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Plant of the Day

Saturday 20 July 2019

An entry for the Global Impact Garden category at the Royal Horticultural Society Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, UK, was ‘The Forest Will See You Now’, designed by Michelle Brandon. This walk-through garden alerted visitors to the benefits of being in a forest and the calming effects of trees which were represented by plantings of the deciduous broadleaf Betula pendula (birch), a few evergreen Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) and an understorey of Corylus avellana (hazel) and Acer campestre (field maple), all native woody species in the UK.

Plant of the Day

Friday 19 July 2019

At the recent Royal Horticultural Society Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, UK, a stand was selling plants of Clematis florida ‘Taiga’. This compact, hardy cultivar is the result of the work of Mr Udagawa, a Japanese clematis breeder, who produced a plant with flowers that are layer upon layer of violet petals tipped with white to create a striking contrast. To prune this deciduous climber the stems can be cut back to just above ground level in the winter.

Plant of the Day

Sunday 14 July 2019

A display by Plant Heritage at the Royal Horticultural Society Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, UK, showed the diversity of the cultivars of Ginkgo biloba (maidenhair tree) and the species survival over geological time. One of my favourite facts is that this tree species has existed longer than the Atlantic Ocean. The collection holder, Tony Davies, has at least 200 cultivars and the collection is still expanding.

Plant of the Day

Sunday 21 July 2019

In this traditional herbaceous border the vigorous, clump forming Leucanthemum × superbum (shasta daisy) was flowering. There are many cultivars of this hybrid including the fine petaled Leucanthemum × superbum 'Beauté Nivelloise'. These plants were at Fanhams Hall, Hertfordshire, UK.

Plant of the Day

Saturday 13 July 2019

A group of various Iris sibirica (Siberian flag) cultivars flowering in this moist but not waterlogged garden soil. This plant selection was well chosen for growing by this garden feature of a dry stream bed. These rhizomatous herbaceous perennial have narrow, grass-like foliage and make an elegant but short-lived cut flower.

Plant of the Day

Thursday 25 July 2019

This year the Catalpa trees have been covered in flowers and at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Wisley, UK, the specimen of Catalpa bignonioides (Indian bean tree, catawba) planted in the 1950s is now a magnificent tree, as the plant has aged the branches have lowered and some are now touching the ground. Nearby the golden foliage form, Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea' (golden Indian bean tree), was flowering and this cultivar is often ‘stooled’ (cut back in winter) to encourage more dramatic, larger foliage. The Catalpa × erubescens 'Purpurea' (purple hybrid catalpa, purple Indian bean tree) was producing new shoots with blackish-purple leaves that later turn dark green, the foliage contrasts with the flowers.

Plant of the Day

Thursday 18 July 2019

In the Tangled Garden, Nova Scotia, Canada, Clematis 'The President' is producing dramatic flowers. This early flowering deciduous climber often has a second flowering later in the summer.

Plant of the Day

Wednesday 24 July 2019

There was an interesting display of green manures on the Trials Ground at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Wisley, UK. These fast-growing, mainly annual plants are sown on bare soil, they smother weeds and their roots prevent soil erosion. The plants are dug into the soil while still green, so they improve soil structure and increase nutrients. The display included fodder raddish (Raphanus sativus var oleiformis), buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) and phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia).