012 adrian bloom - Hardy Plant Society

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doing a disservice to the gardener, and particularly to the new gardener? First, some facts provided by scanning some issues of the Plant Finder, itself first issued in 1987 to log the species and varieties of plants on sale each year in Britain. In the first edition a total of 22,000 plants were listed, by 1992 55,000, and by 2009 over 70,000. Selecting specific genera amongst perennials and grasses shows amazing increases over the last 18 years. But how many new introductions are really different or garden worthy? In the 1992 Plant Finder there were 50 heucheras and by 2010, 208; pulmonarias went from 54 to 125; hellebores from 97 to 328; but the biggest increase was, you’ve guessed it, the popular and promiscuous hardy geraniums, rising from 255 to 724. Grasses made a later start but, selecting just two genera, pennisetums went from 9 in 1992/3 to 45 in 2009/10; miscanthus from 37 to 121 in the same period. So even if you pity the poor Collection holder, shouldn’t we also pity the poor gardener who, faced with such a list of plants, can hardly know which is among the best and which to choose? Of course, the average garden centre, and even specialist nursery, is likely to have a much smaller selection, but how, unless you are immersed in the role of plantsman, can these businesses know which, say, heuchera, to recommend when several new ones are introduced each year? We all like to try out new plants, and some recent, wonderful, ground-breaking perennials © Richard & Adrian Bloom Fig. 4 This garden at the zu Jeddeloh nursery in northern Germany, designed by Adrian Bloom, shows how dramatic perennials and grasses can be. Blue Geranium Rozanne makes a perfect ‘river’, while Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’, Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and other plants form the ‘banks’. 58
have eventually stood out amongst the also-rans: perennials such as Geranium Rozanne, Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ and Sedum ‘Matrona’ come to mind. They have had time to prove themselves and remain reliably popular, but such continues to be the demand for new plants that competing nurseries are often compelled, it seems, to put on the market, often with considerable fanfare, plants which have not been fully trialled. Because of their promotional value they may well supplant the more worthy older plants on garden centre benches, leaving gullible and generally trusting gardeners to become the often disappointed and unsuccessful testers, frequently blaming themselves for any failure. Fig. 5 Actaea simplex Atropurpurea Group ‘Brunette’ is highlighted by the spreading blue-flowered Geranium himalayense in spring. I may be painting an unduly pessimistic picture but, as a professional nurseryman and passionate gardener for so many years, I have seen it from both sides of the fence – and always with a desire to spread the word, to get more people gardening. It concerns me that many new gardeners, suffering early disappointment, may have been lost. I am assuming that members of the Society are already motivated gardeners, and we all know how rewarding growing plants can be. Many of us remember the time when we had little knowledge and not much interest in plants and gardening, and then what a difference our gradual awareness made. Once fully motivated, most gardeners seldom look back, since we inhabit an exciting and changing world with lots of opportunities. Increasing knowledge of plants, their origins and habitats, their changing form and colour through the seasons of the year, the way they can associate with other plants and be used in creative ways, beauty of flower, foliage in close-up, fragrance, their capacity for being enhanced by frost, wind and above all, light… the thirst for more knowledge ends and begins a perfect circle. As committed gardeners, we have to be prepared to take risks and know that we may fail, yet we need to be practical and philosophical about it. We have sources of information at our fingertips, in books, the internet, and knowledgeable plantspersons. But as a new gardener where do you begin? And what do you choose? Do you even think perennials and grasses? And how should they fit into your garden? Do you phone a friend? It can be a big and confusing world. Somehow at Bressingham we never made things simple in anything, and of © Richard & Adrian Bloom 59
Page 1 and 2: Plant collector or garden designer,
Page 3: exposure from retail and garden cen
Page 7 and 8: eginner gardener at least, to under

012 adrian bloom - Hardy Plant Society

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