gardens

MAY - GAP/FIONA RICE GAP/FIONA MCLEOD GAP/CLIVE NICOLS
JUNE - GAP/AMY VONHEIM GAP/LYNN KEDDIE GAP/MARTIN HUGHES-JONES
With Beth Chatto, Beth Chatto Gardens
Stipa gigantea
Stipa gigantea (left)
from Spain and the
mountains of Portugal
remains for me the
most spectacular of the
grasses, especially when caught in early
morning or late evening sunlight. Stiff, bare
stems form a huge, open fan 1.7m tall, through
which to view the scene beyond. Each stem is
topped with loose panicles of oat-like flowers,
metallic in texture. Not until wintry blasts
wreck this eye-catching feature does it need to
be cut down. An invaluable vertical. Even in a
tiny garden, these tall elegant grasses need
to be planted among lower companions
where they can be seen in the round and lift
the eye into the distance. Without interesting
verticals, too many rounds and mounds can
look like a tray of buns.
With Derry Watkins, Special Plants
Paeonia rockii
Probably the most spectacular plant in
anyone’s garden when in bloom. Enormous
15cm ruffled white flowers with nearly black
flares at the centre (above). I don’t approve of
plants that only bloom briefly, but I make an
exception when I fall in love. You can spend
Euphorbia characias
subsp. wulfenii
A large, almost imposing plant up to 2m tall
that carries huge, rounded heads of bright
lime-green flowers (below). With bold clumps
of upright stems clothed in whorls of bluegrey
leaves, it makes a dramatic focal point all
year. In late winter, it slowly unrolls its leafy
stems to form huge
rounded heads packed
with shallow, saucershaped
flowers. While
spring flowers come
and go, these long-
the afternoon contemplating it. A tough hardy
tree peony - opulent, but not blowsy.
Viola corsica
At the opposite end of
the spectrum, a little
plant that blooms
from April through to
October without any
attention from me. The
lovely soft-blue flowers (above left) are the
largest of any species of viola. As the name
suggests, it likes a lot of sun. Hardy perennnial,
and self-seeds. Who could ask for more?
Salvia greggii ‘Stormy Pink’
An accidental seedling on my nursery,
I thought it would be tender, took a few
cuttings and left it outside to die. It is still
there 12 years later and is now almost 1.2m
x 1.2m of creamy-pink flowers (top right)
from June right through to October. The
calyx behind the flower is grey, hence the
name. A small deciduous shrub. Never
prune it in autumn; cut hard back when
you see new growth in spring.
plants: expert picks
flowering plants illuminate the garden until
well into June, when the exploding seed pods
remind us to cut each flowering stem to the
ground, since the next season’s growth is
already appearing to replace them.
Tulipa sprengeri
The last wild tulip to flower in our gardens.
Originating in northwest Turkey, it’s believed
to be extinct now in the wild. Standing about
30-35cm tall, the narrow, pointed petals (above
left) flare wide open in the warm sunshine and
continue to attract me with straw-coloured
seed pods, which add interest to dried
arrangements. It sets abundant seed, which if
scattered here and there in open spaces not
yet overgrown with cover plants, and the hoe
left behind in the garden shed, become a
regular feature of the dry, sunny garden.
CONTACT DETAILS:
The Beth Chatto Gardens, Elmstead
Market, Colchester, Essex CO7 7DB.
Tel: +44 (0)1206 822007.
Mail order: specialising in perennials.
www.bethchatto.co.uk
CONTACT DETAILS:
Special Plants, Greenways Lane, Cold
Ashton, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN14 8LA.
Tel: +44 (0)1225 891686.
Mail order: specialising in hardy
herbaceous and rockery plants as well as
many tender perennials for terrace and
conservatory. www.specialplants.net
February 2013 the english garden 75