Be a Plant Hero
Roz Cooper is passionate about plants of all kinds. She has squeezed a wide diversity of species and varieties into the various habitats she has either had to adapt or create on her sloping plot near Durham. There’s a silver garden in a sunny spot, woodland plants in her shady zone, created by trees she planted for protection, or heavy clay prone to waterlogging in winter and frequently hard-baked in summer.
“I grow a range of primulas in the boggier areas, particularly those collected by the plant hunter
George Forrest,” says Roz. “I’m fascinated by the intrepid individuals who scoured other countries and took great risks to collect plants we now take for granted. Besides primulas
I’ve tried Corydalis bulleyana and Iris forrestii. I like to know where plants have come from and the stories associated with them.” A plant enthusiast since childhood,
Roz had her own bit of garden nurturing an ailing climbing rose ‘New Dawn’ back to health, while also growing a range of plants under the tutelage of her mother. She joined Plant Heritage in the late 1980s, but demands of her job and family life prevented active involvement, until early retirement offered the opportunity to join the North East group in 2012, becoming branch chair in 2018. She also became involved with its ‘Plant Guardian’ scheme, which encourages members to care for rare or endangered plants. She looks after a number of plants, particularly varieties of the bridal wreath Francoa sonchifolia, namely deep red ‘Dr Tom Smith’ and pink ‘Molly Anderson’. She also loves asters and colourful daisies, with Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Festival’ and solidago ‘September Gold’ being particular treasures. “Some of my rare varieties come from Plant Heritage’s annual national plant exchange, where you bid for plants put up for adoption and would like to grow. You can get interesting things you wouldn’t get elsewhere and it’s rewarding to be part of a movement caring for our garden heritage, while also doing your bit for conservation.”