RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2008: Show HighlightsRHS Website

Avon Bulbs

Alliums continue to become more popular, both in the garden and as cut flowers, and Avon Bulbs has ‘White Empress’ new at this year’s show.

Hundreds of sparkling white flowers are gathered into slightly flat-bottomed heads about the size of a grapefruit and held on 75cm (2.5ft) stems. Unusually among alliums of this kind, its leaves still look presentable at flowering time – a real bonus. There is some uncertainty about the species to which ‘White Empress’ belongs, but it seems most likely that this is a seedling of A. jesdianum, perhaps a hybrid with A. rosenbachianum.

Graham Rice

Cayeux Iris

French Iris breeder Cayeux Iris has four new introductions and the nursery also has a new British distributor, Viv Marsh Postal Plants, which will make its introductions more easily available to British gardeners.

This year’s exhibit features only irises raised by Richard Cayeux and his father Jean Cayeux, a first for Chelsea – plus one bred by grandfather Ferdinand in 1906. In addition to colour and form these irises are selected to be robust, wind-resistant, long-flowering and able to take minimal watering during summer.

‘Ciel de Mer’ features the palest blue standards rising above deep indigo blue falls, both falls and standard are slightly darker in colour towards the edge. The whole flower is unusually large and impressively ruffled and the flowers are held quite close to the stem, a feature inherited from one of its parents, ‘World Premier’. This mid-season cultivar reaches 95cm (3ft).

The bright buttery-yellow standards of ‘Grenade’ are also strongly ruffled, and held noticeably upright. The falls are less ruffled but almost black at the edges, shading to deep maroon and then yellow in the throat. An orange beard, sometimes tipped in scarlet, provides a sparky highlight. ‘Grenade’ appeared quietly at Chelsea last year, under a reference number, and was much admired. This mid-season to late cultivar also reaches 95cm (3ft).

‘Irisades’ is a truly dramatic introduction. The standards are creamy-white, edged with pale lavender and slightly ruffled, while the falls are lavender-tinted white boldly edged with purple-blue. The whole effect is set off by a bright orange beard surrounded by a yellow shoulder. The well branched plant is an early cultivar reaching 90cm (3ft). It is named to bring notice to the sustainable development campaign of the same name, which has adopted the iris as a symbol for the fight against wasting water.

‘Jus d’Orange’ is an intense and unusually uniform orange colour, prettily but not extravagantly ruffled, and with a bright, fiery orange beard to its medium-sized flower. Branching well and flowering prolifically, this is a mid-season cultivar, but neater in growth than many at 80cm (32in) in height.

Graham Rice

David Austin Roses

The nursery is launching three new cultivars

Young Lycidas ='Ausvibrant' (old rose hybrid) is a cultivar of classic old rose charm. The flowers are quite large and deeply cupped even when fully open; the many petals arranged in a charming although rather informal way. The colour is a blend of very deep magenta-pink and red, the outer petals tending towards light purple. In contrast the outsides of the petals are quite silvery in appearance. The flowers are produced singly or in small groups, nodding gracefully on quite vigorous stems. It forms an attractive, bushy and very healthy shrub of 1.2m (4ft) high by 90cm (3ft) across. There is a delicious fragrance that changes markedly with the age of the flower. It starts as pure tea, developing old rose notes, with intriguing hints of cedar wood. 2008 is the the 400th anniversary of the birth of the poet John Milton, who composed Lycidas in 1638.

Sir John Betjeman ='Ausvivid' (leander hybrid) is a rose of more modern character than most other English Roses. The flowers start as small buds, opening to full petalled, wide rosettes of bright, deep pink. As the flower ages, the bloom becomes dome-shaped while the colour, unusually for the English roses, does not pale in sunlight at all. The flowers are produced very freely and have a light fragrance. It is a healthy, very bushy shrub of medium size with a slightly arching habit. The bright colouration makes this cultivar an excellent choice to create some contrast in a border of other roses. 100cm x 75cm (3.5 x 2.5ft).

Wisley 2008 ='Ausbreeze' (English musk hybrid). All the cultivars that david Austin has introduced in the last few years are notable for their health and, in this respect, Wisley is outstanding. The flowers are shallowly cupped and medium sized, about 6-7.5cm (2.25-3in) across, the petals arranged in a most beautiful rosette. They are of an absolutely pure, soft rose-pink, the outer petals slightly paler than the inner. Flowering starts at the same time as most other roses but then has the ability to go on with excellent continuity until very late in the year. It is an extremely bushy cultivar, quite upright but still able to produce flowers low down. There is a delightfully fresh, fruity fragrance with hints of tea and raspberries. Like many English roses, the size can easily be adjusted by pruning: harder pruning creating a shorter plant of perhaps 1m (3ft) in height, while lighter pruning will encourage a taller plant as much as 1.5m (5ft) tall. Named after RHS Garden Wisley, this replaces the first cultivar named Wisley as this has not lived up to expectations.

Dibleys Nurseries

The most important cultivar Dibleys is introducing is Streptocarpus ‘Alissa’. This represents the pinnacle of the company’s substantial breeding programme, and is the first ever yellow streptocarpus.

A yellow-flowering streptocarpus has been the Holy Grail for breeders worldwide for many years and it has taken Lynne Dibley more than 10 years to reach this colour breakthrough. She said: “I was determined that not only was the colour of the flower important, the plant also had to have all the attributes that will make it stand the test of time. This I feel has been achieved with ‘Alissa’, which is very free flowering for up to 10 months.

Streptocarpus ‘Rebecca’ is lavender-purple with strong purple veins. This is a strong-growing cultivar and again very free flowering. It will be the 44th streptocarpus Lynne has bred and introduced over the last 20 years.

Another streptocarpus that will be shown for the first time is ‘Targa’. This has deep purple flat-faced flowers with a velvet sheen and a neat compact habit.

Downderry Nursery

Two new cultivars of French lavender, Lavandula stoechas, feature on this year’s exhibit from Downderry Nursery in Kent, each claimed to be the best of its colour.

‘With Love’ was bred in Melbourne, Australia, by Steve Eggleton of Plant Growers and Downderry Nursery says this is the best pink-flowered form yet. Reaching about 50cm (20in) high, with a similar spread, the typical grey-green, aromatic foliage sets off striking, rather chunky, dark magenta-pink flower heads topped with long pale pink, dark-veined bracts. Unlike older forms, the flowers are held low over the foliage enhancing the overall effect and it blooms continuously, rather than in spurts.

Downderry says that ‘Night of Passion’ is the darkest form yet seen. The long deepest purple flower heads, lit up by the bright yellow anthers, are topped by tufts of paler bracts.

They've also got a new English lavender, 'Royal Velvet', which is very dark and flowers later than 'Hidcote'. It is good to use to extend the flowering season.

Graham Rice

Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants

Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants is launching two new plants – Gaura lindheimeri ‘Rosyjane’ and Campanula ‘Jenny’. Both of these cultivars have been produced from Hardy’s own breeding stock.

Campanula ‘Jenny’ was found at the nursery in spring 2006 and has beautiful large, cup-shaped white flowers with a distinct blue central eye. It is a very free-flowering perennial of the Carpatica group and grows to about 25 x 30cm (10 x 12in). It is a clump-forming plant that flowers throughout the summer and needs a sunny site in reasonable soil. The plant has been named for Jenny, the late wife of Hardy’s propagator, who died after a long fight against cancer.

Gaura lindheimeri ‘Rosyjane' is the first plant to be named after owner Rosemary Hardy and appropriately is one of Hardy’s own selection. The petals have a lovely picotee effect – pink edges with white centre. The two-tone petals are the first of this type. This is a classic gaura in that it grows to 75 x 45cm (30 x 18in). Ideal conditions for this plant are full sun and good free-draining soil.

Hillier Nurseries

Hillier is launching several new plants.

Heuchera ‘Georgia Peach’ was bred by Dan Heims of Terra Nova Nurseries in the USA. It has large, rich peach-coloured evergreen leaves that make a bold foliage statement, whether in the border or on the patio. These are complemented by tall spires of small, creamy-white flowers in summer.

Polygala myrtifolia ‘Bibi Pink’ was also bred in the USA. It is a classic Mediterranean-style shrub, but is hardy down to -12°C. 'Bibi Pink' produces evergreen, grey-green leaves with purplish-pink, pea-like flowers produced continuously throughout the summer. It is excellent in a sunny, well-drained border or on the patio.

Cordyline australis ‘Firecracker’ is an English-raised introduction of the New Zealand cabbage tree. It is a compact plant with striking evergreen purple-red leaves that are typically sword-like, but far narrower and shorter than other forms. It would make a wonderful and architectural addition to a sunny border or patio.

Rosa 'Star of Britain' is a crimson floribunda produced in honour of Skandia Team GBR’s sailors Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, who compete in the Star Class. 'Star of Britain' grows to 80 x 60cm (32 x 24in) and has a light perfume.

Hillier Nurseries is also introducing a collection of new generation alstroemerias, bred in France and selected for their compact growth and brilliantly coloured summer flowers. Look out for: Alstroemeria ‘Douceur d’Automne’ with pillar-box red flowers and a golden throat flecked brown; ‘Cahors’ with pale pink flowers, painted deep rose with a primrose throat flecked brown; ‘Ceres’ with vivid magenta-pink flowers with a yellow throat flecked brown; ‘Saturne’, which has rose-pink and yellow flowers; and ‘Uranus’ with rose-carmine flowers.

More new plants