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New and interesting plants
Images: Martin Mulchinock
Dahlia 'Butch' is another beautiful dahlia from the breeder, Mark Twyning. Bred at Winchester Growers (01736 335851), the home of the National Collection of Dahlias in Cornwall, D. 'Butch' was named after one of the pigs on the Winchester Growers show garden in the Daily Mail Pavilion. D. 'Butch' is a bright red/orange flower set against wonderful dark foliage. It grows to about 75cm (32in).
Pelargonium 'Tara Caws' is a new double zonal pelargonium from Brian and Pearl Sulman (01638 712297). Bred by Brian West from the Isle of Wight, it is a beautiful pale pink with red flecking, and every now and then you'll find a completely red petal. It has a compact growth habit, but can grow to 38cm (15in).
The idea for the name of this rose, Rosa 'Ragamuffin', came from a customer of Squire's Garden Centres (020 89779241). Earlier this year Squire's ran a competition to find a name for a brand new patio rose. They were looking for a name that encompassed the English summer. The winning name, 'Ragamuffin', was the idea of a customer from Datchet, near Windsor. R. 'Ragamuffin' is a compact, floribunda patio rose with scented shell pink blooms throughout the season.
Blue plants are highly sort after by gardeners around the world, and this hardy new hibiscus, Hibiscus syriacus 'Blue Chiffon' will undoubtedly join the list of 'must-have' blue plants. This new cultivar, from Notcutts (01394 383344) is part of the Chiffon breeding programme run by Dr Woods in the UK. It is available from August 2007.
Jacques Amand (020 84207110) introduced a pretty pale yellow Gloriosa on the stand at Hampton Court, as well as two giant foxtail lilies (Eremurus sp.). Gloriosa 'African Orange' (left) has the same growth habit as the bright, flaming red Gloriosa superba 'Rothschildiana', a tender climber. Eremurus 'Alaska' (middle) grows to a good 2m to 2.5m (6 to 8ft), and the flower spikes themselves are an amazing 90cm (3ft). Each spike has literally hundreds of tiny white flowers, which open, in turn, from the bottom right to the tip. Eremurus 'Pink Star' (right) has a similar growth habit as E. 'Alaska', but has pretty pale pink flowers.
Hosta 'Wakey Wakey' (far left) and H. 'Rise and Shine' (middle) are two new compact growing hostas from Goldbrook Plants in Suffolk (01379 668770). They are bred by Ian Chrystal from the British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society. Amazingly enough, both hostas have the same parents, H. yingeri x H. 'Little Wonder', the only difference is H. 'Wakey Wakey' is the plain form, and H. 'Rise and Shine' is the variegated form. Goldbrook Plants owner, Sandra Bond, says both forms make lovely garden plants, growing to only 15cm (6in) tall. "And they've got the prettiest red petioles," she says pulling back the foliage.