Plant of the Season
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Plant of the Month, May/June
Primula reidii var. williamsii I am certain that most alpine plant growers will be familiar with this sensational Himalayan primula. This is a beautiful variant of the white-flowering type species, native to the western Himalaya. The species, P. Reidii was first discovered by Duthie in 1883 and later collected the following year in the Garhwal […]
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Plant of the Month, Mar/Apr
Corydalis solida ‘Dieter Schacht’ Early spring in the garden often highlights a mass planting of snowdrops, Muscari, aconites, crocus and assorted daffodils where the colour range seems to omit the soft pinks, salmon pink and vibrant reds. A favourite group of plants, the highly diverse range of Corydalis solida forms will fill this void. Specialist […]
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Plant of the Month Oct/Nov
Gentiana ornata This autumn-flowering species of gentian was first discovered by Danish botanist Wallich in 1820. He had discovered it in the Gosain Than, C. Nepal. It may have remained in relative obscurity, from a horticultural point of view, until 1930 when it was introduced through Thomas Hay of the Royal parks and Gardens, London. […]
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Plant of the Month Aug/Sep
Gentiana ‘Shot Silk’ Here is an autumn-flowering gentian, widely available in the nursery/garden centre trade and one well within the scope of general garden cultivation across the UK. This gentian was raised by Keith Lever of Aberconwy Nursery and received an AM from the RHS in 1991. Many fine cultivars of autumn-gentian have received names […]
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Plant of the Month – July
Erigeron ‘Canary Bird’ Here is an alpine plant, so well known in specialist alpine circles, that it may need little in way of an introduction, but I suspect few readers will know the true story of this plant’s introduction. We have to go back to the year 1960 and that great “emporium” of alpine plants, […]
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Plant of the Month – June
Plant of the Month – June Primula bulleyana is one of the finest and most rewarding members of the Candelabra Balf. section of primula. It is native to North–west Yunnan in China and, although readily available as the true species, hybridises so readily in the garden that it can rapidly lose its identity. While I […]
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Plant of the Month, May
Gentiana angustifolia ‘Frei’ For generations, keen gardeners have sought to grow and successfully flower the alpine gentian, Gentiana acaulis. This traditional name just about encapsulates all dwarf, “trumpet” gentians. In reality the true G. acaulis is probably the acid-loving Gentiana kochiana, commonly found in alpine turf throughout the Alps. It is a wholly unsatisfactory garden […]
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Plant of the Month, April
Erythronium revolutum This species must be one of the finest and most rewarding of all the Erythroniums. I say this because of its dual-beauty created by clear pink, yellow-eyed flowers along with stunning green and purplish, mottled leaves (in its best forms). While it fails to “clump up” by comparison to its sterile cousins, I […]