My Life in Plants
The first plants I ever grew
It was probably one of those plants they sell at attractions, specifically to take money out of the pockets of small boys, such as a Venus fly trap or sensitive plant, Mimosa pudica, which then proceed to die on the bedroom windowsill!
The plant that shaped the gardener I am today
Euphorbia martini. It was a present from my wife Dawn many years ago while still at university. It became one of the first stock plants when we started our nursery in Dorset.
My favourite plant in the world
It depends which day you ask. There are so many lovely perennials I can’t choose just one, so I’ll plump for Malus
transitoria, just the loveliest of crab apples. It performs in flower, leaf and fruit year after year.
The plant that changed my life
It was a heather. I remember dissecting one in a sixth form biology class so that we could examine the parts of a flower under a microscope. I thought then that plants might play a role in my life.
The plant that’s made me work hardest
Definitely grass. Cutting lawns, weeding pots in the nursery, lifting hay bales or turfing plots. Wherever grass exists it seems to have work attached. Our garden has a very small lawn now, and thankfully my youngest son has taken to mowing it!
The plant of which I’d love to grow more
White-flowered tree, eucryphia. We collected far too many long before we had anywhere to plant them. They travelled around student digs and eventually we had only one left. Our Eucryphia
intermedia is now nearly as tall as the house and greatly appreciated by us and the bees every August.
The plant I am in human form
The sort of plant that quietly gets on with life, is deep-rooted, reliable and quite immovable when pushed. Dawn says an oak tree might fit. She mentioned knopper galls and knees, but I choose to ignore that part!
The plant I’d always give away as a gift
Species peonies always make nice gifts. Deep pink Paeonia mascula
mascula is a favourite.