My Life in Plants
The first plant I ever grew
My first gardening memory is picking the buds off my aunt’s peonies! She was very forgiving and something must have stuck because now peonies are one of my favourite flowers. They’re so deliciously blowsy and I like big, showy flowers with character and impact. But think how many flowers I ruined!
The plant that shaped the gardener I am today
It has to be grasses, as they bring such a refreshing texture to the garden, and in my bouquets they add a whole new statement. You never see grasses in bouquets at the supermarket, but I use them in my hand-tieds whenever my cutting garden – or my garden borders – can provide them.
My favourite plant in the world
Dahlias, as they’re bright, they’re flamboyant and they’re so easy! You start with a little tuber and soon you’re cutting so many flowers you have to give them away. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t grow them.
The plant that changed my life
Red orach, Atriplex hortensis. Yes, really! When starting out I worked at a herb farm and saw this amazing plant. I remember asking the boss: “What is that plant?!” And she said: “Don’t ever grow that, it’s a weed.” I still grow it every year because it goes with anything in late summer and reminds me to follow my own path.
The plant that has made me work hardest
Foxtail lilies. I named my business after them but even though I’ve tried and tried I just can’t grow them! I’ve tried everything and in different parts of the garden, I think it must be slugs, but I’d rather lose the flowers than poison the wildlife with slug pellets.
Plant I’d love to grow more
I love tall fritillarias with smoky purple bells, such as F. persica ‘Adiyaman’. We had them in flower one year and the chickens ate the lot – that was the end of the chickens. I like their burnt-brown colouring and, in fact, I love those tones in other plants like the orach and ‘Diabolo’ physocarpus.
Plant I am in human form
My husband, Rick, says I’m a cactus but I like to think of myself as a succulent!
The plant I’d always give away as a gift
Salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’. It’s a low, shrubby type that just goes on and on from June to October or later. The foliage smells of blackcurrant and when it rains in summer we can smell it in the bedroom. And those dark, velvety, purple flowers are simply sumptuous. Every garden should have one!