Galanthus

Brenda Troyle

Brenda Troyle [left] , this picture doesn't do justice to the large plump pearly buds of this snowdrop.

Magnet has a longer green bit that links the flower to the stem [pedicel?]. The movement in a breeze is more pronounced than a 'normal' snowdrop and quite pretty. The outer petals are longer and thinner than those of Brenda Troyle.

Lady Elphinstone, a double snowdrop with yellow/green trimming to her skirts. Takes time to establish, some flowers may revert back to green edge and the yellowing does seem to vary flower to flower.

All in flower early February

Galium odoratum

Woodruff, Ladies-in-the-Hay, Mariengras, plant it at your peril! I have chosen to make its rampant acquaintance. I grew it from seed and tucked it in my shady woodland bed. It likes the conditions a bit too much. Another native wildflower, it has whorls of leaves [similar to goose grass/cleavers] but shiny not hooked and lower growing. Topped in May by simple small white flowers.

Roy Genders in his book 'Scented Flora of the World' , says that it contains high levels of cumarin as do certain meadow grasses. When Woodruff leaves are dried they release the sweet hay scent that cumarin evokes. It dies away to some extent in the winter and forms little overwintering leaf tufts along the runners.

Makes a sparse tree - a very 'light' vertical as the flowers are borne on the thin 'twigs' - there are no leaves. The tree in my garden really lights up with a mass of yellow blossom all through July - abuzz with bees and snails who climb high but don't seem to do much damage in this case.
Also known as Mount Etna Broom which gives a clue to its native habitat - Sicily and Sardinia. Sources suggest that it is fairly short lived [my current specimen is at least 6 years old], possibly prone also to wind rock in taller specimens.

Geranium

Geranium 'Ann Folkard'

Geranium orientalitibeticum

x Ann Folkard
Used to be hard to get hold of when first launched [I know I tried]. This one came from the local superstore a couple of years ago. Pale gold/green foliage, an absolute sprawler, throwing out long flowery 'runners' in all directions. The core plant remains compact and very neat within it's allotted space. Flowers for ages, rich striking magenta with a darker eye. Does not set seed.

clarkei Kashmir White
Glamorous but not very happy in my dry shade so has been re-located to another garden in full sun where it is far more vigorous. Large open silky white flowers with reddish pencilled veining. Delicate filgreed 'geranium' foliage. At the end of each day she langorously sheds her petals one by one, flowers only once in June.

himalayense Irish Blue
Well I think it is, but couldn't swear to it, looks very much like a smaller version of the wild native Geranium pratense but with the petals more separated and paler in colour. Not very happy in dry shade so has been removed to s semi-wild area in sun where it is much happier.

orientalitibeticum
Leaves a bit like a large buttercup with some darker markings, low growing and runs. It only flowers once in the season, large pinkish single flowers with a central white ring around the stamens, then the whole lot starts to retreat underground again.

palmatum
I am not an expert on the ins and outs between G.palmatum and G.maderense although there are distinct differences in hardiness and style of growth. This is G.palmatum which seems to be able to take frost although it is in a fairly sheltered position in full sun. Ray Brown of PlantWorld comments that his plants have taken -11°C. The rosette of leaves remains through the winter. In summer the pink flowers are produced in sprawling sprays [seen here with Anthemis E.C Buxton another sprawler!]

pratense
A UK native 'wildflower', grows extensively around here on the roadsides where in summer it contributes it's clouds of blue flowers. I think it is worth growing in 'wilder' garden areas as in flower it is quite tall growing and lanky, providing a bridge between garden and 'nature'. I also think it looks less 'weedy' than other geraniums such as phaeum might look under the same circumstances. Cut back after first flowering plants will flower again. Selected cultivars are available with varying blue, pink and white colouring e.g. Silver Queen [white], Rose Queen [pink], Splish Splash'[blue and white], Victor Reiter strains [deep red foliage].

robustum
This lovely geranium comes from South Africa. The silvered evergreen leaves are deeply cut and the pale lilac-pink flowers make an airy display on tall stems for a long period over the summer. Unusually it gets 'bushy' over time. Looks good in borders alongside lavenders, cistus etc.

Gladiolus

Miss Henriette
Cool primrose and green, gorgeous!

Gunnera

Dan Hinkley in his book 'The Explorers Garden' says there are 50 different varieties, with a range from South America to New Zealand. The most well known is Gunnera manicata which can grow to massive proportions [over 6 feet tall ] when well fed and watered. It can be seen to good effect in many of the big Cornish gardens.

The Gunnera dies down every year to large resting 'buds' that poke out of the ground. It is suggested that these are covered with a mulch or the dead Gunnera leaves until Spring to protect from frost. The 'flower' is a greenish/russet spike that looks a bit like an oversized open pinecone.

Gunnera magellanica is a tiny carpeting plant with scalloped pale green leaves about 2 inches across, but is not particularly happy in dryish shade. Christopher Lloyd suggests it likes a moist position.

Heiracium aurantiacum [Hawkweed] has fantastic tangy ruddy orange flowers similar to a small dandelion but in clusters on top of a longish stalk! The mat of bristly leaves is ground hugging. It is a rampant spreader so be warned, spent 2002 admiring it and will spend 2003 keeping it within bounds! Another name for it is 'Grim the Collier' no idea why.

According to my wild flower book it is common in waste places throughout Britain and Northern Europe so not a rarity. Height: 8-10 inches

Hedychium spicatum is perhaps not the flashiest member of the ginger family. Spidery white and coral flowers, lightly scented. The rhizomes give off a gingerish scent when dividing. The fruit left, is quite a revelation in the autumn ......the seed pods ripen and open to reveal the seeds thrust forward surrounded by the scarlet inner surfaces of the pods.

Grows to 2 - 3 feet in a pot with a bit of liquid feeding, exotic in later summer when other things begin to look tired.

H. densiflorum Assam Orange has packed thin spikes of orange flowers and thinner leaves than H spicatum. Both of these gingers are relatively hardy in the South. I keep mine in pots and put them under cover in winter when they die down.

Easy to grow from seed also propagate from division in spring as they start to come into growth again.

The wild rock rose Helianthemum nummularium [shown to the left], grows in the UK, the common form is a bright buttercup yellow. Forms big mats. Can be found on the chalk scarps locally.

The Bride is a nice white with silvery foliage. Henfield Brilliant is a rich orange, its silvery foliage provides a good background to the flowers. Recently found a fantastic carmine-red rock rose called Supreme, luscious!. Salmon Queen is somewhat wishy washy and has been likened to the colour of a certain shade of recycled loo paper! Doubles include a scarlet red Mrs C W Earle [Fireball] and Jubilee a rich yellow and flowers for ages.

Grow in full sun on chalky/limey soils, clip over gently when finished flowering to stop plants getting too 'bare' and twiggy [some are worse than others for twigginess].

The so called Christmas Rose [Helleborus niger] was once the hellebore, this one is in bloom in mid March, the pink coloured flower is going over. This is a good form with large upward facing flowers, much visited by early bees. The flowers are held about 8 inches above the ground, in this instance it is growing in full sun on clay soil [mixed with soil improvers], not necessarily ideal but so far holding its own [after 2 years it was no more!]

I also grow H. foetidus which in March has lovely heads of pale green bells, edges pencilled as they age with purple, The foliage is deep green and 'many fingered'. A native of Britain its range extending through Europe, said to prefer dryish habitats, the west country sometimes proves too moist for it - [it did, got a rot and is now on its way out although others I have seen around are fine].
Quite distinctly different, you might be forgiven for thinking this is one of the H. orientalis slate-black hybrids but it isn't.

This is H.purpurascens a native of wood edges in Eastern Europe. The 'petals' are harder in texture and if you turn up the flowers there is distinct green colouration towards the centre. Like H.niger the flowers start very hunched up and hunkered down in the soil, you almost despair that they will lift themselves up, and they take ages to do so. Unlike H.niger and H.orientalis the H. purpurascens foliage completely dies away before the new season's flower buds emerge. Said to prefer alkaline soil which mine is predominantly.

H.orientalis hybrid Harvington Shades of the Night, the foliage starts out a very deep purple-black fading later to deep green. The 'flowers' on the best selections are the deepest plum-purple black, sumptuous! [But can get lost visually so need a contrast]

Hosta flowers tend to get overlooked, I picked these just to show some of the variations in shape and size.

Hostas are members of the lily family and I always think it a shame that not more of them are scented, many of the flowers look as though they should be, but then that would make them more feminine plants, and they do tend to be considered 'structural' and more 'masculine'. Most of mine are species, grown from seed [Chiltern] which seemed pretty easy, although I haven't a clue which they are.

Hosta nigrescens has dramatic emerging foliage [see left], an amazing contrast between the lime green and bloomy dark purple. When the leaves mature they are darker green and perhaps held higher than some. As this is grown in a pot I am not sure under better conditions how much taller it might grow. Currently it makes about 1.5 - 2ft. The flowers sadly are the normal pale lilac colour bells but on longer elegant stems. [Originally from Cally Gardens]

My favourite is H. plantaginea with glossy apple green leaves and scented white flowers see >> Contained gardening for more about it and a picture.

Fried Green Tomatoes [1995] is also scented, large flaring flowers tinged lilac flowering in August.

All my Hostas are grown in pots now as they just got completely ravaged by slugs and snails in the woodland bed I had created for them [which is now predominantly ferns and epimediums, neither being a favoured mollusc meal].

Slugs and snails don't you just love 'em!

Iochroma australe [Acnistus]

Another member of the solanum family [potatoes and tomatoes also belong]. The normal type has purple/blue flowers rather than the white shown here. This shrub is a native of woods in Argentina. The flared bells about 2 inches long run along the branches under the leaves which is a 'pretty' and rather delicate effect.

Chiltern's stock the seed and recommend it as a tender bedding plant as it will grow and flower in the first year under good conditions. Rix and Phillips suggest it is hardy to -5°C maybe more if sheltered. I have had mine growing in a pot in a sheltered but shady spot close to the house for a number of years. It loses it's leaves over winter [although it apparently can be semi-evergreen] and is very early into growth again in Spring. I am not growing it under optimum conditions so it does not put on a lot of annual growth. The specimen shown is a few years old and remains outside.

Iris florentina is fairly early flowering probably a germanica hybrid. It is an odd off- white, flushed pale grey-violet. The scent is that of violets. This Iris is the source of orris root, the rhizomes have been dried and used for centuries as a scent base in pot pourri and perfumes. Polunin states that it is also the model for the Fleur-de-Lys and it does look distinctly like that in this picture.

The flower bud unwraps itself in a different manner to the more clumsy unfolding of the other bearded iris I grow [reminds me of Rennie Mackintosh]. I. 'English Cottage' is larger in all it's parts, much whiter with blue/purple pencilling on the fall edges, it too is strongly scented and slightly later flowering.

Both grow vigorously for me, they are in dryish soil mulched with gravel in full sun. Lift and divide after flowering. Flowering May - June

English Cottage [very scented]	Black Out [scented]	Winemaster	Madame Francoise Debat
Katie Koo [Intermediate - very scented]

One of the early spring flowering miniature Irises, in the wild it's range stretches from Russia to Iran. I grow them in pots for a moveable early Spring show. The colour can range from pale blue through to rich purple and the intensity of the scent varies. The style and flower size between the different cultivars can also be quite different. Cultivars include Joyce, Harmony, J S Dijt and Cantab. I plant them in late October in pots in free draining peat-free compost and lift and dry off when the foliage had died down in late Spring. It has been suggested they should be planted about 6 inches deep in the garden to stop too much development of bulbils at the expense of flowering size 'bulbs'. Flowering February

Motherwort - a perennial that is found wild in Britain but said to be introduced. Employed by herbalists for a myriad of female 'disorders' as well as having other uses including curing murrein in cattle! Moerman notes that a number of North American tribes including the Micmac used Motherwort for women's disorders and the Cherokee for hysteria and nerves. Apparently rather a bitter herb.

Whorls of grey cut leaves and spires of pink and white hooded flowers.

Best grown perhaps in wilder areas of the garden - attractive to bees. July onwards

Love or hate this one, you can't miss it. The normal 'tiger lily' has just one row of petals, this as you can see is a 'muddle' of petals. These grow in semi-shade in quite loose soil. The plants get to a height of about 4 feet or so and I get about 5 flowers per plant. Bernwode Plants sell a white single form. This lily can be grown from the fresh bulbils that nestle in the joint between the leaf and the stem, I am trying this for the first time and am guessing 2-3 years to make flowering size.

I have found that slugs and snails quite like this plant as do the pesky lily beetles in their matching scarlet jackets. Squash beetles when you see them - catch them quick because they are good at dropping out of sight at the first tremor of danger. The grubs are disgusting and cover themselves with their own excrement - devise your own preferred way to get rid of them or bye bye lily !

Linaria purpurea

L. triornithophora [Three Birds Toadflax]

japonica 'Halliana'

'Halls' Prolific [L] and similis delavayi [R]

This may be a 'common or garden' climbing honeysuckle and more or less foolproof, but it has to be one of my favourites for scent and flowerpower. Introduced to the UK from Asia in 1806, Hilliers notes it is becoming a pest in the US. The trumpets turn gold from white when pollinated. Unlike many other Honeysuckles the flowers appear in clusters along the trailing shoots rather than in clusters at the tips.

The leaves are semi-evergreen and it does need a good trimming every so often in early spring to stop too much build-up of dead twigs under the flowering branches. It will certainly grow in 'dryish' conditions as both of mine do, although some watering helps as 2003 proved! Cuttings from semi-ripe shoots 'take' fairly readily.

Hall's Prolific is said to be a better form, it seems to start into flower slightly later and has a more intense scent. Another form is reticulata which has a fine gold 'netting' on the leaves.

Lonicera similis delavayi - similar in style to L. japonica but has thinner and longer flowers. I have not found it quite as scented and it has proved to be a bit of a thug, I have had to cut hard-back a number of times which has delayed flowering.

Lonicera periclymenum, Graham Thomas. Selection of a British native twiner often seen in hedgerows and cascading from trees on wood edges. Shows quite a variation in the wild some are more pinky-peach tinged. Heads are like crowns rather than running along the stem like the two above.

June - early Autumn

Lupinus

L.arboreus

Lupins come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Some are annual and others shortish lived perennials.

The Lupinus arboreus on the left was grown from seed two years ago and flowered for the first time last year. A native of California. It is currently about 1m high, There are blue and white flowered forms available and hybrids such as Plant World's 'Plummy Blue'. Said to be scented but I have found only faintly so until one very hot day when it was quite distinct. These plants have lasted about two years but some have died this summer after flowering.

Another US citizen, [bought from Cally Gardens] is Lupinus sericeus which has much more silky silvery foliage than L. arboreus and starts into flower earlier here. It also appears to be lower growing. Seems slightly more susceptible to the horrible US lupin aphid which is bigger and more glaucous than our home grown variety of aphid.

Both are growing in fairly sheltered positions in full sun on fairly clay soil and have taken a few degrees of prolonged frost.

The L.sericeus has since died and so have 2 out of 3 L.arboreus so lasted about 3 years.