Wealden Times | WT186 | August 2017 | Wedding supplement inside

Garden
What’s
New?
After Morus rotundiloba ‘Charlotte Russe’
won RHS Plant of the Year 2017,
Sue Whigham takes a look at the latest prizewinning
breeds coming to a nursery near you
Photos: RHS
A
four minute walk from Victoria Station takes
you to Eccleston Square, a wondrous three
acre garden tended by Roger Phillips for the
past twenty-four years. Roger is not only a long term
resident of the square but a complete plantsman
and author of books like Trees in Britain, a well
thumbed reference book here, and Wild Flowers of
Britain which became an international bestseller.
There were great wisterias towering up into the trees
as they would in the wild, a National Collection of
ceanothus and gorgeous roses, not normally hardy in
the UK, in full bloom. And this was in late spring.
But I digress, an added bonus was to meet a
lady on this visit whose last project, whilst working
at RHS Wisley, was to get the Plants for the
Future initiative up and running. This project,
set up in 2014, encourages and advises non
professional British plant breeders in how to get
new plants to the market. The idea is to provide
encouragement and information to anybody who
might have bred a new plant either intentionally
or unintentionally and who might want to bring
it successfully to the commercial market and to
‘support the horticultural industry as a whole’.
As well as showing you how to progress your ‘new
plant’, the initiative also gives you a comprehensive
understanding of the vital PBR or Plant Breeders’
Rights and how to apply for them. These are a
form of intellectual property rights which will
Right: RHS Plant of the Year 2017,
Dwarf mulberry bush, Morus
rotundiloba ‘Charlotte Russe’
127 wealdentimes.co.uk