My Life in Plants
First plant I ever grew
When I was about 12 or 13 I had a Saturday job in a local nursery in my home town of Rochdale, and with my wages, I bought several begonia tubers, the large, floriferous type. I loved growing them, and the brighter the better in those days! I also grew tomatoes, but none ever made it into the kitchen!
The plant that shaped the gardener I am today
Our native honeysuckle
Lonicera periclymenum. I just remember walking the lanes and hills around Rochdale and when on holiday down the Llŷn peninsula in North Wales with my mother, taking every opportunity to breathe in the sweetly-scented perfume.
My favourite plant in the world
It takes a lot to beat the Himalayan poppy, meconopsis. Who couldn’t love the fantastic plant that produces a profusion of delicate blue flowers? I’ve seen them growing in China, in the hills of northern Yunnan, and when feeling a little blue myself, it’s this blue that raises my spirits!
The plant that changed my life
The English oak tree. I just love the magnificence of them, the way they play host to a
magnitude of insects and other organisms, and as a child, I was always climbing them!
The plant that made me work the hardest
It has to be meconopsis again – they’re absolute devils to grow! When you get it right, they’re the most fantastic thing and worth all the effort. The best I’ve ever witnessed are at Branklyn Garden in Perthshire.
The plant of which I’d love to grow more
I keep promising myself an allotment, but don’t have enough hours in the day presently. So, it would have to be traditional vegetables associated with Sunday dinner. If I chose one, it would be cauliflower, but with cheese sauce!
The plant I am in human form
I’d be a wildflower. When I was younger, I remember watching a huge Atlantic storm colliding with a rocky shore, and seeing the beautiful sea pink, Armeria
maritima, in full flower.
The plant I always give away as gifts
This would be anything from seed. After sowing, watching them germinate and then nurturing the plant to fruition is the most fantastic learning experience for anyone, particularly the younger generation.