LORD OF THE PLANTS
John Lord is mad about plants. The award-winning gardener talks to Donal O’donoghue about some of his favourite perennials and offers some useful tips
Award-winning gardener John Lord is passionate about perennials and mad about growing. He lists some of his favourites from Persicaria to Salvia and peonies.
“Long a er he retired, I bumped into my old school teacher on O’connell Street,” says gardener John Lord. “And he said to me: ‘You were one of the only pupils who knew what they wanted to do when they were 14.’” For some 25 years, Lord has run Ratoath Garden Centre in County Meath, which is billed as “a garden centre within a garden”. Out back, past the café and shop, is a show garden which in bloom boasts one of the nest herbaceous borders in the land, together with a prairie garden, a woodland border and even a wildlife pond. Lord himself can o en be found in the middle of it all, dispensing wisdom and wit. “Our gardens are very like air,” he says. “ey’re free.”
Lord grew up on the North Strand in Dublin’s north inner city. “I used to walk to school through Fairview Park and I was always looking at the ower beds and people who had gardens. I was fascinated by them, maybe because we didn’t have a garden at home. I bought my rst seeds, radishes, when I was 14 or so, and when they grew I was just amazed. Here was food from a small seed. I suppose more than anything, I was fascinated by growth.”
He still is: a font of knowledge which he dispenses on his popular Youtube channels. Here, he lists some of his favourite plants and also sprinkles a few useful tips for those who are, like him, “mad about plants.”
Further information: ratoathgardencentre.ie
Persicaria affinis (Knotweed)
is is great for ground cover, owers right through the summer, has lovely seed-heads and is easy to grow. Perscicaria a nis forms a carpet and the great thing is that its roots don’t go deep so that if it spreads too much you can easily pull it up, so it’s easy to control. It starts to bloom about June and it has a so pink ower spike and when the ower fades, the seed-head goes red and so you have that colour for ages a erwards. It dies back in the winter but by midmarch they’re lovely and green. It is great for the front of a herbaceous border and you can put the bigger, taller stu behind it. Another plant good for ground cover is Periwinkle (Vinca), especially the smaller-leafed, Vinca minor.
Geraniums
You cannot go wrong at this time of the year by planting hardy geraniums (hardy in Ireland means being able to withstand a temperature as low as -12°C). One of the most popular varieties, in fact one of the most popular herbaceous plants, is Geranium ‘Rozanne’. I would also recommend ‘Anne omson’ and ‘Ann Folkard’ varieties because they are repeat owering for the whole summer. Other popular varieties include ‘Blushing Turtle’. e thing about hardy geraniums is that they are very reliable stalwarts. I would always include a few when I was doing garden design because they never went wrong. ey are easy to grow and ‘Rozanne’ will even grow in shade. It owers from June until November. If they grow extra long bits, you simply cut them back and they re- ower.
Salvias (Sage)
One of my favourites is Salvia ‘Hot Lips’. is bushy ornamental sage is easy to grow and manage and it will ower for months from about July right up to November. It has a red ower with white at the centre. You can plant it now and while it can get a bit shrubby, if you cut it back in March/ April, it will take about six weeks to grow back and bloom. Once it starts, it never stops. It is one of the best plants you can get for a sunny spot in the garden. A similar plant, but the ower is completely red, is Salvia ‘Royal Bumble’. Like ‘Hot Lips’, it is extremely easy to grow as long as it is in a sunny spot. And every garden in Ireland has a sunny spot. ese plants are also great in pots.
Astilbes
If you have a dampish or not particularly well-drained spot in the garden, Astilbes are very good. e ground should not be excessively dry – in that case, plant salvias. A great variety for a smaller garden would be Astilbe ‘Sprite’ but all Astilbes are typically shade and moisture-loving plants. ey are also very reliable. ey have a u y feathery ower head and when the owers fade in October or so, you leave the dead part on through the winter. ey can be planted out in mid to late spring; they also do well in tubs and can tolerate full sun in summer but water them regularly.
Alstroemeria (Peruvian Lily)
e modern varieties of Alstroemeria, like ‘Indian Summer’ or ‘Red Elf ’ are superb. Put these perennials in a sunny part of the garden and you can’t go wrong. When I rst started gardening way back, the alstroemeria would ower for only a month in July and that was it. But these varieties ower right into the late autumn. I even have one inside, ‘Indian Summer’, that is still owering since last June. ‘Indian Summer’ has lovely bronze-tinged leaves and it does well in pots as long as you dead-head – you do that by pulling the entire ower stem out: you twist and pull, don’t cut.
Shrubs
My three favourite long-flowering shrubs in the garden would be hydrangeas, peonies and fuchsias: all three have many varieties that flower continuously.
Hydrangea
Panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) ower on young or new wood so that means you can cut them back hard in the spring and they will ower that year. ey are very reliable. ere is one called ‘Limelight’ that is hard to beat and always works once it is not too shaded. It will grow virtually anywhere. I have a hydrangea that I have never touched in eight years and it is still going strong in our two-acre garden. In a smaller garden, you can cut itback hard. e other hydrangea I like is Hydrangea ‘Anabelle’. It is also extremely easy to grow. While ‘Limelight’ fades to a lovely lime colour, ‘Anabelle’ stays white and is very popular because unlike the ordinary hydrangeas, it is not a ected by late frost.
Fuchsia
e small- owered Fuchsia magellanica or common fuchsia, will grow anywhere. Because of the mild winter we have had, some of them have not stopped owering. When they do get knocked back, they take about two months to re- ower, kicking in again in June or so. is small- owered fuchsia is the one you see in the ditches in Cork or Kerry. Of the bigger owered fuchsias, I especially like ‘Army Nurse’. I prefer it to the popular ‘Mrs Popple’ and would highly recommend it if you’re thinking of planting a fuchsia.
e ower has more petals and it doesn’t appear to carry any diseases. It’s a newer variety than ‘Mrs Popple’ and you can grow it like a herbaceous plant, if you want, by cutting it back hard – it will just take longer to ower, starting in July.
Peonies
I love the hardy and long-lasting peony rose. Now I’m going to mention one and it is expensive. It’s called Paeonia ‘Bartzella’. It is a cross between a shrub peony and a herbaceous type and it encompasses the best of both. It doesn’t need staking but you cut it to the ground in the late autumn like an ordinary peony. It likes the sun. When you see a good one in bloom, it might have about 50 owers on it, big owers, as big as your hand. I have one in my border here in Ratoath and people come in and say ‘I want that! I don’t care what it costs. I want it.’ It will grow in ordinary clay soil.