Rigorous standards

Nemesia trials have really proved their worth

- Peter Seabrook

I OFTEN refer to plant trials in my column, and while there are nowhere near as many trial grounds across the country as there used to be, they remain the best way to assess garden performance. My first job in 1952 was as a nursery hand on a seed trial ground in Essex, when there were at least 10 companies with similar trials across the county.

Currently, in the Royal Horticultural Society Wisley Garden there is an extensive trial of nemesia, mostly cuttings-raised named cultivars, although there are a few seed-raised examples. These trials have moved and are in a new site, which previously held the container plant area for the Wisley Garden Centre.