ONE of the most useful—and least trumpeted—services provided by the RHS is its Plant Trials. Many varieties of the same plants are grown side-by-side in controlled conditions at RHS sites around the country and observed by expert members of the relevant Plant Committees, sometimes over several years, to see how they perform. Varieties are judged on a wide range of criteria and the best will be given the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM). Plants range from favourites such as catmint, the subject of the trial we report on today, to the new and less well known and the results are published, free, online, so all gardeners can look up to see which plants will work best for them.
The current Nepeta Trial, being held at RHS Wisley, showcases more than 120 varieties of catmint from a total of 250 species found in Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. It includes established stalwarts, such as ‘Six Hills Giant’, alongside brilliant new introductions, including ‘Summer Magic’ and ‘Hill Grounds’. Some varieties definitely fall into the catmint category, with clouds of tiny soft-blue flowers rising above aromatic grey-green foliage. Others have showy, darker blue tubular flowers and green leaves, which indicate a need for better soil and a tolerance of partial shade. A third variation on the theme, Nepeta nuda, offers branching heads of pale flowers on tall, very upright sultry stems. These are suited to prairie planting, offering structure and winter silhouette, although they’re not very widely grown—yet.
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Denne historien er fra January 20, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
