I love and collect clematis of all sorts as their generally light airy habit makes them ideal to grow up and over other plants without swamping the host and giving two shows in the place where I would normally have only one. A heavy winter prune will keep nearly all of them in order. This …
As much as it might be a bit indelicate to talk of sex there isn’t any choice when talking of the butcher’s brooms. Usually both male and female forms need to be present if the girl one are to get the stunning long lasting berries stuck in the middle of the leaf like phyllodes. So …
This is one of the best self seeding biennials for semi-shade bar none in my humble opinion! It grows to about 60cms tall at flowering and to the uninitiated it could be a Euphorbia with its limy-yellow bracts surrounding the flowers. However those that look closely will realise that it is in fact Apiaceae (in …
This has to be one of the most elegant of woodland perennials and the common name of Merry Bells almost says it all, just as well the common name wasn’t derived from its botanic one as it was named after the flap of skin that hangs down the back of your mouth, Hardly romantic! It …
This lovely woodland perennial is rarely seen in nurseries in Australia and I have a nice batch just potted into 6″ pots at $18.50 so don’t miss out. It grows to about 40cms. tall and has furry heart shaped leaves that are a feature on their own, but when it flowers its three petalled yellow …
This has to be one of the great perfumed shrubs and tough as they come. It flowers in the autumn and the tiny white blossoms perfume the surrounds with what I think is the scent of ripe apricots! The foliage is rich green and somewhat holly like in the plants youth but as it ages …
This is a much neglected evergreen soft wooded shrub from South America that could find a place in any moist semi-shaded spot in your garden. It grows to about 1metre tall and will in time make a small suckering clump. It produces its mauve, purple spotted and yellow tongued flowers in clusters during the early …
My favourite species is probably the one that is in flower at the moment! And C. repandum is just coming out as the spring approaches and so is my favourite at the moment. Its flowers are usually a strong carmine pink with long elegant curled petals and the perfume is divine, although it is best …
I have been busy potting this years supply of Epimediums all week and have many lovely ones to select from, so many in fact that selecting one to blog about was so hard that in the end it was almost close my eyes and point! E. ‘Black Sea’ is however something of a stand out plant …
This is supposed to be the rarest maple in the wild coming from a very small area in China and only collected and then raised in the west a couple of times so that all cultivated plants come from much the same original material. Apart from rarity why grow it? Certainly it has proved to …