2008 Hampton Court Palace Flower ShowRHS Website

The Hampton Court show is over… the work begins on restoring the turf to its natural state. I’ve been hunting out interesting plants all week and all through the floral marquees there are plants to catch the eye. Many never feature in the TV coverage or in other write-ups so now let’s round up some more of the most interesting.

At the front of the Desert to Jungle exhibit I spotted an unusual Solanum. Growing for its large, boldly marked foliage – and, with a bit of luck, its hairy white fruits – Solanum quitoense reaches 4-6ft and, when I grew it, made a dramatic summer foliage plant in a tropical style border. And if you grow it in a pot you can move it into protection for the winter and so have an even more impressive specimen the following year.

A species of Crocosmia never seen before in Britain was on show on the exhibit staged by Cornwall’s Trecanna Nursery. From 9,000+ft on Table Mountain in South Africa, the orange-flowered Crocosmia pearsii is unusual in being only 18in high and flowering very early – qualities which nursery owner Mark Wash is already working to add to the new varieties he has on the way.

The Big Plant Nursery had two interesting ferns on show. The pale young growth of Blechnum fluviatale are covered in rusty hairs and the long narrow fronds are upright at first, eventually becoming almost horizontal. It appreciates very moist soil, will take a little sun but prefers shade and is hardy down to about -7C. Blechnum gibbum ‘Silver Lady’ has upright fronds emerging from a tight crown, the slender parallel-sided divisions are a pale, slightly yellowish silvery green and have a bright fresh look. In three or four years it will develop a short trunk like a miniature tree fern and will take -4C. They also showed some rare forms of Ginkgo biloba, the maidenhair tree, growing in terracotta pots.

A yellow scutellaria I’d not seen before caught my eye on the Hopleys Plants stand. With bright yellow, snapdragon-like flowers and a trailing habit, Scutellaria havanensis was lovely snaking across gravel and would be ideal tumbling out of a raised bed.

Jacques Amand always shows an intriguing collection of  plants and this year the range ran from the tall slender spikes of Eremurus to some fascinating arisaemas. The striped flowers of Arisaema fargesii and the speckled foliage of A. elephas were especially appealing.

Finally, over in the Plant Heritage marquee we saw the beginning of a new enthusiasm for Asclepias on the stand from National Collection holder Barry Clarke. Amongst the best of all plants for attracting butterflies, as well as the fiery, though very vigorous, A. syriacus, I was especially taken with the pastel lavender flowers of A. sullivantii.

So many exhibits, so many great plants. That’s it for another show.


* It struck me that exhibitors could do themselves a favour by issuing press releases to help garden writers and TV researchers find the interesting plants. Very few exhibitors seem to have done so and there’s a story on every stand. The RHS even provides a guide on how to write a press release, one on how to contact the press and a range of other info on how to publicise exhibits and plants. And of course, if nurseries are introducing new plants, I may be able to feature them on my RHS New Plants blog. Nurseries can email me about them by clicking here.

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In recent years what seems like floods of heucheras have appeared in nurseries. These fine foliage plants for the front of the border and for containers provide colour in a wide range of unique shades. Many are good, a few, it has to be said are, not good at all - and a few are simply superb.

After the initial torrent, I think gardeners became a little jaded but a new series from France has fired up everyone's enthusiasm again. And many featured on the stand from Plantagogo. This is perhaps not a name which endears itself to RHS traditionalists, but as the plants look so good here at the Show I'm sure even the stuffiest of old-timers will be tempted? And on their exhibit two impressive new introductions from two of the world's leading creators of new Heuchera varieties caught my eye.

From France's Thierry Delabroye comes ‘Tiramisu', a variety in the new style which as foliage plant enthusiasts - and everyone else - talking. The prettily lobed foliage opens in chartreuse yellow with a light network of brick red veins. Then as the season develops the red colouring fades and the foliage takes on an overlay of silver. Finally, in the autumn, those brick red tones reappear.

Unlike many varieties, those from Thierry Delabroye including the yellow ‘Citronelle', chocolatey ‘Mocha', coppery ‘Caramel' and ‘Pistache' in pistachio green, have blood of Heuchera villosa which brings two great benefits: genuine reliance to weather of all kinds and, as the plants mature, increasingly large leaves which can be up to 15cm across.

Also on the Plantagogo stand, from Dan Heims of Oregon, and so new it's not in the RHS Plant Finder and never before seen in Britain, is ‘Blackberry Jam', in silvery mauve with charcoal veins and blackberry undersides to the leaves. (Note that both these creators of new heucheras give their plants foodie names!)

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There’s nothing so flamboyant as a dahlia. But the Gold Medal winning exhibit from The National Dahlia Collection held in Cornwall by Winchester Growers, featuring both traditional varieties and some too new to have been seen before, proves that they can also be subtle and refined.

And what a range. Banked from close to the ground to the canvas roof of the marquee, the display is unusual amongst dahlia displays not only for showing such a vast range of varieties but also for staging them in pots. Most dahlia displays at RHS flower shows feature cut blooms arranged with one variety to a vase, in tiered rows. But by growing the plants in pots not only can far more varieties be shown but their foliage can be appreciated and it’s easier to create a display on which one variety swirls around another. It’s quite a spectacle.

Top dahlia-breeder Mark Twyning is here at the show, talking to visitors about dahlias, and he’s the man responsible for creating some of the best of recent dahlia introductions. It’s a great opportunity for him to appreciate what people are looking for in dahlias and for them to learn from a real expert.

Amongst his varieties are ‘Twyning’s After Eight’, with purple bronze leaves and white flowers lightly stained pink on the backs of the petals. The contrast is dramatic. Another of his, ‘Magenta Star’, with single magenta pink flowers against a dark foliage lit up the very top of the exhibit whilst visitors are also getting the chance to see his very latest variety, ‘Twyning’s Revel’, in vibrant reddish-pink shading to a yellow centre.

Meanwhile over on the Avon Bulbs stand, is a rather different dahlia. Dahlia coccinea var. palmeri was collected in South America by botanist Dr James Compton. Its daintily cinnamon-spotted, bright orange, single flowers are not so very unusual but the foliage! Repeatedly split into the most slender of divisions, it’s finer and more delicate than the foliage of any dahlia I’ve seen – quite the opposite of so many varieties.

And Alan Street of Avon Bulbs told me that it’s been left outside in clay soil in Somerset for seven years and it comes up again undamaged every year, growing at a foot (30cm) a week at times as it races to 8ft (2.4m) high and 6ft (1.8m) across. Perhaps Mark Twyning can do a little creative breeding to add that lacy look to his lusciously dark-leaved varieties.

For more on the National Collection click here, and to order rooted cuttings for delivery next year start here.

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