‘Hebes ebes are my big passion’
The first plant I ever grew Crocosmia masoniorum. Of the many thousands of plants I’ve grown over the years, I’ve never fallen out of love with it.
The plant that shaped the gardener I am today
Tricky, but I’d have to say Hebe
townsonii. Anyone who knows me knows I love hebes (I named my daughter Hebe) and I think they’re hugely underrated.
Hebe townsonii started me collecting them and introduced me to Graham Hutchins (sadly no longer with us), of County Park Nursery, who introduced or bred most of the best hebe varieties we know in our gardens. He let me name one ‘Carey Pink’, after my mum, which I’m hoping to release for sale soon. Graham is one of my all-time horticultural heroes.
My favourite plant in the world
Although I love different plants depending on the time of the year, place, or purpose, I do have a great fondness for the perfectlyshaped tree of the hornbeam,
Carpinus betulus, growing at the entrance to Hadlow College in Kent. It has the most beautiful, statuesque shape and always seems so welcoming.
The plant that shaped my life
Strangely, it’s probably the alpine shrub, Sorbus reducta. I worked in a local garden centre in Crail, Fife, as a teenager and became fascinated by this compact species. Great foliage, flowers, then fruit and autumn colour. I was due to study laser engineering and optoelectronics, but this moment started a greater interest in plants that ultimately led me to a degree in garden design at the University of Greenwich. I later lectured at both the University and Hadlow College, and my life has been very much focused in this direction ever since.
The plant that’s made me work hardest
Snowdrops. Lots of miles have been travelled and money spent as a collector, but it’s worth it!
The plant I’d like to grow more of
Out of all the many things I think I’d have to say fruit and veg. There’s nothing better than home-grown crops. I grew a dwarf, plum tomato called ‘Tropical Ruby’ for a few years. What a tasty and attractive variety!
The plant I am in human form
I’d like to say something like
Hakonechloa macra as it’s classy and effortlessly elegant (and like me, prefers shade over sun – it’s a Scottish thing). Being realistic though, I’d probably be the Amur maple, Acer tataricum ginnala, as
its leaves are pointed like my beard and turn a similar orange-red shade in autumn!
The plant I’d always give as a gift
Although it depends on the person I’m giving it to, for simple flower power and believing that everyone should grow it, hebe ‘Midsummer Beauty’.