Tribute to a BLOOMING HERO
As a new rose is named after Captain Tom Moore, the fabulous newcomers set to raise a smile this year
WHEN Captain Tom Moore completed 100 laps of hi s garden last year and raised more than £33 million for the NHS, he deservedly became a national hero.
His endeavours earned him a knighthood and promotion to honorary colonel – and now he has achieved another accolade with a rose being named in his honour.
Simply called ‘The Captain Tom Rose’, the hybrid tea type boasts dark red buds that open into double, bright red flowers measuring 4in across. The blooms possess a delicate fragrance and are produced over summer on waist-high plants. Bred by Harkness Roses in Hertfordshire, they are ideal for beds and containers.
Given the high-profile status of its namesake, this cracking rose is likely to be one of the year’s bestsellers, but it’s not the only plant that will make its debut.
Nurseries are set to introduce scores of newcomers including shrubs, perennials, sweet peas and bedding plants, along with a smorgasbord of vegetables. The galaxy of stars includes plants that are improved forms of old favourites and true breeding breakthroughs. Among them is a heuchera with unique foliage, a multi-branching sunflower that can produce 1,000 blooms in a season, and the world’s first blight-resistant cherry tomato.
ATERRIFIC range of shrubs will be making their bow. Escallonia ‘ Shows t o pper’ f o r ms a compact, bushy mound smothered with clusters of pink flowers in summer, while Azalea ‘ Encore Lila’ boasts lilac flowers that fade to white. Bred in the United States, it flowers in spring, and then on and off from midsummer until the first frosts.
Developed in China, ‘1001 Summer Nights’ is a camellia with a difference. Unlike most varieties, this doesn’t bloom in early spring but produces red flowers from May until October – the heart of each rosette-like bloom is furnished with a cluster of yellow stamens. Growing up to 8ft tall, it’s perfect in a sunny or a slightly shaded spot.
Expect to see plenty of new perennials land this spring. Notable launches include Geranium ‘Azure Skies’ with pale blue, double flowers displayed above mounds of finely cut foliage, and Salvia ‘Caradonna Pink Inspiration’, whose pink flowers are held on 2ft-tall, nearblack stems from May until July.
One plant that’s causing a stir on social media is Heuchera ‘Frilly’, a British-bred variety that forms a 12in-tall mound of heavily ruffled, caramel- coloured foliage with notes of red. It is perfect for delivering year-round interest in containers. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on an architectural perennial that was born at a nursery in New Zealand. Astelia ‘ Red Shadow’ forms a neat, 2ft-tall clump of copperred, strap-shaped leaves. Hardy down to minus 5C and very droughttolerant, it’s the result of crossing two wild species of astelia.
Summer colour is guaranteed with the unveiling of some cracking bedding plants. Petunia ‘Mystical Midnight Gold’ has a spreading habit and double flowers comprised of dark purple petals with a gold trim. Calendula officinalis ‘Bull’s Eye’ is a pot marigold with novel, pompom- shaped yellow flowers with dark red centres.
Pelargoniums rarely exceed 18 in but ‘Tall, Dark and Handsome Hot Pink’ is a special ‘climbing’ type with long stems that can be trained up supports. Growing up to 4ft, its dense heads of pink flowers are displayed against a foil of dark, scallop-edged leaves.
Helianthus ‘SunBelievable Golden Girl’ is a thigh-high, bushy sunflower that can pump out close to 1,000 5in-wide yellow daisies from late spring until autumn. It comes from t he same breeding programme as ‘SunBelievable Brown Eyed Girl’, which took the gardening world by storm in 2018.
Elsewhere, there are some superb new vegetable varieties to tantalise the tastebuds. Chilli pepper ‘Mardi Gras’ boasts fruit in shades of peach and orange, and celery ‘Pink’ has unusual pink- tinted stems. Tomatoes can be wiped out by blight during long spells of warm, damp and humid weather. ‘Crimson Cherry’ is the first cherry-sized variety that’s resistant to the fungal problem. As for their taste, the fruit are juicy with a flavour that strikes the perfect balance between sweetness and acidity.
Stockists include Burncoose Nurseries (burncoose.co.uk); Crocus (crocus.co.uk); D. T. Brown (dtbrownseeds.co.uk); Harkness Roses (roses.co.uk); Millais Nurseries (rhododendrons.co.uk); Mr Fothergill’s (mr-fothergills.co. uk); Plantagogo (plantagogo.com); Roger Parsons Sweet Peas (rpsweetpeas.com); Suttons (suttons.co.uk); Thompson & Morgan (thompson-morgan.com); Kerton Sweet Peas (kertonsweetpeas.co.uk).