Transatlantic Plantsman

Buddlejas not growing in patio pots

I’ve mentioned before here how some nurseries stage their plant pictures using cut material to try to make their new introductions look more impressive than they really are. Remember these ligularias?

Well here’s another example.

Over on my Royal Horticultural Society New Plants blog I’ve just written up two new patio buddlejas created by Thompson & Morgan’s Charles Valin at their plant breeding operation in Britain. 'Buzz Magenta' and 'Buzz Lavender' have just been released to British gardeners and they sound very impressive.

But the pictures! These two new buddlejas are so dwarf that they’re ideal for growing in pots on the patio. So someone just went out and cut some branches from the plants, arranged them nicely in a pot and took their picture! And that’s exactly what it looks like. Click on the pictures to enlarge them and see what I mean.

If they grow so well in pots, can’t we have pictures showing them doing exactly that – growing in pots?

British gardeners can order the Buzz buddlejas from Thompson and Morgan. They're not yet avaiable in North America.

New plants at Chelsea - the full list!

OK, I've just posted the full list of all the new plants I found at Chelsea Flower Show this year over on my RHS New Plants blog. Guess how many? One hundred and tenn - that's 110. Roses, perennials,shrubs, clematis, annuals, trees, bulbs, indoor plants plus a cactus and even a new ginkgo.

Some may be familiar to North American gardeners but all were new to British gardeners.

So check out the full list of Chelsea's new plants, then work back through the other 34 posts on new plants from the Chelsea Flower Show - or start with the first from 1 May.

Then from early July I'll be blogging about the new plants at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

Rain, wind and new plants

Here at the Chelsea Flower Show it’s the day before Press Day, judging and the Royal Visit. The rain fell, the wind blew, and an announcement was made that all garden sunshades and patio umbrellas should be folded because of the risk of damage.

Inside the Great Pavilion there were none of the dramas of years ago, before it was a modern prefabricated building, and the three acre canvas marquee rattled and swayed and a huge timber beam fell from the roof.

Many nurseries in the Great Pavilion were flaunting their new plants, which I’ll be reviewing for the rest of the week over on my Royal Horticultural Society New Plants blog, and this seems like to good time to mention just a few of the stand outs so far. When I’ve posted this I’ll be going to bed, sitting up compiling the full list.

A new rose named for the home of Prince Charles, ‘Highgrove’, featured on the stand from Peter Beales Roses and Prince Charles will be at the Show tomorrow to launch it. Two pink flowered hardy geraniums also stand out. Geranium sylvaticum ’Hilary’ from Hardys Cottage Garden Plants and the pink and white bicoloured G. phaeum ‘Mottisfont Rose’ on the Hardy Plant Society  stand which also features the first silver-leaved form of the American native doll’s eyes, Actaea pachypoda – it’s called ‘Pewter and Pearls’.

I was very taken with a huge new picotee Oriental lily from Hart’s Nursery called ‘Melissimo’ in white with a bright picotee edge as well as new bicoloured form of Pacific Coast Iris called ‘Broadleigh Fenella’ from Broadleigh Gardens. There was also a superb Cornus, raised at Rutgers University in New Jersey – of which more another time.

New plants at the Chelsea Flower Show

The world famous Chelsea Flower Show opens in London on Tuesday and already for the last two weeks I’ve been posting about this year's new plant introductions at Chelsea on my Royal Horticultural Society New Plants blog. I’ll be at the show from tomorrow, checking out all the other new plants (like this clematis Diana's Delight from Raymond Evison) and bringing you the news over on my RHS New Plants blog. And posting here regularly too.

Hybrid hellebore on trial

Here's my plant of the new hybrid between Helleborus niger and Helleborus x hybridus - 'Walberton's Rosemary'. I posted about it in August and again in October over on my Royal Horticultural Society New Plants blog. The plant is growing in a friend's garden "somewhere in England". This is her picture showing a very large flower with plenty of buds still to come... It's been blooming since before Christmas.

Anyone with experience of growing any of the (admittedly rather few hybrids) between Helleborus niger and Helleborus x hybridus please post a comment here and tell us all about how the plants are doing or email me off list. Thanks - I'm working on an article about them.

Two popular, and non-invasive new buddlejas

In recent years, the Royal Horticultural Society’s trials at their garden at Wisley, south of London, have added a new element – visitors get to vote for their favorites.

This year visitors to Wisley voted on buddlejas, butterfly bushes, and two brand new American varieties came out well ahead of over 100 other varieties.

‘Miss Ruby’ received more than twice as many votes as the second placed variety, ‘Lo and Behold Blue Chip’, which itself was a good step ahead of the third placed ‘Raspberry Wine’. This and ‘Blue Horizon were, again, noticeably ahead of all the rest.

Now, there’s something more special about these two buddleias other than the fact that they’re both American. Unlike almost all the other entries in the trial these two are not forms of the old – and sometimes invasive – favorite Buddleja davidii. They are complex hybrids involving other species and both were raised by Dr Dennis Werner, until recently in charge of the JC Ralston Arboretum at the University of North Carolina.

‘Miss Ruby’ is upright in growth and relatively compact as buddlejas go, reaching 4-5ft/1.2-1.5mm, with noticeably silver foliage and vivid pink flowers. And it’s surprisingly hardy, down to zone 5. ‘Miss Ruby’ is a hybrid between ‘White Ball’ and ‘Attraction’, neither of which are widely grown, and so has in its background B. davidii, B. fallowiana and B. globosa.

The horribly named ‘Lo and Behold Blue Chip’ is startlingly dwarf – not really like a buddleja at all. The plants I’ve had on trial this summer did not reach more than 18in/45cm in height and were wider than they were high. The short spikes of blue flowers would, I’m sure, have been produced more prolifically had I been able to find a site for it in full sun. ‘Blue Chip’ is a hybrid involving B. davidii var. nanhoensis ‘Nanho Purple’, B. globosa and B. lindleyana.

There’s one more thing bout these two new buddlejas. they produce hardly any seed. ‘Lo and Behold Blue Chip’ does not produce fertile pollen and is reluctant to produce seed even when pollinated by a different buddleja - so that’s a big plus. ‘Miss Ruby’, while not actually sterile, also produces very little seed.

This is all great news for anyone worried about the fact that Buddleja davidii is invasive in some areas.

In North America, both these new buddlejas will be available from a number of sources in 2009. I’ll bring you details of their availability in Britain as soon as I get some news.

Transatlantic seeds

Thompson and Morgan is the only seed company with a significant presence on both sides of the Atlantic. Based in Suffolk in eastern England and in Jackson, New Jersey, T&M are known for their exciting new introductions, many bred at their own plant breeding station, and the sheer size of their full color catalogue. They publish separate catalogs amd websites for each market, one for the UK, one for North America.

This year, as usual, there are far too many newcomers to mention so let me just pick a five.

Antirrhinum ‘Bronze Dragon’
From T&M’s own breeding, when I saw this last year at the T&M headquarters I was impressed. Deepest bronze foliage is topped with delightful two-tone purple and white flowers on neat plants. Lovely for containers and the front of the border.
Order from T&M (UK)
Order from T&M (North America)

Cosmos ‘Double Click Rose Bonbon’
Double cosmos are great cut flowers, and as it happens I was admiring a huge vase of ‘Double Click Mixed’ at my favourite British pub, The Kings Arms at Polebrook, in Northamptonshire, just a couple of weeks ago. They were still going strong at the end of September. Now this is the first separate colour, with delightfully fluffy double rose pink flowers on plants 2-3ft/60-90cm tall. I expect to see great billows of ‘Double Click Rose Bonbon’ in the pub restaurant next year.
Order from T&M (UK)
Order from T&M (North America)

Nasturtium ‘Cobra’
A semi-trailing nasturtium with very dark blue-green foliage and deep red double flowers, ideal spilling out of baskets and as well-behaved ground cover. Another from T&M’s own breeding, it’s taken them ten years to build up enough seed to offer.
Order from T&M (UK)
Order from T&M (North America)

Rudbeckia ‘Cherry Brandy’
Developed by T&M, and fifteen years in the making, this is the first red rudbeckia and it looks spectacular. For more on this take a look at my New Plants blog.
Order from T&M (UK)
Order from T&M (North America)

Tomato ‘Cherrola’
For UK customers only, I’m afraid, this was a star at last year’s Royal Horticultural Society trial of cherry tomatoes, for more on this check out my New Plants blog.
Order from T&M (UK)

If you prefer to look over the T&M print catalog, and it’s well worth a few hours winter fireside browsing, you can email a request for a copy of the UK catalogue here and order the North American catalog here.

Recently on my New Plants bog

Over the last few months I’ve brought news of a whole host of new plants to gardeners over on my New Plants blog on the Royal Horticultural Society’s website.

In recent weeks I’ve looked at the first variegated acanthus, a delightful dwarf daffodill, a new dahlia from Holland, spectacular hibiscus, new roses, the first ever red rudbeckia (below right), a new blend of award-winning pansies, a double orange echinacea, a begonia that smells of roses, vertical berberis, new crocosmias, an edible honeysuckle, new plants from the British flower shows and more – AND the first hybrid between Helleborus niger and H. orientalis that will actually be on sale (in Britain at least) to gardeners (top left).

Of course, as it’s on the RHS website, it’s all aimed at British gardeners. But I’m sure North American and other gardeners will also find plenty of tempting new plants – a Google search will usually reveal who’s selling them in North America.

And check back on my New Plants blog regularly for news of another lovely new echinacea, the revival of an old agapanthus, and seed of the wonderful Salvia patens in five (yes five) colors and more.

Pioneering heuchera breeder

I’m just back from a visit to check on the work of pioneer Heuchera breeder Charles Oliver. Based in south west Pennsylvania, his introductions, derived from selected forms of east coast native species, were the first of the current generation of Heuchera varieties.

He made the first stride in the dramatic march which heucheras have taken in recent years with the introduction of the Larenim Hybrids in 1988, bringing together the floriferous Bressingham type and a form of the hardy and large-flowered H. pubescens from West Virginia. Later successes include ‘Regina’ (1997), ‘Silver Scrolls’ (1999) and ‘Frosted Violet’ (2002) as well as heucherellas including ‘Quicksilver’ (1997) and tiarellas including ‘Pink Brushes’ (2002). All are still well worth growing and he’s still making new selections and new introductions.

Toughness has always been an important factor in his selection process and it was encouraging to see the rigorous conditions in which his potential new varieties are grown. They’d not been watered at all during the long summer drought and some which were unable to cope with such a severe test had already expired. And after all, dying is the perfect way for weak plants to exclude themselves from further consideration - and further breeding. Only genuinely robust plants survive to be considered. That really is the way to ensure that new introductions are genuinely good garden plants and won’t fade away in less than perfect conditions.

Charles has six new heucheras on the way. Four will be available from nurseries next spring and all four have been selected with emphasis on large and colorful flowers as well as good foliage. They include ‘Moonlight’, with large luminous pale green flowers held on dark crimson stems over prettily patterned smoky purple foliage and ‘Caroline’ with large creamy white flowers opening from dark reddish buds over silvered soft bronze leaves.

Next year sees the arrival of two more, I’ll update you on them when they’re closer to being available. And while continuing to work on these tough heucheras, tiarellas and heucherellas I was intrigued to see what else Charles has in the works. But more on that when they’re ready for release!

For US gardeners: The next four introductions are available exclusively through Monrovia - who sell ony to nurseries, not to gardeners. You can see more about them here – use the zip code search to find a retailer near you - and on Charles Oliver's own website.

For British nurseries: When I have news on the UK availability of these plants, I’ll let you know.

Border phlox in new styles

I have a piece in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper today... on recent developments in border phlox (Phlox paniculata). You can read it here.

You can read my piece about the new plants at the Chelsea Flower Show here. And see my full list of all the new plants unveiled at Chelsea here.

And my profile of the most influential writer on vegetables of our times - Joy Larkcom - is also  available online. You can read it here.

You can also read my choice of the Top Ten New Perennials selected for the Daily Telegraph here. Be sure to click on the In Pictures: Top 10 new perennials link at the top of the page to see a slide show of all ten of my picks.

You can also read my previous article on Clematis cirrhosa here

And my piece for the Telegraph on hellebores here

And my piece for them on winter arums here

And my piece for them on bergenias here

And my piece on winter flowering pansies here

And another piece, on growing your own mistletoe, here

The Daily Telegraph is one of Britain's best-selling daily newspapers and winner of the 2007 Garden Media Guild award for the Gardening Newspaper of the Year.

And my piece for the Telegraph on hellebores here

And my piece for them on winter arums here

And my piece for them on bergenias here

And my piece on winter flowering pansies here

And another piece, on growing your own mistletoe, here

The Daily Telegraph is one of Britain's best-selling daily newspapers and winner of the 2007 Garden Media Guild award for the Gardening Newspaper of the Year.