The rock garden between Christmas and the New Year

I wrote my final 2024 diary entry on 29 December. Hopefully I saw enough in the garden to still be of interest at this time of year. There was some colour but less so than in other diaries, which is to be expected at this time of year.

In the Alpine Display House today

Acis tingitana (syn. Leucojum tingitanum) is native to northern Morocco and Tangier and sadly but not surprisingly, is not frost hardy. It is late winter to early spring flowering. The specific epithet is from the Latin for from Tangiers, Morocco. I used to think that Acis were just autumn flowering not having seen this species before.

Raoulia petriensis grows in grasslands and semi-stable screes in the Greywacke mountains of South Canterbury and North Otago, New Zealand, at 1400 – 1700m. The specific epithet was chosen to honour Donald Petrie (1846 – 1925) who was a teacher and botanist, Scottish born he became the Inspector of Schools in the Auckland region (1894 – 1919). The genus name was named in honour of Etienne Fiacre Louis Raoul (1815 – 1852) who was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. I will look for it in the spring when it is in flower.

Colchicum trigynum can have flowers from white to purple and is at home in Turkey, Iran and the Caucasus. The specific epithet is from the Greek tri – three and gynos – ovary.

Another hybrid raised by Michael Kammerlander from Wurzburg, Dionysia ‘Emmely’ is an open pollinated seedling from D.archibaldii. It was originally numbered MK9402/1 f1 and is described as a pale yellow pin form.

Lachenalia bulbifera is known as the bulb bearing Leopard lily. Native to the winter rainfall area of the Western Cape in SA. The flowers can be orange, scarlet to crimson with purple and green colouring on the tips of the perianth. There are also markings on the leaves and these can be dark green to purple.

There were many narcissus in full bloom and I’ve selected just three, Narcissus cantabricus, N. romieuxii and N. bulbocodium.

Some more small trees from around the garden

Another on the Hinoki cypress miniature trees is Chamecyparis obtusa ‘Leprechaun’ which is hiding in plain sight on the crevice garden. In Irish folklore this is a fairy in the form of a tiny old man. The name is derived from the old Irish – Luchorpan – which means little boy. An Irish friend would have to explain how a little boy becomes an old man but that is probably another story. Hinoki is Japanese for cypress. It was found by Joel W. Spingarn in the 1960s who was from New York at the time. He started collecting and grafting conifers in the 1950s and was one of the founding members of the American Conifer Society in 1983.

At this time of year the structure of many of the bonsai trees can be seen, this detail being hidden when they are in full leaf. You can see what all the hard work produces.

Acer buergerianum is known as the trident maple. The specific epithet is to honour the German pharmacist, naturalist and plant hunter Heinrich Burger (1806 – 1858) who was an assistant to Philip von Sielbold in Japan; they made significant plant collections together. It is native to eastern China, Taiwan and Japan. The leaves turn a mix of autumn colours including pink, yellow, orange and red. I’ll try and capture that display next year. The second picture shows the branch structure after many years of careful pruning. Amongst the many things I’ve learnt this week, this specific epithet is known as a patronym, named for a person and a toponym is named for a place.

Ilex serrata is a deciduous shrub or small tree, the Japanese winterberry. There are male and female plants, the female ones producing pink flowers and red fruit, assuming there is a male plant to pollinate them. The genus name is from old Latin Ilex – an evergreen oak (Holm Oak –  Quercus ilex). The Holm oak is an evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. The specific epithet from the Latin for edged with forward pointing teeth.

Fagus sylvatica is our European beech or common beech, which shows that it’s not only exotic species that can be trained into a bonsai. The specific epithet is from the Latin for inhabiting woods which is a great place for a beech tree to be. The genus name is from the Latin – the name for a beech tree or possibly from the Greek phago – to eat, the seeds being edible. They have a high tannin content and so a slightly bitter taste, with a flavour similar to a cross between a pine nut and a hazelnut, not that I’ve tried them. The fact they are not widely available in supermarkets suggests they might not be that appealing. If you were hungry enough it might be a different story. The name beech comes from the old English name boc – a book, when the Germans and Scandinavians carved words into the wood which was used for furniture making.

You can’t have a rock garden without some rocks

Very few people would be able to recreate at home what there is at Wisley and most people wouldn’t want to. Not many people could have a team to look after it. I can still appreciate the beauty in the rock work and the scale of what was done to create this garden

A last look around the garden for 2024

It’s only when you look back at pictures you start to notice some of the changes that have taken place in a garden. Plants have grown, some have been pruned back, some have been removed, divided or lost and new ones added. It will be interesting to see what changes occur next year.

Bright colours are in short supply as you would expect at this time of year

Grevillea juniperina ‘Pink Lady’ has the common name of the juniper leafed grevillea. It comes from New South Wales and southeastern Queensland. The genus was to honour Charles Francis Greville PC FRS FRSE FLS FSA (1749 – 1809) and with all those initials after his name, clearly was a very important person of his time. We should all be grateful to him as he was one of the original seven founding members of the RHS. For that alone he deserves having a plant genus named for him. I’ll try and take pictures next year when it is in flower.

The second picture shows some of the stone troughs at the east end of the Alpine Display House quietly awaiting the return of spring.

I have to disclose a personal interest in the following plant, having helped in removing dead foliage in recent weeks. Yucca glauca (syn. Yucca angustifolia) is known as the Spanish bayonet or Great Plains yucca. I can confirm the leaves are very sharp, particularly the points and very bayonet like! Blood was drawn. The genus name is a modification of an aboriginal name, the specific epithet is from the Latin for sea green. It can be found growing from Texas to Alberta in Canada and is the most northerly growing yucca. It thrives in xeric conditions (environment or habitat containing little moisture or very dry). Xeric scores 14 points in Scrabble. Other board games are available.

Pinus strobus ‘Tiny Kurls’ is another variety of the Weymouth pine which I included in my previous diary. The internet has two sources for its introduction. One has it being a sport of P. stobus ‘Contorta’ that was found in Iowa, alternatively it was a seedling raised by Mr. A. Sherwood, from the US, before 2005, being a seedling of P. strobus ‘Torulosa’. Since the RHS states it can be raised from seed this would support the latter. Whatever its source it has interesting twisted needles.

I am grateful to Julian Reed, from the British Pteridological Society (Ferns, horsetails, quillworts and clubmosses to you and I), who pointed out the following fern. Polypodium glycyrrhiza ‘Longicaudatum’ AGM, which fortunately has a much more memorable name, the North-western American liquorice fern. The genus name is from the Greek poly – many and podos – foot. The specific epithet is from the Latin for sweet root and the variety name also from the Latin for long tailed; the frond being described as pinnae, tapering to a long elegant point. The roots are edible and were used by the first nation native Americans as a treatment for chest complaints. It hails from the north-western states of America and into Canada, Alaska down to California.

Buxus sempervirens ‘Elegantissima’ AGM is a silver variegated form of the common box. This variety is said to be more dense and slower growing. The species is native to the UK and the variety is described as having dark green with cream and silver leaves named from the Latin for very elegant. Other box plants have suffered in the rest of the gardens at Wisley but this one is still looking good. Apart from climate change there is box blight, Cylinrocadium buxicola and Cydalima perspectalis, the box tree moth (native to south-east Asia) which attack the box plant. The moths have spread from Kent in 2007 to Fife in Scotland by 2018. I hope they both continue to overlook this specimen.

In the first picture below you can see the compacted ground just in front of Daphne bhoula ‘Cobhay Debut’ caused by visitors standing to get close to appreciate its intoxicating scent. This cultivar was selected by Junkers Nursery at higher Cobhay, Somerset, England. The seed came from the Daman Ridge in Nepal. This was the first in the collection to be released for sale by Junkers. Several cultivars are now available with Cobhay in their name. The specific epithet is a transcription from the Nepalese baruwa – the Nepalese name for the plant.

The first of the Cyclamen coum are appearing in the Coum bed. There are now hundreds of seedlings being grown in the alpine yard to plant out into this area in 2025 or 2026. This will provide a spectacular display in future years. The specific epithet is from the Latin  cous / cos an island off the coast of Turkey. This is an example of a toponym.

Even at this time of year there are signs in the garden that the seasons are changing with the first of the snowdrops and winter aconites starting to appear.

On this day in history

It was on 29 December 1170 that Thomas Becket was assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral. The dastardly deed was done by four of Henry II Knights, who had heard him utter the words “who will rid me of this troublesome priest”. Except that he didn’t. It wasn’t until the 1964 film “Becket” was released, staring Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton, that the line was heard. The film was based on the play by Jean Anouilh and the film script was written by Edward Anhalt. He added the now famous line. Probably not the first or last time that Hollywood has re-written history. Henry II did say something to that effect and therefore was responsible for Becket’s demise, but history did not record the exact words used. Why let a few facts spoil a good story. Hopefully I don’t get the facts wrong too often in my diaries. It will happen, but not deliberately.