Meanderings and Musings

Dr. Mary Toomey

Winter 2004

"As winter drains the borders of life and colour, don't rush to clear away the skeletons", says Helen Dillon, and adds that many plants look just as beautiful stripped to the bone (Gardening section, Daily Telegraph, November 27, 2004). Indeed. Helen's words reminded me of ageing or worn out human skeletons - I could very well do with a brand new upper appendicular skeleton! There are times patient and passionate gardeners will have to cope with some skeletal disabilities without allowing frustration and irritability to set in, if certain difficult jobs in our gardens have to be postponed, or even abandoned... So, winter is a good time to give some much needed rest to our own skeletal and muscular parts, and enjoy what is out there in bountiful nature. I constantly remind myself that there is a season for everything. Right now I am hoping that there will be some snow and frost (not too much though!) - just to be able to enjoy snow covered landscape or frosted stems, seed heads etc., around Christmas time. It is amazing how many hardy plants survive the inhospitable winter weather and come through with flying colours to delight us all in Spring and Summer .

Talking about seasons, I am delighted to report that my Clematis terniflora is cheerfully flowering away, as I write this on the 30th of November. Any decent, definitive book on clematis will clearly state that this clematis, fondly known as Sweet Autumn Clematis, flowers between mid to late summer and late autumn. Although our seasons are not clearly demarcated, Clematis terniflora is strictly adhering to its seasonal job of flowering. Sweet Autumn Clematis indeed!

While this robust species, Clematis terniflora, has won my seal of approval as a good garden plant, a question mark hangs over a number of not so gardenworthy large-flowered cultivars of clematis which have shamelessly made their way into the ever-increasing pages of the Plant Finder. Most of them rightly belong to the rubbish heap and should never have seen the light of day. Having reluctantly grown a number of them to assess their merits and demerits, I cannot recommend many of them to any gardener. In fact, some books and nurseries have a great deal to answer for, by promoting worthless cultivars, not just those which belong to the genus Clematis but many other genera of plants as well. I applaud Alex Pankhurst of the Hardy Plant Society who forthrightly urged the nurseries to be more responsible (The Hardy Plant, vol. 25 (2): 25- 28, Autumn 2004). Some catalogues of plants read so much like the auctioneers'/real estate agents' descriptions of some properties for sale. Beware!

Experienced gardeners know their plants, having learned by trial and error. That is the only way to rate garden plants. At least I did, and looking back at my early gardening life, I have been cheated so many times by specific descriptions, such as "easy to grow", "will grow anywhere", "extremely versatile" "exclusive" etc., accompanying certain plants. Utter nonsense! I have given up investing in books which fail to inform and educate me: pretty and even glamorous pictures of plants in flower have long ceased to win my heart or head. Most of what I learned about selection and cultivation of plants, especially during my younger years, came from generous, down-to-earth, patient gardeners with hands-on experience. Oh, there were some excellent television programmes too: when that fine gardener, Geoffrey Smith talked about his joys of plants and shared his tips for success with plants, I truly felt he knew his stuff. He was professional and inspirational. We, gardeners of all age groups, need mentors - if you have not found one, please be on the "mentor trail" until you do. I have lost a couple of my wonderful mentors but I know there are a few, very few, still left in the world of plants. I am, however, heartened by some young men and women with exceptional ability, enthusiasm, dedication and a good eye for plants, and I salute them.

I am indebted to Brian Mathew for his recent (September 2004) authoritative and educational lecture on members of the Ranunculaceae family at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin. I came home wanting to find some of the choice plants (or seed), which belong to this wonderful buttercup family. I hadn't even heard of some of the plants he mentioned. There comes a stage in the life of a mature gardener when he or she wants to try something new and challenging. I am no exception. It is a very happy and rewarding exercise.

Having acquired that much wanted plant, Helleborus thibetanus, I have no idea why it is refusing to settle down and delight me with its foliage and flowers. Absolute silence - I note my few other hellebores, all of them species, are stirring into life and am thrilled to report that Helleborus x ericsmithii is boasting healthy and plump buds, and the sepals with white tips tinged with soft pink, almost peeping out, are filling me with hopes and dreams. I know, come February, I am going to be ecstatic when the pregnant buds open into flowers. You may remember, I wrote in our very first newsletter that I was not a helleborephile - I am a recent convert to hellebores. Perhaps I am in a hurry to see results, perhaps it is normal for Helleborus thibetanus to enjoy a long period of dormancy. Perhaps, I have not given it a hospitable site. Who knows? Please let me have your tips on how to succeed with this hellebore. I would be extremely grateful - I do not want it to do a disappearing act because I have failed it. One of my new acquisitions, Helleborus x sternii
(dwarf form -15 to 20 cm high) from Aberconwy Nursery in Wales is carrying elegant, nodding buds. I am eagerly waiting to see its green flowers with the sepals showing off their smoky red undersides.

As we fast approach the season for all our much-Ioved hellebores to show off their exquisite flowers, I am still searching for the reason why the flowers of some hellebores retain their nectaries, while others shed them. I know that sepals take on the function of petals and petals take on the shape and function of nectaries, and in some cultivars, the nectaries simply revert to petals - all very confusing to a novice hellebore fan - as is the case in double hellebore flowers. Incidentally, John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries delighted and excited us with all those beautiful images of hellebore hybrids during his recent talk to members and friends of the Alpine Society, Ranunculaceae Society and the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. There are so many "no name" hybrids - whatever will happen to them all? Just wondering, that is all.

A long time ago, Helen Dillon gave me a plant of Anemone x lipsiensis. It just thrived in a terracotta pot. Finding room for my favourite plants in a limited space is a herculean task but I never give up even if it means walking round in circles looking for yet another spot for a plant. In September 2003, I received a tiny plant of Ranunculus abnormis from an acquaintance who gardens in Leeds. She had raised it from seed and it would be lovely to see it in flower soon. And I am hoping after hope that my Pulsatilla 'Budapest', having been given room to stretch its feet, will delight me too come spring. I have just checked to ensure a pot of Eranthus x tubergenii 'Guinea Gold', given to me by Jane Sterndale-Bennett in February this year, is comfortable. My thanks also to Sue Ward for her perfect pencil drawing of this choice plant for our Winter Newsletter.