amazing plants

Gardeners’ Question Time with Richard Brambly and Mabel of Farmyard Nurseries

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Richard was well-known to many of us from previous entertaining talks at our meetings and from visits to his fabulous nursery in Llandysul. So after words of welcome to members and visitors from Dawn, our Chair, without further ado the audience launched into their questions. 


First up was Sandy, who asked how the changing climate was affecting Farmyard Nurseries, and how his business can help gardeners in that respect. Farmyard Nurseries is moving to peat-free compost, which is challenging. So far they are using peat-reduced compost (30% peat), although one of the issues is lack of government guidance. As much as possible is recycled, and bonfires are now banned. Generally, it would appear that the trend in the UK is for milder winters and wetter summers. Having said that, we all remember the fortnight-long cold spell in December 2022 when the temperatures dipped to -15! Richard lost many plants he wasn’t expecting to lose, including daffodils, snowdrops and Spiraeas. In the end he decided he couldn’t safeguard the Sarracenias, they would have to take their chances, and of all things they survived! So they are monitoring and adapting as they go. Richard is worried about water though. The nursery’s borehole is small; they have recently expanded to four water storage tanks, but that is really a drop in the ocean of what they need.

Talking of Sarracenias, Dawn had recently heard Richard speak on ‘On Your Farm’ on Radio 4 where he had mentioned a special feed for his pitcher plants when there are not enough flies about. Richard noted that there had been fewer flies about this summer than usual. A Sarracenia needs only about 3 flies to be viable but under normal circumstances they can consume many. One thing that some people do is to drop a fish food pellet into the pitchers. Richard uses a Floranid grass fertiliser which is very mild (2 teaspoons diluted in water in a washing-up liquid bottle) and a squirt into each pitcher.

Fiona brought up the subject of ground cover as a means of minimising bare soil and reducing weeding. What would Richard recommend? He agreed that bare soil just encourages weeds. Persicaria is a genus which has many good ground cover varieties. A less well-known form with small leaves is Persicaria vaccinifolium with a mass of pale-pink flower which goes on for months (and is also very effective in pots). For shade Chrysosplenium and also Pachysandra are very useful. Verbena corymbosa ‘Gravetye’ is good in sunny spots. There is also the tiny-leaved Gunnera magellanica for sun or light shade and damp soil. Ground-cover shrubs there are a-plenty: Potentilla, dwarf Hebes, Cotoneasters, Hydrangeas… There are over 200 Hydrangeas in the woodland garden at Farmyard Nurseries, which have really come into their own this year. You can also, depending on your soil,  consider alpines as well as herbs (marjoram and oregano varieties are excellent). Richard uses mint in his wildflower meadow, as it competes with the grasses and the flowers are loved by bees.

Another question related to the depth at which new shrubs should be planted. The general advice is to plant them at the level they were at in the pot. But what about roses? We were all agreed that we no longer knew what the advice is about roses, as it seems to have changed. It always used to be that the graft point or union should be above the ground – now you sometimes see advice to plant it 4” deep. Good advice can generally be found from reputable rose growers such as David Austin and Peter Beales. Received wisdom does change over the years – delicate and very accurate rose pruning is now often replaced by using hedge cutters. A tip from Richard is never to prune your roses hard before March (before that your hard-pruned roses may be affected by winter die-back).

Ruth had grown some Echinacea plants from seed which were now a good size, and she was wondering whether to plant them out now or wait until spring. Richard warned her that generally Echinacea don’t like it in this part of the world, although you can sometimes get away with the standard E. purpurea or alba (which happily Ruth’s are). The essential thing is keep Echinacea dry through the winter as it doesn’t like the combination of wet and cold.

On the subject of seeds – there was a question about hollyhocks and whether the stems should be collected and hung up to dry inside, or whether to leave them on the plants in the garden. On clarifying that the seed was green, and therefore not yet ripe, he recommended both courses of action. It seemed to be generally agreed that for some plants such as hollyhocks and also grasses that it works to cut the stems with the seedpods still attached and lay them down directly on pots or on planting trays/guttering with perlite.

Julian asked Richard to share his two greatest successes and his worst failure during the life of the nursery. Richard replied that the very best thing to have happened was his daughter Ruth, and the worst thing that had happened was the long Covid that Ruth had suffered from, destroying her future as a potential Olympic athlete. The silver lining was that Ruth had turned turned to plants during that difficult time, in particular house plants, and now she runs that part of the nursery. The second best thing to have happened was getting to Chelsea on the first attempt! If he is honest, there had been lots of highs and Richard would do it all over again. One of his favourite things is to wander around the garden and nursery of an evening when everyone has gone home, and to see what has been achieved. Richard’s staff are a loyal and dedicated team, and he recognises that he owes them so much.

Next, a question about a damson – it’s a shrub variety, about 6’ high, from the Midlands. In six years, it has not produced a single damson! Richard said that stone fruits can be slow to get going. He asked whether it flowered well (it doesn’t), and flowers late, after the apples. Richard’s suggestion was to make the damson think that it’s dying, by chopping a circle around its roots. The other alternative is to to ring bark it, the ring being half-an-inch wide. A follow-on question involved two saplings, a wild plum and a sunset cherry, which had been given to a member in pots. Where should they be planted? Somewhere with plenty of sun and not too windy. Still on the subject of damsons, a questioner had a damson which bears very little fruit, but two seedlings have arisen nearby – would they be likely to fruit? Over seedlings you have no control, so theoretically they might. The closer to the species they are, the more reliably they are likely to fruit.

Sheena mentioned her trouble getting Japanese anemones to establish in her garden. Richard replied that it seems to be pot luck with Japanese anemones – they either like you (when they can grow very strongly) or they don’t. Erigeron karvinskianus is another. 

Gordon asked about a 1’-high Eucalyptus with a single stem that he had bought for £3 – how could you resist?! The problem with Eucalyptus, particularly on a single stem, is that they have a tendency to blow over. To keep the juvenile foliage, you should cut it back hard every year, making it less likely to blow over. When cut back like that, Eucalyptus can make a great evergreen screen. Plants that generally do well in the damp soil in Wales, and can be good screens, are willows, Cornus, birch and poplar. 

Carol had a question about her young ‘Bardsey Island’ apple tree, on which the lower leaves are developing brown and blotchy patches. She also has another Welsh apple, ‘Pig aderyn’, which is smaller but is doing better. The ‘Bardsey Island’ is planted close to a soakaway, and Carol wondered whether that might be affecting it. Richard thought not, unless the soakaway was making the soil very damp. He noted that smaller trees will often establish better. ‘Bardsey Island’ is a superb apple though. He added that he had quite a number of them, and they hardly fruited. The damp climate of Wales very often led to canker in apple trees. There was some debate about whether you can, or cannot, grow apples in Wales. The Club’s previous speaker in September had definitely been of the view that you can; Richard’s view is that you can’t – but sometimes you can!

Sandy asked about tall plants for a lined pond which she has recently made deeper.  Options suggested were Iris, Typha minima (a miniature bulrush), plants in the Scirpus family, Pontaderia cordata, and even Equisetum. Apparently dayliles and Schisostylus also do will in water.

The final question came from Ruth, who asked about some young rhododendrons she had planted in a bed where Verbena bonariensis were becoming quite prolific. Richard was of the view that the rhododendrons wouldn’t suffer, as the Verbena are light and airy, and rhododendrons like shade, but that Ruth should just keep an eye on them. He did note that V. bonariensis will seed everywhere. Also, the young rhododendrons may well have come from Holland where they would have been forced into bud, so they may naturally pause flowering for a year or two. In fact, it would be a good thing to debud them next year, to ensure that they grow into good, strong bushes.

Farmyard Nurseries organise a Gardening Weekend every winter in Llandysul. In 2025 it will be organised for the days around 16 February. It’s a fabulous event that certainly brightens up a dreary time of year with talks, a central display and plants for sale. A date for everyone’s diary!

That brought to an end a very entertaining and informative hour, during which Mabel had befriended anyone in the audience she suspected of harbouring food about their person! Richard was thanked by Dawn and by an enthusiastic round of applause from the audience, and everyone made a beeline for the many beautiful plants for sale that Richard had brought to the meeting and arranged in a mouthwatering display.

The beautiful display of pllants for sale
Tea and talk before the start of the meeting

‘Plants with a Past’ – a few stories about plants, people and places – by Kari-Astri Davies

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It was a pleasure to welcome back Kari to talk to Cothi Gardeners again, this time about plants and their history. Knowing the history of the plants in your garden encourages you to spend more time in your garden, enhancing the experience.

A good place to start is Alex Pankhurst’s ‘Who Does Your Garden Grow?’ published in 1992. In Kari’s own garden, she discovered that the tall, double Delphinium ‘Alice Artindale’ was named by John Artindale from Sheffield for his wife, and that Campanula lactiflora ‘Prichard’s Variety’ was bred by James Prichard from Christchurch, now Dorset but then in Hampshire.

The first record of British gardens as places of pleasure is from 1260, but only for the nobility. It is not until the 16th century that garden flowers can be found along with vegetables in the grounds of tenant farmers or yeomen – as can be seen at the restored Bayleaf Mediaeval Farmstead in West Sussex dating from 1540. In 1597 John Gerrard published his ‘Herball’ where cottage gardens are referenced.

Paintings are another reference source for finding out what plants were around when. Aquilegia, a native plant, was certainly known in gardens in 1503, when a Flemish painter depicted double aquilegias in a vase among other flowers. Double A. ‘Nora Barlow’ was named after a grandchild of Darwin who studied plant biology and genetics at Cambridge. After leaving Cambridge she carried on her cross-breeding work. She herself didn’t particularly like her namesake, but passed the plant on to the nurseryman Alan Bloom for propagation and distribution.

Gertrude Jekyll, who designed over 400 gardens, not all with Lutyens, said ‘Why do we always have to go after the new?’ In 1904 she published ‘Old West Surrey’ describing traditional rural life where she lived, including illustrations of gardens. Working at the same time, Helen Allingham (1848-1926) was an illustrator and painter. A flower that pops up in her pictures of cottages and their gardens is the hollyhock. But its history in illustration goes back to at least 1486, in Herat, Afghanistan. By the 1600s big double hollyhocks had been bred. In Saffron Walden, Mr Chater (1802-85) was famous for his double hollyhocks of which he had 117 different varieties. Then along came hollyhock rust from South Africa, putting paid to his stock (fortunately he grew other things as well)! Helen Allingham’s painting of Gertrude Jekyll’s garden shows that it also included hollyhocks. The illustration on the cover of the Metro-land guide (Metro-land was the name given to the housing development – about 3,500 houses to the north west of London that took place between the two world wars) showed a large house with hollyhocks in the garden. Hollyhocks were also depicted on a well-known Sanderson fabric design.

Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) is a Flemish painter famous for her still lifes with flowers, depicting among other things aconites, ranunculus, tulips, hyacinths and carnations. At one point double hyacinths were more expensive than tulips, and there were many more varieties than there are now. In the 1790s a bulb of the variety called ‘gloria mundi’ cost the equivalent of £30 in today’s terms. It was the stripes in tulips, caused by a virus, that led to the excesses of tulip mania. Striped tulips can be seen on Meissen china from the 1740s. William Pegg’s designs for Royal Crown Derby in the early 19th century also included striped tulips. By the early 20th century a Dutch company had bought up Flemish tulip stock, and started breeding solid colours giving predictability – the Darwin tulip. A Darwin variety surviving to this day is ‘Bleu Aimable’.

Florists’ societies had flourished in the 18th century, exclusively male and meeting in pubs, devoted to the growing of a specific flower, eg pinks. Even though the societies gradually died out, flower showing continued, and in 1804 the Royal Horticultural Society was founded. Its first show was in 1827, to which 3,000 people came. The population was growing, and so was the middle class. Greenhouses were no longer the prerogative only of the upper classes, indeed by the end of the century they had moved on to wilder gardening. Pelargoniums, of which Charles Dickens was very fond,  required greenhouses, and a particularly fine red called ‘Paul Crampel’ was bred in 1892 which is still widely grown today. 

Dahlias were first recorded by Hernandez in 1570 in Mexico. They appeared in Europe when some  tubers were sent to the Director of the Madrid Botanic Gardens in 1791. Originally there was confusion about the name – Dahlia or Georgina (which it is still known by in Eastern Europe – ed.)  – but Dahlia won, and it is of course a plant widely grown today. Treseder & Son of Cardiff were responsible for breeding the very well-known D. ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ (along with Pelargonium ‘Lord Bute’). 

Sweet peas are another flower that is still with us. The original sweet pea was first noted around 1700, of which ‘Painted Lady’ is probably a sport. Henry Eckford (1823-1905) bred 214 of the 264 cultivars known in the 19th century. One of those was ‘Dorothy Eckford’, still grown, white and quite small flowered. The variety ‘Prima Donna’ (pale pink) gave rise to the Spencer sweet peas – bigger, frillier with longer stems for showing, but with less scent.

Although roses are generally associated with France, it was the Dutch who first dealt in roses. R. centifolia, the cabbage or Provence rose, was developed by the Dutch. It is well-known that Josephine Bonaparte had at least 200 different cultivars in her garden. One of the main rose nurserymen then was Descemet, most of whose stock was acquired by Vibert, who greatly increased the number of cultivars available. In the 1800s in the UK Henry Bennett, a cattle farmer from Wiltshire, diversified into rose breeding and moved to Middlesex, being responsible for many of the new hybrid tea rose varieties of the time. Constance Spry started collecting old roses when she saw varieties disappearing – one of her favourites was R . ‘Mme Isaac Pereire’, a rose originally bred by Garçon in France.

In a fast-paced, wide-ranging and much appreciated talk, Kari covered many other plants and their stories including wallflowers, auriculas, lupins, anemones, daffodils and snowdrops. She started and finished by quoting from Plant Heritage, formerly known as the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens: ‘If garden plants go, a tantalising slice of social, cultural and horticultural history dies with them’.

Kari had brought along a selection of some of her favourite plants, including sweet peas (which scented the hall throughout the evening) and pelargoniums, including P. ‘Paul Crampel’, in the centre.

An Acid Trip to Llwyngarreg; John and Helen’s Plant Sale for NGS Charities in May

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Paul and Liz O’Neill have been gardening at Llwyngarreg for 24 years, when they originally turned a field into a garden open to the public for the NGS with a variety of different environments: peat beds, azaleas and rhododendrons, a tropical bed with Tetrapanax and ginger lilies, a fritillary meadow, gravel beds creating a dry garden (see right), to mention just a few.

A soil map of Wales shows that generally the pH is about 6-6.5, so on the acidic side. Some plants are calciphile (lime-lovers), and others are calcifuge (lime-haters), and there are plenty in-between. But even then things are not so simple. Buddleja, honeysuckle, and ash are defined as being calciphile, but generally do well in Wales. This talk focuses on plants that must have or don’t mind a low pH soil, starting with trees and shrubs, and moving on to plants that grow beside or under them.

To start with – Rhododendrons, the plant that first triggered Paul’s interest in gardening. First come the species, considered to have ‘snob value’, compared to the ‘commoner’ hybrids. A lot of species rhododendrons originate from the Himalayas, but also from North America, and Europe, including Portugal (R. ponticum) and the Caucasus.

They generally come true from seed, which is how Paul has grown many of the species that he has, including R. calophytum (left), which over the years has made a huge plant. Species can take up to 20 years to flower if grown from seed – meriting a glass of champagne when one flowers for the first time! R. cinnabarinum is another favourite, this time grown from cuttings.

Hybrid rhododendrons come from crossing different species. They are generally tougher, easier to grow, and flower earlier in life. They are propagated by cuttings or layers. Paul’s favourite is R. ‘Pink Walloper’, while Liz’s is R. ‘Sappho’ (right) , a lovely old hybrid from Waterer’s Nursery in Surrey – the plant’s only fault is that it is a bit straggly.

Both species and hybrid rhododendrons hate having wet feet – so if you garden on clay soil, plant them on a bit of a mound.

Finally there are what we call the Azaleas (although they are of course Rhododendrons). They can be evergreen, such as R. ‘Hinomayo’ which forms a dense bush (so much so it can be pruned to shape with a hedge trimmer). They are also deciduous – R. luteum (left), from the Caucasus, with its scented yellow flowers and gorgeous autumn colour. The latter can tolerate really sticky grey clay, and Paul and Liz plant them on what they call the ‘killing grounds’ where many other plants won’t survive. R. occidentale, again scented, is from America.

Next come the Camellias. Over time, even in our environment, they can get large (in Cornwall they have been known to take the chainsaw to them!). Some examples Paul gave are C. ‘Donation’, C. ‘Debbie’, and C. ‘Jury’s Yellow’ (right).

Most magnolias want acid conditions – and they vary from huge trees to shrubs such as M. stellata. At Llwyngarreg one of the stars of the show is M. ‘Caerhays Surprise’, a magnificent hybrid bred at Caerhays Garden in Cornwall.

Another is M. ‘Black Tulip’ (left, in bud), a Mark Jury hybrid from New Zealand (which in addition to flowering in the spring can also flower again in September). M. loebneri ‘Merrill’ is pure white with a delicious coconut fragrance in the sun.

Another of the magnolias that Paul and Liz grow is M. ‘Yellow River’ (right), a lovely yellow flower, but as it is late the flowers can sometimes get lost among the emerging foliage. M. ‘Daphne’ is probably the yellowest of the Magnolias, but late, with the flowers coming out with the leaves. Paul recommends the Arboretum Wespelaar in Belgium as a place to see the many species and varieties of Magnolia.

Moving on to other shrubs, a hydrangea that not so many people are aware of is H. aspera subsp sargentiana, with large velvety leaves and lacy flowers which tolerates deep shade underneath beech trees. On the other side of the path from the Hydrangea is a mass of the ginger lily Cauttleya spicata ‘Robusta’, rather surprisingly also enjoying the shade.

Crinodendron hookerianum has magnificent red bells in spring, and like many other acid-loving plants hails from Chile. There are also now other white and pink-flowered varieties, although they have not yet been tried at Llwyngarreg.

Paul and Liz started by planting trees at Llwyngarreg, including Parrotia persica (with tiny red flowers in late winter) and Nyssa sylvatica (the tupelo), both with fiery autumnal foliage.

Eucryphia lucida ‘Ballerina’ is a small evergreen tree with lovely pink flowers in late summer, although here in west Wales we cannot grow the huge eucryphias (trunks like trees!) you see in Northern Ireland. Enkianthus campanulatus has small pink-tinged bells in the spring, with fantastic autumn colour. Jovellana violacea, a sub-shrub, has pale purple bell-shaped flowers with a yellow throat; also from Chile, Desfontainea spinosa has holly-like leaves and tubular red and yellow flowers, a lovely shrub, which in west Scotland can be a tree up to twenty feet tall. The latter is a true acid-lover and will die if it comes anywhere near an alkaline soil.

Jovellana violacea
Desfontainea spinosa

Moving on to climbers – the star of the show is Tropaeolum speciosum, a perennial nasturtium with red flowers and blue berries, renowned for growing very well in Scotland. It is often lost in gardens when first planted, because slugs graze it off. 

Amongst perennials, Meconopsis, the Himalayan poppy, are perhaps the ultimate acid-lovers. They are definitely challenging to grow, and need a shady, damp bed with no sun. M. ‘Lingholm’ – the one to grow if you are only going to grow one type – used to seed around in the peat beds, but not so much any more as summers have become hotter and drier.

M. horridula, being monocarpic, takes three years to reach flowering size and then dies after flowering. So too does M. x complexa (it used to be called napaulensis), flowering red or yellow after two to three years.

Primula capitata (right), with its striking blue flowers, is a short-lived peat-lover of moist woodlands. It comes easily from seed if you sow the seed green and don’t cover it.

Another primula for a peat bed is P. flaccida – a lovely lavender blue but it is loved by vine weevil. P. ‘Arduaine’ has ice-blue flowers in January and February. P. poissonii is a candelabra primula which likes wet feet. P. viallii will grow in any soil, but thrives in a peat bed.

Roscoea ‘Harvington Evening Star’ is a dark purple. It comes up late in the year, and slugs don’t like it, always a bonus. It has a tendency to flop over, but it has a long flowering season from mid-Summer to October. Trilliums are invariably expensive to buy, but it is hard to understand why. Trillium luteum, for example, is easy to propagate by chopping it into small pieces, each with an eye, and replanting. Cypripedium, hardy slipper orchids, are gorgeous but difficult to grow, and always expensive.

Cardiocrinum giganteum, known as the giant Himalayan lily, is a truly impressive plant at up to 4m high with gloriously scented flowers (see left, with Liz). Slugs adore them so they can be difficult to grow for that reason. They produce masses of seed after flowering, but it takes seven years from seed to a flowering plant!

Gentians need moist, peaty soil, and also full sun. A good place to buy gentians is Aberconwy Nursery near Bodnant Gardens. G. asclepiadea is a great late summer plant and will tolerate light shade. Corydalis alata (blue flowers), C. flexuosa (blue flowers) and  C. solida (purple flowers) are plants that need shade and moisture.

Two favourite plants in the lily family are Nomocharis alata, which requires moist peat, and Lilium mackliniae. 

Podophyllum delavayi, P. ‘Spotty Dotty’ and P. ‘Kaleidoscope’ are plants for a moist and shady spot.

Myosotidium hortensia, the Chatham Island forget-me-not, is a challenging plant for acid soil, and unfortunately completely slug-delicious. It must have no sun at all.

At the very low ground level Paul and Liz plant Saxifraga stolonoifera, which makes huge mats of leaves covered in white flowers, and two Chilean plants – Asteranthera ovata, and Philesia magellanica which requires a pure acid soil. 

Ginger lilies do surprising well – they prefer an acid soil but don’t have to have it. Hedychium edgeworthii (yellow) and H. ‘Tara’ (orange), produce some of the most exotic-looking flowers you can grow in the UK. 

Other plants not requiring acid soilthat grow well at Llwyngarreg include Epimedium, lovely for its new foliage, and Aquilegia. Primula pulverulenta prefers a woodland environment rather than wet feet. Primula bulleyana (orange-yellow) and beesiana also do well. So too do Rodgersia podophyllum, which is easy to propagate, and Matteucia struthiopteris (the Ostrich fern).

At the time of this talk, the second half of March, some of the highlight plants in the garden at Llywngarreg are listed below: 

Snakeshead fritillaries, which love wet grassland. Paul and Liz started with ten pots, over the years religiously collected the seed and sowed it – and now they have a whole fritillary meadow; sadly, Mr Badger has developed a taste for the fritillaries.

Ground cover in the form of Eomecon chionantha with poppy like white flowers from China, which can be quite a thug; also Maianthemum racemosum.

Rhododendron arboreum ‘Album’ is now starting to flower properly. So too is R. calophytum, which this year is much pinker in flower than it has been previously.

Magnolia ‘Caerhays Surprise’ (left), M. ‘Merrill’ and a large M. stellata, along with M. ‘Black Tulip’, which is a very reliable flowerer.

The talk concluded with a video of a dramatic burning of the Monocot bed, largely populated with Miscanthus but also Dierama. Paul and Liz have discovered that the simplest way to tidy up the grass beds is to cut down all the old foliage, and then set fire to the bed!!

In response to a question about tropical-looking plants that he would recommend, Paul suggested Tetrapanax papyrifera. It can be a little bit tender, and even though it was cut back by the hard frosts of December 2022, it has come back strongly. You need to be careful when handling it, as it has little brown hairs which make you cough badly. Paul also recommends cannas and hedychiums.

The talk was fast-paced, very informative, and delivered with lots of humour. The web editor, for one, came away with a long list of plants new to her to try in the garden. All those present were very appreciative and made a beeline for the plant sales table afterwards.

Llwyngarreg Garden is open for the NGS (which supports seven main and other guest charities) every day by appointment, but please check the website and ring beforehand.

Plant Sale for NGS Charities 12 May

John and Helen Brooks will be holding a plant sale for NGS Charities on Saturday, 12 May from 1pm at their garden Ty’r Maes, Ffarmers, Carmarthenshire, SA19 8JP. As usual there will be lots of plants for sale, to swap and to order online, all proceeds going to NGS Charities.

Remember to browse the website for other upcoming events, the Surplus to Requirements section and updates to Members’ Gardens. If you have any ideas for new content or would like to contribute a piece about your own garden, please contact cothigardeners@gmail.com.

‘Delightful, De-lovely, Deranged – Aren’t Plants Wonderful’ – A Talk by Nancy Stevens

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This was a recording of the talk that Nancy originally gave to Cothi Gardeners over Zoom during one of the Covid lockdowns , describing a cornucopia of amazing plants from almost every continent.

Nancy started with Wistaria sinensis, and in case you’re wondering, that is not a ‘typo’. The species was originally named by Thomas Nuttall after Dr Caspar Wistar; but when the name was being transcribed it was spelt as Wisteria, and so it has remained ever since. The particular specimen depicted is Wisteria sinensis ‘Lavender Rain’ in Sierra Madre in California – covering one acre, it is the largest flowering plant in the world. It was planted 100 years ago by a young couple at the time of their wedding, and it grew so large that it actually destroyed their home, and threatened that of their neighbour. Wisteria japonica is not so vigorous, the largest known specimen has covered half an acre over 150 years. Looking down at the plant, W. japonica climbs clockwise, and W. chinensis twines anticlockwise. W. japonica is considered the choicer plant, more delicate, with very scented blooms and strong autumn colour; it requires full sun. W. sinensis is now designated in the US as an invasive species, and people are being encouraged to grow the American W. frutescens instead.

No talk about plants would be complete without a rose – and Nancy chose R. damascena for its magnificent scent. It is the source of Attar of Roses so widely used in perfumery. A lesser known use for it is in the space industry as a greasing agent because of its resistance to temperature change. The Valley of the Roses in Bulgaria has been famous for its rose harvest since the 17th century when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. The peak period of flowering, and thus harvesting, is from mid-May to mid-June. The petals are harvested between 5am and noon every day. It takes 3.5 tonnes of petals to produce 1 kilogram of rose oil, which is worth more than the price of gold. As a consequence for use in the perfume industry it is very heavily diluted.

From here to Japan, for the Japanese Iris – I. laevigata, I. ensata and I. sibirica. These forms of Iris are highly prized in Japan, where they are frequently depicted in works of art. They like their feet to be wet,  and one of the best places in the world to see them is the Suigo Itako Aquatic Botanic Garden where there are at least a million iris plants. You can view the iris from boardwalks built around the canal network, but you can also view them at eye level from a boat cruise. People apply from all over the world to get married by boat at flowering time. There are festivals around Japan to celebrate the flowering of the iris, but one of the best is at Itako.

A very different aquatic plant is the Cahaba lily, or aquatic spider lily, hailing from the Cahaba River in Alabama. It flowers in the late afternoon and evening to attract its pollinator, the Trumpet Vine Sphinx Hawkmoth. 

It is a member of the Amaryllidaceae, as is another spider lily – Lycoris radiata, the red spider lily, native to East Asia but now naturalised in some southern US states. It is a very poisonous plant and is grown around rice paddies and houses to keep vermin away. It requires heat and rainfall. In Japan where a festival is held in its honour attracting 10,000 visitors a day. It blooms in late summer/early autumn and also goes by the name of the equinox flower.

From the southern USA and tropical South America comes the most dangerous tree in the world, the Manchineel Tree, Hippomane mancinella. Its fruit are known as ‘little apples of death’ or ‘little apples that make horses mad’. It is a member of the Euphorbia family and causes acute allergic dermatitis. People are warned not to stand under the tree when it rains, and the smoke from its burning can cause blindness. On the positive side (!) the roots sterilise soil, and the timber when dry is excellent for furniture. Because of its toxicity, it has become an endangered species in Florida.

Ceroxylon quindiuense is the wax palm from Colombia. It is extremely tall and thin, and its usefulness has been its downfall. The leaves were used as fodder for pigs and cattle, and the stems were stripped for wax. It was on the very verge of extinction when in 1985 it was declared the national tree of Colombia and afforded full protection; its population has since recovered.

Next we turn to the Cook pine, Araucaria columnaris, from New Caledonia. At home they can reach 200ft in height. However, the species missed out on plants’ normal ability to detect gravity, and they lean towards the equator – the further from the equator, the more they lean!

Returning to aquatic plants, the water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, is from tropical and semi-tropical parts of the world. It is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet, spreading by both runners and seeds which remain viable for 28 years. It was originally introduced into the US by a Japanese businessman. Because of its rapid spread and ability to choke waterways, it is banned in Europe and the UK. In the nineteenth century three unlikely men formed the New Food Supply Company with a plan to introduce hippos to eat the plants, and people would then be able to eat the hippos (there was then a meat shortage in the USA). A law was debated in the House of Representatives to allow this, and it fell by just one vote. In Louisiana many millions are spent annually just to control it. However, in the Philippines there is a cottage industry which makes eco-friendly charcoal from the plants. The roots are able to absorb dangerous toxins, including Strontium 90. It is eaten in Thailand; in Malaysia it is being investigated as a potential biochemical control against Mimosa pigra (there an invasive semi-aquatic species). 

The Red Lotus Sea is a shallow lake in Thailand renowned for the red water lilies that flower there en masse. Flowering time of day has come up before in this talk, but here you have to go early – the flowers start to close at 10am and by noon there is nothing to see!

Now to plants resembling birds or animals. Harbenaria radiata is the White Egret orchid, a very elegant plant getting its name from its appearance of a white egret in flight. Two plants from SE and southern Asia get their names from their resemblance to bats – Tacca chantrieri, the Bat Flower, and Tacca integrifolia, the Bat Lily, the latter used in Malaysia to create a paste to treat insect bites and minor burns, and to lower blood pressure.

The Flying Duck Orchid from Australia, so named because of its obvious resemblance, has a unique symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the soil in its native habitat, whose destruction, along with a consequent lack of pollinators, has caused it to become endangered. 

Kudzu is the Japanese arrowroot, also known as the ‘flower that ate the south’ in the United States. In Japan the plant dies back in the winter, but in the warmth of the southern US it grows up to a foot a day. It was introduced at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. As a member of the pea family, it fixes nitrogen in the soil. It was seen as a weapon against dust storms, and farmers were paid $8 an acre to plant it – 17 million plants were grown. However, a plant that was seen as a saviour is now a nightmare. Power companies spend $1.5 million per year just on repairing power lines. Goats have been some help in controlling it, and kudzu bugs are now infesting and killing the vines. However, the bug has also developed a taste for the soya bean, a crop which is very valuable to the economy of  southern USA. 

Superblooms are an extraordinary and beautiful phenomenon. They occur rarely in the Atacama Desert (where some parts have never recorded rain). However, when it is an El Niño year and the right conditions are met (a rainstorm producing half-an-inch or more of rain, and then intermittent rain through the winter and spring), a superbloom does occur. It happens more regularly in the Namaqua National Park in South Africa from mid August to the end of September. Here it is condensing fog that creates the right conditions. There are 8,500 fynbos species here, 5,000 of which are endemic, including Restios and Proteas.

Finally, back to Japan, which has the greatest species diversity of hydrangeas and where their flowering heralds the start of the rainy season. In Okinawa the Yohena Hydrangea Garden attracts 20,000 visitors per year. It was created by Mrs Uto Yohena, who lived to be 100, and planted the garden on the site of a tangerine field. 

The talk was a most enjoyable whistlestop tour around the world, taking in a great variety of plants notable in very different ways, and there was a lively discussion afterwards.