Not unlike its cousin Verbascum Banana Custard this plant of Verbascum austriacum is popular in Central Europe.

I liked the  red centre to the flower and the branching habit.

Verbascums can grow over 6′ tall and I like the spires in the back of my garden border.

These Verbascum seed quite freely and you will be able to scrounge a plant from any friend who grows them.

Verbascum letitia

This garden centre label is colourful and was surprisingly close in colour to the plant it was selling.

Beware of faded and cracked labels as this is a sign of UV deterioration and the plant will have been with the label for far too long.

Labels should be Informative

• Labels should show the name of the plant in botanic terms (in this case Rhododendron)  and the variety in this case ‘Golden Eagle’. It often has the common name crucially missing in this case as it is a Knapp Hill Azalea.
• Planting Instructions are usually fairly generic, in this case it mentions acid or ericaceous soil.
• Cultural instructions include positioning, watering, feeding and where necessary pruning guidelines should be helpful.
• A plant description giving height and spread in inches or cm, time of flowering, habit etc. Missing in this case as unlike most rhododendrons this is deciduous not evergreen.
• It is a growing trend to include the growers details particularly where they want to impose some rights like Plant Beeders Rights

Keeping Labels

• As far as I know there is no hobby of collecting plant labels like match boxes.
• I keep my labels to remind me what I planted but do not put labels in the garden. May be I should reconsider as I forget more than I remember except where the Rosemary is planted!
• Labels sometimes include the price and that amazes me years later when I think what I spent. The pre printed white tags are good for this.
• Cut off the white tyvek tags and any bits of elastic without damaging the plant.

See more pictures of Golden Eagle

Read more about Labels Markers and Tags

Phlomis are small shrubs for a warm sunny border. The unusual flower stems and Mediterranean style silver leaves make this a feature plant.

Varieties of Phlomis with Growing Tips

• Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’ is one of the readily available shrubby varieties. The square stems and whorls of yellow flowers are quite striking. It  probably originated from a seed from Phlomis russeliana.
• Jerusalem Sage or Phlomis fruticosa may be damaged by late frosts but wait until the end of May to trim off affected shoots. Trim annually to avoid a leggy base.
• Phlomis tuberosa flowers from May with pink too purple flowers in whorls.
• Grow from cuttings taken between June and August. Remove flower buds and trim below a node.
• Other Phlomis that may survive our winters include, Phlomis samia, Phlomis orientalis, Phlomis longifolium and Phlomis italica,

Other pictures from Phlomis flower gallery

I grew my Phlomis from seed collected from a public garden in Shrewsbury but you can buy from Thompson Morgan

Top Gardening Links
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
Alpine Garden Society (AGS)
BBC Gardening

Stanhopea Orchids

• There are at least 65 species of Stanhopea plus various hybrids of these fantastic orchids.
• They originate from South and Central America notably Guatamala and Panama.
• Stanhopea are amongst the most showy yet spectacularly orchids.
• The flowers are large, fragrant and develop out the bottom of the basket they are grown in.

Stranhopea occulata shown above has a wild appearance and a powerful fragrance.
Dark spots that look like eyes give it the name oculata.
Spikes bloom downward, so they are best grown in open baskets lined with moss.
Flowers last just a few days, but they can grow into large specimens with multiple spikes, then blooming in succession.

Stanhopea wardii has unusual large, waxy, golden-yellow pendant blooms with a spicy fragrance.
Best for hanging in open-weave baskets to allow the spike to emerge below the plant.
The Orchid should bloom several times during summer.
Their native habitat ranges from Mexico to Panama.

‘Stanhopea, Stanhopea Embreei, Stanhopea Oculata, Stanhopea Tricornis, Stanhopea Martiana, Stanhopea Hernandezii, Stanh’ by Book Llc is one of several specialist books about these interesting plants.

Many plants have dangerous components, leaves, seeds and roots. Some of the most dangerous must be grown under government license.
Below are notes on just a few plants to avoid eating.

Mandrake is one of the most poisonous plants that is known. The specimen above is grown under strict control with a fence around it. A member of the nightshade family, Mandrake also contains atropine, scopolamine, apoatropine and hyoscyamine that affect brain functions.

Strychnine, the deadly poison, is produced from the beans of Strychnos ignatii. It is also found in the orange fruit and nuts of Strychnos nux vomica.

Ricin is a poison found naturally in the seeds of the Castor oil plant that also produces the oil that is fed to babies. Ricinus communis ‘Gibsonii’ has red-tinged leaves with reddish veins and pinkish-green seed pods but there are other Castol oil plant varieties.
If castor beans are chewed and swallowed, the released Ricin can cause injury.
Ricin can be made from the waste material left over from processing castor beans into castor oil.

Mescaline is a hallucinogen compound made from the small, spineless cactus Lophophora williamsii or Peyote. It is also present in other cacti including Echinopsis peruviana.
Mescaline is also found in certain members of the Fabaceae bean family.

In ‘Mind-Altering and Poisonous Plants of the World’ by Michael Wink and Ben-Erik van Wyk ‘…. special focus is given to psychoactive plants, which can have stimulant, sedative, hypnotic, narcotic, or hallucinogenic properties. These include cannabis, coca, opium, and scopolamine. “Mind-Altering and Poisonous Plants of the World” is a must for gardeners, farmers, veterinarians, botanists, pharmacists, chemists, doctors, and poison control centers.’ Amazon
It also provides A VIVID REMINDER that ‘Hazardous plants are commonly used as garden ornamentals, potted plants, or florist flowers, yet many people are unaware of the dangers posed by the toxins derived from them.’ Take care with what you eat and protect young children who are often most at risk.

Carnivorous plants are not as hard to grow as you might imagine. There are several ways you can grow interesting displays of these consuming plants. If you want to grow Pitcher plants similar to those above read Easy Carnivorous Pitcher Plants.

Tips for Growing and Displaying

• The top Gardeners tip for these plants is to supply plenty of rainwater. Tap water contains too many chemicals.
• The cold greenhouse display below incorporates a stream supplied by a small garden pump and recycling filter.
• The water helps the insects, that the plant will consume, to breed.
• You can grow your plants in a half barrel, large terracotta pot or an old rubber trug.
• Buy hardy varieties from a specialist nursery. Badly treated plants seldom recover.
• Discourage flowering for a couple of season to build up the plants strength.

Varieties to Try

• Dionaea muscipula best known as the Venus Fly Trap always needs to be stood in a saucer of rainwater. Triggering the trap weakens the plant considerably, let nature take it’s course.
• Drosera capensis has narrow leaves covered in a sticky dewdrops which catch and digest white fly.
• Drosera whittakeri is a ‘Sundew’ from Australia that has underground tubers.
• The Mexican   Pinguicula gigantea   makes a great window sill plant.

Carnivorous Plant Genera and Species

Aldrovanda (1 species)
Brocchinia (2 species)
Byblis (7 species)
Catopsis (1 species)
Cephalotus (1 species)
Darlingtonia (1 species)
Dionaea (1 species)
Drosera (184 species)
Drosophyllum (1 species)
Genlisea (21 species)
Heliamphora (18 species)
Nepenthes (112 species)
Pinguicula (96 species)
Roridula (2 species)
Sarracenia (11 species)
Triphyophyllum (1 species)
Utricularia (225 species)

The Carniverous Plant Society and the International society equivalent offer a deal of expertise to help new growers and provided the table of genera above.

The mushroom we see is the fruiting part of a fungus that distributes the spores of the fungus for its own reproduction.

Fungus Facts

• Most fungi are small microorganisms that live in soil, on dead matter, or as a symbiont of plants or animals.
• Fungi perform an essential role in the decomposition of organic matter and have fundamental roles in recycling nutrients.
• The study of fungi is known as mycology, which is often regarded as a branch of botany
• Yeasts and moulds are forms of fungi but slimes are not.
• The Kingdom Fungi has been estimated to include approximately 1.5 million species, most of which have not been classified.

This bracket fungus was 7 foot high up a mature tree that did not seem to be suffering any ill effects.

The black fungus above was on the stump of a dead Elm and the ill effects were long past. The recycling phase was in full flow.

Edible Fungus

• Mushrooms provide food for a variety of insects and wild life and can be useful in a garden.
• Commercially grown mushrooms and truffles have been grown for centuries. This includes varieties like milk mushrooms, morels, chanterelles, black trumpets, and porcini mushrooms.
• Asian varieties have recently increased in popularity including Straw mushrooms Volvariella volvacea, Oyster mushrooms Pleurotus ostreatus, Shiitakes Lentinula edodes and Enokitake.

‘The Garden of Reading: An Anthology of Twentieth-century Short Fiction About Gardens and Gardeners’ edited by Michele Slung.

I was going to write about brochures, bulb and seed catalogues, but then I came across this book. At least the anthology collects works that set out to be  fiction, whilst gardening brochures presumably did not.

On Brochures

• The best photographs you can imagine are used in brochures. So more flowers and better colours are visible than you may attain with your own plants.
• Printed brochures are subject to the skill and vagaries of the printer and his reproduction processes. Accurate colour matches can’t be guaranteed.
• Brochure side step, insect damage, weather problems and  other trials and tribulations facing gardeners.
• It is a brochures  job to put the best foot forward not talk you out of a purchase.
• So are Brochures fact or fiction – well I will read the Anthology whilst I make up my mind.

On the Anthology

‘….The twenty-four stories in The Garden of Reading comprise a diverse and unexpected collection but one that stays true to its central and harmonious theme. Included are Colette’s sensuous ‘Grape Harvest,’ David Gueterson’s poignant ‘The Flower Garden,’ Stephen King’s sinister ‘The Lawnmower Man,’ J.G. Ballard’s lovely and otherworldy ‘The Garden of Time,’ the ominous ‘Green Thoughts’ by John Collier, Rosamunde Pilcher’s touching and simply titled ‘The Tree,’ and the splendid ‘the Fig Tree, by V.S. Pritchett – as well as classics from such masters as Saki, Robert Graves, and Eudora Welty, and contemporary writing from the likes of Sandra Cisneros and Garrison Keillor. If you’ve ever nurtured a flower, a green plant, a tomato plant, or a gleam of imagination, there’s something in The Garden of Reading that is sure to delight.’ source amazon review.

Double flowers are generally ‘Gardener bred’ and not naturally available in the wild.

Doubles are harder for insects to pollinate and therefore single flowers have survived and evolved more readily.

Double flowers were the aim of many Victorian breeders and plantsmen as they sought the awe factor.

These blousy double Peonies have this Awe factor with both colour, double petal form and a tremendous scent.

Read more about single and double flowers

Thompson Morgan have a supply of double freesia and snowdrops in addition to many other flowers to grow from seed.

History of Double Flowers

• Double flowers are the earliest documented form of floral abnormality.
• Theophrastus mentioned double roses in his Enquiry into Plants, written before 286BC.
• Pliny also described double roses in 1st century BC.
• In China, double peonies were known and selected by around 750AD.
• Around 1000AD double varieties of roses were cultivated to form the China rose. Today, most cultivated roses bear this double-flower trait.
• Herbalists of the Renaissance recognized double flowers and began to cultivate them in their gardens.
• John Gerard created illustrations of many double flowers beside their wild-type counterparts in 1597.
• A double-flowered variety of Marsh Marigold was discovered and cultivated in Austria in the late 16th century, becoming a valued garden plant.  (source wikipedia)

If you like daisy flowers then you will love Anthemis. A couple of varieties, to grow, are shown above and detailed below.

Anthemis arvensis is a clump-forming plant with green, ferny foliage, that produces numerous daisy-like flowers with white petals and a bright golden centre.

• It is a good plant in a naturalised planting or wild flower meadows.

• Anthemis are short-lived perennials easily grown from seed.

Anthemis tinctoria has several common names including Golden Marguerite, Marguerite Daisy, Dyer’s Chamomile, Ox-eye Chamomile, Boston Daisies and Paris Daisies.

• E.C. Buxton is a variety of Golden Marguerite that flowers from June to September
• Also clump-forming this free-flowering perennial features branching stems bearing masses of 1 inch lemon-yellow daisy blooms which smother the compact plants all summer.
• Anthemis is good for cutting for indoor flower arrangements.
• It is ideal for borders growing 30 inches high and wide. It prefers sun and sandy or free draining soil.

Seeds available from Thompson Morgan