It’s half term school holidays, time for a toddlers’ truce?

Some general views of the rock garden to begin with

As I often start in the Alpine Display House, I thought I’d start this diary in the garden, just for a change. After several sun-free days, the sun came out in the afternoon, for a little while. All pictures were taken on the 16 February.

What’s going on, vegetables in the rock garden?

Asparagus filicinus is known as the fern asparagus. It grows to 50 – 70cm and is native to China, Thailand, Vietnam, Himalaya and  NE. India. The young shoots can be cooked and used as a vegetable and the dried roots are used in traditional medicines.

Just to show that there are some Iris out in the rock garden and they don’t all have to be grown undercover.  Iris ‘Katherine Hodgkin’ has braved the winter weather. It is a hybrid raised by E.B Anderson in 1958, as a cross of I. histrioides x I. winogradowii. It was named for Katherine who was a botanical illustrator and the wife of Eliot Hodgkin, who was a bulb expert and a friend of E.B Anderson.

A couple more of the small trees

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Golden Nymph’ are called Hinoki – Fire tree – in Japan. The wood could be used to generate flames when two pieces were rubbed together. There is an interesting article in the Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society, Summer 1978, Vol 36 Nos 3, pages 124 – 125, by Joel Spingarn, from Baldwin, Long Island NY, where he describes raising this plant from seeds collected from C. obtusa ‘Gracilis Aurea’ in 1966.

In the article Joel notes that “the setting of viable seed on dwarf conifers, although rare, happens more frequently than once believed. May I suggest that those who have mature dwarf conifers examine their plants in September and October for cones. It might lead to some exciting discoveries”. I know what I’ll be doing in the autumn.

Another cultivar raised by Joel is Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Baldwin Variegated’.  I couldn’t confirm if it was a sport from ‘Nana Gracilis’ found by Joel, as suggested on one site, or if it was another of his selected seedlings.

In the Alpine Display House there were lots of interesting plants on show

There was so much to see today it was hard to decide what to include. Galanthus ‘Fieldgate Forte’ was selected by Colin Mason (1927 – 2019). He lived in Fieldgate Lane, Kenilworth and named his selections based on this location and many also reflect his love of classical music. As well as ‘Forte’ I have come across ‘Allegro’, ‘Prelude’ and ‘Fugue’, as well as other non-musical references such as ‘Tiffany’ and ‘Superb’. All of these were open pollinated in his garden, so it was the bees that did all of his hybridization. Perhaps his greatest contribution to snowdrops was that he was one of the first people to do twin scaling or bulb chipping to produce clones of any bulb that had been selected. This technique is now widely used and has allowed many desirable snowdrops to be made freely available, at more sensible prices. Galanthus ‘Cinderella’ is a nivalis form, green-tipped inverse poculiform, found by Ian Christie in woodland near Dundee.

There are several plants that are linked to E.A. Bowles in this diary

Edward Augustus ‘Gussie’ Bowles VMH (1865 – 1954) was Vice-President of the RHS  from 1926 – 1954. He was born at Myddelton House, an eight acre garden at Enfield, that had been in the family for 200 years. He was a self-taught horticulturist, plantsman and writer, also known as the Crocus King. The fact that you can still buy his named cultivars over 70 years since his passing is a testament to his judgement and skill.

Crocus ‘Gypsy Girl’ is a selection of C. chrysanthus, a species that can be found in Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. It is described as having the striking qualities of a Gipsy skirt. I’m no follower of fashion so couldn’t comment. The flowers are fragrant, a quality often lost when planted out in the garden. The naming of the next one,  Crocus ‘Snow Bunting’ also reflects Edward’s interest in ornithology. I was unable to confirm which aspect of a snow bunting was best represented in the flower.

Crocus chrysanthus ‘E.P. Bowles’ was named by E.A Bowles for his relative Eustace Parker Bowles (1894 – 1952). It has fragrant light yellow flowers, bronze at the base. There was also a crocus named for E.A Bowles by Van Tubergen but whether this is still in cultivation has been questioned.  Edward had many other interests other than crocus and Narcissus ‘Bowles’s Early Sulphur’ is one such example. On the Monksilver Nursery site the story goes that Edward got it from a friend in Ireland and he referred to it as the O’Mahoney. In time, as Edward distributed it, it became referenced to him by association.

There are many other colourful plants on display

Crocus malyi can be found in the Velebit Mountains in Croatia. It was named for the Austrian botanist, gardener and plant collector Franz de Paula Maly (1823 – 1891). C. neapolitanus was named after Napoli – Naples where it was found, another good reason to visit the city.

C. etruscus is native to the NW Italy, its common name is the Tuscan crocus. The specific epithet is from the Latin – from Tuscany (Etruria) – where the Etruscans lived. Perhaps some of them still do. C. biflorus subsp. weldenii ‘Fairy’ and was named to honour Franz Ludwig von Welden (1782 – 1853) who was an Austrian Army officer. It is native to Italy, Yugoslavia and Albania. The specific epithet is from the Latin – two flowers, each blooming corm typically produces two flowers.

Scilla mischtschenkona was named to honour Russia General and botanist Pavel Ivanovich Mishchenko (1869 – 1938). It is at home in NW Iran and Transcaucasus.  S. mischtschenkona ‘Zwanenburg’ looks very similar to me, but Mr Tubergen and Co. clearly saw some difference and named this selection for the town in Holland, near the Van Tubergen’s base.

Narcissus hispanicus is known as the Spanish daffodil and is found in France, Portugal and Spain. The specific epithet is from the Latin – the ancient Romans name for the  Iberian Peninsula – Hispania.

Muscari armeniacum ‘Alida’ was granted an AGM in the pot trials of 2024. It is sweetly fragrant and good for cutting. The flowers are described as being bright blue delicately edged with white. The common name of grape hyacinth comes from the similarity of an upside down bunch of grapes.

Hepatica nobilis var. japonica Wisley selection No2. I know the team is trying to find out about these collection numbers and when they were selected. Out in the garden a clump of Crocus tommasinianus were glowing in the winter sunshine.

I wish the flowers would last just a little bit longer

I’m running the risk of turning into the late Sir Bruce Forsyth, when he was on Strictly Come Dancing, with his catchphrase “You’re my favourites” which he would say to everyone, without favour. As I describe the various genus in the Wisley collection, they all risk being described as my favourite. If the flowers just lasted a little longer Iris could definitely be on my list of favourite plants. I could start a Bruce list of favourite plants, but that would just be an index to all the plants I’ve mentioned so far in these diaries.

Iris reticula ‘Rhapsody’ is violet-purple or royal blue with a yellow blotch to the falls. It was found as a sport of ‘Harmony’. The specific epithet is from the Latin – a little net, which is the source of its common name the netted iris, relating to the tunic that surrounds the bulbs.

Iris ‘Pauline’ is a cross of I. histrioides x reticulata. It is black-purple with a large white dark-flecked spot on each of the falls. It was introduced by Van Tubergen and named after one of the Hoog family ladies, who owned the company.

Iris ‘Pixie’ is another sport of ‘Harmony’. It was discovered in North Holland by van den Berg and introduced in 1998.

Iris ‘Frozen Planet’ is ice-white with the palest blue falls; it was registered in 2016 by J.E. Lievens and Zn, from Anna Paulowana (not a person as I thought) a town and municipality in North Holland. The parentage was ‘Clairette’ and ‘Springtime’.

On this day 16 February 1957

On this day in 1957 the BBC and ITV ended the post-war policy in which there was no programming between 18.00 and 19.00 known as the “toddlers truce”. The break in broadcasting was designed to help parents put children to bed. Oh how we live in different times. You mean there were only two TV channels in the UK? How did people cope? Luxury, there was only one in 1955, a 100% increase by 1957.

The definition of a truce is “an agreement between enemies or opponents to stop fighting or arguing for a certain time”. Being minors, toddlers are below the age of legal responsibility, therefore I’m not sure they could enter into such an agreement, the reason why so many truces fail. I can imagine there will be parents and grandparents who might still appreciate the reintroduction of a toddlers truce each evening. Just remember they grow up very quickly and this time will pass.