Author: Stephen Ryan
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Asarum caudatum ‘Album’
This North American woodlander has become one of my favourite ground cover plants for moist shade. Its lovely kidney shaped leaves cover the ground with a weed suppressing mat year round and in only a couple of years it has covered about 2 square metres. It grows to about 30cms. tall and falling leaves drop
Stephen Ryan
Clerodendrum trichotomum
Alright I know my last post was about a Clerodendrum but I can’t help it I love them! This one can grow to a small tree and like so many others it does sucker so you can end up with a free copse! It is deciduous and will grow to about 4metres or so with
Stephen Ryan
Clerodendrum bungei
This genus consists mainly of tropical shrubs and climbers but there are a few cold hardy representatives and I’m out to collect them all if I can, and this species was the first I found and still one of my favourite shrubs even though it has some characteristics that would mark it down in many
Stephen Ryan
Sambucus nigra ‘Madonna’
I hold the national collection of the Elderflower Genus and I think they are all useful hardy shrubs that deserve a space in any garden. After all you can use the flowers for fritters, cordial and champagne and the berries for jams, jellies and wine, the stems for Pan Pipes (the world obviously needs more
Stephen Ryan
Dahlia ‘Stephen Ryan’
Yes there is a plant named after me!! Wait till Canna ‘Stephen Ryan’ hits the market. In the mean time for the record this plant (and the Canna) were named after me not by me! My Dahlia is type cast, it is simple,single, virginal white, self supporting and slightly scented! It flowers for ages and
Stephen Ryan
Armoracia rusticana ‘Variegata’
I truly think that edibles can and should be part of the ornamental aspect of a garden, not that I’m advocating one of those flower filled vegie gardens which you feel you can’t pick a lettuce leaf for fear of ruining the show. If I can however find a pretty form of something that is
Stephen Ryan
Syneilesis aconitifolia
I first met this plant at Crug Farm Nursery in Wales and even without flowers or even any idea into what family it belonged I was smitten. It is an Asian woodlander and I still find it hard to believe that it is a daisy! the leaves when they first erupt from the ground look
Stephen Ryan
Arbutus glandulosa
This is one of the best small evergreen trees for the quality of its bark. Not only that but it is hardy in our climate, has attractive foliage, lovely pale pink flowers beloved by Honeyeaters, charming reddish fruit also bird attracting and will only grow to about 7metres or so. What more could you want.
Stephen Ryan
Vancouveria hexandra
This dainty little woodland perennial from North America is surprisingly hardy in a slightly shaded aspect,coping with some dry in summer and in my garden it will burn off and come again when the soil is remoistened if I inadvertently miss watering it, not that I recommend such slack behaviour! It has pale green foliage
Stephen Ryan
Caryopteris clandonensis ‘Hint of Gold’
This small shrub or even perhaps sub-shrub is a great asset to any garden. It will grow in almost any sunny well drained site and can be used as an individual or as a low border hedge that is a great alternative to lavender. The foliage is deciduous and from spring to autumn is a
Stephen Ryan