Malva moschata alba

Malva moschata var Alba

Good doers. I remember the late, great Iris Thompson talking about horses that did very well with very little attention and not too much food - she called them Good - doers. I rather liked the expression and adopted it for my own. She was talking about horses, of course - I tend to talk about plants (you may have noticed!). One of my favourite Good - doers is Malva moschata var alba. This is a hardy herbaceous perennial, cousin to the well-known shrub Lavatera (and other members of the Malvaceae, also known as the Mallows). It is one of those really useful plants that you dot around in a border to fill any gaps now that the Spring bulbs and early perennials are going over.

Malva moschata v alba slightly sprawling habit

Like many of the Mallows it likes dampish ground, and so is perfect for those of us who have to contend with high rainfall. In Cumbria it grows to about 60 x 60cms in size, and has deep green ferny foliage, with slightly crinkled, ice white flowers, with what appears to be a pink eye. This 'eye' is really the stigmas – they give it a really pretty appearance. The habit is what I would describe as slightly sprawling, which I find quite romantic in the Cottage Garden type of idiom, but it would not suit those who like plants to stand to attention in neat regimented lines. They also look good growing as 'fill' plants between shrubs such as dwarf azaleas, which give them support - it gives your shrub borders a bit of interest when the Spring flowering is over. Bees love them, so I assume they are fairly nectar heavy.

Maintenance is easy. As I said previously they prefer dampish ground, and need some sunshine to flower well. Dead head regularly to maintain flowering and cut back the dying stems in the late Autumn. Mark their position in the border as they tend to disappear completely over winter. In the late Spring when they re-emerge, give them a general feed or a compost mulch and they will happily grow away again with no fuss at all. As I said before - a good doer!

We usually have a few to spare, so if you want one or two, get in touch. Alternatively they are fairly easy to grow from seed. Seed suppliers are listed below.

Happy Gardening!

The RHS Award of Garden Merit has been awarded to Malva moschata v alba

Seed suppliers:

Chiltern seeds

Plant world seeds

Snowdrops

We have thousands of snowdrops here at Muirlands. I can take no credit for them - they were here when we arrived, and probably had been since World War 2, at the very least. How do I know this? Well, when we were in practice, we got the odd person in, who had been evacuated here during the war. Barrow, as a naval shipyard, had been an occasional target for the Luftwaffe, who seemed to have managed to hit quite a lot of residential areas as well as their in intended target. The poor victims were temporarily accommodated at our house, it having the necessary space to accommodate the extra family or two. Most had fond memories of their time spent here, but all used to ask 'Are the snowdrops still there?', and were uniformly pleased when I was able to answer in the affirmative.

On a rainy Boxing Day, my thoughts have turned to the garden. Their will be no gardening today - the ground is too wet (though we have luckily escaped the inundations that have afflicted other parts of the county). But I have seen the first signs of their presence - a few green tips pressing through the water logged ground. They will be in their prime in February here - a carpet of white on a grass green background. A sight to behold on a sunny day!

For those who like to know where plants come from - Galanthus (the Latin generic name for snowdrops), are native to Europe and the Middle east. Though they seem to come from drier climes than the British Isles they seem to be remarkably tolerant of our damp ground (that may be because the roots of trees soak up most of the water later on in the season)

Galanthophiles/olics (snowdrop experts/ addicts?) would, I am afraid, be a little disappointed after the initial appreciation of the mass plantings. As far as I can see, we only have the 'bog-standard' single and double forms. If you require something a little more exotic there are specialist growers out there. I list a few at the bottom.

I would like to grow a few of the more exotic snowdrops. Galanthus elwesii is a little larger than most, and the leaves have a bluish tinge to them. Maybe, I'll grow some this year.

Can you and should you grow snowdrops? Oh, Yes! Though they thrive best growing in light deciduous woodlands in the UK, they can be grown in pots, underneath deciduous shrubs, in borders; but most importantly they will delight your soul at a very dreary time of year.

Wishing you all a very Happy 2016,

B

Suppliers (best bought after flowering and planted in the green)

Ashwood nurseries

Dryad nurseries

Broadleigh Gardens

and many more?

Lewisia cotyldeon

Lewisia cotyledon plants growing in my cool greenhouse.

I have been growing lewisia cotyledon plants now for perhaps tewnty years or so. I love their bright starry flowers which appear every April and May with so little fuss. They are a plant which everybody loves when they see them, and so I wonder why they are so little grown in this country. Perhaps it's because they dislike wet, and so have to be sheltered from our soggy climate one way or another during our wet winters. They don't need any artificial heat at all, being mountain plants, and are easily raised from seed. They are ideal for a cool conservatory where they will brighten your day, and invite compliments from your visitors.

Striped forms are predominently pink and white pr red stripes on an amber background.

Originating from the mountain slopes of Western USA, they are named after their discoverer Gaptain Merryweather Lewis (1804) of the the famous Lewis and Clark pairing. They grow in the Siskiyou, Cascades, and Rocky mountains and so are true alpines despite their rather flamboyant appearance!

Pure ice-white forms of Lewisia cotyledon

As I said before, I've been gwowing them from seed for many years now, and through selective breeding have managed to increase the flower size in some of the striped varieties to about 4 cms diameter. Different foliage forms are also now emerging, and so in a few years time I hope to be able to offer all kinds of shapes and sizes and flower forms. The flower bunches grow to about 15 cms high and about 20 cms diameter, when grown with winter shelter. Those grown outside all year will probably be smaller in size, but still just as impressive. If you want to grow from seed yourself, sow in a gritty compost from March onwards through to July - we will have some of our own seed to sell later on in the year. After flowering, leave outside for the summer months (remove dead heads if you are not collecting seed - you may be rewarded with a second flush of flowers. Some people say they get flowers all summer if they dead head regularly), and then protect from wet from September onwards till Spring.

Schiaperalli Pink blooms!

This year I'm going to experiment a bit. Apparently Lewisia are grown in cascading drifts down walls at Bodnant (north Wales). This is achieved by planting small sized new plants, and then nuturing them for a few years. I don't have a suitable south facing wall here in Cumbria, so I'm going to try them in a strawberry pot. I'll report back later!
Happy gardening!

P.S. We will be opening an online shop soon - just working out the details. In the meantime if you would like to purchase some plants, pleae email me at buckfernplants(at)gmail.com. Please replace (at) with the customary squiggly a. This is to avoid spam.