In praise of Hesperis

Whenever anyone starts to garden, I feel they must be overwhelmed by the amount of differant plants available and the consequent indecision of what to get. Here's one that I think everyone should have - Hesperis matronalis or sweet rocket.



I am in the north on cold clay. Consequently mine is a late garden with bags of plants - annuals, tender perennials such as Dahlias, and later flowering hardy perennials giving colour in August and often flowering till October or November. But I have a shortage of heavyweights at this time of the year. I say heavyweights because there are plenty of small plants such as Aubretia, Saponaria, Arabis, Myosotis, or bulbs that flower for a short time, but few large plants with real presence. Hesperis is a heavyweight, it is a simple easy plant, can be up to 3,4 or even more feet high, covered in flower for a long period, and with a beautiful fragrance.

Other heavyweight perennials in my garden, in flower now, are Centranthus, Astrantia, Aquilegia and Dicentra. Any more candidates?

 

I think I'm in a similar situation Peter, except that I have hardly anything flowering at the moment so thank you very much for some useful suggestions!

The only thing I could add would be violas, except that I don't really think they count as heavyweights because they're so little! Mine seem to have been flowering non-stop since last autumn, which in a garden which is still pretty bare/establishing is very welcome indeed.

 

Love the Hesperis and now have got quite a lot as they self-seed like mad. I find the white ones are more scented than the darker coloured ones.

Can I add Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' as it has been flowering all winter and is even more full of flower now and is a mass of bees and butterflies. The Peacock butterflies were very grateful in early spring.

 

I would add heucheras and tiarellas as they are attractive plants and the flowers last ages. Oh, and penstemons.

 

Blackthorn - I was told, by a knowledgeable lady in a garden centre, of an Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve' that had been in continuous flower for 10 years.

Yes Tiarella, once you start looking there are quite a few really. I was just about to order a packet of seed of Baptisia australis this morning - the pictures look wonderful and its supposed to be in full flower now, then I saw the plant itself on sale this afternoon. I think I will still get the seeds as well, so I can have a quantity for next year.

 

Thanks for that PeterS. I can well believe it :D

 

How about the plant I've heard of as London Pride, but I grew up knowing as Nancy Pretty? Saxifraga umbrosa. That needs dividing a lot, so you could probably count that as a heavy-weight!

Or how about that one in my photos of what's looking good in May, the Smilacena racemosa? IF it does well up north where I am, also on clay conditions, it could well be fine with you too, Peter. And, of course, the Thalictrum aquilegifolia, also in those photos.

 

Dendro and others, thanks for all your suggestions. I had not heard of the Smilacena, and the Thalictrum is fabulous. I just sent off for some more seeds yesterday - but keep finding more things like those to add to the list.

I am trying an experiment, prompted by reading Christopher Lloyds books. In a small part of the garden, I want to try his idea of successional planting, ie having a three shift system. I am already planning for next year. The first shift has not been sorted yet, but will be things like early bulbs and Anenome blanda etc. The second shift will be in flower now. I am going to grow Centranthus, Hesperis, Aquilegia, Baptisia, Anchusa, and Amsonia (perhaps not a heavyweight - but I was growing it anyway) as biennials, to sit in large pots all summer and then be planted out in November, when the third shift finishes. When they are over some (like Hesperis) may be lifted and kept in pots, but some like Centranthus (with tap roots) can't be kept and must probably be thrown away. The third shift is already in the making. I have perennial Lobelias and Asters already in pots waiting to be planted out, and there will be plenty of annuals (such as cosmos) or tender perennials (such as dahlias) to make up the third shift. Except for the annuals, most of the third shift can be lifted and kept. Asters and Lobelias will move happily back into pots, and the tender perennials can be lifted and overwintered under cover.

Shift 2 seeds will be sown in spring - but for next year, whilst shift 3 seeds will be sown in spring for use in the same year. Its knowing what to do and when to do it that the problem. The act of growing the seeds and managing the plants themselves will be reasonably easy. By selecting long flowering plants for all of the shifts - there should be almost year round colour.

 

Sounds a good plan, but a lot of work, Peter. Hope you're intending to keep full records, in picture form as well as tabulated!! Would be interesting for us all to see it.

 

I am only going to do it in a small area, as a trial. As I like to grow plants from seed anyway, I don't think it will be much more work. It will just be a bit more focused - I hope. The hardest part is discovering what to do, ie what plants and the timing. But then learning more is really what we are all about.

 

Interesting proposition PeterS. It does seem like a lot of work though, all that digging up, potting and replacing. On the other hand there will be less gaps in the space if it is constantly filled with plants in flower. It is basically using perennial plants as bedding.
Good luck with it and I look forward to seeing the results.

 

Yes, Blackthorn - you have got it in one - perennials as re-useable bedding plants, supplemented by some disposable biennials to cover the shortfall in early flowering perennials.

In one of his books Christopher Lloyd was recalling a parks manager (I think in a park in Vancover, Canada), who had a policy of only ever planting out plants already in flower. He refused even to have a Cordyline in his display. He said if its not already in flower I don't want it. This answers one of my questions of can you get away with planting out things already in flower.

My biggest problem at the moment is knowing exactly when things do flower. Most books are very vague - flowers in summer. I am sure the exhibitors at Chelsea flower show use data which is more precise than that. Whilst I keep records, it is only for the small number of plants that I have grown. Anyone know of a good precise source of such data?

 

I imagine that flowering times vary from region to region and even year to year depending on the weather etc. so it may difficult to plan it exactly. I know at Chelsea many plantsmen have been caught on the hop by sudden cold snaps or heatwaves.
Are you going to have anything at all permanent in the area for structure or foliage?

 

Yes, you are right, flowering times in absolute terms will change, but you might think that in one location plants would flower in relatively the same order, even if they were all foreward one year and all behind in another.