The Alpine Gardener - December 2014

338  THE ALPINE GARDENER

Alpine Gardener the

JOURNAL OF THE ALPINE GARDEN SOCIETY

VOL. 82 No. 4  DECEMBER 2014  pp. 358-477

the international society for the cultivation, conservation and exploration of alpine and rock garden plants

Volume 82 No. 4

December 2014

Alpine Gardener THE

CONTENTS 366 400

359 EDITOR’S LETTER 361 ALPINE DIARY

2014 AGS shows round-up, and a widger mystery.

366 ROBERT ROLFE’S DIARY Beware of non-gardeners!

400 PHOTO ALBUM

The AGS slide librarians present beautiful images from the Andes.

410 BRIAN BURROW

Robert Rolfe visits the garden of one of the AGS’s finest plantsmen.

438 NURSE PLANTS

Daniel Montesinos on Pycnophyllum molle in Peru.

444 PRIZE PLANTS FROM OUR SHOWS

This year’s AGS Dublin, London, East Anglia, Malvern, Southport and Summer South shows.

456 MOUNT OLYMPUS

Tour guide Yiannis Christofides explores Greece’s highest peak.

468 IRISH GARDENS

John Noakes joins the AGS Chiltern Group’s Irish tour.

456

December 2014 Volume 82 No 4

PRACTICAL GARDENING

374 DAPHNE CNEORUM

Robin White reports on his trials of dwarf forms of this alluring species.

410 468

386 DAPHNE JASMINEA

Vic Aspland on his efforts to grow a ‘fragile’ plant.

390 SNOWDROP DISEASES

David Way and Cor van Bakel present important new research into Galanthus pathogens. COVER PHOTOGRAPHS

Front: Tulipa australis in Greece (Yiannis Christofides). Back: Scilla pratensis exhibited at the London Show by Bob and Rannveig Wallis (Jon Evans).

ON THESE PAGES

Left: Cyclamen hederifolium Bowles’s Apollo Group; Chuquiraga jussieui; Scabiosa tenuis. Right: Linum campanulatum; planting at Hunting Brook, near Dublin; Fritillaria camschatcensis exhibited by Clare Oates at this year’s East Anglia Show.

444

Published by the

Alpine Garden Society

The international society for the cultivation, conservation and exploration of alpine and rock garden plants, small hardy herbaceous plants, hardy and half-hardy bulbs, hardy ferns and small shrubs AGS Centre, Avon Bank, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 3JP, UK Tel: +44(0)1386 554790 Fax: +44(0)1386 554801 Email: ags@alpinegardensociety.net Director of the Alpine Garden Society: Christine McGregor Registered charity No. 207478 Annual subscriptions: Single (UK and Ireland) £32* Family (two people at same address) £36* Junior (under 18/student) £14 Overseas single US$56 £34 Overseas family US$62 £37 * £2 deduction for direct debit subscribers For details of life membership and joint life membership apply to the Alpine Garden Society at the address above. Printed by Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE. Price to non-members £8.00 Second-class postage paid at Rahway, New Jersey. US Postmaster: send address corrections to AGS Bulletin, c/o Mercury Airfreight International Ltd. Inc., 2323 Randolph Avenue, Avenel, NJ 07001. USPS 450-210.

© The Alpine Garden Society ISSN 1475-0449

Editor: John Fitzpatrick Tel: +44(0)1981 580134 Email: editor@agsgroups.org Associate Editor: Robert Rolfe Tel: +44(0)1159 231928 Email: robert.rolfe@agsgroups.org Practical Gardening Correspondent: Vic Aspland CChem. MRSC Tel: +44(0)1384 396331 Email: vic.aspland@agsgroups.org Custodian AGS Digital Library: Jon Evans Tel: +44(0)1252 724416 Email: jon.evans@agsgroups.org Custodian AGS Slide Library: Peter Sheasby Tel/fax: +44(0)1295 720502 To advertise in The Alpine Gardener please call or email the AGS Centre (details above) The Editor welcomes contributions of articles and photographs. Please call or email the Editor to discuss relevant formats for photographs before sending. The Editor cannot accept responsibility for loss of, or damage to, articles, artwork or photographs sent by post. The views expressed in The Alpine Gardener do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or of the Alpine Garden Society. The Alpine Gardener is published four times a year in March, June, September and December.

www.alpinegardensociety.net

PETER ERSKINE

Daphne striata on the Sella Pass in the central Dolomites

O

ne of the greatest benefits of being an AGS member is that it brings you into contact with plantsmen and women whom otherwise you would not meet. Whether they are active or retired nurserymen, expert growers and showers, professional gardeners, academic botanists, authors or simply amateur gardeners who have built up a wealth of first-hand experience, there is a vast reservoir of knowledge to be tapped into. If you are a member of an AGS Local Group, it is likely that you will have one or more of these people as a member. Go to an AGS show and the number multiplies, with nurserymen on hand to answer your questions about how best to grow a particular plant. Our exhibitors, the cream of the country’s growers, are also only too happy to offer advice.

DECEMBER 2014

Tapping into thousands of years of experience Editor ’s letter Access to these combined thousands of years of horticultural experience is, from my point of view, worth the price of AGS membership alone. Visiting an AGS show is akin to stepping into a living encyclopedia, while the speakers at the two-day AGS Conference in November 359

EDITOR’S LETTER  offered a breathtaking onslaught of information. Every visit to an AGS event results in something learned. We can never know it all, but the part the AGS plays in our journeys of discovery is, for me, its finest attribute and is one of the reasons why it is held in such high regard throughout the world.

I

dentifying plants in the wild can be tricky even for experienced botanists, and many a disagreement continues long after a site has been visited and photographs have been studied in detail. I am grateful to Daphne experts Robin White and Peter Erskine, who point out that the picture captioned as D. striata on page 350 of the September issue of The Alpine Gardener is in fact D. cneorum. Robin tells me: ‘It’s possible that D. striata was seen in the same area of the Dolomites but that a better looking plant of the wrong species has been photographed. This is not the first time these two species have been confused.’ Peter Erskine, who has probably seen more D. cneorum and D. striata in the wild than anyone, confirms this opinion and I’m pleased to be able to publish his photograph of D. striata (previous page) taken on the Sella Pass, which will allow members to make their own comparison. The AGS Encyclopedia describes D. striata thus: ‘Much like D. cneorum but with somewhat more slender and freely branching stems, longer narrower leaves and striped perianth tubes. Flowering can also continue later, at least in the wild or in colder gardens. Found in France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, 360

the Italian Dolomites and Yugoslavia in screes, short grassland and low scrub usually above 1,500-3,000m but here and there down to 900m. Generally an inferior garden plant to D. cneorum and much less easy to please. Cool conditions are appreciated in a moist but well aerated medium largely of acid humus and sharp sand.’ If you are considering planting a dwarf form of D. cneorum in your garden, then Robin’s article beginning on page 374 of this issue is essential reading.

T

his issue of The Alpine Gardener is dedicated to the memory of Professor Wilbert R. Danner, an AGS member who lived in British Columbia. In his will dated 1990, he bequeathed 20,000 Canadian dollars (£11,200) to pay for colour illustrations in this journal. Professor Danner died in 2012 and we have now received his bequest. In 1990 some images in this publication were still being printed in black and white, hence the reason for his generosity. Nowadays, of course, full-colour printing is the norm, so the bequest will be used to meet some of the printing costs of the journal this year. John Fitzpatrick   We’d like to hear your views about articles in The Alpine Gardener, and also about your experiences of growing plants or searching for them in the wild. Please write to the Editor at AGS Centre (address on title page) or email editor@agsgroups.org. THE ALPINE GARDENER

BILLY MOORE

ALPINE DIARY

Petunia patagonica shown at Dublin by Tim Lever of Aberconwy Nursery, who won Silver, Gold and Farrer medals at AGS shows during 2014

A

lpine Garden Society shows are a cornerstone of our organisation. Exhibitors delight and astonish fellow AGS members and the public alike by embellishing our show benches with thousands of fabulous specimen plants, and 2014 was no exception. After the disappointment of having to cancel two shows in 2013, all 24 shows went ahead this year. The new show at Kendal and the London Show’s move to a Sunday were both great successes, each attracting hundreds of visitors. A very successful innovation this year was the Schools Outreach Project at Malvern, in which 12 schools staged planted troughs as well as artwork and research into alpines and their habitats.

DECEMBER 2014

Hundreds are drawn to new AGS shows 2014 SHOWS ROUND-UP These positive aspects, however, mask the fact that overall the number of individuals who exhibit fell below 300 for the first time since detailed statistics began to be compiled 19 years ago. This year 293 members staged exhibits compared with 306 last year. The 361

ALPINE DIARY  number of exhibitors peaked in 1999 at 458 and has been in steady decline since. On an upbeat note, 19 members exhibited for the first time in 2014. The total number of plant entries (including multi-pan classes) was 7,680, with a total of 10,593 plants staged. These figures were well up on last year but it is difficult to make a fair comparison given that there were three more shows this year, taking into account the new show at Bakewell and the two cancellations in 2013. The most plants – 731 – were put on the bench at the Loughborough Spring Show, followed by Kendal with 674 and Chesterfield with 599. The average was 441 plants per show. Loughborough also attracted the highest number of exhibitors at 93, followed by Kendal with 83 and Northumberland with 72. The average was 48 exhibitors per show. Cecilia Coller, despite winning her 42nd and 43rd Gold Bars, relinquished her nine-year grip on the Open Section aggregate to Don Peace, who picked up his 14th, 15th and 16th Gold Bars in the process of lifting the Giuseppi Cup for the first time. Bob and Rannveig Wallis finished second in the Open Section, with Cecilia in third place. As Mary Randall, acting Director of Shows, commented during the presentation of show awards at this year’s AGM: ‘When Gold Bars were introduced it seemed inconceivable that anyone would win more than two or three. What has happened since is truly remarkable.’ It was a vintage year for the Wallises in terms of Farrer Medals, with no less than four being awarded, bookended 362

by successes at the first and last shows of the season. Their Farrer plants were Iris hyrcana at South Wales, Corydalis verticillaris at Early Spring, Acis trichophylla at London, and Cyclamen graecum subsp. anatolicum at Newcastle. Tim Lever of Aberconwy Nursery won his first Farrer Medal with a specimen of Sebaea thomasii at the Midland Show. Tony Lee proved at the Summer North (Bakewell) event that you don’t have to grow difficult plants to obtain the highest honour when his pan of Sempervivum arachnoideum was adjudged best on the benches. An easy plant grown to the highest standards has just as much chance as any other entry. Brian Sulman won the Intermediate Section aggregate for the second year in succession, but will have to allow someone else to take the Byng Cup next year because he has collected the maximum five Silver Bars and now must compete in the Open Section. In a close contest, the Novice Section aggregate was won by Brenda Nickels by a single point over David and Liz Livermore. During the year 14 Bronze Medals (including one for art) were awarded, seven Silver Medals (including one for art) and Gold Medals for Mala Janes, Tim Lever, Michael Sullivan and Helen Kidman, with Graham Nicholls collecting an artistic Gold. If you have never exhibited at an AGS show, please consider doing so next year. This issue of The Alpine Gardener is accompanied by a leaflet that explains how easy and rewarding it can be. Show secretaries and fellow exhibitors will be glad to help you take the first step. THE ALPINE GARDENER

ALPINE DIARY

AGS AGGREGATE SHOW RESULTS 2014

OPEN SECTION TOP TEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

First First Second Third places points * points points Don Peace, Yarm 128 249 92 39 Bob & Rannveig Wallis, Carmarthen 68 189 55 23 Cecilia Coller, Norwich 88 180 163 73 Paul & Gill Ranson, Chippenham 59 117 85 46 Lee & Julie Martin, Pevensey 67 105 34 16 Ivor Betteridge, Ashby-de-la-Zouch 61 99 55 43 Alan & Janet Cook, Dinton 48 77 38 32 Alan Newton, Ponteland 38 64 60 23 Ian Robertson, Shaftesbury 32 60 49 28 Tim Lever, Aberconwy Nursery 43 53 29 21

INTERMEDIATE SECTION TOP FIVE 1 2 3 4 5

Brian Sulman, Mildenhall Bob Worsley, Woodford Tony Stanley, Darlington Norman Davies, Bacup Colin & Kathleen Billington, Chipping

68 47 44 37 37

86 63 62 43 39

93 41 8 34 29

56 21 6 8 20

20 19 10 10 7

24 23 16 12 11

26 25 8 4 10

7 17 2 0 1

NOVICE SECTION TOP FIVE 1 2 3 4 5

Brenda Nickels, Malvern David & Liz Livermore, Barley Igor Bronstein, Oxford Lawrence Peet, Harrogate Elizabeth Dodds, Carlisle

ARTISTIC SECTIONS PHOTOGRAPHIC OPEN 1 Joan & Liam McCaughey, Ballinderry 30 76 47 9 2 Kit Strange, London 13 43 29 5 PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERMEDIATE 1 Kit Strange, London 18 32 8 3 2 John & Clare Dower, Frodsham 23 29 38 27 PAINTINGS/DRAWINGS/NEEDLEWORK OPEN 1 Jean Morris, Berkhamsted 39 89 17 2 2 Kathleen Baker, Llanarthney 19 63 48 7 PAINTINGS/DRAWINGS/NEEDLEWORK INTERMEDIATE 1 Vincent Daniels, Woodford Green 7 7 0 0 2 Maeve Spotswood, Bray 5 5 0 1 * First, second and third points are awarded for each plant exhibited. For example, a first place in a three-pan class is awarded three first points.

DECEMBER 2014

363

ALPINE DIARY

A

catalogue from my local auction house in Herefordshire arrived through my letterbox in May 2009. Idly leafing through the 1,000 or so lots, my eye was caught by a lot of two items: ‘A modern leaf dish, Birmingham 1961, made for Harrods, and a monogrammed widger, Birmingham 1954, maker A.E. Jones.’ A silver widger! Surely no such thing existed. Apart from the cost, silver is far too soft to be practical. Interested, I went to view it and was astonished to find the monogram was ‘C.E.’ and, on the reverse, the words: ‘The Clarence Elliott Widger.’ Attending an auction determined to buy something is always dangerous, but it appeared that I was the only buyer who knew who Clarence Elliott was, so the purchase wasn’t too disastrous for my wallet. There followed a long and fruitless search among AGS members to try to find someone who could shed light on why the widger had been made and how many had been produced. Sadly, I was just a little too late. Kath Dryden had died just a few months previously (the most likely to know) and a trawl among the senior membership sparked a lot of interest but yielded no information. The auctioneers kindly put me in touch with the vendor but he had purchased it at a car boot sale in Worcester. The manufacturer, A.E. Jones, closed in the mid-1970s. Then came a phone call from the AGS Centre – someone was on the same trail and had requested that I should contact her. I spoke to a delightful woman who

364

Mystery of the Clarence Elliott widger A chance find in an auction catalogue has led Richard Hancock on a fruitless investigation. Can any AGS member help to solve the riddle? told a remarkable story. A collector of silver, she had bought a pair of widgers on the internet, from the USA. It was clear that they differed from mine in several details. A London hallmark for 1957, maker George Tarratt and, most intriguingly, an engraved plant design instead of the ‘C.E.’ monogram. But they were both clearly marked ‘The Clarence Elliott Widger’. The American vendor had described the items thus: ‘A small traditional British implement usually made from plastic or stainless steel. It has a small spatula-shaped end and sometimes the opposite end has a two-pronged fork or a small dibber. An invaluable tool for anyone who grows from seed or cuttings. It is used mainly for pricking out and transplanting seedlings and cuttings and can also be used to break up the top of the soil if it hardens over in the trays, making planting holes for the seedlings and adding fertiliser to houseplants.’ THE ALPINE GARDENER

ALPINE DIARY

Richard Hancock’s Clarence Elliott widger photographed alongside a 50p coin, and its various engravings and hallmarks

Sadly, yet again, the provenance had been lost. The vendor had reported that the original owners were reputedly wealthy with a magnificent garden but were now long dead and nothing was known about the widgers. On receipt of photographs, the stylised engravings looked like Juno irises. On contacting Martin Elliott, Clarence’s grandson, I found that he was as much in the dark as the rest of us. Although aware of the existence of silver widgers, the family had never found one DECEMBER 2014

for themselves. He did, however, tell me that the family had a collection of every article that Clarence had had published, which would be fascinating to read! So there we have it: a minor mystery of the horticultural world from what is now two generations ago. I feel it is unlikely that we will ever know why these widgers were made, but if any member can shed any light, please get in touch through the AGS Centre. In the meantime, does anyone want to buy a Harrods leaf dish? 365

ALPINE DIARY

Robert Rolfe’s Diary

Brunettes, battleaxes and bungling workmen

N

on-gardeners can be a thorough nuisance, with a dismayingly eclectic range of habitats. These include, surprisingly, the garden centre, where they congregate in the tea shop, the ‘Gourmets’ Pantry’ – which any self-respecting gourmet would, on the whole, do well to avoid – and all areas of such establishments where plants and horticultural sundries are absent. Whenever such people do come into contact with plants, the horticulturally minded should beware. From the window cleaner steadying his ladder in my prize bed of white Primula vulgaris subsp. sibthorpii (in full flower), to the glazier who plonked his toolbox atop a hitherto immaculate Dianthus cushion (‘No harm done’, he incorrectly chirped, for all that harming was an action I had very much in mind), they don’t comprehend what could possibly be amiss and sometimes don’t care. Workmen carrying out repairs to a property can all too often leave a garden in a state of disrepair. This is written with feeling, for last summer I was, to understate my full-blooded response, ‘surprised’ to find that kitchen re-fitters had repeatedly emptied their cement-mixing buckets onto some 366

of my best plants. Even for limelovers, this sacrilegious sluicing was in several cases fatal. Yet astonishingly, in a second dumping site (presumably the transgressors wanted variety in their outpourings), Chiastophyllum oppositifolium survived even this indignity. What’s more, its partencased shoots have burgeoned and are beginning to mask over the cement capping. Given that the standard advice is to wear gloves when mixing cement, or else end up with skin that temporarily looks like a relief map of the high Himalayas, you would think the freshly mixed substance anathema to any plant. Many years ago, after the author of a best-selling book on alpines took to suggesting in his lectures that when planting up a wall, the plants should be cemented into position, some deduced that fame had gone to his head. And yet Duncan Lowe, that most practical of alpine gardeners, whose high reputation among leading practitioners of the pursuit was thoroughly deserved, came to much the same conclusion. In Growing Alpines in Raised Beds, Troughs and Tufa (1991), he wrote: ‘Even better security is achieved if the final trowelling of the mortar runs a thin layer over much of the exposed THE ALPINE GARDENER

ROBERT ROLFE

Saxifraga ‘Tumbling Waters’ flowering exuberantly in Robert Rolfe’s garden last summer. Below, the symmetry of its rosettes is equally attractive

cushioning collar and almost touches the plant.’ He provided a photograph of ‘Young saxifrages incorporated during the building of the wall’ to illustrate his point. This practice assuredly isn’t applicable to all of the genus, but with some of the larger-rosetted, early summer-flowering DECEMBER 2014

367

ALPINE DIARY  ‘silvers’, one can see the logic, the more so given that when ‘the plant subsequently thickens its neck... the thin mortar will easily crack away under the pressure without any harm to the growing tissue’. Duncan used the most exuberant of them all, S. ‘Tumbling Waters’, which with me does well amid tufa crevices in large, opposite-facing troughs. Last summer, after a four-year wait, it bloomed so spectacularly that visitors had to high-step over the criss-crossing spikes that blocked the intervening path. The rosettes are beautiful in their symmetry even out of flower, especially in late winter, when they are at their most crystalline-coated. If kept well-supplied with water at the root, they unleash their potential with astonishing brio. When first they rear up, the nascent flower spikes remind me of rather bent asparagus spears – the same colour, the same very rapid rise, the same promise of multi-branching. But over the course of several weeks they transform into billowing white, arching sprays. Surprisingly resistant to heavy showers, which bow the heads for a while, they look upwards again once the sun comes out. Seed is set in profusion and the standard advice is not to sow this. Seedlings certainly should not be labelled ‘Tumbling Waters’, which has to be raised from offset cuttings, preferably from non-flowering plants in early summer. I’ve ignored the advice, ending up with much smaller-rosetted hybrids involving S. cochlearis positioned nearby. These have the virtue of being perennial if vine weevil larvae are kept in check. One or two flower reliably year after year 368

while others tantalise with their waitfor-it reserve. It’s anyone’s guess whether or not they will eventually come good. I’ve seen both parents of ‘Tumbling Waters’ growing wild, but whereas one June S. callosa was flowering abundantly in the Maritime Alps, two decades earlier, but in the same month, S. longifolia was having an off year in the central Pyrenees. With me it is far more prone to rotting off in a wet winter than its renowned hybrid, and for this reason is kept under glass. Then again, building a wall and concreting the young rosettes into their niches might be worth a try. Lacking even rudimentary stone masonry skills, I constructed a raised bed in the mid-1980s and every stone was fixed with concrete. The structure has matured nicely and some of its occupants have prospered. If I was harder of heart, a thorough replant would be countenanced but, each spring, when a combination of daphnes, Dianthus and Erinus alpinus (filling any gaps) are in full flower, it seems heartless to embark on such an upheaval. Instead, a judicious post-flowering trim, coupled with topdressing and occasional liquid feeding, represents a further stay of execution. Other plants have seeded into the gritty soil at the foot of the raised bed or have been ‘sown’ there by ants. Cyclamen hederifolium is the most predictable of these, Arum italicum subsp. italicum ‘Marmoratum’ the least expected in that I’ve never knowingly introduced it to the garden. It has presumably come from dormant seed in the strewn compost of a nurseryman’s pot containing a different plant that failed to endure. It’s THE ALPINE GARDENER

ROBERT ROLFE

Erythronium ‘White Beauty’ has slightly patterned leaves

a plant that evidently likes to get about, for one of the finest clumps imaginable grows a mile away in the lee of a Jubilee waste bin (a square, cast iron affair complete with royal insignia). The local council evidently had money to spare and hit on an inadvertently unmajestic way of celebrating Her Majesty’s rule. Ruthlessly mown down to ground level when the contracted grass cutter fulfils his duties, the leaves come up again, resilient as ever, in the autumn, even enduring the indignity of cocked-leg visitations by the local dog population. I’ve moved the findling to another DECEMBER 2014

part of the garden, where it consorts with a principally North American complement of shade-loving plants including Tiarella cordifolia, the one that spreads most freely, though all is forgiven when its foam of creamy-white flowers froths in earliest May. It is, after all, easily uprooted. Erythroniums are model neighbours, and E. ‘White Beauty’ is all around, its slightly patterned leaves tamed by an interplanting of plain-leaved E. tuolumnense, for the advice to refrain from lumping together every variegated and mottle-leaved plant you 369

ALPINE DIARY

The North American duo Erythronium tuolumnense and, left, Tiarella cordifolia

can find is worth heeding. I’ve recently seen extensive sowings of Cyclamen hederifolium that within a few years have yielded almost every leaf patterning and coloration possible. These are far more effective and far more appealing than a monoculture involving, say, just a highly decorated form such as Bowles’s Apollo Group. Much has been written about the unexpected behaviour and quirks of seeds. Improbable though it might seem, like sowing some crops to coincide with a full moon, they aren’t 370

THE ALPINE GARDENER

ROBERT ROLFE

Decorative Cyclamen hederifolium Bowles’s Apollo Group is best used sparingly

simply the utterings of cranks. I’m told, for instance, that Japanese growers advise that the shiny black seeds of Dicentra peregrina shouldn’t come into contact with the hand, believing that this adversely affects their viability. For such a dwarf plant, the roots can delve up to an astonishing metre deep in the volcanic screes it typically inhabits. Subverting the Max Bygraves’ song You need hands, under the subheading ‘Eccentricities’, 50 years ago we published a piece reporting that capsules of Oxalis laciniata, ‘when grasped between finger and thumb, felt as though they were wriggling as they attempted to explode DECEMBER 2014

and scatter their progeny’. Moreover, the ‘mahogany brown seeds, when held in the palm of the hand, turned creamy white in some two or three seconds’. Old potting compost is a longrecognised source of stowaway seeds that pop up unexpectedly. Last year I filled a circular trough, almost a metre in diameter, with the spoils of the previous year’s bulb repotting marathon. Fluke stowaways that have emerged include Erythronium californicum, Scilla bifolia ‘Norman Stevens’, Sarcocapnos enneaphylla (the only non-bulb, corm or tuber) and Dicentra cuccularia. The last of these I first saw grown really well at 371

ALPINE DIARY  a Vincent Square Show in the spring of 1975, when the late Irene Glaister won a Farrer Medal with this evanescent, ethereally beautiful species. For me it is the equal of the north-east Asian D. peregrina and easier to grow, though it is challenging to flower really well. I first met Irene three years earlier at the Nottingham Show, held in those days at the Albert Hall Institute in the city centre, where pots had to be awkwardly hauled up a flight of creaky stairs, when she picked up her first Farrer with Dionysia aretioides. She moved from Yorkshire to Oxfordshire in the early Seventies (her Quaker, clock-making ancestors were from that county), and set about fashioning not just a lovely garden but a thumping great alpine house. She had earlier devised, or at least formalised, what she called ‘Glaister’s Law’, its central tenet being that whatever size she had purchased in the past, it rapidly became overfilled and had to be supplemented with another, then another. The benches of this last, superior model could be irrigated at will, and she delighted in demonstrating this to visiting coachloads. Having cranked a handle, first came a gurgling sound, then a chugchug-chugging (and a clanking, if an air lock resulted) before the water freely permeated the sand. Like me, she was keen on cushion drabas. Once, when assured that an obscure North American species had never previously been cultivated, I could retort that, on the contrary, Irene had given me a plant 20 years previously. Lewisia tweedyi she grew exceptionally well and in character. Other plants, too, 372

had to behave themselves and pass her careful scrutiny, for as a lecturer and examiner, her standards were rigorous. For this reason she eschewed those forms of Primula allionii that ‘sooner or later go silly’, as she put it, referring to any that marked time, withered away in part or collapsed altogether after a few years. The Primula most associated in my mind with her is the one she grew very successfully as P. aureata ‘forma’, described by John Richards in 1982 as subsp. fimbriata. This more delicate, slightly smaller version of this jewel among Nepalese species she deployed in three-pans, six-pans, single entries and at every opportunity, attracting a mixture of admiration and naked envy. Irene lived in the village of Milton-under-Wychwood, and by orthographical sleight of hand I now turn to ‘Witchwood’, the name of a lovely selection of Galanthus nivalis selected by Ruby Baker. Of the many green-marked snowdrops in which she specialised, this was her firm favourite and a favourite of others too: its flowers are luminously verdant. £50 a bulb, however. Just a few days before her passing, in August, she sent me an observant and humorous account of its finding in the Czech Republic. Her great friend Ronald Mackenzie showed an RHS award-winning clump at Caerleon earlier this year, and Ruby’s shortly to be published description of the clone is characteristically anecdotal. Her house, on the dip slope of the North Downs, was flanked by specially constructed wooden plunge beds housing pots of the famed collection of THE ALPINE GARDENER

ROBERT ROLFE

Narcissus cyclamineus ‘Mitzy’, whose flowers change colour with age

rare snowdrops she had propagated. The odd Narcissus could be found here too, including that first-rate, N. cyclamineus hybrid ‘Mitzy’, whose flowers change colour with age, but at an early stage are audaciously bicoloured. The front lawn was apparently a spectacular blaze of winter aconites in late winter, but I never saw it at that time of the year. In early autumn, the garden was full of well-chosen plants in full flower. She kept a gardening diary up to the night she left home for the last time, a hallmark of an accomplished gardener. She also had shelf after shelf of books on horticulture, one of which I used to DECEMBER 2014

identify some of the houseplants that her grand-daughter now tends. In it, neatly pencilled notes expand on certain entries: another hallmark. Brunettes and battleaxes, bluestockings, blue bloods and botanically minded explorers: an article could be written on the numerous notable women who have influenced the Alpine Garden Society over the years. If one is ever composed, Ruby Baker deserves a note of thanks, for in a quiet, enquiring and unassuming way, she brought to light much fascinating information on the plants she loved and shared this, and them, with numerous others. 373

PRACTICAL GARDENING

Robin White, who for many years ran Blackthorn Nursery and wrote the 2006 book, Daphnes: A Practical Guide for Gardeners, reports on his trials of dwarf forms of Daphne cneorum, one of the choicest plants for any rock garden

Assessing dwarf forms of Daphne cneorum

T

he aim of this article is to provide information on a number of dwarf forms of Daphne cneorum, most of them comparatively new to cultivation in the UK; to give some information about their natural habitats; and to discuss the results of my attempts to cultivate them. Most of the plants mentioned were planted in mid-July 2010, while further collections by Peter Erskine and Chris Brickell during 2010 were added in 2011. The more recent additions have not yet established well enough to allow a proper assessment. The trial bed, positioned in full sun, was constructed using railway sleepers and filled with a mix of loam, humus and grit, topdressed with a thin layer of 5-6mm quartz grit. Results suggest this medium should have been leaner, i.e. better drained. Enough dolomitic limestone was added to create an alkaline pH, and a dressing of Growmore was applied at the outset. Subsequently plants have received some liquid feeding between April and July. Some familiar named forms were planted for purposes of comparison.

374

More than half the trial is the result of several trips to the French Alps and the Pyrenees by Peter and Chris (these entries are referred to using the prefix PE/CDB), while other forms came from Danish and Czech growers. Not all will be described in detail, but the considerable morphological variation, even in plants from the same population, is worth noting. I would recommend that anyone who wants an overview of Daphne cneorum as a species should refer to Robert Rolfe’s article in The Smaller Daphnes (AGS Publications, 2000), which in particular highlights the variations in leaf and flower measurements for herbarium specimens collected from various parts of Europe. Like Robert, I do not want to get involved in the mire that has arisen from the catch-all tag ‘var. pygmaea’. As a grower of these wild forms rather than a botanist, the variation leads me to agree with the French botanist Ruffier-Lanche (AGS Bulletin vol. 26, pages 65-68) that the various populations are all forms of a widely distributed, polymorphic species. However, I do not agree with THE ALPINE GARDENER

JON EVANS

DAPHNE CNEORUM

Robin White’s trial bed of Daphne cneorum

him that distinct forms merit botanical naming, particularly as he admits that after many years of study in the wild and in cultivation he is still a long way from fully understanding the different forms! I think any distinct or exceptional forms should simply be given a clonal name; D. cneorum ‘Pal’ is a good example. Information given to me by people with a wide knowledge of populations in various parts of Europe, in particular Peter Erskine and Margaret and Henry Taylor, backs up the observations of the past that D. cneorum is found in a variety of habitats. In the open, plants ramble through alpine turf or scramble through low-growing genera such as Thymus, Globularia and Helianthemum, possibly benefitting from the shade provided DECEMBER 2014

by such companions, which certainly helps to keep the roots cool by providing ground cover. Other populations occur on the edge of or in open, often coniferous woodland, where they will receive some shade and a regular topdressing of humus in the form of leaves or pine needles. Whether or not the woodland plants were growing in the open before the trees established, and as such might eventually die out as the amount of shade increases, is open to question. More compact plants are found in humus-filled crevices of large limestone rocks. Here again they will receive some shade and their roots will remain cool. Throughout the French Alps plants are found mainly on limestone, but in 375

PRACTICAL GARDENING

ZDENĚK ZVOLÁNEK

Daphne cneorum ‘Pal’ was found in Andorra, close to the Spanish border

the Pyrenees they are also found on decalcified or siliceous as well as alkaline soils. The Czech Karst around Prague is an alkaline clay, and the Dolomites are magnesium limestone, so one can safely say that a large proportion of this species grows in a neutral or alkaline medium. To my knowledge, no experiments have been done to ascertain whether plants from these different soils are calcicoles or calcifuges; certainly, all grafted plants seem lime tolerant. Many of the wild populations will be relatively dry and insulated under snow for the winter, while exposed plants in 376

crevices will have roots in areas that are not waterlogged. This absence of excess moisture around the roots, or for that matter on the leaves, might explain why many plants in the British Isles fail to come through our wet winters, and why gardeners in the Czech Republic or Austria (where a continental climate is experienced) grow this and other daphnes so well. Melting snow provides ample moisture for flowering and the burst of new growth that occurs almost simultaneously. Once the availability of snowmelt water ceases, some populations have a hot, dry summer, THE ALPINE GARDENER

PETER ERSKINE

DAPHNE CNEORUM

Daphne cneorum growing in limestone brash and crevices in the French Alps

while others receive an annual rainfall of up to 30in (45cm), comparable to that of some parts of southern England. The flowering season depends on the varying annual snowmelt, which lasts from midJune to mid-July in most areas. All the following refers to plants grafted onto D. longilobata, which is not a fully hardy species. In areas with colder winters than southern England, DECEMBER 2014

D. mezereum is more commonly used as a rootstock. According to information from Denmark and the Czech Republic, expert growers produce good specimen plants that are either growing on their own roots or grafted onto D. mezereum. While the former is a slower process, it is likely to produce a more compact plant and one with a better-furnished centre. Their success 377

PRACTICAL GARDENING

PETER ERSKINE

Daphne cneorum in scree in the French Alps

may be helped by the shorter growing season and reliable winter snow cover associated with a continental climate. Low winter temperatures without snow cover can cause problems. In southern England plants have to contend with the fluctuations of a maritime climate, and a growing season twice the length they encounter in the wild. This can 378

encourage a second flush of flowers, and of growth that does not ripen before low temperatures return. As a result, fungal infections and damage that causes plants to grow out of character are typical. Excluding cultivation in a crevice bed, plants that survive more than two or three seasons in the garden generally develop twiggy middles, bare of foliage THE ALPINE GARDENER

JON EVANS

DAPHNE CNEORUM

Daphne cneorum ‘Czech Song’ in a raised bed in a polytunnel at Blackthorn

and flowers. This is not merely unsightly – it also exposes the neck of the rootstock to damaging low temperatures, a likely cause of death over the last few winters. A difficult question to answer confidently is whether or not a rootstock alters the grafted scion’s tolerance of its environment. I feel it may reduce tolerance to drought and disease. Unfortunately, not all plants in the trial have grown well. I have found leaf drop a problem with some, but not all, of the plants involved, though the problem varieties when grown in a tunnel ‒ which allows more moisture and shade control ‒ have not been affected. All the trial plants made good growth following the 2011 flowering period but by midDECEMBER 2014

June many were shedding leaves. I put this down to the very high temperatures of the gravel topdressing (Zdeněk Zvolánek recommends a cool root run and protection from the hottest sun), so I have since shaded the plants from June to September. However, this has not totally cured the problem. Plants which were well-furnished after the warm summer of 2013 dropped foliage once heavy rains started. Probably in that situation they would have been better left uncovered to allow more evaporation. In both 2012 and 2013, young plants from the PE/CDB collections of 2010 dropped most of their foliage in the summer, only to start making new 379

PRACTICAL GARDENING  growth in the cooler weather of autumn. I may well have over-watered plants which in nature would be enduring the heat under dry conditions. As far as I can tell at present, leaf fall of apparently healthy green foliage is due to an excess of heat or water, since if it was due to root disease, all the affected plants would have died rather than going on to make fresh growth in the autumn or spring. Viewed in early October 2013, ‘Peggy Fell’, ‘Ewesley’ and ‘Czech Song’ had the least foliage left, while ‘Kila’, var. pygmaea ‘Eschmanns’ form’ and PE/ CDB/07Y had the most. By March 2014, three more plants had died, bringing the total losses over three seasons to 11 out of 30 planted originally. In all cases the roots were rotten. It is possible that the growing medium holds too much water but, if so, why have some plants in the same bed remained healthy? An alternative explanation is fungal infection. By late April 2014, the 2011 collections from the French Alps, which looked almost dead the previous autumn, were making strong new growth ‒ a welcome, but puzzling development. Looking to the future, I am starting a second trial with plants in pure sand and grit, and intend to include some plants on their own roots. To help control moisture at the root and on the foliage, and to reduce the chance of cold damage to the rootstock, I have used Dutch light frames (these are permanently ventilated) to cover the plants from December to the end of February. It is worth noting that during wet spells a great deal of water will seep into the beds from the surrounding paths. A further problem that arises 380

when plants are grown as specimens on a flat surface is the accumulation of dead leaves and flowers trapped under prostrate growth. Both are sources of Botrytis die-back which often goes unnoticed until it is too late to prevent serious damage or worse. In the wild, this problem may not arise if the growth scrambles through other vegetation a few centimetres above the ground. After three seasons’ growth, all bar two of the plants have grown with a completely prostrate habit not exceeding 4cm in height. Presumably, they would be rather taller in the wild if rambling through surrounding vegetation. The exceptions, ‘Czech Karst’ and ‘Sweet Rock’, both come from Bohemia (western Czech Republic) and have a lowgrowing, bushy habit without any sign of a bare centre. All have made a roughly circular shape. The three most vigorous, ‘Thorenc’, PE/CDB 07P and 07Q, are 4245cm in diameter; the dwarfest, ‘Pal’ is just 15cm, and several others are around 20-22cm. The stems of most are various shades of grey/brown and radiate from the centre in fairly straight lines, but three (cneorum var. pygmaea form B, ‘Lille Knud’ and ‘Store Knud’) have pale greenish/tan stems which curve strongly on a horizontal plane. These three, as grown here, are indistinguishable. Given that all the plants are growing in the same bed, there is a wide variation in their leaves. In cultivation, all leaves are bound to be larger than those of wild plants. For example, Michael Baron gives leaf measurements for ‘Thorenc’ in the wild of 9 x 2.5mm, while those of the trial plant are 16 x 4mm (almost double). With measurements of 6 x 1.5mm, ‘Pal’ THE ALPINE GARDENER

JON EVANS

DAPHNE CNEORUM

The vigorous Daphne cneorum ‘Thorenc’, which was selected from a population in the Alpes Maritimes

has the smallest leaves. The variation in size applies to plants coming from the same population: PE/CDB/07Y at 15 x 3mm, the largest, contrasts with PE/ CDB/07W (8 x 2mm). A 2010 collection by PE/CDB from the Col d’Izoard has particularly broad leaves at 12 x 4.5mm. DECEMBER 2014

Except for the last mentioned, the leaf shape is relatively uniform. The dorsal surface of most leaves is matt and midgreen with a paler underside, but those of PE/CDB/07R and ‘Czech Karst’ have a purple flush, particularly in winter, and PE/CDB/07Y has noticeably darker 381

PRACTICAL GARDENING  green and leathery foliage with a very glossy surface. Each year the covers on the trial plants were removed during the first week of March. This must have given them quite a shock in 2013! The flowering period is substantially ahead of plants in their natural habitats, with the earliest forms starting to flower in the first week of April in 2012 and 2014, but three weeks later in 2013. Depending on temperatures, two or three weeks separate the earliest from the latest to flower. The winter covering advances flowering by about a fortnight in comparison with plants in the open ground. I believe that growing conditions must influence the flower size of any form in just the same way that it does the leaves, making the use of measurements as distinguishing features doubtfully useful. In the trial, the flower diameter ranges from 5-6mm for ‘Kila’ to 10-12mm for ‘Eschmann’s form’. Prompted initially by viewing some fine specimens in the Czech Republic and receiving advice from the growers on the locations to search for dwarf forms of Daphne cneorum, PE/CDB have made several visits since 2005 to the French and Spanish mountains in an attempt to gain a better understanding of this species. They were unable to locate any plants to which the names var. verlotti or var. humifusa could be applied, despite searching the appropriate localities. Their May 2005 collections from the Alpes Maritimes grew well in a raised tunnel bed at Blackthorn for several years, but I lost plants in the trial bed, and only one form from the Col du Noyer survives. In contrast, nine of the 11 collections from 2007, all from a single 382

population in the Alpes Maritimes area near Greolières, have grown well. This is the same population from which ‘Czech Song’ and ‘Thorenc’ were selected, which highlights the variations possible in a single population of this species. They are distinguished by the letters P through to X and follow PE/CDB/07. A selection made in 2008 from the French Pyrenees, near Espiaube, has compact growth with strong pink flowers. The 2010 collections from the Hautes Alpes, planted in 2011, have been slow to establish, largely due to leaf-drop problems. NAMED FORMS ‘Czech Karst’ Introduced by Zdeněk Zvolánek, according to whom D. cneorum is a rare plant in Bohemia, where it makes low bushes among moss and surrounding vegetation which is often scythed down at the end of the growing season. It stands out in the trial as having a bushy, well-furnished habit up to 12cm tall with no bare centre. The foliage has a purple tinge, particularly following the onset of colder nights. This is one of the later flowering forms, producing flowers of rich pink from dark buds. ‘Czech Song’ Introduced in 2005 by Zdeněk Zvolánek from the same area of the Alpes Maritimes that Michael Baron and PE/CDB visited, it was found growing in sandy, humus-rich soil on the edge of open conifer woodland. In both the trial and in a tunnel raised bed, plants have made an even, rounded, prostrate shape, and are of medium vigour. One of the first to open its flowers, these are THE ALPINE GARDENER

ZDENĚK ZVOLÁNEK

DAPHNE CNEORUM

Daphne cneorum ‘Czech Karst’ stood out in the trial as having a bushy, wellfurnished habit up to 12cm tall with no bare centre

very pale pink, deepening with maturity. This plant would make a distinct and desirable addition to any collection. ‘Eschmann’s form’ I have no definite information regarding this plant, labelled D. cneorum var. pygmaea, but Jakob Eschmann did sell a form he obtained from the Dolomites, and as this plant resembles an introduction by Peter Erskine from Cima Tuflungo (T15), this may well be DECEMBER 2014

its origin. It has a near prostrate habit, but is of more open growth than other forms. It is one of the latest to flower, with very dark buds and large deep pink blooms 10-12mm in diameter. ‘Kila’ A 2005 find by Danish enthusiasts Kirsten Anderson and Lars Hansen. It was found growing in alpine turf on a limestone area of the Nuria valley (Spanish Pyrenees). The growth is 383

PRACTICAL GARDENING  tightly packed to give a very compact and prostrate habit which reduces the chance of plants developing a bare middle. The foliage has a slightly glaucous shade and has not suffered from leaf drop as badly as others in the trial, although the very dense growth did cause some dieback. The plant was chosen for the genuinely dark red flowers which, at 5-6mm diameter, are smaller than most, though produced freely enough to cover the whole plant due to the dense habit. ‘Pal’ A significant introduction made in 1993 by Kirsten and Lars. It was found in Andorra, close to the Spanish border near the village of Pal. It grew in tangled long grass, which must have made it impossible to find unless in flower. The finders selected it because of the very small leaves, measuring on average 5-7 x 2mm. The flowers are not exceptionally small, so this plant is ideal for a trough or container. If it was appropriate to name botanical varieties based on a single plant this might warrant the name var. minutum, because it is clearly a midget. Even when grafted, annual growth in the trial and in a tunnel bed has not exceeded 2.5cm, compared with 4-6cm for most of the other forms. ‘Pride of the Hills’ (PE/CDB/07Y) This plant stands out in the trial and fully warrants a cultivar name. Both in the trial bed and planted out among thymes on a west-facing bank, its growth is vigorous and its habit prostrate. The leaves are unusual, being dark green with a glossy surface. To date, plants have not suffered from leaf drop nor developed 384

a bare centre. One of the earliest to bloom, the flowers are freely produced, with bright reddish-pink buds opening to mid-pink flowers 10mm in diameter, 12-15 per inflorescence. The trial plant noticeably opens its flowers on the south-facing side first, extending the display to four weeks or more, whereas a west-facing plant opens all its blooms at once. ‘Store Knud’ and ‘Lille Knud’ (to include pygmaea form B) I am reviewing these two simultaneously because of their marked similarities. I do not know if there has been a mix-up over the last 40 years or so, but I can discern no difference between these two named cultivars. Their history goes back to the early 1970s, when they were collected in the Dolomites by Danish plantsman Mr Knud. He subsequently gave material to Erik Jesperson, who helped to spread plants among other keen growers. After a couple of years in the trial, it was obvious that these plants were identical in habit to the plant I have grown and sold for many years as D. cneorum var. pygmaea form B, to distinguish it from form A given to me by Dr Jack Elliot. As mentioned previously, these three forms are the only ones with branches curved on a horizontal plane, and there is no difference in their flowers. With the help of David Sampson, who originally gave me pygmaea B, I have traced his source back to Ingwersens nursery in the mid-1970s, at which time they had a considerable trade with Denmark, so I feel confident that pygmaea B is one of the ‘Knuds’, and should be referred to as such, but whether as ‘Store’ or THE ALPINE GARDENER

ROBIN WHITE

DAPHNE CNEORUM

A selection of the daphnes in the trial bed at Blackthorn: top left, ’Sweet Rock’; top centre, ’Stor Knud’; bottom centre, ’Lille Knud’

‘Lille’ is debatable. These plants are late to bloom and do not cover themselves with flowers. The buds are dull red, the flowers pale pink, 8mm in diameter, with a pale greenish-pink perianth tube (unwrinkled!) 10mm in length. These Italian plants would therefore fit Stoker’s description of Daphne cneorum var. pygmaea, but the type locality for this lies decidedly further south than the Dolomites. ‘Sweet Rock’ According to Zdeněk Zvolánek, this plant came from the small Bohemian nursery of a Mr Zuckerstein, his name loosely translating as ‘Sweet Rock’. This DECEMBER 2014

plant has the same bushy and lowgrowing habit as ‘Czech Karst’. A sevenyear-old plant in Zdeněk’s garden, where it grows in full sun in a crevice, measures 12cm high by 40cm across. The glossy green leaves have a narrow cream edge, while the freely produced flowers are strong pink. The leaves are not large enough for the variegation to make any impact, but this variety is worth growing for its good form. My sincere thanks to all the people mentioned in this article, both for their knowledge and plant material so readily shared, and especially to Peter Erskine for his help with advice on the distribution of Daphne cneorum. 385

PRACTICAL GARDENING

A

t the AGS Tewkesbury show this year, Robin White staged a spectacular specimen of Daphne jasminea ‘Delphi form’. It cascaded all around its black plastic long tom pot, reaching almost to the bench, and was covered with flowers. How it was transported to the show undamaged I have no idea, for this species has a reputation for being very fragile and as such is easily damaged. Prompted by the sight of another specimen on the show bench a few years ago, I bought a small plant on the basis: ‘That’s a nice plant, it’s time I had a go at growing it.’ The label extolled its virtues: ‘Very long flowering season if fed and watered during growth. Pink buds open white. Night fragrance.’ Less encouraging was the instruction: ‘Needs cold glass protection during winter.’ The AGS Encyclopaedia was equally discouraging. At the time, I had just one small greenhouse, used mainly for keeping Cyclamen graecum in pots frost-free, and it was full. The Encyclopaedia stated: ‘Greece and Libya, on limestone cliffs from sea level to 1,000m. Unreliably hardy and best in the alpine house in deep containers.’ The reference to Libya was a surprise, as I had thought that this was a Greek endemic. Some say that by using the internet you can find any fact you wish. It’s not true! Much information is not available and you must exercise caution about what you read. Nevertheless, various sources will tell you that the ancient site of the Delphic Oracle lies at an altitude of 1,800ft on a shoulder

386

Dabbling with a Daphne Vic Aspland recounts his efforts to grow Daphne jasminea ‘Delphi form’ and how his specimen came up against Robin White’s Farrer Medal plant at an AGS show of Mount Parnassus. This limestone mountain reaches a height of 8,061ft and experiences heavy snowfalls in winter, making it a good skiing area. Our plant of interest occupies cliffs above the ancient site. This seems an inhospitable location for a tender plant but hardiness is influenced by many factors. I deduced that whatever the winter weather, the cliff ensured that the plant was never surrounded by static water which could freeze and thaw, a scenario that leads to the demise of many plants in the British climate. But what did this mean for my plant in its 7cm pot? The first step was to transplant it into a 19cm clay pot. (Daphnes have a reputation for not responding well to root disturbance.) The existing compost was surprisingly high in organic material, so I gently teased away some of it to free the ends of the roots to bring them into good contact THE ALPINE GARDENER

DAPHNE JASMINEA

Vic Aspland’s Daphne jasminea ‘Delphi form’ in flower last summer

with my much leaner and better-drained compost. My compost consisted of John Innes No 2, concreting sand and 2-3mm quartzite grit. The proportions were not measured – I just add drainage until the mix feels right. After watering it was kept in a cool and shady place for a week or two, then transferred to the high plunge described in The Alpine Gardener in 2007 (volume 75, page 159). For newer members, this is a deep sand plunge bed raised on walls, with only a plastic sheet roof to give protection from excessive winter rainfall. The plants are exposed to the ambient temperature, whatever it is. If rain or snow drives in, then the plants get wet, but any wind soon dries them again. DECEMBER 2014

It grew steadily, with no attention from me other than watering the sand plunge at intervals. I built this plunge to reduce the time I had to spend watering and, for the last couple of years, watering was all the attention the plants received! I was only prompted to pay more attention when, towards the end of June this year, I noticed that my Daphne was covered with deep pink buds. Could it go on the show bench at Tewkesbury? The first job was to see if I could extract the pot from the plunge. After removing the pots around it and carefully reaching in under the cushion of stems, I was able to heave it out. Two very thick roots about 20cm long extended from the drainage hole. The plant itself was up 387

PRACTICAL GARDENING

F

New insight into the range of Daphne jasminea in Greece

airly recent information has been published about the true extent of the range of Daphne jasminea in southern Greece, and is reproduced here: Daphne jasminea: Nomos Arkadias, Eparchia Kynourias: Mount Parnonas, in rock crevices of large vertical limestone cliffs along road c. 4.5km from Agios Panteleimonas to Prastos, 450m, 37°17′ N, 22°40′ E, 13.04.2005, Kit Tan & G. Vold 27999 (GB, herb. Kit); N of Leonidion, c. 14km from Paralia Tirou along coastal road northwards, limestone rocks above the camping site Arkadia, 100m, 37°19′ N, 22°48′ E, 27.04.1989, flowers white, Strid & al. 28630 (C, G). These new records extend the distribution of the species to the foothills of Mount Parnonas in the south-eastern Peloponnese. In Greece it is known to occur on mainland Sterea Ellas and the island of Evvia in the western Aegean. In the north-eastern Peloponnese it is recorded only from the vicinity of Nafplion (Boratyński & al. 1992: 90) and Loutraki (Strid 24426, C; Iatrou

to 33cm wide. Clearly there was no way that this could be shown as it was. The alternatives were to plunge the whole lot into a larger pot, or repot. I decided that I might as well go the whole hog and do the latter, as I had a 33cm half pot in 388

4026, 4050, both at UPA; Snogerup 20456, LD). Loutraki is in the prefecture of Korinthia and thus for administrative reasons belongs to the Peloponnese although geographically and phytogeographically it should be Sterea Ellas. The new localities at low altitudes are not only new for Mount Parnonas but also for the whole of the southern Peloponnese. They provide a link to the species’ known occurrence in Crete and northern Libya (Cyrenaica). In grazed plants at the foot of the rocks the stems are prostrate, thickened and interlocking, arising from a gnarled woody rootstock; higher up the cliff face, the plants produce long and slender branches out of reach of goats. D. jasminea is not closely related to D. oleoides. The confusion has arisen partly by the publication of the name D. oleoides var. jasminea Meisn. for a form of D. oleoides, and by the use of D. jasminea by Grisebach to refer to another variant of D. oleoides.  From Phytol. Balcan 12 (1), 2006: Vladimirov, V. & al, New floristic records in the Balkans: 1

stock. But how would I extract the plant from the existing pot and withdraw the two large roots that crammed the drainage hole? No problem. A hammer was judiciously applied and the pot smashed. THE ALPINE GARDENER

DAPHNE JASMINEA

Robin White’s Farrer Medal-winning specimen of Daphne jasminea ‘Delphi form’, exhibited at the AGS Tewkesbury show in July

The remaining roots came cleanly away from the fragments and the tap roots were undamaged. A little gentle teasing with an old dinner fork released root tips from the root ball, then the whole was carefully lowered into the new pot. This was the tricky bit and the stage at which I knocked off some shoot tips, later used as cuttings. Yes, the thinner stems are indeed fragile! The new compost was carefully trickled in, firmed gently by tapping the pot on the bench and finished off with a top-dressing of limestone chips for the sake of appearance. (Although found on limestone, it grows perfectly well in a compost with a pH of 6.8-6.9.) After a thorough soaking, I kept the pot in the shade for a few days to allow the roots to DECEMBER 2014

settle, but the flower buds were unlikely to be open in time for the show. So began the pantomime of moving the pot round the garden several times each day, to take advantage of every bit of sunshine. Would the buds open? No. The eve of the show dawned, and at last a reasonable numbers of flowers were displayed. So finally my Cinderella went to the ball. Did she win a prize? This is not a fairy tale, so she did not. There were better specimens at the show, including Robin’s, but the visitors liked it. One seasoned traveller told me: ‘Yours looks most like the specimens I have seen at Delphi,’ which pleased me. So far this plant has survived my cavalier treatment. Who knows what it might do next year? 389

PRACTICAL GARDENING

T

he first source of reference for information on bulb diseases was a 176-page book published in 1939 by the UK Ministry of Agriculture, entitled Diseases of Bulbs. The chapter on snowdrops refers to grey mould, Botrytis galanthina, as the only significant disease. In the past two decades this situation has greatly changed as additional diseases have become distributed and scientific knowledge has increased. Many snowdrop enthusiasts are unclear about the symptoms of specific diseases, either because they have been fortunate enough not to have experienced them or because of the paucity of fully descriptive and illustrated information. In particular, existing texts are overreliant on foliar symptoms, ignoring the bulb itself. In addition, because it is common for unexplained losses to occur, an attitude of acceptance seems to have developed on the basis that this is the norm. Although the current number of significant diseases is small their impact can, on occasion, be devastating. Here we present recent experiences and information gained through an investigation which started in July 2013. It was triggered by the chance discovery of bulb disease symptoms during the lifting of a minor proportion of a collection for routine management such as propagation or re-siting, facilitated by the use of lattice containers. These made it possible to extract and examine individual clumps and even replant them to monitor subsequent changes underground. The symptoms initially seen did not accord with any described in recent texts, so it was decided to send

390

A new view of tackling snowdrop diseases After a disastrous outbreak of disease in a snowdrop collection, galanthophiles David Way and Cor van Bakel were spurred by the lack of information on the subject to conduct their own investigation. Their findings are essential reading for all who grow snowdrops samples of diseased bulbs for expert examination by pathologists at three laboratories, two in the UK, one in The Netherlands. THE CAUSES OF DISEASE Stagonosporopsis curtisii (formerly Stagonospora) This was recognised in 1929 as capable of causing G. plicatus bulbs to rot, but not regarded as a major threat to the garden cultivation of snowdrops until the great rise in their popularity over the last two decades. The early significance of Stagonosporopsis was as a disease of daffodils where the primary THE ALPINE GARDENER

SNOWDROP DISEASES

A SUMMARY OF INFORMATION ON SYMPTOMS OF SNOWDROP DISEASES IN UK AND DUTCH BOOKS AND JOURNALS SINCE 2000 Stagonosporopsis curtisii

Fusarium oxysporum

Botrytis galanthina

Common names

Leaf scorch (UK) Vuur (Dutch)

Fusarium basal rot or FBR (UK) Bol rot (Dutch)

Grey mould (UK) Smeul (Dutch)

Foliage symptoms

Year one: grey-green blotches. Year two: brown or red leaf tips, later brown spots.

Light infection: spiky or curved leaves and or tips turn yellow or orange. Severe infection: none.

Plumes of grey fungal strands envelop the leaves and scapes at flowering time causing collapse.

Bulb symptoms

Initially: reddish coloration of scales towards apex. Subsequently: rapid decay of interior. Outer papery scales persist for some time. Bulbs lifted and stored may mummify.

Severe infection: very rapid decay of interior. Outer papery scales persist for some time.

Bulbs turn brown and rot. Within a single clump, only some bulbs may be infected in year one.

concern was leaf damage, not bulb rot. There have been a number of cases of wholesale losses in major snowdrop collections attributed to this disease, raising widespread concern, which tends to cause many losses of bulbs to be dismissed as due to Stagonosporopsis without investigation. This disease can cause bulbs to rot rapidly after the leaves have naturally senesced, so that if lifted in July the bulb can have rotted completely, leaving perhaps only the tunic as an empty shell. Fusarium oxysporum Long recognised by bulb growers in DECEMBER 2014

The Netherlands as a significant disease of snowdrops, Fusarium basal rot or FBR requires control measures. In the UK, however, outdoor field propagation is uncommon, and this fungus as a disease of snowdrops has received scant attention. It is, however, a soil-borne fungus that is widespread worldwide and particular subspecies can cause severe economic losses in a range of crops. In the UK onions, tomatoes and daffodils are affected, forcing growers to use control measures. After killing the plant it has invaded, this fungus can survive in bare soil for 20 years. Rotation, therefore, is not a viable option. In 391

PRACTICAL GARDENING  this study Fusarium oxysporum was positively identified. Ilyonectria europaea and I. robusta These soil-borne fungi are related to Fusarium and, as plant pathogens, appear to share a number of similar characteristics. Their discovery as the cause of infection in this study is due to modern laboratory techniques including DNA sequencing, advances in taxonomy and the expertise of the scientists involved. This is the first identification of these fungi as pathogens of bulbs. They have as yet no common names. Phoma glomerata This fungus, not previously recognised as a disease of snowdrops, was also isolated from the samples in this study. The unusual nature of the symptoms at lifting in July – a very dark tunic that is strikingly damp or wet to the touch, yet a bulb that remains firm and, when cut open vertically, is still white within – was the first indication of a serious problem. It seems probable that this symptom is a consequence of infection with Phoma glomerata and, in the bulbs studied, it may have visually masked underlying infection by FBR or Ilyonectria. Botrytis galanthina Most references to this disease cite an experience in the late 19th century when a particularly severe attack devastated the collection of a leading galanthophile of the day. It is not clear whether or not such disastrous attacks have occurred in the ensuing 120 or so years; reported instances since then seem typically to be much more limited 392

Galanthus elwesii ‘Hunton Giant’, lifted in mid-June. The tunic is exceptionally dark, damp or wet to the touch. The interior is firm and the white base plate is stained. It is infected by two fungi, Phoma glomerata, probably the cause of the abnormal appearance and condition of the exterior, and Fusarium oxysporum, commencing its entry through the base plate. G. reginaeolgae ‘AJM75’ and G. plicatus ‘Hunton Herald’ showed identical symptoms.

in scale. One snowdrop drift or a few individual clumps may show infection in some years. Certainly this has been our experience. Usually it is easily diagnosed. The familiar symptoms develop just before the peak of flowering: a mass of grey threads of mycelium from ground level upwards, engulfing both leaves and scapes in a dramatic manner. In some instances signs of infection are THE ALPINE GARDENER

SNOWDROP DISEASES

Galanthus reginae-olgae ‘AJM75’ lifted in mid-October. The tunic no longer exists and the interior is totally rotten, with decay progressing from the base plate upwards (base at the top). G. elwesii ‘Hunton Giant’ and G. plicatus ‘Hunton Herald’ were in a similar condition at this date Galanthus reginaeolgae ‘Tilebarn Jamie’ lifted in mid-November. All bulbs are infected with Fusarium oxysporum, which by entering through the base plate suppresses or prevents root development. Healthy bulbs of this cultivar would have completed flowering by this date DECEMBER 2014

393

PRACTICAL GARDENING  Left, healthy dormant bulbs from a purchased batch of Galanthus woronowii. Below left, diseased bulbs from the same batch infected with Stagonosporopsis curtisii. In general infected bulbs are darker and close inspection reveals shrivelling. Such bulbs are referred to as mummified. They persist in storage but rot quickly without trace in soil. Below, the interior of a mummified bulb.

less obvious, occurring at ground level when the flower buds have only recently emerged through the soil, and require acute observation to spot a small amount of mycelium. Often its appearance is sudden and development very rapid. To minimise its impact, frequent inspection is vital – at least twice a week. A recent experience of this disease has been recorded in which no conventional symptoms appeared at all. In this instance an entire drift of Galanthus ikariae was wiped out in one season. The only indication of disease was the unexpected non-appearance of the entire colony, which had grown and flowered 394

perfectly in the preceding season. The cause was only discovered when the site was very carefully excavated. All the bulbs were still in position and had started to root. Likewise emergent leaves and flower buds were present. Then suddenly every bulb had died before any leaf or flower had pierced the soil surface. Diagnosis was possible because all bulbs showed the sclerotia (hardened fungal mycelium) indicative of Botrytis. IDENTIFICATION OF FUNGI Everyone who grows snowdrops has experienced losing bulbs in his or her collection, either in the growing THE ALPINE GARDENER

SNOWDROP DISEASES

Three bulbs of Galanthus elwesii ‘Kinn McIntosh’ lifted in mid-December. This cultivar flowers early, often in November. These bulbs have become infected by Ilyonectria europaea or I. robusta. Right, the interior of one of these bulbs showing entry through the base plate, as with Fusarium oxysporum.

season or while the bulbs are dormant. Identification of diseases by gardeners relies on leaf symptoms during the growing season. This may be satisfactory for Botrytis and Stagonosporopsis, which in most literature are listed as the two main diseases from which Galanthus suffer. It is only comparatively recently that the development of DNA analysis has made it possible to identify fungi more accurately. Simultaneously it has helped bring about advances in the taxonomy of fungi. For Fusarium and Ilyonectria the symptoms may exist only underground, thus lifting the bulbs during the dormant period is a much more reliable method of detection. Therefore we recommend DECEMBER 2014

the use of lattice containers wherever possible. This not only makes it easier to lift all the bulbs of one clump without damage but also ensures that, if infection is discovered, no diseased material is accidentally left behind. COMBATING FUNGI Chemical control In the UK the Chemicals Regulations Directorate implements EU legislation covering the use of fungicides. A chemical with an approved commercial horticultural use often does not receive approval for use in gardens. Currently no fungicides relevant to the control of bulb diseases have approval for use in domestic gardens. Commercial bulb 395

PRACTICAL GARDENING  growers often routinely use fungicides to prevent infection or to control disease. This means that healthy bulbs can be obtained. There will be no fungi on or near the bulb, neither fungi causing diseases nor beneficial fungi such as mycorrhiza. But after growing for one season, bulbs become vulnerable to infection again because spores of fungi occur everywhere. Weak plant material is very susceptible to fungi. In much literature a surprising range of chemicals not sold as fungicides, and therefore not subject to approval under the regulations, is mentioned as having fungicidal properties and as being suitable for use with bulbs. However, there is little evidence to support their efficacy. But where bulb sterilisation is justified, treatment of dormant bulbs with a 95 per cent ethanol solution (the maximum concentration normally obtainable) could reduce the number of fungal spores. Plunge bulbs in this ethanol solution for two minutes then rinse with distilled water. Hot water treatment This is a chemicals-free technique developed for commercial growers to control some pests as well as diseases. Clean, dormant bulbs are put for a specific period in a container filled with water at approximately 44C. At this moment there is no literature describing this method for Galanthus. Create favourable conditions The restrictions on conventional fungicide use in gardens mean that other measures to stimulate disease resistance of bulbs become increasingly important. 396

These diseases do not invariably cause rapid rotting. Some infected bulbs can remain in the soil for long periods in a comatose condition. This infected bulb was observed to be comatose in December, and did not rot and disintegrate until the following August.

The aim is to provide circumstances that potentially offer the best chances for bulbs to thrive naturally.  Choose the best spot – wet or dry, shade or sun – with regard to the needs of the species or cultivar.  Use a good soil or compost for containers and refresh every two years.  Ensure efficient drainage, especially around and beneath the lattice container.   Cover the bulbs with a little sharp sand as the leaves die down. This prevents the laying of eggs by narcissus fly.  Remove any diseased material and bin it.  Do not damage any part of the plant.  Starting with dormant bulbs provides the opportunity to modify the new root environment from the outset, either physically (e.g. added compost) THE ALPINE GARDENER

SNOWDROP DISEASES

Five bulbs from a clump of Galanthus elwesii ‘Advent’ lifted in early February. Above ground the symptoms were delayed emergence and weak growth, while below ground there was little or no root growth. Below left, this bulb from the same clump clearly shows the damaged base plate, a consequence of infection by Ilyonectria europaea or I. robusta. Left, the interior of a similar bulb which started root growth before the base plate became wholly infected. Another site of infection can be seen at the neck – this may be a different pathogen.

or biologically (e.g. adding beneficial fungi). Mycorrhiza and other beneficial fungi Much has been written in recent years about mycorrhiza but unfortunately there is no information specific to Galanthus. In short, a wide range of plants benefit from symbiosis with certain fungi. The roots of snowdrops, like those of most bulbs, do not produce DECEMBER 2014

root hairs. Mycorrhizal fungi are classified in two groups: those which form a sheath around roots and those which enter plant roots. The roots take nutrients from the fungus, while the fungus obtains carbohydrates from the plant and takes up nutrients and water from the soil. The fungus essentially extends the plant’s root system. Disturbance of this delicate association means that the bulb root cannot function as it should do. The plant 397

PRACTICAL GARDENING  weakens and becomes more vulnerable to infection and disease. To benefit from these natural associations requires a non-traditional gardening approach: minimal soil disturbance, thus no digging or hoeing, particularly when the bulbs are dormant. Disturbance destroys the spores of mycorrhizal fungi. An organic surface layer, ideally leaf-mould plus a little lime, helps these fungi thrive. And of course the use of fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides is incompatible with this system. Like mushrooms, mycorrhizal fungi can be cultivated commercially. A British firm is now supplying a mixture of two of the sheath-forming types and three of the root-entering types as a commercial product for use by both gardeners and growers in two formulations, one targeted at bulbs. For garden use the product is marketed in association with the Royal Horticultural Society. It is necessary to realise that such products have a limited shelf life, in this case 18 months at ambient temperatures. As yet, no experimental evidence is available about the success or otherwise of this ‘blunderbuss’ mixture for Galanthus. Where snowdrops have become naturalised for many decades, even centuries, for example in churchyards and country estates, they develop a stable ecological status involving mycorrhiza. The general appearance of these often large populations is that they are disease free. Sometimes, on detailed inspection, some disease can be found, but it does not lead to the mass fatalities that can occur where natural defences, such as beneficial fungi, are absent. Currently we are investigating the effect of adding 398

soil from a long-term site of naturalised Galanthus into the fresh compost we use for growing our snowdrops. This may be a way of introducing a specific mycorrhizal fungus adapted to Galanthus. Mycorrhiza are known to be capable of providing protection from disease. In addition to mycorrhiza, a Dutch company is commercially producing and marketing to growers and gardeners the beneficial fungus Trichoderma harzianum. Originally considered to offer biological control of certain pathogenic fungi, its additional advantage of protecting the roots, enabling them to develop rapidly and unchecked by hostile elements, is now being rapidly exploited in the marketplace. The current product, based on strain T-22, is increasingly used in commerce, particularly by glasshouse growers for seed-raised crops. Snowdrop bulbs, which renew their entire root systems annually, could possibly benefit in the same way. The shelf-life of this product is quite short – four months in refrigerated storage at 4C. As yet no experimental evidence of its suggested beneficial influence on the maintenance of healthy snowdrop root systems is available. The source of newly acquired snowdrops is worth considering. If the source is a long-established snowdrop area managed in a way favourable to mycorrhiza, planting ‘in the green’ may provide more than convenience. It may also provide a means of introducing the appropriate mycorrhiza. But if the bulbs or roots are damaged, the result could be less successful. THE ALPINE GARDENER

SNOWDROP DISEASES

Left, the typical symptom of Botrytis infection, the development of mycelium on the leaves and scapes creating a grey furry appearance. Below, the symptoms can be less obvious. This cluster of bulbs has only limp foliage, some parts of which are starting to turn grey as the mycelium develops.

Quarantine After acquiring new plants or dry bulbs they should be kept in quarantine as a safeguard to prevent infection of the plants you already grow. Finding a suitable quarantine site is problematic, and if disease is found a new site may be needed. This problem is particularly acute in small gardens. We suggest the use of pot-grown plants stood on a surface that can be sterilised, such as concrete. For plants acquired at flowering time and then checked as dry bulbs, six months may be long enough. For bulbs acquired when dormant, however, this time span should be doubled. Acknowledgements: we wish to thank the following for their expertise, interest and support, without which our investigation would not have been possible: Dr Liz Beal, pathologist, Royal DECEMBER 2014

Horticultural Society laboratory, Wisley; Dr John Clarkson and Dr Andrew Taylor, pathologists, Warwick Crop Centre, Warwick University; Ing. Paul van Leeuwen, diagnostic specialist, Praktijkonderzoek Plant en Omgeving (PPO or Applied Plant Research laboratory), Netherlands; and technical staff at Koppert Biological Systems BV, Berkel en Rodenrijs, Netherlands, and at Plantworks Ltd., Sittingbourne, Kent. 399

PHOTO ALBUM

T

he Alpine Garden Society’s slide library contains more than 40,000 images, the majority of which have never been published. In this feature, which has become a regular part of our December issue, slide librarians Peter Sheasby and Ann Thomas choose a selection of photographs on a specific theme. This year they have opted for the Andes, a vast mountain range that offers a multitude of habitats and plant species and is becoming ever more popular with plant enthusiasts. AGS tours to South America book up quickly, with the next due to depart in November 2015. Over the past two years the Alpine Garden Society has published two

Jewels from the Andes books that reflect the rise in popularity of South America for plant exploration: Martin Sheader’s Flowers of the Patagonian Mountains and Hilary Little’s Patagonian Mountain Flower Holidays. As well as showcasing photographs from the slide library, this feature brightens the bleak days of winter and whets the appetite for all the wonderful sights that we hope to see in wild places during 2015.

Calandrinia sp. in the central Andes, Argentina (Jim Archibald) 400

THE ALPINE GARDENER

THE ANDES

Nototriche ? meyeni on the Abra Apacheta Pass, Peru (Robert Rolfe) Below, Halenia weddelliana on Cotopaxi, Ecuador (Jim Archibald)

DECEMBER 2014

401

PHOTO ALBUM

Hypseocharis pimpinellifolia at Cafayate, Argentina (David Haselgrove) Below, Gentiana sedifolia at San Antonio de Esquilache, Argentina (Robert Rolfe)

402

THE ALPINE GARDENER

THE ANDES

Cruckshanksia hymenodon in Argentina (Jim Archibald) Below, Castilleja fissifolia on Cotopaxi, Ecuador (Jim Archibald)

DECEMBER 2014

403

PHOTO ALBUM

Rhodophiala splendens at Altos Vilches, Chile (David Haselgrove)

404

THE ALPINE GARDENER

THE ANDES

Rhodophiala rhodolirion in the central Andes, Argentina (Jim Archibald) Below, Rhodophiala rhodolirion (white form) in Chile (Jim Archibald)

DECEMBER 2014

405

PHOTO ALBUM

Barneoudia major in the central Andes, Argentina (Jim Archibald) Below, Alstroemeria exserens in Chile (David Haselgrove)

406

THE ALPINE GARDENER

THE ANDES

Gentianella hirculus in Ecuador (Jim Archibald) Below, Perezia carthamoides in Argentina (Robert Rolfe)

DECEMBER 2014

407

PHOTO ALBUM

The striking Chuquiraga jussieui on Cotopaxi, Ecuador (Jim Archibald)

408

THE ALPINE GARDENER

THE ANDES

Mimulus naiandinus at El Planchon, Chile (David Haselgrove) Below, Sisyrinchium laetum in Argentina (David Haselgrove)

DECEMBER 2014

409

BRIAN BURROW

Lancashire hot spot Brian Burrow, who has gardened in several parts of north-western England, moved to Lancaster 17 years ago. His extraordinary collection of alpines reflects his prodigious seed-sowing efforts and his friendships with discerning rock gardeners and plant-hunters, as Robert Rolfe reports

I

first met Brian Burrow 30 years ago in a school car park in Enfield, when the AGS Early Spring Show was moved to this venue from central London. On that cold and wintry morning his open car boot was surrounded by a melee of exhibitors, four-deep. Going over to see what all the fuss was about, I glimpsed, through the throng, a glistening array of mostly European primulas and their hybrids, the latter bred by the man cheerfully doing his best to field questions and institute a ‘hands off ’ policy (very occasionally, the greenfingered are also the light-fingered).

410

These were coming of age years for the Lismore Primula allionii hybrids and selections. They were bred mainly from 1977 onwards (‘Peardrop’ was the first to be named and the still popular P. ‘Lismore Jewel’ followed in 1978) and were equally a speciality of Judy Burrow, who propagated them with great skill, offering them in the lists of THE ALPINE GARDENER

THE OVERBERG

Brian Burrow in one of his three alpine houses. There are no sand plunges, with all pots kept in soak trays

the nursery she set up, Lismore Alpines. Her P. x loiseleurii ‘Lismore Yellow’, an important colour break, received the RHS Reginald Cory Memorial Cup in 1988, at which time this award went to a particular plant, not the overall output of the chosen hybridist. While I never went to either of the gardens where Brian and Judy first grew DECEMBER 2014

alpines, on the southern outskirts of Manchester, in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, then in neighbouring Sale, I was an occasional visitor to the fascinating one they established at Holmes Chapel in Cheshire. Judy would pick me up from the train station, cook lunch and put up with me for much of the day. Brian, by then a horticultural lecturer, would join 411

BRIAN BURROW   me for an hour before heading off to work. In 1987 they moved to Sandy Hill, an early 19th century farmhouse surrounded by five acres of pasture at High Bentham in the Yorkshire Dales, close to Brian’s birthplace. Light levels there were quasi-alpine when the weather behaved itself. High Himalayan androsaces could be grown under the benches of the main alpine house and remain entirely in character. In the spring, curlews called from the surrounding fields, while primroses bloomed spectacularly along the nearby railway embankment. Their small alpine nursery, one of the most influential British ones of recent times, distributed otherwise unobtainable plants such as Androsace akbaitalensis, Primula scandinavica, P. tyrolensis, Saxifraga pubescens subsp. iratiana (from their Pyrenean introductions, now lost to cultivation, regrettably), high Himalayan S. punctulata, the dwarf, Siberian Alyssum obovatum, the pink Alaskan Androsace (Douglasia) arctica and hundreds of others. When it closed in 1991, Brian accepted a lecturing post in Croydon and gave away, rather than sold, the collection of alpines, one of the finest in private hands, to friends countrywide. He returned north to Myerscough College in Lancaster six years later, in 1997, rebuilding stocks with astonishing zeal from a core of just 30 plants. Some had been effectively on loan, which is why one can go round his present-day garden and admire specimens such as a 45-year-old Enkianthus perulatus ‘Compactus’, the smallest and choicest 412

of the genus, with elegant campanulate flowers and ‒ in some years at least ‒ excellent autumn foliage colour. Another, a 50-year-old Rhododendron forrestii Repens Group, already a mature plant when Mike and Polly Stone handed it over in the mid-1980s, annually covers its mat with crimson funnels. Directly opposite is a 95-year-old Picea abies ‘Little Gem’ which came from Arthur Holman, who gardened on the fringe of the Lake District, in Milnthorpe. It is truly dwarf, even when grown in the open ground, for despite its great age it is barely a metre across and under half as tall. Of witches’ broom origin, it has long been favoured by those who grow dwarf conifers, including ‒ more’s the pity ‒ those who graft it incongruously onto a tall standard whip in order to create lollipop-like versions. Close to the onetime venue of the March AGS Morecambe Show, Brian found a bungalow with a lengthy garden pitched on a fairly steep hillside. The soil, a neutral loam, was early on leavened with wood ash resulting from a series of mighty bonfires that alarmed neighbours but reduced the previous owner’s ludicrously towering cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) hedges to manageable levels. Along with a couple of unwisely positioned conifers, these had blocked access to the garden beyond the first flight of steps. Drainage is perfect, but in this fairly damp part of the country, after a very heavy shower, downpours can temporarily turn the garden into something resembling a series of waterfalls. Several levels of terraces have been constructed to inhibit the dramatic THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

A 50-year-old Rhododendron forrestii Repens Group puts on a fabulous display

slippage of earth that would otherwise result on such occasions. Brian is an accomplished fell-walker, and thinks nothing of wheel-barrowing load after load of soil up steep inclines, whereas if you walked to the top of the garden, came back down and repeated the exercise, you would have to pause for breath. The garden, only one and a half miles from the coast and half an hour’s drive from Cumbria, is home to a connoisseur’s range of plants, a number of which it is surprising to witness growing so happily outdoors. Various large chunks of DECEMBER 2014

water-worn limestone were fortuitously present on arrival, and these have been repositioned and grouped. In one of the horizontal crevices created, a seaming of x Jancaemonda vandedemii is in full flower in early May. Only a few feet away, a dwarf form of Daphne arbuscula (a gift, via Alan Spenceley, from Paddy Ryan, whose onetime presence at northern AGS shows will be remembered by some members with much affection) has quite quickly expanded, as it will when well suited and allowed to root down in fertile soil. It is overshadowed by a waist413

BRIAN BURROW

x Jancaemonda vandedemii in full flower in early May

high Juniperus communis ‘Compressa’, as resolutely upright and ‘flame-shaped’ as the aforementioined Picea is squat under normal cultivation. The juniper is verdant from top to bottom – summer drought or winter blasts can inflict areas of dieback – and unbowed by the buffeting winds that occasionally roar down or across the garden. Brian has a wide interest in many hardy plants, as demonstrated by two large Crinodendron hookerianum close to the house, in flower around early July, and little-grown Paeonia species such as P. corsica (from seed obtained under its synonym, P. russoi subsp. 414

mascula var. reverchonii) at intervals in most of the borders. But in this, his fourth substantially alpine garden, he has within 17 years re-established under glass and in the open a wide assemblage of plants from mountains the world over. While many are still grown in pots, the numbers of these were becoming unwieldy and hundreds have recently been planted out in two new raised beds. These constructions, to 40-50cm above ground level, were built with whatever suitable rocks came to hand and lie between the tiers of greenhouses and at the top of the garden. They are filled with a combination of spent potting compost, THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Crinodendron hookerianum, growing close to Brian’s house, flowers in early July

spoil from excavations, fertiliser and a leavening of fresh loam and grit. Shap grit was once used routinely, but this material is now difficult to source. The first of the beds, and the furthest up the garden, took seven tons of compost to fill. Substantial clusterings of waterworn stone break up the surface, in the crevices of which are positioned clones of Daphne petraea and a distinguished albino form of Sempervivum arachnoideum. Incursions by the local foxes notwithstanding, few of the plantings have failed, with European and Turkish natives predominating at the top, while at ground level, as a surround DECEMBER 2014

to the rockwork, the choices have been on the whole North American, with phloxes, penstemons and eriogonums all being trialled in variety. A longstanding interest in North American plants was perhaps triggered when Brian spent time in California, though in those days his interest was in scaling and trekking up the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada rather than examining their flora. It’s a long time since his last visit to north-western America (a Primula Conference held in Portland, Oregon, 22 years ago, to be precise) but he had before and has ever since received seed in quantity 415

BRIAN BURROW

Eriogonum umbellatum has settled down well on one of Brian’s raised beds

from sources there, often succeeding in raising this where all others have failed. Even among those species long cultivated, how many others are raising seedlings of Trillium rivale by the thousand and handing these on to friends and nurserymen at an early stage, along with its pure white, eastern relative T. nivale? Earlier this year, Brian tried to replant some selected, yellowmarked snowdrops, a gift from past SRGC President Ian Christie, but found that masses of T. rivale seedlings from a cross between ‘Purple Heart’ and a deep pink example had self-sown extensively over the targeted area. Staying for a moment in north-east America, the peerless Sanguinaria 416

canadensis f. multiplex ‘Plena’ is fairly readily available, but seldom does one see it growing in luxuriant patches so large that they encroach on their neighbours’ territories and have to be prised up at the edges every other year. Members of the genus Phlox, both the high alpine ‘microphlox’ and their sometimes woodland relatives, have long been of interest, and an article could be written on this aspect of Brian’s endeavours alone. A very healthy mat of rich pink P. kelseyi thrives in a pondside but well-drained site at the top of the garden. A little further down is the longer in leaf and larger in flower P. pilosa subsp. riparia, sometimes grown as P. villosissima, from Texas and with THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

The heat-tolerant Linum campanulatum

purple to pink, moderately fragrant flowers. Directly below the house, a narrow bed is crammed with a host of exciting plants. Among them, revelling in the sun and gritty soil, is Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale, a Californian that has especially neat greyish-white foliage but is normally grown under glass, and the green-leaved, more robust but worthwhile E. umbellatum, which has a much wider distribution. They form part of an international community that includes montane, Mediterranean and/or heat-tolerant plants such as the glossy bright yellow Linum campanulatum (found intermittently from Italy to the DECEMBER 2014

Balkans), the spiny, shrubby crucifer Vella spinosa (southern Spanish, and of much softer, lemon hue), and a dwarf form of Globularia cordifolia from the Dolomites, so warmth-seeking that its tight mat spreads not away from, but in the general direction of the centrally heated house, flowering best in this direction. Another southerner, the deciduous Daphne alpina, is recorded from Spain and at least as far east as the former Yugoslavia. I’ve seen it but once in the wild, in the French Maritime Alps, where it was scarcely half as tall as the 50cm it is said to reach. It easily exceeds this height in Brian’s garden, where a mighty mound of forgotten origin is 417

BRIAN BURROW

A luxuriant specimen of Daphne alpina and a close-up of its flowers

well into its second decade, and while only lightly fragranced is thronged with whitish flowers in late May. Witness its peak performance and you’d covet it. When one climbs up the much more extensive back garden ramparts, the plantings are enterprising at every level, both contrived and spontaneous. Straightaway one encounters what purports to be Primula denticulata, with leaves thickly yellow-farinose on their reverses, though this character has more usually been ascribed to the 418

THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Primula denticulata sourced by Tim Roberts at over 5,000m in the Himalayas

closely-related P. cachemeriana. This sampling was brought back from the Himalayas by Tim Roberts, who found a population at over 5,000m, rather higher than the accepted altitudinal limit for either species. So happily has it established that some plants have sown themselves liberally into cracks in the adjacent pavement. There are two sets of more or less mirror-imaged beds below the first run of glasshouses. These are sheltered and able to sustain outdoors species such as the diminutive Cyclamen intaminatum, DECEMBER 2014

seldom established in more northerly gardens except under glass. This has settled in as a good neighbour, whereas other occupants have become rampant and require culling. Of these, a white wave of Triteleia hyacinthina is the most troublesome, however attractively it comports itself when in full flower. That most refined of marsh orchids, Dactylorhiza purpurella, has also seeded everywhere but, at only a third of the usual height and far less leafy, its spread is congenial and easily tolerated, even when it springs up in saxifrage cushions. 419

BRIAN BURROW

Cyclamen intaminatum, above, is seldom established in more northerly gardens. Left, Triteleia hyacinthina is spreading a little too well

420

THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

The showy Saxifraga ‘Alan Hayhurst’

Of these Saxifraga ‘Alan Hayhurst’ is the showiest, though another ‘silver’, S. ‘Hare Knoll Beauty’ (Steve Furness’s 1994 S. paniculata subsp. cartaliginea ‘Kolenatiana’ seedling) has been backcrossed onto the parent, and three of this issue show particular promise, all destined to be handed on to others for evaluation. In the same part of the garden the most unusual natural cross Rhododendron ferrugineum x hirsutum (one parent from acidic soils, the other limestoneloving, with just four instances on record where they unusually co-occur) is not merely novel. It is also most attractive, with hundreds upon hundreds of small reddish-pink flowers that smother its DECEMBER 2014

neat mound reliably in late spring. Even smaller in habit and flower size, Ron McBeath’s introduction of R. lepidotum (McB 1110) is smothered in palish yellow flowers at much the same time. Purplish-pink forms are far more typical of this slow-growing Himalayan. Only a few weeks later the first of the geraniums come to prominence. That most distinguished of European species, G. argenteum, is present here and there, from introductions sourced on Monte Baldo (its most celebrated haunt) and also from the Julian Alps. Other lesserknown localities include south-eastern France (Dauphiné) and central Italy, always on limestone, at up to 2,000m. A hybrid (presumably G. x lindavicum, 421

BRIAN BURROW

The large-flowered Campanula fenestrellata subsp. istriaca

which implicates G. cinereum), a present from the late David Mowle, forms a larger but still restrained clump, with deeper pink flowers that are issued from May onwards, with a few stragglers still evident even in early autumn. And while on the subject of refined Europeans, Campanula fenestrellata subsp. istriaca (one of three subspecies, extending to Albania and Macedonia, and especially large-flowered in this Italianate example) will flower handsomely twice or thrice before yielding to its seedlings to carry on the show. Campanulas of various sorts are an abiding focus of Brian’s. The upper garden is in the course of redevelopment but features several 422

well-established trees, including an Acer shirasawanum ‘Aureum’ (from a sale of maturish trees at Warwick Castle) and a slightly smaller A. elegantulum, along with a couple of distinguished small Sorbus (though not S. lancastriensis, however apposite such a planting would be). In early summer the pond margin is afroth with a delicate pink Primula japonica, from seed supposedly wildcollected in western China, although, as the name indicates, that region is far from the species’ accepted range. The seed packet claimed a Yunnanese origin: another case of the right seed but presumably the wrong provenance. THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Roscoea humeana and, right, a delicate pink Primula japonica

Originally intended as a marginal plant, it has long since seeded into drier soil, accepting such conditions with equanimity. A little beyond, roscoeas have selfseeded. The best of them is a bona fide Chinese R. humeana, rearing up in June as rapidly and dramatically as any spring-flowering monocot you might care to name. Erythroniums are also present in quantity, including a selection of E. revolutum with boldly patterned leaves, from seed sent by a contact at Berkeley University, California. It contrasts with the much more widely grown E. ‘White Beauty’, which revels DECEMBER 2014

423

BRIAN BURROW   in the deep, leafy loam and has formed several large clumps. Plants from friends and correspondents Brian has long been involved in raising plants from wild-sourced seed. His objectives have been to establish new species in cultivation and to broaden the spectra of those already present by selecting promising new forms among reintroductions. Throughout he has entered their details (source, sowing and germination dates) in meticulously kept notebooks. These stock books testify to the great diversity of material handled and the large number of people and scientific/ horticultural institutions with whom he has exchanged material. Anyone who holds forth on supposedly definitive dates for alpine plant introductions since the early 1970s would do well to consult them. For example, Gentiana paradoxa is generally said to have entered British gardens around 1984, whereas Brian first grew it almost a decade earlier, from seed supplied by Jena Botanic Garden. At the time it was one of several Iron Curtain providers of plants from the Caucasus and elsewhere, little grown other than by Eastern bloc gardeners. Many readers will be familiar with the indispensable, intersectional Saxifraga ‘Winifred Bevington’ that occurred in the garden in Camberley, Surrey, tended by its namesake. This too dates back longer than is often supposed: a 1980 catalogue includes it as ‘a recently introduced hybrid… rather like a very small ‘London Pride’ with inch-wide, grey-green rosettes forming a flat carpet, 424

and many sprays of white, pink-dotted flowers in late spring’. Fewer will have had the chance to grow an excellent clone of S. paniculata named for her husband Harold (it was earlier distributed as S. p. ‘Sierra del Cadi’, after the mountains where it was found by the couple in 1987). Happiest atop a limey, sunny raised bed, or in a trough, it is far and away my favourite selection, yielding the felicitous combination of dark reddish stems and glossy white flowers, up to 60 of these per spray. Brian has distributed this and other of the Bevingtons’ most noteworthy but as yet lesser-known finds, made principally in the 1970s and 1980s, in various parts of Spain. The most celebrated of them all, Polygala calcarea ‘Lillet’, is already widely available. Brian has managed to maintain their novel brick red phase of Lilium pyrenaicum ‒ ‘greenish-yellow or rarely orange-red’ the accepted colour range, according to Flora Europaea. The same goes for a notably large flowered, semi-double form of Thalictrum tuberosum, which seeds around in a sunny Lancaster scree bed as happily as it reportedly does in the Pyrenees, south of Jaca, where the Bevingtons encountered it. Another of their introductions, grown as Petrocoptis crassifolia, keeps it company in exile. While that species is said to be unfailingly white, not pink, the collection is from the right locality for that narrow endemic. Seeding around profusely but easily controlled, it deserves to be grown more widely, as does a neat form of the south-west European rock rose Helianthemum croceum. It is bright yellow or white in other guises and up to 30cm tall, but in THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

This form of Helianthemum croceum is half the usual height

this version, from the Sierra de Cazorla, under half that height and orange-yellow when in flower from May onwards. It likes nothing more than growing over a ledge, in common with a form of Lithodora diffusa from the opposite end of Spain, namely the Picos de Europa. Not to be confused with the Gardiner & McBeath 1980 introduction given the clonal name ‘Picos’, this has established well, benefiting from a careful shearing after the last spent flowers are shed in late June. By then it might already have self-sown. One enterprising offspring has sprung up between two paving slabs, DECEMBER 2014

50cm below its parent, in a hairline fissure where no human hand could have placed it. Subtler in coloration and more compact than some better-known cultivars, this too deserves its place in more gardens than at present. What was sent back from southern Spain as Colchicum lusitanum, but (despite its slightly chequered flowers) is perhaps better ascribed to C. autumnale because of its greyish on yellow anther colour and the profile of its slightly glaucous, linear lanceolate leaves, has formed a mighty clump and is possibly unique in British gardens at least. A short 425

BRIAN BURROW

Colchicum autumnale from southern Spain, originally sent as C. lusitanum

distance away, the deeper-coloured, stridently chequered C. agrippinum has formed a similarly large clump. The list could be extended, for Harold and Winnie, who earned the respect of the Spanish botanists with whom they collaborated, entrusted Brian with most of their eclectic discoveries. Venturing away from Spain, a singularly dwarf form of Trillium grandiflorum forma roseum, sent over by their son-in-law (who lives conveniently close to the Appalachians), has settled down well under the shade of a handsome specimen of the Chilean and late summer-flowering 426

Eucryphia glutinosa (also from seed ‒ an equally long-term undertaking). Hand-pollinated using another all-toorarely seen clone, Henrik Zetterlund’s ‘Gothenburg Pink’, two plump seed pods were set whose contents have since germinated. Early on, in the 1970s and beyond, Brian formed part of a Mancunian/Cheshire/ Lancastrian alliance that included David Mowle, Duncan Lowe and George Smith. They were at the forefront when it came to the study and cultivation of European and Himalayan Androsace, Primula and Saxifraga especially. THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Colchicum agrippinum has formed a large clump

George, an impossibly argumentative but very knowledgeable, intrepid, kindly and hospitable academic, made repeated trips to the Himalayas and later to newly reopened western China. Reports of him determinedly scaling cliffs in monsoon conditions, and of once being carried down a mountain on a stretcher (and tumbling out of it, as he later amusingly recounted), are not apocryphal. Like the Bevingtons, he calculated that Brian would nurture his often hardwon seed collections better than any other recipient. These thrived at High Bentham especially, and around a dozen DECEMBER 2014

were routinely listed by Lismore Alpines, notably Androsace delavayi, A. globifera, A. x marpensis (globifera x robusta subsp. purpurea, a Nepalese hybrid discovered in 1988) and the cherry red A. croftii (never seen since). On a larger scale, George’s form of Primula pulverulenta flowers a fortnight later than the general run in Brian’s garden. He also maintains a notably floriferous Rosa sericea, having discarded a less distinguished introduction from another source. George was a larger than life character. He raced around in an old Mini, its front door held in place by a length of string, 427

BRIAN BURROW

Saxifraga caesia on one of Brian’s raised beds and, below, Primula ‘Duncan Lowe’

a hole in the floor disguised by a piece of board, until Brian prevailed upon him to buy a replacement Fiat. In this more reliable vehicle he drove across Europe to visit friends, returning with ‒ for example ‒ a light pink Corydalis solida from Romania that has endured. Brian’s friend Duncan Lowe, the co-author of the 1997 AGS book The Genus Androsace, was a gifted and highly influential grower of true alpines, shrewdly selected. His legacy includes a fine form of Saxifraga caesia, established on one of Brian’s raised scree beds, 428

and at its best in June, the full-petalled flowers superior to any other version I have seen in cultivation, and a clone of THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Part of Brian’s Primula allionii collection, most of which he has raised himself

S. burseriana, now named for Duncan, that is routinely in flower on Valentine’s Day. In his memory, Brian has named one of his finest Primula hybrids. P. ‘Duncan Lowe’ has near stemless, furled, delicate pink flowers with exserted styles, produced in such abundance that they form a double-layered, celebratory froth. Its parentage is something of a mystery, involving a chance P. allionii hybrid back-crossed onto the notably flounced-petalled and faintly bluish thrum-eyed P. a. ‘Margaret Earle’. The leading half dozen or so growers of P. DECEMBER 2014

allionii have all been given a plant, but it is very slow to form side rosettes. The rest of us will simply have to wait our turn. Garden hybrids and selections: Primula allionii and its offspring Whether measured on grounds of consistency, inventiveness, variety or sheer numbers, Brian’s work as a plant breeder falls within the first rank of alpine plant hybridists’ output over the past half century. I’ve focused on just three genera, although others could 429

BRIAN BURROW   be brought to account, in particular Dianthus. Early on he raised the best known D. microlepis clone, ‘Rivendell’, and has reared some of the finest recent hybrids, including ‘Eleanor Parker’ and a first-rate D. freynii seedling, whose name is still unregistered. He is currently the most significant producer of Primula allionii clones and has eclipsed past endeavours (notwithstanding those of Kenneth Wooster, onetime ‘king of the allioniis’, Frank Barker, Grimshaw Berry and his gifted daughter, Margaret Earle) in terms of both numbers and quality of the rearings. If you see a plant with the component ‘Lismore’ in its naming, then it will have been raised by either him or Judy Burrow when they lived first at Holmes Chapel, then at High Bentham. Latterly he has preferred to reference a veritable dynasty of family members who can claim the surname ‘Burrow’, along with their relatives (‘Parker’ the most usual branding). There are scores of them, with more still being evaluated and grown under alpha-numerical references, or else not yet bulked up in sufficient numbers to permit nursery listings. I really don’t know quite where to begin, other than to observe that the richly coloured, full-faced P. a. ‘Richard Burrow’ comes earliest of all, sometimes in January; that he has bred some novel, pure raspberrypink seedlings (‘Judy Burrow’ and the larger-flowered ‘William Burrow’ are exemplary), along with the paler, more bluish P. a. ‘Elizabeth Burrow’ and numerous others. Generally they have mid-sized to smallish flowers rather 430

than the enormities unleashed by one or two breeders, which have a tendency to collapse under their weight and distort the pert precision of their wildling ancestors. There have been vintage years: grab anything from 2003 that you are offered, irrespective of its name or lack of it, with both hands! And there have been frequent back-crosses involving other closely allied European species that promise well. BB08/25/4 constitutes a mix of P. marginata ‘Caerulea’ and P. a. ‘Richard Burrow, while a 1999 blending of albino P. m. ‘Casterino’ and a white P. allionii led to the delicate P. x meridiana ‘Lois Parker’, since back-crossed onto P. allionii again to produce two lovely seedlings, both albino, both much closer to their pollen parent, but with farinamargined, slightly toothed leaves. Dieter Zschummel provided a plant of the northern Italian P. albenensis, and Brian has been the first to meld this in a complicated blend that also involves P. carniolica and P. allionii. There are several seedlings so far, none as yet named, all of them exemplary. Or one might highlight his use of P. ‘Broadwell Milkmaid’ as both sire and brood mare with P. allionii as the suitor ‒ early days as yet, but the progeny are very promising. There are no names to date, for Brian is sensibly reluctant to bestow these until convinced that the seedling in question can fulfil its early potential and is deemed truly distinct. Those who have applied clonal names, without first consulting the raisers, to seedlings he and Judy thought run-of-the-mill and distributed unnamed should perhaps reconsider. THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Primula allionii seedlings, the results of Brian’s hybridising

One glasshouse is more or less devoted to European primulas (P. allionii and P. marginata predominantly), with mature plants on the top benches and younger ones by the hundred clustered in soak trays at ground level, in spring deliberately flooded. There are no fans to circulate the frequently damp air and no protection other than an application of Coolglass to part-mask the exterior of the glass panes, but these natives of the Maritime Alps are accustomed to high summer temperatures, if afforded shade. Other Primula gatherings are scattered in two adjacent structures, the best of the raisings methodically propagated year on year, so that the stock plants DECEMBER 2014

sometimes appear as stumps after precise decapitations, before new rosettes issue from the crowns by the autumn. In late February and the first two weeks of March, the massed display is truly a sight to behold. Saxifrages Around this time, the first of the Porophyllum saxifrages will be in flower, and although these are not now grown in the numbers that were once marshalled, they represent an abiding interest. In the 1980s, when Himalayan introductions came in pell-mell, novel miscegenations were produced by several hybridists. Brian was among the earliest to recognise the hybrid potential 431

BRIAN BURROW

I

have grown the plant known as Saxifraga sp. coll. ‘Betscho Pass’ since the 1990s. It was a puzzle then and remains one. Found by Wolfgang and Ute Strumpf in August 1974 at just below 3,000m, near the Adyl-su gorge (Elbrus, western Caucasus), this Kabschia is superficially similar to S. marginata. The main differences lie in its vase-shaped flowers, leaves that lack a keel, and a more open cushion with extended caudicles. The rather vigorous habit of growth also differs from that of S. marginata. Description: The plant forms an open cushion with extended caudicles. The rosettes are dark green but prominently silvery-encrusted. The leaves, 8-12 x 2mm wide, are linear to linear-spathulate and mucronate, with 5-7 prominent lime pits and a thick, cartilaginous margin; there is no obvious keel. The c. 5cm tall flower stem is pale green or pinkish with red glandular cilia and 4-6 adpressed, reddish-green stem leaves. Each bears (2) 3-5 flowers. The corolla is vase-shaped, 17-20mm in diameter, the white petals somewhat overlapping, cuneate, 7-9 x 11-12mm, with a green claw. Somewhat similar plants are in

of the newcomers. In 1986 he selected S. georgei and S. poluniniana and mated these with long-established hybrids such as ‘Winifred’ (pink) and ‘Faldonside’ (yellow). The annexation S. x anglica x poluniniana, now formalised as S. x 432

A Caucasian mystery plant By Adrian Young cultivation as S. sp. coll. ‘Josef Halda’ (JJH9309174, from the Caucasus), discounted here because most bearing this collection number are the Turkish S. kotschyi. Presumably material of these two very different plants has become muddled. Wolfgang and Ute Strumpf lived in the former East Germany and were allowed only to visit areas under Russian control. As such they travelled repeatedly to the Caucasus. Staying in a hotel at the head of the Baksan River valley, they went by bus to the Jusengi gorge and began their ascent of the Betscho Pass (3,800m). This is an old route from Russia to Mestia in the former Swanetie (now part of Georgia). Snow blocked their way to the top, but at approximately 2,8003,000m they found just one plant of this Saxifraga (lack of time and snow cover prevented further exploration). Wolfgang took a rooted segment

poluanglica, led to a first flowering in 1988 of ‘Peter Burrow’ (named for Brian’s son). Its second generation seedling S. ‘Lismore Cherry’ is now little seen but is one of the richest-coloured of any Saxifraga reared to date. S. x lismorensis ‘Lismore Pink’ and THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Saxifraga ‘Wolfgang Strumpf’ in Brian Burrow’s garden

home, which established well on a north-west slope, alongside Gentiana djimilensis and Corydalis emanuelii. Sometimes identified as S. marginata (a species from much further west, in Italy, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Romania), it lacks two critical diagnostic features of that species, namely short rosette stems, and leaves with a well-defined keel. Although its locality has since been revisited by Russian and Czech plant-

‘Lismore Carmine’ can be traced to a March 1987 germination and are maintained by enthusiasts, even though Brian doesn’t grow them now. Nor does he keep his renowned S. oppositifolia raising ‘Theoden’, from seed collected high on Ingleborough, which he has DECEMBER 2014

hunters, it has not been chanced upon again over the past 40 years. This presents a dilemma: how best to classify the plant? My good friend Gert Hoek, to whom I’m indebted for information included in this account, has suggested we bestow a cultivar name for the time being, and it is now registered as Saxifraga ‘Wolfgang Strumpf’. A DNA analysis to determine its exact position in sub-section Porophyllum would be very welcome.

climbed repeatedly and recolonised with home-fostered rare orchids. A scant handful of other saxifrages deserves mention. First, the now popular ‘silver’ S. ‘Monarch’ crossed with S. hirsuta (a Pyrenean collection of this Gymnopetra species, also found 433

BRIAN BURROW

A dwarf Saxifraga cochlearis traceable to Connie Greenfield

in northern Spain and south-western Ireland), which occurred spontaneously in the open garden and constitutes a novel intersectional blending. Next, a seemingly out of country S. marginata from the Caucasus, distributed as S. ‘Betscho Pass’ but now given the clonal name ‘Wolfgang Strumpf ’ after its introducer, and described on the preceding pages for the first time by Adrian Young. Then a dwarf S. cochlearis traceable to Connie Greenfield, with upright (rather than arching), short stems, reddish (not green), the spikes around 14cm tall, 434

bearing up to 40 flowers in condensed candles. Unlike most forms, the branching starts not halfway up, but almost from the base of the stems, each branchlet carrying three or four flowers. Slower-growing than almost any other form of the species, and with very small rosettes, it flowers abundantly in late May. It has hybridised (presumably with S. callosa) to give a plant with larger rosettes and cascading racemes, the flowers broader-petalled and more substantial than the known parent. Finally, S. diapensioides x burseriana, a very slow-growing cross with a THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Brian’s bigeneric cross, Adenophora taquetii x Campanula waldsteiniana

distinguished parentage that is under observation at present, with the hope that it replicates their finest qualities. Campanulas There are plenty of these, with a one-off whitish selection of Campanula zoysii (‘Lismore Ice’) and a hybrid between that species and C. pulla (C. ‘Cantata’) the best known. Not named, but worthy of mention, are his multifarious raisings of a white form of C. raineri, crossed with a similarly albino C. morettiana in 2003. These are not recreations of Joe Elliott’s chance hybrid C. ‘Joe Elliott’, which DECEMBER 2014

Brian firmly believes is misascribed and has C. carpatica in its genes. While we’re on the subject of faulty guesses, his present enthusiasm for dwarf willows, fostered by an expert on the subject and fellow fell walker David Tennant, has led Brian to conclude that the popular Scottish hybrid Salix x boydii does not have S. reticulata in its parentage. A research paper is due to be published next year, which will detail its likely and rather complex parentage, setting the record straight after all these years. Brian has selections of the finest European Campanula species, such as C. 435

BRIAN BURROW

Phlox pilosa subsp. riparia in Brian’s garden, another genus of much interest

alpestris, which he has grown to Farrer Medal standard, in a white form, crossed with a typical form of the species and then bred through a second generation in an attempt to bring about a vigorous albino race of grandchildren. Improbable inter-specific crosses, on the other hand, are there for the making, as with a lovely but regrettably transient – it perished in the clammy 2012-13 winter – C. morettiana x waldsteiniana. Bigeneric ones are also feasible, for all that most of these have arisen 436

spontaneously when plants are brought into close proximity. Adenophora taquetii x Campanula waldsteiniana is a very good example of this. On several occasions he has attempted to ‘marry’ a Dionysia with an Androsace, but to no avail. Even so, nothing ventured… Anyone who has visited Brian Burrow’s garden, judged with him or spoken with him at any length, will be aware of his boundless enthusiasm and very considerable horticultural clout. The latter isn’t confined to alpine plants. He’s THE ALPINE GARDENER

BRIAN BURROW

Brian Burrow in his plantsman’s garden in Lancaster

equally authoritative when it comes to, for example, the science and practicalities of turf management, his pupils now placed at several world-famous football clubs and at Wimbledon, as well as in the higher echelons of British and North American horticulture. This he makes scarce mention of, no more than one would realise, without enquiring, that he can pot up 1,000 plants a day (try doing so yourself sometime). He is very knowledgeable on the British flora, from hawkbits to orchids. Witness DECEMBER 2014

his pot-grown Epipactis palustris, kept in soak trays, with up to 100 flower spikes per clump and seeding into adjacent pots, or Cypripedium calceolus, which he has reintroduced to sites in his native Yorkshire Dales, happily producing root systems up to 60cm deep. Brian’s collection rivals that of a botanic garden in its curation and scope. He is widely recognised by his peers as one of the most talented propagators, growers and hybridists of alpine plants of our times. 437

PYCNOPHYLLUM MOLLE

Pycnophyllum molle in habit at 4,650m on the summit of Pirhuani, Moquegua

T

he concept of nurse plants – those that foster the establishment of other plants – will be familiar to readers through images of New Zealand ‘vegetable sheep’, such as Haastia pulvinaris and Raoulia eximia, infiltrated by celmisias, gaultherias, aciphyllas and other genera. The lodgers benefit from a micro-climate and physical protection, enabling them to endure for many years. Staying in the southern hemisphere, the Andes also harbour some immensely long-lived plants that form very substantial mounds. Daniel Montesinos, adviser and guide on this year’s AGS tour in Peru, divides

438

his time between the Netherlands (he is studying for a PhD at Wageningen University) and Peru, where he has lived in part for over 20 years. Responsible for the naming of several new species, his main expertise is in the biodiversity and ecology of the southerly department of Moquegua’s mountain flora. The images here, the first such ever published in these pages (or almost anywhere for that matter), are of Pycnophyllum molle, a member of the same family as well-known Iranian/ Caucasian Gypsophila aretioides, and demonstrate very well its nurturing role in the establishment of associated high alpine plants. THE ALPINE GARDENER

PYCNOPHYLLUM MOLLE

Pycnophyllum molle serving as a nurse plant for the shrub Parastrephia quadrangularis (Compositae) at 4,700m in Moquegua region

By Daniel Montesinos

P

ycnophyllum molle plays an important role in acting as a nurse plant (facilitation) in southern Peru, principally in high alpine localities. This type of interaction is important for the survival of other species that make up the local floral communities. The fostering role of mature cushion plants is particularly important for increasing nutrient availability and resource capture, such as moisture and warmth, for their lodgers. Worldwide in mountainous regions,

DECEMBER 2014

Pycnophyllum molle and its tenants in southern Peru cushion plants are often abundant. Their role in the nurturing process, however, remains largely neglected in studies of such flora, except those made in the Himalayas and the southern Andes of Argentina and Chile. In Peru little such 439

PYCNOPHYLLUM MOLLE

An association of Pycnophyllum molle (yellow cushion) and the slowgrowing Azorella compacta (green cushion) on Pirhuani in Moquegua. Left, a closeup of the leaf arrangement in P. molle

440

THE ALPINE GARDENER

PYCNOPHYLLUM MOLLE

Pycnophyllum molle (yellow cushion) in association with Azorella compacta (green cushion) and the shrub Parastrephia quadrangularis (Asteraceae) at 4,600m

work has been carried out, yet cushionforming species such as Pycnophyllum molle clearly act as nurse plants, benefiting several other species that seed into their margins or midst and become well-established. Pycnophyllum molle is a characteristic plant of southern Peru, Bolivia and north-western Argentina, often forming extensive colonies at high altitudes. This member of the Caryophyllaceae forms large yellow-green cushions, frequently over a metre in diameter and estimated at up to 200 years old, given its growth rate of, at most, 4mm per annum. The species occurs at altitudes above DECEMBER 2014

4,000m and up to 5,000m. Snow cover never persists for more than a few weeks, even at such altitudes, and temperatures often plummet, but Pycnophyllum is adapted to survive freezing conditions, maintaining within its midst higher temperatures than those recorded at ground level. Not all cushion-forming genera are so hospitable. For example, Haastiamimicking Mniodes (five species, often given as endemic to Peru, but perhaps also extending east to Bolivia) typically grows in isolation, unlike its New Zealand relative. Part of my research involves 441

PYCNOPHYLLUM MOLLE

Two images of Pycnophyllum molle nursing species such as Nototriche mandoniana (Malvaceae), Werneria pectinata (Asteraceae), Calamagrostis vicunarum and C. minima (Poaceae), Astragalus sp. (Fabaceae), Erigeron pazensis (Asteraceae), Lachemilla pinnata (Rosaceae) and Wahlenbergia peruviana (Campanulaceae) 442

THE ALPINE GARDENER

PYCNOPHYLLUM MOLLE

Pycnophyllum molle (yellow cushion) and Azorella compacta (green cushion) at 4,800m in Moquegua

investigating whether there is a positive interaction between Pycnophyllum molle and the plant communities that develop within and around it. Five years of study have so far established that these cushions play a critical role in facilitating the diversity of many DECEMBER 2014

endemics and other natives. Moquegua is rich in cushion plants, with more than ten species occurring above 4,000m. Pycnophyllum molle occurs in over six different plant communities and more than 20 species are known to associate with it. 443

PLANTS FROM OUR SHOWS BILLY MOORE

DUBLIN

George and Pat Gordon’s Pinguicula grandiflora and, opposite, Raymond Copeland’s Lewisia cotyledon forma alba, which received the Margaret Orsi Bowl for the best North American plant

S

easoned exhibitors are, by and large, a stalwart breed and typically think little of travelling hundreds of miles before dawn to get to a show, returning home long after sunset. It has been suggested tongue-in-cheek that an award should be given for the farthest travelled plant during a year, but we should applaud those who ferry exhibits in prime condition from pillar to post, largely for the enjoyment of others. For members who visit only their nearest show, this frenetic toing and froing is invaluable. Long-distance exhibitors might have other reasons for visiting a particular show, such as stocking up with horticultural sundries (those attending the onetime Nottingham Show habitually drove to a nearby gravel works and loaded their car

444

On the road and across the sea... boots with grit), visiting far-flung family members, or ‒ as at this year’s Bakewell show ‒ leaving the hall and within 200 yards joining a hiking trail accessing some of Derbyshire’s most scenic c o u n t r y s i d e . Several mainland exhibitors caught the ferry over to Dublin on the last Saturday in April, contributing to a fine display of plants at the firmly established Cabinteely venue. Farrer Medal plants do not necessarily THE ALPINE GARDENER

2014 SHOWS FEATURED: Dublin, London, East Anglia, Malvern, Southport, Summer South COMPILED BY ROBERT ROLFE FROM REPORTS BY: Billy Moore, Val Lee, Don Peace, Chris Lilley, Robert Rolfe and Graham Nicholls

have to be of a great age, and Paddy Smith’s five-year-old pan of Gentiana verna was a popular winner, although pedantic observers queried the nonuniformity of the display (some albinos punctuated the predominantly blue flowers) and wondered whether the stock was indeed authentically Irish or, unlike the impeccably sourced ‘Burren Blue’, derived from far more easterly examples of the spring gentian, which I have admired in several parts of DECEMBER 2014

BILLY MOORE

DUBLIN

northern Turkey, north-western Greece, the Alps and the Pyrenees. Sticking with native plants – at least if you don’t consider Pinguicula grandiflora a Spanish or Pyrenean import of longstanding – a panful was well shown by George and Pat Gordon. It is found in south-west Ireland and the exhibitors have seen it growing wild, in a remote area of County Kerry, by the hundred on open, flat ground. Their plants were grown from seed sown onto sphagnum 20 years ago. The plastic pot contains garden loam covered with fresh sphagnum that has been put through a blender and resides in an inch of water in a soak tray. It is kept outside all year apart from a brief period early in the season when it is taken into the greenhouse for protection before its 445

PLANTS FROM OUR SHOWS

FARRER MEDAL WINNERS 2014 DUBLIN Gentiana verna (Paddy Smith) LONDON Acis trichophylla var. rosea (Bob & Rannveig Wallis) EAST ANGLIA Saxifraga pubescens ‘Snowcap’ (Alan & Janet Cook) MALVERN Rhododendron ‘Sarled’ (Ron & Hilary Price) SOUTHPORT Lewisia ‘George Henley’ (Clare Oates) SUMMER SOUTH Saxifraga cochlearis ‘Probynii’ (Alan & Janet Cook)

duty on the show bench. In the winter its resting buds are almost rootless, and as such are easily dislodged, either inadvertently or for propagating p u r p o s e s . Three Certificates of Merit were awarded, two of them going to Tim Lever of Aberconwy Nursery, who must have been delighted, but slightly puzzled, given that his first-rate Sebaea thomasii had won the Farrer Medal two weeks previously (the later conferral akin to bestowing first a knighthood, then a subsequent OBE). His Petunia patagonica, from an area of southern South America he had visited for the first time a few months previously, was very generously flowered. Several examples of this onetime unhappy-inexile species have flowered very freely lately, with theories centring on seasonal temperature fluctuations during the previous year’s growth cycle, compliant clones or sheer fluke. Raymond Copeland’s Lewisia cotyledon 446

forma alba received the Margaret Orsi Bowl for the best North American plant and was a shining example of how handsome it can look if given good light, a gritty but not over-nourished root run and overhead glass protection. Lewisia cotyledon is more frequently pink-flowered, whereas the Spanish Acis trichophylla is predominantly white, its unusual pink form equally difficult to flower well or at all. At the London Show, Bob and Rannveig Wallis received a Farrer Medal with this, a component of their six-pan bulbous plant entry. In the same group, and more floriferous still, a deep yellow form of Iris reichenbachii grown from seed sown in 1979 might well have beaten its close rival to the premier award, had not just a few of the flowers been marginally on the wane. James Lintott travelled from Guildford to enter some excellent plants in the Novice Section, including a fine six-inch pot of the same species that helped him win the Henry Hammer Cup. THE ALPINE GARDENER

DOUG JOYCE

LONDON

Cypripedium parviflorum, shown by RHS Wisley, gained a Certificate of Merit Held for the first time on a Sunday, this was one of a series of self-proclaimed ‘secret’ RHS-sponsored shows, and was far and away the most successful of these. It attracted a large number of visitors and a very respectable contingent of exhibitors, who appreciated the welcome relaxation of weekday parking restrictions and flocked from as far afield as Wales, Newcastle and Chester. The RHS Lindley Library brought out its unrivalled reserve of alpine books, and the Wisley Alpine Department had, at the head of the hall, a display of alpine plants on several tiers, gaining a Silver Award overall and a Certificate of Merit for a notable Cypripedium parviflorum. Martin and Anna-Liisa Sheader entered both the photographic classes DECEMBER 2014

DOUG JOYCE

LONDON

Martin and Anna-Liisa Sheader’s Oxalis laciniata ‘Miradores de Darwin’ 447

PLANTS FROM OUR SHOWS DOUG JOYCE

EAST ANGLIA

Alan and Janet Cook with their Saxifraga pubescens ‘Snowcap’

(winning the Dawson Trophy for the most first-prize points) and the plant show, notching up two Certificates of Merit. The first went to a notably floriferous Lepidium nanum, the other for six colour photographs taken in Patagonia. From these latitudes their Oxalis laciniata ‘Miradores de Darwin’, from Argentina’s Santa Cruz province, was a recently introduced form from a restricted area of sand flats around the Rio Deseado estuary on the Atlantic coast, far to the east of the Stag River populations first cultivated from Ruth Tweedie’s collections dating from 1955. It has large leaves and especially large, deep-pink, funnel-shaped flowers. Planted about 5cm down in sandy, open compost, it is proving more challenging than earlier introductions. 448

Alan and Janet Cook, whose plants at London included a display of lewisias and a very creditable Androsace vandellii from the eastern Pyrenees, journeyed the following Saturday to East Anglia, where their Saxifraga pubescens ‘Snowcap’ displayed a perfect dome of fresh white flowers and took the premier award. It is grown in a mix of equal parts John Innes No. 2, composted fine bark and grit. Potting-on is the trickiest time of all for this ten-year-old plant because the ‘neck’ is slender compared with the large rootball and is liable to disconnect d i s a s t r o u s l y . A rare British native fern, Cystopteris dickieana, was staged by Don Peace, the fresh green, unfurling 15cm fronds at an optimum stage of development. Known from just one location ‒ a sea cave in THE ALPINE GARDENER

DOUG JOYCE

EAST ANGLIA

The skunk-scented Fritillaria camschatcensis exhibited by Clare Oates

north-east Scotland ‒ this won the Barbara Tingey Trophy. Described in 1848, it differs from the widespread C. fragilis in its rugose spores, as well as sophisticated differences relating to the pinnae and pinnules. There are sterile hybrids between these two. Fritillarias at this time of the year are primarily noxiously scented, as was Don’s handsome F. messanensis, best viewed from a distance. Clare Oates went one better with skunk-scented Fritillaria camschatcensis, received as a single bulb many years ago and steadily multiplied by means of its abundant offsets (Indian rice is one of its popular names in North America). This form had dark brown-purple flowers on stems to 40cm tall, 20 or more of these now filling a large pan. Adjudged the best DECEMBER 2014

pan of bulbs, it gained the Sudbury Prize ‒ a useful engraved stainless steel trowel ‒ ahead of perhaps the largest pan ever seen of Trillium grandiflorum forma polymerum ‘Snowbunting’, brought along by Ivor Betteridge. Another North American, Cypripedium californicum, was shown by Ray Drew. It is not a stridently colourful orchid (the slippers are white, the dorsal and lateral sepals lime green, or exceptionally bronze to brownish) but is potentially very floriferous, with up to 21 flowers per spike on record. Ray grows it against a north-facing wall, providing a microclimate that he believes assists its c u l t i v a t i o n . Rhododendron ‘Sarled’ (sargentianum x trichostomum), was the largest flowering plant at Wymondham at around 50cm 449

PLANTS FROM OUR SHOWS DOUG JOYCE

MALVERN

Ron and Hilary Price with their Farrer Medal-winning Rhododendron ‘Sarled’. Opposite, a beautiful pan of Allium shelkovnikovii grown by Ivor Betteridge

tall, its main branches bleached and attractively gnarled, with none of the imbalances seen in plants that have not been selectively pruned by their owners in their formative stages. Exhibited by Ron and Hilary Price, its clouds of Daphne-like, palest pink flowers mature white and are long-lasting if protected from the sort of vicious late frost that struck some gardens a few days before the show. Not quite in peak bloom on this occasion, it triumphed at the Malvern Show the following week. The wide variety of entries encompassed everything from an undescribed, perky yellow, black-eyed Chilean Viola, through the spiny, Turkish Centaurea pestalozzae (both from Martin and Anna-Liisa Sheader), on to some excellent pleiones. Visitors who walked as far as the RHS Floral Marquee 450

witnessed drifts of these on Ian Butterfield’s naturalistic stand, a highlight among the numerous displays. Malvern also boasted the first of the year’s campanulas. C. radchensis, shown by Eric Jarrett in the large Open Section, was not quite at its peak but displayed richly coloured flowers attractively edged in pale blue. His material can be traced back over several generations of enthusiasts to Campanula monographer Clifford Crook. Occurring in the Caucasus, where it grows in screes and rock meadows, the species is close to, and often considered a synonym of, Campanula saxifraga subsp. aucheri. Alliums were also well shown, especially dwarf, pompom-headed species from north-western America and Iran. In a three-pan class, Ivor Betteridge had a well-balanced trio with THE ALPINE GARDENER

flowers in muted pastel shades and glaucous foliage – Allium shelkovnikovii, A. bodeanum and A. elburzense. The latter received a Certificate of Merit, though its identity might need reconfiguring as A. egorovae. Another update: A. bodeanum is nowadays generally considered to be a synonym of A. cristophii. Ivor acquired these bulbs from Norman Stevens and grows them in a mix of one part John Innes No. 2, one part peat and two parts grit. After flowering the pans are kept dry until around October, when repotting is carried out and watering is resumed. These are all beautiful and rewarding species that should be grown more w i d e l y . Ivor came within an ace of claiming the Farrer Medal the following week at Southport with an unprecedented clump DECEMBER 2014

ROBERT ROLFE

SOUTHPORT

of the Iranian Allium shelkovnikovii, which failed to establish from the few introductions made in the 1960s but has fared much better from a 2000 resourcing. At its best it is one of the most attractive ornamental onions, with wellfilled heads of lilac-pink flowers. Like so many of the genus, it needs valeting before a show-bench appearance, since the fairly broad glaucous leaves typically begin to die back in late spring. The answer is to trim the ends neatly, using a razor, later mopping up the moisture exuded along the cut edges. Ivor gained a Certificate of Merit for his best effort to date and also staged four smaller panfuls, one from home-saved seed. In its mid-20th century heyday, the firm of W.E.Th. Ingwersen staged mesmerising exhibits at the Chelsea Flower Show (held in the third week of 451

PLANTS FROM OUR SHOWS DON PEACE

SOUTHPORT

The floriferous Lewisia ‘George Henley’ won the Farrer Medal for Clare Oates

May, and as such starting just two days after the AGS Southport Show). The best of them were orchestrated by George Henley, the nursery manager, who is remembered not just for these but for the plants that he raised, most notably Lewisia ‘George Henley’, a rather stridently coloured, reddishpurple hybrid between L. columbiana and L. cotyledon dating back some 60 years. Half a dozen exhibitors brought along plants of this, varying in floriferous, rosette size and general vigour, but by far the largest was shown by Clare Oates. It would have been larger still, had she not last year trimmed away all the peripheral rosettes that overlapped 452

the pot rim, administering occasional high potash liquid feeds by way of apology. Mature plants benefit from repotting every third year, but when the largest pot that you can lift is reached, the above course of action is recommended, and provides dozens of cuttings as a bonus. In its root-bound state it had responded by producing a bumper crop of flowers. These had been picked over meticulously given that, even at its peak, the first to open will be on the wane. Among the thousands on display, none of this order could be found, making the bestowal of a Farrer Medal a salute to the diligence involved in the operation, as well as recognising the plant’s maturity and rude good h e a l t h . Timing a plant’s performance to THE ALPINE GARDENER

ROBERT ROLFE

SOUTHPORT

The rare Scottish native Hieracium grovesii, exhibited by Brian Burrow

coincide with a particular show is seldom straightforward. Alan Furness’s large potful of a Caucasian Campanula was grown from seed sent from the USA by Betty Lowry and sown in 2004. Although it has flowered reasonably well in previous years, this was its annus mirabilis. Forcing it had induced a very generous number of flowers to open, but some among the forest of stems had lengthened in consequence. A highlight of the show, with rich violet blue flowers, the prominent white eye hexagonal and well-defined, these were larger than almost any other saxatile species that comes to mind, measuring 6cm across, and as much deep. It would appear to represent C. anomala, native to the western and central Caucasus, occurring at up to 2,500m in screes and high DECEMBER 2014

meadows, usually on limestone. Whether it will repeat such a mighty performance is open to doubt; a vintage flowering can also signify a death-knell. Brian Burrow had a notable win in the three-pan new or rare in cultivation class. His pot of Hieracium grovesii was the real rarity, both in cultivation and in its Scottish home, where only around 50 plants are known. There are hundreds of these hawkbit relatives but this is one of the few that gardeners will wish to grow, rather than weed out of their lawns. It forms neat rosettes of ovate leaves, with comparatively huge, solitary, rich yellow flowers like refined dandelions, on stems just 7cm tall. Stock is being grown as part of a programme to bolster numbers and add to the seed bank at Wakehurst Place. 453

JON EVANS

PLANTS FROM OUR SHOWS SUMMER SOUTH

And so to summer, at the very end of May, down in Dorset. Alan and Janet Cook struck once more, this time with an eight-year-old Saxifraga cochlearis ‘Probynii’. First brought to general attention just over a century ago by Henri Correvon, this condensed version of an unfailingly attractive species has silvered leaves at most 1cm long and arranged in tight rosettes, while the arching panicles comprise up to 25 glisteningly clean white flowers. Grown in the alpine house in a compost of one part John Innes No. 2, two parts grit and one part bark, it is kept out of strong summer sun to prevent scorching. More often it is sited on the edge of a raised bed or in a trough. This corner of the country is one of the few, notwithstanding early 20th century flourishes in the cold frames and protected beds at Albrighton in the Midlands, where 454

Alan and Janet Cook’s Saxifraga cochlearis ‘Probynii’

Rhodohypoxis baurii can be extensively naturalised. Chris and Lorraine Birchall brought from Cullompton, near Exeter, a large six-pan entry of distinct cultivars, as good as any of those present could ever remember. They are not in the least bit difficult to grow to a presentable standard, but persuading the corms to proliferate en masse and presenting the clumps uniformly short of stem, without a single faded flower, and at their absolute peak, is another matter. They also received the Stanton Award for the most first-prize points in the Open Section. In an area where native orchids abound, and can be enjoyed within a short drive of the Wimborne venue, Diane Clement’s Cypripedium kentuckiense put on a fine THE ALPINE GARDENER

SUMMER SOUTH

JON EVANS

Chris and Lorraine Birchall’s Rhodohypoxis baurii and, right, Diane Clement’s Cypripedium kentuckiense

JON EVANS

SUMMER SOUTH

display of its substantially slippered flowers in the class for a plant from North America. This example, originally from Kath Dryden, was grown in a plastic pot, plunged in a frame all winter and kept shaded in spring and summer. The compost, a free-draining mix of leaf-mould, bark and perlite, while devoid of that latterly magic ingredient, Seramis, so often advocated nowadays for the successful cultivation of the genus, had nurtured a notable clump, bringing the season for this genus to a distinguished end.

Full show reports and more pictures can be seen on the AGS website DECEMBER 2014

455

An Olympian habitat

Yiannis Christofides explores the flora around Mount Olympus in northern Greece, where about 1,700 species compete for the attention of plant enthusiasts

Fritillaria messanensis and, main picture, walkers on the way up Mount Olympus are dwarfed by the magnificent surroundings

EXPLORATION

M

ount Olympus, at 2,917m (9,570ft), is the highest mountain in Greece and the second highest in the Balkans. It is located on the border between the regions of Greek Macedonia and Thessaly. Due to its isolated position, great bulk, morphology and height, it occupies a special place in the Greek flora. The study of the Olympus flora was started by the French botanist Αucher-Εlογ in 1836. This and later research have shown that Olympus is one of the richest botanical regions in Greece, with about 1,700 species and

458

subspecies, representing some 25 per cent of the country’s flora. Of these, 23 are local endemics and 56 are Greek endemics. It provides interest at various levels from April to August. The best time to visit is in May and June, when there is much to see at lower altitudes. Most of the photographs in this article were obtained during a visit in the middle of June. The main base for Olympus is the town of Litochoro. Road access from here goes as far as Prionia, 18km away, from where you can trek up to the Spilios Agapitos refuge (2,100m), a day’s climb if you take into account THE ALPINE GARDENER

MOUNT OLYMPUS

Scabiosa tenuis and, opposite, the Spilios Agapitos refuge surrounded by Pinus heldreichii woodland in the foothills of Mount Olympus

stops for botanising. Alternatively, one can walk from Litochoro through the gorge of Enipeas. The route is spectacular but arduous, criss-crossing the river several times. The walks from Prionia to Spilios Agapitos and higher are not to be taken lightly and should not be attempted unless one is reasonably fit. Always take into account the unpredictable nature of the weather, which can be extreme at times. There are other ways to access the mountain. From the south you can travel via Karya up to the ski centre at Vrysopoules, or from Kokinoplo DECEMBER 2014

in the north. There are also tracks off the Litochoro-Prionia road that would make interesting day excursions, such as to the old monastery of Agios Dionysios. A good 1:25,000 map published by Anavasi is available locally. The massif is dissected by deep gorges, the most prominent being the Enipeas gorge, in which Litochoro stands. Olympus is mostly limestone and marble, formed around 20 million years ago, with an alluvial plain in the lower reaches. The flora can be divided into several zones. The summit of the mountain is but 20km from the 459

EXPLORATION

Dianthus haematocalyx and, left, Salvia sclarea

sea and here one will find species of a Mediterranean littoral zone such as Euphorbia paralias, Medicago marina, Anthemis tomentosa, Glaucium flavum, Eryngium maritimum, Cakile maritima and Otanthus maritimus. Many annual species can be seen here early in the season. Further from the shore are pockets of coastal marshes with typical plants for these habitats, such as Leucojum aestivum, Iris pseudacorus and Ranunculus velutinus. Between the coast and Litochoro the habitat consists of cultivated fields and scrub, with annuals and some perennials. Here one will find Paliurus spina-christi, Thymus capitatus and 460

THE ALPINE GARDENER

MOUNT OLYMPUS

Onosma echioides and, right, Dactylorhiza saccifera

Teucrium polium. Look for Campanula versicolor in Litochoro itself, growing in pavements and walls. Agricultural cultivation stops north of Litochoro and from here one enters Mediterranean maquis consisting of Quercus coccifera, Quercus ilex, Juniperus oxycedrus, Laurus nobilis, Phillyrea latifolia, Erica arborea, Ceratonia siliqua, Pistacia lentiscus, Arbutus unedo and A. andrachne, Cercis siliquastrum and elements that are considered sub-Mediterranean such as Ostrya carpinifolia, Cotinus coggygria, Pistacia terebinthus, Acer monspessulanum and Fraxinus ornus. Orchids that may be found here include DECEMBER 2014

461

EXPLORATION

Two forms of Anemone pavonina

Anacamptis morio, A. pyramidalis, Orchis quadripunctata, Orchis simia, Orchis pauciflora, Dactylorhiza saccifera, Gymnadenia conopsea and Cephalanthera rubra. In clearances or on road verges one encounters plants such as Teucrium chamaedrys, Cistus creticus, Aspalthium bituminosum, Polygala anatolica, Salvia sclarea, Salvia amplexicaulis, Salvia ringens, Scabiosa tenuis, Dracunculus vulgaris, Sideritis montana, Campanula rapunculus, C. lingulata, C. glomerata and the tall spikes of Asyneuma limonifolium, various Verbascum species and Digitalis grandiflora. Rocky outcrops support communities of Sedum such as S. ochroleucum 462

and S. acre. The beautiful Dianthus haematocalyx and Onosma echioides are found in this habitat too. The area around the old monastery of Agios Dionysios is particularly rich in woodland species growing with stands of Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana. Genista sakellariadis is a low-growing species endemic to the Olympus area. Fritillaria messanensis, Anemone pavonina, Allium subhirsutum and A. heldreichii grow here and, along the river, Jancaea heldreichii, the Olympus endemic belonging to the mainly tropical family Gesneriaceae, is found growing on boulders. Beech forest (Fagus sylvatica and others) occurs intermittently between THE ALPINE GARDENER

SOUTH TYROL

Allium heldreichii, Campanula rapunculus and, below right, Linaria peloponnesiaca

600 and 1,800m, chiefly in damper valleys. Species in the understorey include Stachys sylvatica, Lathyrus venetus and L. laxiflorus, Cyclamen hederifolium, Polygonatum pruinosum, Pyrola chlorantha and Orthilia secunda. A number of saprophytic plants and orchids are also found here, such as Monotropa hypopitys, Neottia nidus-avis and Corallorhiza trifida. Between 700 and 1,400m Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana forms pure stands, with occasional specimens of Macedonian fir, Abies borisii-regis, recognised by its flat branches and upright cones. In the understorey grow Coronilla emerus, Daphne oleoides, Achillea ageratifolia, Anthericum liliago, Dorycnium hirsutum, DECEMBER 2014

463

EXPLORATION

Rosa pendulina and, left, Viola graeca

Astragalus angustifolius, Helianthemum oleandicum subsp. alpestre, Linum spathulatum, L. elegans, Acinos alpinus, Alyssoides utriculata, Chamaecytisus polytrichus, Hypericum olympicum, Viola graeca, Linaria peloponnesiaca, Rosa pendulina, Anthemis tinctoria, Matthiola fruticulosa, Vincetoxicum hirundinaria, Malcolmia orsiniana subsp. angulifolia and the orchids Listera ovata, Platanthera chlorantha, Neottia nidus-avis, Cephalanthera longifolia and C. damasonium. The rare yellow Tulipa australis (pictured on the cover of this issue of The Alpine 464

THE ALPINE GARDENER

MOUNT OLYMPUS

Chamaecytisus polytrichus

Gardener) may be found on limestone ridges. Lilium chalcedonicum, an endemic of the mountains of Greece and southern Albania, grows here, as well as the more widespread L. martagon. Similarly rare are Iris reichenbachii and Galanthus elwesii. Ascending through the forest one crosses river gullies with scree beds where Geranium macrorrhizum forms large stands. Viola delphinantha has a foothold on a rock ledge about a kilometre before the refuge at Spilios Agapitos, where the footpath crosses the stream bed. Below you will find a DECEMBER 2014

colony of Primula veris, still in flower in the middle of June. As one climbs up from Prionia towards the refuge, Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana is replaced by P. heldreichii. Huge trees of great age dominate the landscape around the refuge. Daphne mezereum and D. laureola may be found here. Genista radiata, Juniperus communis, Buxus sempervirens and Cotoneaster integerrimus are common. Some of the plants found lower down also occur here. Saxifraga scardica and S. sempervirens are common under ledges, often in the company 465

EXPLORATION

Euphorbia capitulata and, left, Thymus boissieri

of Aethionema saxatile, Kernera saxatilis, Arabis bryoides and Euphorbia capitulata. Gentiana verna forms bright patches of blue. Sideritis scardica found here is collected to make mountain tea. Above 2,400m the trees become scarce and stunted, the landscape dominated by dry scree slopes. On relatively flat ground grow Crocus veluchensis, Scilla bifolia, Corydalis densiflora and C. parnassica, flowering at snowmelt. Ranunculus brevifolius is found growing through the scree with the occasional plant of Linaria alpina, which has its only foothold in the Greek mountains here. Alyssum handelii forms bright yellow patches here and there. Veronica 466

THE ALPINE GARDENER

MOUNT OLYMPUS

Aethionema saxatile and, right, Linaria alpina

thessalica and Thymus boissieri drape themselves over rocks. The commonest plant near the top is Potentilla deorum with silvery leaflets and pinkish flowers from July onwards. Others include Edraianthus graminifolius, Arenaria cretica, Aubrieta gracilis, Omphalodes luciliae, Campanula oreadum and Saxifraga spruneri.  Yiannis Christofides, the author of Orchids of Cyprus, lives in the Troodos mountains and leads botanical trips to Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and the Dolomites. e-mail: minerva9@cytanet.com.cy DECEMBER 2014

467

IRISH GARDENS

One of Helen Dillon’s borders with a striking array of lush foliage

I

rish hospitality is legendary and it did not disappoint when 43 members of the Chiltern Group of the Alpine Garden Society visited several gardens in the Wicklow area south of Dublin in June this year. Neither did the gardens disappoint. They were all gems yet varied greatly – some small and intimate, others on a grand scale – and all reflected the personalities of their owners. The visit was organised by our own Ron White and the Dublin Group of the AGS, to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude. On arrival we headed straight to perhaps Ireland’s most iconic garden – the Dillon Garden, created 35 years ago by Helen Dillon and her husband Val. Helen was away but Val provided us

468

Gardens that glow like emeralds with refreshments and a string of Irish stories. The wonderful late Regency house sets off the magical garden, or is it the other way round? Where there used to be a lawn there is now a rectangular pool resembling a canal, framed by stone paving. On each side are mixed borders and, THE ALPINE GARDENER

IRISH GARDENS

A rectangular pool has replaced a lawn in Helen Dillon’s garden

In June this year members of the Chiltern Group of the AGS embarked on a tour of Irish gardens. John Noakes gives a flavour of the variety and beauty of the gardens visited behind these, gravel paths. One’s eye is led to an arch, beyond which are many scrumptious plants including Tropaeolum polyphyllum, Verbascum ‘Frosted Gold’, slipper orchids and alpines growing in deep raised beds. Some upper story shade is provided by aralias, which also offer protection for DECEMBER 2014

ferns and many woodlanders. Topiary is not usually on the agenda for alpine enthusiasts, but we could but wonder how Helen had converted box balls into box bowls! The Chiltern Group does have catholic tastes and so appreciates horticultural audacity. It is tempting just to provide a list of the many special plants in all the gardens we visited, but it was the overall impact that was most striking, created by mixing the ordinary, the rare and the unusual. It was difficult to tear ourselves away from this first Irish delight and seek out our hotel at Bray, south of Dublin, for an evening meal. An alternative eating establishment was spotted across the road but we were slightly 469

IRISH GARDENS

Two intriguing box bowls in Helen Dillon’s garden

put off by its name (see photograph on the right). The next morning we moved further south to the Wicklow Mountains to visit Knockrose, the home of Tom and Trish Farrell. Trish was the main organiser of our trip. Knockrose has been in her family since 1868 as a farm on the edge of The Scalp, a geological feature formed by a glacier. In the driveway before entering the garden are two impressive and dominating trees, Crinodendron hookerianum and Olearia macrodonta. A small gate gives access to the garden, where pathways lead upwards to a series of ‘rooms’, each with different planting schemes and features including cottage garden plants, small trees and a vegetable patch. In one, a small and 470

You have been warned!

elegant summerhouse brought sighs of envy from many of us. Another is laid out around a series of granite toadstools or staddle stones. These had been used to support grain stores to prevent vermin climbing inside. Now one could imagine leprechauns taking a rest on them. Before we left we were showered with refreshment to help us on our way to Mount Usher, a garden on a much THE ALPINE GARDENER

IRISH GARDENS

Muriel Hamer of the Chiltern Group relaxes on the staddle stones at Knockrose

larger scale. Laid out on both sides of the River Vartry and covering 22 acres, it is home to more than 500 species of plants with many rare and enormous trees. It is a delight for both botanists and gardeners to enjoy. We were given a highly informative tour by one of the gardeners, who was clearly in love with the trees and shrubs growing in this beautiful setting. He had an enviable job and seemed a very happy man. It would be great to pay further visits in different seasons. The day was completed with a visit to Carmel Duignan and her much-writtenabout garden. Carmel grows many plants on the edge of hardiness from our point of view. Giant echiums and the several Pseudopanax ferox would hardly survive DECEMBER 2014

in the Chilterns but here they grow with golden bamboo, Phyllostachys aurea, to create a collection of contrasting spires. Growing up and over a nearby wall is another rarely encountered shrub, Robinia hispida. It makes a wonderful sight, displaying panicles of pink flowers against the sky. Many old favourites, particularly clematis, grow among these exotics, all blended with artistry to a produce a vibrant picture. We did have to remind ourselves that we were never far from the sea and, although we were blessed with sunshine during our visit, rain comes in plentiful quantities. The sun was shining the next morning as we headed for Lamb Cross, the immaculate garden of Patricia Maguire. 471

IRISH GARDENS

The River Vartry runs through the 22-acre garden at Mount Usher

It was such a surprise to discover this fine garden hidden behind a bungalow in a small lane. Patricia is a keen alpine grower, as demonstrated by numerous troughs and alpine beds, but in addition there are herbaceous borders, woodland areas and roses everywhere. In the manicured lawn is a particularly fine Cornus kousa ‘Venus’ and in one corner is a stand of Betula utilis var. jacquemontii, in the middle of which a tall pyramidal mirror creates a magical feature. These were best viewed from the terrace, where tea and delicious cakes were served. As a result, members began to loosen their belts for departure. Still the sun shone as we arrived 472

at Hunting Brook, the home of Jimi Blake, one of Ireland’s most renowned plantsmen. Nestling down a narrow lane in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains, it provided a challenge for our coach driver. Having been decanted, we faced a gravel path that curved enticingly uphill. The way up is edged by billowing masses of Geranium ‘Anne Thomson’ mixed with deep purple ajugas, which contrast with the silver of Celmisia semicordata ‘David Shackleton’. These are at the foot of long herbaceous borders on each side, sloping upwards. Behind is a tapestry of plant colour in the style of Christopher Lloyd, punctuated THE ALPINE GARDENER

IRISH GARDENS

A pyramidal mirror creates a magical feature in a stand of Betula utilis var. jacquemontii at Lamb Cross, with Cornus kousa ‘Venus’ in the foreground on the left

by sentinels of alliums. At the top, the path curved towards Jimi’s house, where we were seduced by homemade pea and chive soup. Once fortified, we DECEMBER 2014

explored an area where plants grew under a canopy of aralias. Jimi showed us the scars and scratches he had endured gardening under these prickly 473

IRISH GARDENS

Alliums punctuate the planting in Jimi Blake’s garden

customers. The extensive gardens merge imperceptibly from the tropical to prairie and woodland. Many of the plants were collected on Jimi’s expeditions, and the totality is framed by distant views of the Wicklow Mountains. A short distance away, Jimi’s sister June gardens in a totally different style. Formerly a jeweller and then a sheep farmer, she has created a modern garden beside an early Victorian house and the farmyard of Tinode House, where her mother lived. Above the farmyard June has developed a huge semi-circular sward and plans to turn it into a wild-flower meadow. From this elevation we had a bird’s eye view of the garden, laid out formally in a series of rectangular raised beds crammed with 474

herbaceous plants in full flower. It looks like a Persian carpet, containing many vibrant plants such as irises and lupins. Perhaps her experience as a jeweller has helped June create this palette of floral colour? Among the many plants there was a particularly interesting smoky pink lupin, which also occurred in other gardens, with the appropriate name of ‘Masterpiece’. It was indeed unusual to see such contrasting brother and sister gardens next door to one another, yet both wonderful in their own way. Before leaving, members could not resist the temptation to purchase plants, even at the risk of having them crushed by Aer Lingus. The day ended by driving high into the Wicklow Mountains, taking in THE ALPINE GARDENER

IRISH GARDENS

One of the rectangular raised beds in June Blake’s garden and, below, members of the Chiltern Group selecting plants to purchase from her nursery

DECEMBER 2014

475

IRISH GARDENS

the historic ruins at Glendalough on our descent back to Bray. Yet again the sun shone in un-Irish fashion as we arrived at Jean van der Lee’s home. It is one of a row of the Glenamuck Cottages, built in the 1930s. Glenamuck means ‘glen of the pigs’ – the gardens were large enough in those days to have a vegetable patch as well as to keep hens and pigs. This was not an attractive prospect for a garden visit, but all apprehension was dispelled on entering. Yes, there is a vegetable area screened from the main garden by trellis hosting roses and clematis, doubtless invigorated by past contributions from the aforementioned hens and pigs. 476

A large lawn surrounded by luscious herbaceous plants was laid with tables and chairs, rather like an upmarket village fete. Cakes and beverages were dispensed from a small summer house, which has an internal barbecue to cope with more usual Irish weather. Our next port of call was Shirley Beatty’s small garden behind a Regency villa. The garden is packed with rare and unusual plants that Shirley has collected on her travels. She and her husband had a somewhat torrid morning prior to our visit because a neighbour’s tree had fallen into their garden. Rapid tree surgery had to be employed and, despite it all, Shirley seemed remarkably relaxed. One plant I THE ALPINE GARDENER

IRISH GARDENS

Ron White of the Chiltern Group, centre, enjoys ‘the craic’ with Billy Moore, right Opposite, part of Jean van der Lee’s garden at Glenamuck Cottages

encountered here for the first time was Disporum cantoniense ‘Night Heron’, a rather sombre yet attractive perennial. Nearby was another somewhat brooding plant, the North American Calycanthus occidentalis, growing in a moist area in light shade. There is certainly a botanical emphasis in this small and busy garden. Our journey through some of Ireland’s loveliest gardens ended at Billy Moore’s home, where we met members of the Dublin Group of the AGS and received yet more Irish hospitality. Billy’s garden is quite small, with the focus on alpines in raised beds, troughs and a fairly newly planted crevice garden, rather like a smaller version of the one at Wisley, DECEMBER 2014

designed and constructed by Zdeněk Zvolánek. An alpine house, frames and a nursery area are screened from the main garden, which also contains columnar yews and other trees surrounded by many small herbaceous plants. We had such wonderful hospitality on this trip that at times I wondered if we had overstayed our welcome, but we were never given that feeling. I felt that the names of the plants were not nearly as important as the owners themselves and the artistic appeal of their gardens. A huge thank you to the garden owners, the Dublin Group of the AGS and all those who contributed to making our short stay in Ireland such a joy. 477

ISSN 1475-0449