‘Spotty Dotty’ really knocked my socks off!’
The first plant I ever grew
It was a Christmas cactus from a church fete when I was five or six. I adored its brightlycoloured flowers and because it was a cactus without spines. It was so cool. It still grows at my granny’s house.
The plant that shaped the gardener I am today
Aged 10, I found a plant in the garden that had evergreen, prickly leaves. I loved the fact that it had interest all year with flowers and fruit. I discovered later it was Berberis darwinii. My favourite plant in the world
The rowan Sorbus aucuparia is such a useful plant. It grows extremely well in Scotland, can be used in forestry for wood, is useful for wildlife and is a valuable tree in gardens with its beautiful flowers, attractive berries and lovely autumn colour.
The plant that shaped my life
The plant that really knocked my socks off is Podophyllum
versipelle ‘Spotty Dotty’. I love the mottled spotting and iridescent colour on its parasollike leaves and the red flowers that hang below. It opened my eyes to the amazing range of plants that can be grown in a moist woodland garden.
The plant of which I’d like to grow more
Although my own garden is quite small, shady and already stuffed with plants, I’d like to grow more erythroniums. To see a drift of their colourful, star-shaped flowers with reflexed petals in spring would be fantastic. The plant I am in human form
It would be salvia ‘Mainacht’, as it starts flowering in May, the month I was born in, and is very reliable and hard-working.
The plant I’d always give as a gift
The hardy orchid Pleione would make a great present. It’s easier to grow than most people think – I grow mine on a windowsill and I particularly like the variety ‘Whakari’, which carries vibrant pink flowers in spring.