Winter-time magic
The most delectable sight in my garden as I write are the single white flowers opening one by one on the bare branches of Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Nivalis’. The pale green, perfectly round buds have been forming for weeks in tight clusters, gradually elongating before breaking into snow-white, five-petalled flowers with bright yellow anthers.
Later, in some years, there may be aromatic greeny-yellowy fruit, apple rather than quince-shaped, that makes good jam or jelly. The textbooks say the flowering period is March to May, but my happily established plant usually comes lingeringly into flower in January, and sometimes sporadically as early as November.
Commonly known as the ‘flowering quince’, ‘Japanese quince’ or simply ‘japonica’, the Chaenomeles genus belongs to the rose (Rosaceae) family, and consists of three species of spiny deciduous shrubs, native to Japan, China and Korea. Chaenomeles speciosa, which means ‘showy’, has produced a number of cultivars, including another that brings beauty to my garden in spring. This is C. speciosa ‘Moerloosei’, later flowering than ‘Nivalis’, with cup-shaped white flowers flushed with pink.
Both are vigorous shrubs with an eventual height of 2.5 metres and a spread of 5 metres. My tiny garden does not have this much space to allocate, and as they flower on old wood, new growth is cut back in summer and side shoots reduced to two or three leaves. This keeps the plants manageable but has the disadvantage of encouraging suckers.
A C. speciosa cultivar more compact than those I grow, with an eventual height of 2 metres and spread of 1.2 metres is ‘Geisha Girl’; its double flowers are a warm apricot pink. There are also some fine hybrids, notably C. x superba, (a hybrid of C. speciosa and C. japonica) and quite a few named cultivars that are widely available. C. x superba ‘Crimson and Gold’ has bright-red flowers with conspicuous yellow centres and is a popular plant. C. x superba ‘Pink Lady’ has dark-pink, single flowers and is good trained against a wall.
Towards the bottom of the garden, the velvety buds of Magnolia stellata are fattening in a promising fashion, and I am hopeful of flowers soon. The cultivar I grow is ‘Water Lily’, which has a compact habit, shrubbier than most magnolias. Mercifully, in my size-challenged plot, it is very slowgrowing and will reach 3 metres in time. ‘Water Lily’ flowers early and has the characteristic spidery flowers, but larger and with more petals than other cultivars. The flowers stand up well to frost, so even if the current cold spell continues, I am hopeful of a fine display and an elegant twig or two for a specimen vase.
On to the wish list: I have always wanted a Sarcococca, also known as sweet box, and I have found the perfect space to put one, near the back door so that the scent, strong and haunting on the wintry air, greets one each time one enters the garden. Sweet box has elegant evergreen leaves and inconspicuous cream flowers. It thrives in shade and grows happily under trees. The smallest is Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis, which grows to 60cm. My spot is bigger than this, so the choice is between S. confusa, the largest and bushiest, which forms a dense, rounded shrub that can grow to 2 metres, or Christopher Lloyd’s favourite, S. hookeriana var. digyna. This has narrow, pointed leaves and its flowers have a pink tinge.
I am re-reading the inspiring books of Margery Fish, who created the perfect cottage garden at East Lambrook Manor in Somerset. In A Flower For Every Day, first published in 1964, she writes of Sarcococcas: ‘…I always think they show great wisdom in flowering in winter, when they get the attention that they might not receive at any other time’. Sweet box may be modest in appearance, but its scent is powerful, subtle and unforgettable.
I spotted them at one of the RHS shows last year – tiny, stripy fruit like miniature watermelons. They turned out to be cucamelons, otherwise known as mouse melons, which are described as tasting like cucumber with a touch of lime; they grow on vigorous climbing plants that are pest and drought-resistant. Who could resist?
Cucamelons feature in the Homegrown Revolution range of exotic seeds introduced this year by Suttons Seeds and James Wong, a Kewtrained botanist, BBC science presenter, garden designer and, in his own words, ‘obsessive foodie grower’. Also in the range are callaloo, the Technicolored Caribbean spinach; the white winter radish, mooli; perennial Chinese chives, the ultimate low-maintenance crop, and quite a few more. I shall try quinoa, the delicious nutty grain dating back to the Incas, described as easy to grow, ‘even in sunny Scotland’.
There’s an accompanying book, James Wong’s Homegrown Revolution. Suttons Seeds is offering a copy of this and six packets of seeds, which separately, would cost £11.10 for £20. Buy online at www.suttons.co.uk.
Iris unguicularis is an evergreen, winter-flowering iris with lavender flowers that are faintly scented. It likes a sunny spot and dry soil. Available bare-rooted in March. £6: www.claireaustinhardyplants.co.uk
Later, in some years, there may be aromatic greeny-yellowy fruit, apple rather than quince-shaped, that makes good jam or jelly. The textbooks say the flowering period is March to May, but my happily established plant usually comes lingeringly into flower in January, and sometimes sporadically as early as November.
Commonly known as the ‘flowering quince’, ‘Japanese quince’ or simply ‘japonica’, the Chaenomeles genus belongs to the rose (Rosaceae) family, and consists of three species of spiny deciduous shrubs, native to Japan, China and Korea. Chaenomeles speciosa, which means ‘showy’, has produced a number of cultivars, including another that brings beauty to my garden in spring. This is C. speciosa ‘Moerloosei’, later flowering than ‘Nivalis’, with cup-shaped white flowers flushed with pink.
Both are vigorous shrubs with an eventual height of 2.5 metres and a spread of 5 metres. My tiny garden does not have this much space to allocate, and as they flower on old wood, new growth is cut back in summer and side shoots reduced to two or three leaves. This keeps the plants manageable but has the disadvantage of encouraging suckers.
A C. speciosa cultivar more compact than those I grow, with an eventual height of 2 metres and spread of 1.2 metres is ‘Geisha Girl’; its double flowers are a warm apricot pink. There are also some fine hybrids, notably C. x superba, (a hybrid of C. speciosa and C. japonica) and quite a few named cultivars that are widely available. C. x superba ‘Crimson and Gold’ has bright-red flowers with conspicuous yellow centres and is a popular plant. C. x superba ‘Pink Lady’ has dark-pink, single flowers and is good trained against a wall.
Towards the bottom of the garden, the velvety buds of Magnolia stellata are fattening in a promising fashion, and I am hopeful of flowers soon. The cultivar I grow is ‘Water Lily’, which has a compact habit, shrubbier than most magnolias. Mercifully, in my size-challenged plot, it is very slowgrowing and will reach 3 metres in time. ‘Water Lily’ flowers early and has the characteristic spidery flowers, but larger and with more petals than other cultivars. The flowers stand up well to frost, so even if the current cold spell continues, I am hopeful of a fine display and an elegant twig or two for a specimen vase.
On to the wish list: I have always wanted a Sarcococca, also known as sweet box, and I have found the perfect space to put one, near the back door so that the scent, strong and haunting on the wintry air, greets one each time one enters the garden. Sweet box has elegant evergreen leaves and inconspicuous cream flowers. It thrives in shade and grows happily under trees. The smallest is Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis, which grows to 60cm. My spot is bigger than this, so the choice is between S. confusa, the largest and bushiest, which forms a dense, rounded shrub that can grow to 2 metres, or Christopher Lloyd’s favourite, S. hookeriana var. digyna. This has narrow, pointed leaves and its flowers have a pink tinge.
I am re-reading the inspiring books of Margery Fish, who created the perfect cottage garden at East Lambrook Manor in Somerset. In A Flower For Every Day, first published in 1964, she writes of Sarcococcas: ‘…I always think they show great wisdom in flowering in winter, when they get the attention that they might not receive at any other time’. Sweet box may be modest in appearance, but its scent is powerful, subtle and unforgettable.
Exotica on the plot
I spotted them at one of the RHS shows last year – tiny, stripy fruit like miniature watermelons. They turned out to be cucamelons, otherwise known as mouse melons, which are described as tasting like cucumber with a touch of lime; they grow on vigorous climbing plants that are pest and drought-resistant. Who could resist?
Cucamelons feature in the Homegrown Revolution range of exotic seeds introduced this year by Suttons Seeds and James Wong, a Kewtrained botanist, BBC science presenter, garden designer and, in his own words, ‘obsessive foodie grower’. Also in the range are callaloo, the Technicolored Caribbean spinach; the white winter radish, mooli; perennial Chinese chives, the ultimate low-maintenance crop, and quite a few more. I shall try quinoa, the delicious nutty grain dating back to the Incas, described as easy to grow, ‘even in sunny Scotland’.
There’s an accompanying book, James Wong’s Homegrown Revolution. Suttons Seeds is offering a copy of this and six packets of seeds, which separately, would cost £11.10 for £20. Buy online at www.suttons.co.uk.
Plant of the week
Iris unguicularis is an evergreen, winter-flowering iris with lavender flowers that are faintly scented. It likes a sunny spot and dry soil. Available bare-rooted in March. £6: www.claireaustinhardyplants.co.uk