cambridgeshire and David Stephens in Surrey. This time, I visit another National Collection of Crocus in Surrey, at RHS Wisley. Established in the early days of Plant Heritage's existence (1981), it holds an impressive 113 species and 88 …
