I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading

Winter sunshine has been in rather short supply in the rock garden this year but the plants continue to lift my spirits. Each month when I write these diaries I look around to see what may be of interest and try to include new plants rather than just repeat what I’ve included before. It may not all be new but some things will be. All pictures were taken on the 28 and 29 January as there was a little sun on the second day I had my camera.

In the Alpine Display House

The great eccentric plant hunter, gardener and writer, Reginald Farrer likened Crocus to fairies in the rock garden. Crocus korolkowii was featured as plant of the month for the AGS in February 2015. The specific epithet honours General N. J Korolkov who collected the first specimens. He also has an Iris, Arum, Lonicera and Exochorda named for him. The crocus grows in an area including Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and North Pakistan. In the wild it has cold winters with snow cover and dry summers, growing at 1300 – 2600m. C. korolkowii ‘Kiss of Spring’ is a selected form.

Ornithogalum fimbriatum is native to south-eastern Europe in dry places. The genus name is from the Greek – ornis – a bird and gala – milk, literally birds milk, an ancient Geek expression for a wonderful thing. The specific epithet is from the  Latin for fringed. I can just about see the hairy fringe on the leaves in the first picture, compared to the second one. The flower buds have a green stripe and is one of the star of Bethlehem flowers. The second picture is of O. schmalhausenii the name is still recognised by the RHS but others consider it to be a synonym of O. balansae. It was named in honour of Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen (1849 – 1894) who was a Russian botanist and he also had a Delphinium named for him. Gaspard Joseph Benedict Balansa (1825 – 1891) was a French botanist and plant collector. It is native to Turkey, the Balkans and Georgia.

I do like the small wild Narcissus

The next two plants have a connection to Jim C. Archibald, being selections from his collections in Morocco. Narcissus romieuxii ‘Treble Chance’ was selected by Bob Potterton from bulbs collected by Jim with the collection number JCA805. The pot in which it grew was marked with a label with three X’s on it, pending a more formal naming. Once it was bulked up and ready for selling, the treble chance name was applied, three crosses being the treble chance on the popular ‘Pools coupon’. Younger readers can look it up online. Strangely, there were only three flowers open.

N. romieuxii ‘Yellow Pet’ was another selection from the same JCA805 collection, this time by Ray Cobb in 1991. It highlights some of the difference that can occur in wild populations and why they are so attractive to growers.

Narcissus ‘Fresh Season’ was raised by James S. Wells from New Jersey USA in 1991. It is described as having bright chrome yellow flowers, a colour much liked by Van Gogh. It is a hybrid of N. bulbocodium subsp. bulbocodium var. tenuifolius x N. romieuxii.

Gymnospermium odessanum is found in Romania, Ukraine and Crimea. The genus name is from the Greek – naked seed and the specific epithet is from the Latin – from Odessa, a municipality on the Black Sea coast.

Narcissus ‘Chinese Ivory’ is a selection of N. romieuxii made by J.M. Blom, from Oregon, USA, in 2003.

The display case continues to have many snowdrops and one that I’ve not included before is Galanthus plicatus ‘Green Teeth’. It was discovered in Sally Pasmore’s garden in 2000, having pale green eyes at the base of the inner segments. I often have green eyes when looking at the Wisley plants.

Back outside the case, Corydalis maracandica can be found in the wild in Uzbekistan and can have white or pale primrose flowers with darker yellow mouths and blue grey leaves.

A couple of South African plants add a bit of exotic appeal, and why not?

Lachenalia ‘Romaud’ is one of the African Beauty series licenced by J.H. van der Vossen from the Netherlands. It was raised in 1976 and is an F1 cross of L. glaucina x L. aloides. It has a faintly spicy scent. Although the flowers are not yet open I thought the flower buds were interesting even at this stage. Wurmbea stricta can be found in marshes and pools in the northwest and southwest Cape, in the winter rainfall area, growing up to 0.6m (two feet in old money). It may be hardy when subject to mild frosts. The flowers are described as pale pink with maroon centres. Being pollinated by flies it is claimed to have an unpleasant scent to us, but clearly not to flies. I didn’t get that close to confirm either way. The genus name was to honour F. von Wurmb, a Dutch merchant in Java and the specific epithet is from the Latin – straight or erect.

The Alpine Display House reflects the effort the team puts into it

The team put a lot of effort into the display house, spending several hours each morning, adding new plants, removing ones that have gone over, watering, clearing spent flowers and foliage to keep the plants in perfect condition. The display really does change every day, if only a little bit, with some days seeing quite dramatic changes.

In the Fern glade

There are some plants in the rock garden that you walk past each day without thought and for me Garrya elliptica ‘James Roof’ is one of them. It is native to the Western States of North America. The genus name was chosen to honour Mr Garry of the Hudson Bay Company who supported plant collecting expeditions in North West America. The cultivar name honours the plantsman who was responsible for the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Berkley, California. The specific epithet is from the Latin – elliptic – twice as long as broad. The silken tassel catkins are extra-long in this cultivar and only present on the male plants.

I noticed a number of Cyclamen coum plants around the garden; the last two that have probably self-seeded, given their positions. They certainly bring a slash of welcome colour on a grey day. The leaf patterns are also all different.

I should include more wildlife in my diaries but it can be difficult to photograph as it has the habit of moving often quickly. Very inconsiderate of it. This rather splendid chap was in the Larix pool, Anas platyrhynchos, a male Mallard duck. They are described as dabbling ducks and I don’t mind doing a little dabbling in the garden myself. They are the ancestor of domesticated ducks. The genus name is from the Latin – a duck and the specific epithet is also from the Greek – broad and rynchos – snouted / bill. The common name is likely to be from the old French word malart or mallart, for a wild drake, although the exact origin is now lost in the mists of time. The next picture is of some snowdrops in the fern glade.

A couple of general views of the rock garden.

There’s always room for a few small trees in a diary

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Fantail’ the Lawson cypress or Port Orford cedar. Its native habitat is along the coast in south-eastern Oregon. Port Orford is in the centre of its range. The specific epithet was named to honour Charles Lawson (1795 – 1873) a Scottish nurseryman and plant collector. It was introduced to the UK in 1854 by William Murray.

Tsuga canadensis ‘Ashfield Weeper’ has darker green needles and are larger than those of the species. It was found in 1964 by Ormand Hamilton along the roadside in Ashfield, nr Hamilton MA, USA. This information was in Derek P. Spicers and Aris G. Auders book Encyclopaedia of Conifers – A comprehensive guide to cultivars and species which was published in 2012.

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Kosteri’ is a dwarf Hinokoi cypress, or fire tree. The specific epithet is from the Latin – rounded or blunt at the tips. The cultivar name stands for the nursery of Koster and sons in the Netherlands. It was found in around 1915 in the town of Boskoop, which is due east of The Hague. Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Melody’ was found as a sport of Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Graciosa’ and is said to be even slower growing than its parent. It has lemon-yellow foliage.

On this day – 28 January 1817

The opening line of the book published on this day started with the now famous line “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”.

It was published anonymously, “by a Lady” and the same author as Sense and Sensibility. It wasn’t until after her death that her brother revealed her name to the public. I like the fact that it has to be a good fortune and not just a fortune. More recently, in 1995, Caroline Aherne in her alter ego role of Mrs Merton, asked Debbie McGee “but what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?”. Paul and Debbie were married for 30 years, I’m not sure if  Jane Austen’s characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Fritzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice enjoyed such a long marriage. Caroline Bingley apparently didn’t have a real interest in books and so her quote about “no enjoyment like reading” was misplaced. Hopefully you have found something of interest in this diary.