A wet weekday means a pause in gardening and time to reflect on some lovely garden visits over the past month and encounters with unusual plants.
In mid May I went on my annual visit to Bodnant Gardens – a place that always rejuvenates and inspires me. Some of the trees feel like old friends by now! Many are ‘champion’ specimens, being the tallest of their type in the country and hark back to the days of the intrepid Victorian plant hunters.
Enkianthus cernuus rubens
Under the trees the vivid rhododendrons were at their peak, but it was a couple of less eye-catching specimens that caught my attention. Bodnant has quite a collection of Enkianthus and I spotted a specimen with unusually bright coloured flowers – Enkianthus cernuus rubens. Enkianthus can’t claim to be flashy shrubs, but this one had clusters of little, bell-shaped red flowers which looked stunning against the blue sky. Very special and one for the notebook.
Helwingia japonica
A real curiosity is Helwingia japonica – a small shrub with tiny flowers produced directly from the centre of the leaf midribs. Male and female flowers are produced on separate plants and, if fertilised, the females produce pea-sized, black berries which look like they’re balancing on the back of the leaf. I’d seen photos of this plant but had never actually seen it growing. Bonkers!
A week later we were away on Anglesey for a few days and I persuaded the family that a visit to Plas Cadnant was a must. This is a garden that twenty years ago was on the brink of disappearing under the vegetation of a hillside overlooking the Menai Straits. The restoration work on the garden is impressive and it is full of unusual plants and features. From the spacious, ordered walled garden, you drop down through the jungle-like ravine until you reach the River Cadnant, complete with water fall and pools. The microclimate here allows plants to thrive that enjoy high humidity. A feast of foliage! Especially for fern lovers.
A feast of ferny foliage
Chilean fire bush and Disanthus cercidifolius
Emerging from the lush green of the ravine, the blazing orange flowers of the Chilean fire bush (Embothrium coccineum) shone out in the upper valley garden together with rhododendrons, azaleas and Candelabra primulas. The unusual specimen to catch my eye this time was a shrub with gorgeous foliage growing in front of the Chilean fire bush. I took it to be a Cercis because of its heart shaped foliage, but it was labelled as Disanthus cercidifolius. Further research told me that it’s a native of China and Japan, rare and (as described by Bluebell Nursery) ‘one of the most beautiful of all shrubs with a fantastic display of foliage colour in autumn. The leaves are also heart-shaped and very similar in appearance to those of a Cercis, hence the species name. A truly lovely garden plant’. Burncoose nursery also lists this plant but, apart from being rare, it seems to be a tricky shrub to grow and a martyr to spring frosts. Maybe one for the wonderful microclimate that Plas Cadnant enjoys and not for South Manchester.
Plas Cadnant
In nearby Beaumaris is a gem of a garden and plant centre – Castle Gardens. Reached via an alley entrance off the high street, wander through and it opens up into a beautiful small garden with many healthy and unusual plants for sale. I bought a dainty umbellifer – Bunium ferulaceum, new to the owner and myself. The label said lacy white flowers with a long flowering season throughout the summer. A few days later, I spotted it at Chelsea on a show stand. It’s strange how plants suddenly emerge from the wings and take centre stage. This little beauty is back in Didsbury now and doing what it said on the label. Perfect!
Castle Gardens, Beaumaris
