Quiet revolution

For 25 years plantsman William Dyson has been quietly introducing UK growers to a multitude of new salvias at his Kent nursery

It is rare for a plant nursery to revolutionise the way we see a particular group of plants but William Dyson’s nursery, sitting in the beautifully romantic gardens of Great Comp near Sevenoaks in Kent, has done just that. Twenty-five years ago, when William took on the job of head gardener and nursery manager at Great Comp, salvias were either a bright-red bedding plant or a culinary herb. Now, thanks in great part to William’s knowledge, energy and enthusiasm the genus is widely grown and admired. William took over ownership of Great Comp’s plant nursery in 1995, selling mainly a mix of herbaceous plants that were growing in the garden. Magnolias, azaleas and rhododendrons are the backbone of the garden and at the time William wanted to bring more colour into the planting schemes during the summer months. Around the same time, plant collectors James Compton, John d’Arcy and Martyn Rix had returned from Mexico with a hybrid sage, Salvia x jamensis.

“This was a pivotal point,” says William. “I managed to get hold of a few plants and here, where the soil is free draining and we get plenty of sunshine, they were fantastic – masses of colour for months on end. I then went about getting whatever salvias I could get my hands on.”

Seedling salvias began popping up in the garden and William decided to start a controlled breeding programme. In 1997 he launched Salvia ‘Silas Dyson’, a hardy, floriferous shrubby salvia with rich-crimson flowers that blooms from May to November. The plant was instantly popular and was followed by Salvia ‘Dyson’s Crimson’, an open-pollinated seedling taken from ‘Silas Dyson’, which has a darker flower and a compact habit.

Many more introductions of hardy shrubby salvias followed and were met with enthusiasm by gardeners who were seduced by their easy cultivation and extraordinarily long flowering period. Around three-quarters of the plants produced on the nursery are now salvias.

“At the time it was so exciting because nobody knew much about salvias except the bedding ones,” remembers William. The nursery was the first at an RHS show with a single-genus display of Salvia. Other plant breeders and nurseries in

Europe and in North America began introducing new cultivars and hybrids. A major turning point for salvias came in 2004 with the distribution of a plant originally found growing in a pot on a Mexican patio. Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ is a flamboyant shrubby form, which is bicoloured during the summer but can have either single red or single white flowers in the cooler months. It has become extremely popular and encouraged gardeners to look at others salvias.

As well as the shrubby forms of the family, the nursery also produces hardy perennial salvias and tender forms.

William’s favourites change with the seasons. During the winter, many of the tender species are flowering in his greenhouse and lift the spirits on grey days. Salvia gesneriflora ‘Monty’ is usually a greenhouse plant but there is one outside against a south-facing wall, where its flame-coloured flowers bask against the warmth of the wall. “Seeing it flowering in February makes me happy,” says William.

During the summer his “absolute favourite” is the impressive Salvia atrocyanea, whose arching stems reach 2.5m and seem to be weighed down by its fat spikes of blue flowers. William grows the plants near clumps of the tall grass Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’, and this year he is trying it with the airy, pink-and-white flowers of Nicotiana mutabilis. “I think it will look spectacular,” he says.

The nursery is now focusing on extending its collection and developing it to become an educational resource. William continues to breed and select new forms. “I do ask myself if we really need more salvias with so many coming from all quarters but we are still getting things that are different. I enjoy growing them for themselves and if something new comes along then fantastic. I am still as excited by salvias as I was 25 years ago.”

USEFUL INFORMATION

Address Great Comp Garden, Comp Lane, Platt, Near Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 8QS. Tel 07887 997663. Web dysonsalvias.com Open Daily, 1 April to 31 October, 11am-5pm. Also offers mail order.

Facing page Surrounding a Georgian manor house, the gardens at Great Comp were developed in the 1950s by Roderick and Joy Cameron. Now owned by a Charitable Trust, Great Comp has been the home for the past 25 years of William Dyson’s specialist salvia nursery. This image The well-drained soil of the gardens and sunny, open site is perfect for salvia growing. Here Salvia ‘Phyllis’ Fancy’ is a vigorous and floriferous plant but in most parts of the UK it needs to be overwintered in a greenhouse.

The nursery is situated inside Great Comp garden where plants are well ordered and neatly presented. Although the vast majority of plants on sale are the salvias that can be seen growing in the garden, William also produces many other herbaceous perennials, particularly hardy geraniums and grasses.

William has planted salvias throughout the gardens, enabling visitors to see how plants in the nursery perform in the garden. He is keen to show how salvias associate well with other plants, as shown here with Miscanthus cultivars and both shrubby salvias and, in the background, the tall Salvia concolor.