My Life in Plants
The first plant I ever grew
A bag of mixed cactus seeds from Suttons was the start of a love for tropical plants. Dad was into flowering shrubs and old apple varieties, but I was allowed to wander into the ‘dark side’ of exotica through experimenting with cannas, cacti and aloes.
The plant that shaped the gardener I am today
I established my deep love for bulbs during my training at Kew with alpine specialist Tony Hall. I love the diversity of the group, particularly the tropical amaryllids. I’ve collected tropical bulbs for years and recently built up a collection of hippeastrum and eucomis and I’ve started to raise my own seedlings.
My favourite plant in the world
As of this week, I will admit to a fixation on scadoxus, a spectacular red-flowered bulb from tropical Africa. I’ve seen them growing in the arid bushlands of northern Kenya and recently in the Imatong Mountains of South Sudan. They’re always a surprise and always a delight. In Florida, we naturalised them in the arboretum of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
The plant that made me work hardest
I’m still trying to grow the wonderfully scented South African annual, Zaluzianskya
capensis, but have never been very successful, but the plant that really made me work hard was the Canary Island giant bugloss, Echium wildpretii.
The plant I’d like to grow more of
I’ve always enjoyed growing annuals. You have the pleasure of browsing the catalogue (large glass of rioja is key to this rite!), the arrival of the seed, the sowing, and the flowering after a few short months. Current favourites include linaria, agrostemma, Leonotis leonurus and Hibiscus trionum. Under the influence of the Eden team, I’m growing more salad crops, but I fear a critical inspection from ‘the experts’. I’ve also absorbed the team’s collective fixation on kniphofia, perfect plants for the late summer border. Plant I am in human form Dubiously winter hardy, allergic to winter damp, spiky, so probably a cactus from that original Sutton’s seed packet!
The plant that shaped my life The baobab tree has long been part of my life. They’re full of charisma, quite mysterious, yet of great economic value to local communities. At Eden, we work with communities in Malawi and Zambia to harvest and sell baobab powder, a nutritious food supplement and really good in ice cream!
Plant I’d always give as a gift A plant gift is really only a loan, I’ll be back for it one day! If not a bulb, probably a bag of UK wildflower seeds.