My Life in Plants
The first plant I ever grew
Probably a cactus, perhaps an espostoa. It was very upright and quite hairy. I’m not sure I ever got it to flower…
The plant that shaped the gardener I am today
When I was very young, we lived in France and my father grew a lot of bearded irises, which I remember were absolutely magnificent. My mother cut a bunch for my teacher at school, I’m not sure why. I don’t know what my father thought of that!
My favourite plant in the world
I’ve always had a bit of a passion for caudiciform plants which are species with fat, succulent bottoms. My first was the pony tail palm, Beaucarnea
recurvata, which I saw in the Japanese Airlines office in Regent Street, London. I bought three tiny seedlings which eventually grew into 1.8m (6ft) tall monsters. In the mid-80s I discovered the elephant’s foot plant Dioscorea elephantipes and immediately had to get a specimen. Amazingly, I found seeds from Chiltern Seeds and they germinated freely. Unfortunately, I’m down to one now but it’s splendid with a very cracked and fissured base nearly 20cm (8in) across. It grows through winter, so having been kept dry all summer it suddenly sends up a shoot, the clue to start watering. They grow up to 90cm (3ft) and, in the wild, scramble through bushes for support.
The plant that made me work hardest
Roses are a fulltime occupation for me. Before joining breeder David Austin I didn’t take any notice of them, but now, after more than 30 years there, I still think they’re amazing. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t learn something new.
The plant I’d like to grow more of
I love birches as they’re so variable and elegant, and the bark is very tactile and variable in colour. They’re of great practical use, too. You can harvest the sap as a drink, use the bark for making canoes and as a source of biomass for energy production.
The plant I am in human form
The northern Chinese red birch, Betula albosinensis
septentrionalis – tall and rather rangy. And I love the way the name rolls off the tongue!
The plant that helped shape my life
Roses are such wonderful plants. I very nearly got a job breeding birches at Aberdeen University before I started with David Austin. How different my life would’ve been if I’d done that. Roses have given me the opportunity to travel the world, meet some of the best horticulturalists and visit some top gardens, often when nobody else is there, which is a great treat.
The plant I’d always give as a gift
A species pelargonium. The first one that triggered my love was P. caffrum, which has dark purple, deeply fimbriated petals. Some have strongly scented leaves and others beautiful flowers. P. sidoides is my very favourite and I would give it as a gift. It has greygreen leaves and dark purple flowers all summer long.