I was delighted to be asked to write something for the latest Rare Plant Fairs newsletter. It turned out to be one of the hardest things – my desert island plants.
Limiting my choice to just eight was challenging to say the least.
The newsletter has just been published and you can read what I picked here.
What would you have chosen?
The Rare Plant Fairs are a great way to buy something unusual for your garden from the person who grew it – so you can talk to them about what it needs and where the best place is for it in your garden. You can read more about them in my behind-the-scenes look here.
The added advantage is the fairs are held at beautiful gardens and the entry fee includes admission to the garden. Plant-buying and garden-visiting all rolled into one!
The full list of fairs for 2018 is on the Rare Plant Fair website.
That was a great idea and set me thinking.
I couldn’t live without Knautia macedonica which alongside Eryngium bourgatii is stunning. For winter cheer I would go for Iris unguicularis which my mother loved. The impact of Salvia Amistad with the sunlight shining through its flowers is a joy. We have it outside the sitting room window.
Penstemons are great value and P. ‘Garnet’ is still tops for me.
I’m thrilled that I have at last got a Rosa Banksia lutea established. The cascades of pale yellow powder puffs are magnificent.
Cyclamen coum give excitement to early spring and later my Magnolia ‘Leonard Messel’ gives delight.
What pleasure we get from our gardens!
What a great list! Quite agree about penstemon – such easy plants and they flower for so long.
Interesting list, but I heard that the whole commercial stock of Tulip ‘Douglas Bader’ was wiped out a few years ago and hasn’t been available since, sadly
Yes, that’s what I was told by one of the directors of Bloms Bulbs a few years ago. Just hope mine keep going for a few more years.
They are always worth visiting, especially as they are held at interesting gardens.
Yes, great way of getting something a bit different for the garden.