NG5 Arnold Dec/Jan 2022

Lovely Late
Bloomers
Hesperantha are one
of those lovely late
bloomers that surprise
and delight us gardeners
every autumn with
their stunning show of
brightly coloured flowers
whatever the weather.
They are members of the
iris family and closely akin to
crocuses. Unlike crocuses
they grow from rhizomes that
spread underground and send
up flat, sword-shaped leaves
more like an iris. They grow to
1-2ft / 30-60cm tall.
The most popular and hardy
ones are varieties of H.
coccinea, meaning “bright
red”, and the wild types are
crimson in colour. These are
said to be hardy to -5C or
-10C depending on who you
ask, but we’ve never lost one
due to cold. Flowering goes
on from August to November
or even December, with the
occasional flower in late
spring. Garden breeding has
given us lots of varieties all in
shades of red, pink or white.
All are equally easy to grow
requiring only a rich soil and
yearly feeding to perform well.
Crimson Flag or River Lily are
the accepted common names,
the latter telling us about its
native habitat. “Hesperantha”
means “Evening Flower”,
relating the colour of the
flowers to the pink of a sunset.
They perform well in wet or
damp soils but will spread
fairly rapidly. They are bit
shorter in stature in dry soils
but slower to spread. Enrich
dry, poor soils with compost
every couple of years.
We’ve found them to be
excellent cut flowers and all
the varieties associate well
together, so a vase of mixed
stems is so attractive.
The wild species has starshaped
crimson-red flowers.
The variety “Major” is taller
and a bold scarlet-red with
fuller flowers with rounded
petals.
There are many pink varieties.
“Fenland Daybreak” and “Mrs
Heggarty” are mid-pink with
dark striations, “Sunrise” is
rose pink with large flowers,
and “Pink Princess” (aka
“Wilfred Bryant”) is the palest
pink, nearly white.
“Alba” has a lovely green throat
to the flowers that adds to the
purity of the white petals.
These are such easy and
adaptable plants to grow
that brighten the shortening
days of autumn when all else
is fading.
Martin Blow
Janet & I organise Plant
Hunters’ Fairs, specialist
plant fairs at wonderful
locations throughout the
season. Watch out for our
2022 calendar of plant fairs
available on our website
this Autumn. We have plant
fairs at Thoresby Park near
Ollerton Newark, Southwell
Minster, Carsington Water,
1620’s House Donington Le
Heath and Middleton Hall
& Garden and lot’s more
exciting venues across the
Northwest & Midlands.
Please see
www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk
for details.