Wealden Times | WT172 | June 2016 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

ut I see that one rhizome can cost as much as £50.00 – best
to go down the seed route, combined with a lot of patience.
And growing amongst the sweet chestnuts, harvested
in the autumn and taken down to Seville to be roasted and
sold in the streets, were white helleborines and sword leaved
helleborines, members of the orchid family, growing through
the leaf litter. Never very many, maybe a group of two or
three. And whilst the white helleborine is the most common
of the family, they only flower after ten years of growth.
The ones we saw must have been relatively young as they
can eventually form solid, floriferous clumps given the right
conditions. A chestnut forest is obviously the place to be.
It was surprising to see tree germander, Teucrium fruticans,
growing in the shade in the same chestnut forest. The
RHS recommend growing them in full sun and, with
their silvery grey leaves and hairy stems, they are perfectly
adapted for sunny, dry conditions. Having said that, their
growth was much more straggly in these woodlands than
it is in our gardens where it makes a wonderful silvery
shrub which can either be left to grow loosely, trimmed
into shapes or grown as a hedge. Our sort of winter wet
doesn’t help though but added drainage in the form of
plenty of grit, would prolong life and mean that you could
enjoy the little tubular flowers for months. The ones we
saw in Spain were violet blue but I think that the dark blue
cultivar, T. fruticans ‘Azureum’, makes a striking plant.
We didn’t need to go on all-day hikes to experience
a horticultural high. Back at the Finca, horses and one
little donkey, Violette, were munching their way through
bright yellow field marigolds dotted with purple Viper’s
bugloss, Echium plantagineum, which is different from
the blue Viper’s bugloss we see down at Dungeness or Rye
Harbour. But wander on into these meadows and there
they were – the tongue orchids or serapias – that was the
best treat. At this stage, six large Andalucian horses and one
little donkey had to be shooed away to carry on with their
supper in another part of the field. Let’s hope that these
orchids are unpalatable and will flower a little longer.
Sue Whigham can be contacted on 07810 457948 for
gardening advice and help in the sourcing and supply of
interesting garden plants.
153 www.wealdentimes.co.uk
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