Crossword

ACROSS

7 Lily family relative with star-shaped flowers, the wise men’s guide? (4,2,9) 10 Patch of ground – disposed of by auctioneer (3) 12 Partly trim edelweiss covered in frost (5) 13 With love, this fruit becomes a tomato! (5) 14 Plant with umbrella-shaped leaves – unusual trademark topped and tailed (7) 15 Judy’s floral arrangement? (7) 17 Type of propagated shoot that’s an alternative to a cutting (5)

18 Birch tree relative – needs a bit of horticultural derris (5)

20 Genus of kiwi fruit vine – I put in anti-acid variety (9)

21 Christmas rose is the ‘niger’ species of this plant (9) 23 Gardening expert Klein’s Yuletide offering? (5) 25 The bramble genus – chafes round centre of fruit (5) 27 Fruits of this conifer are used to flavour gin (7) 29 Shrub/tree with red, peeling bark – somewhat popular, but useless (7) 31 Cereal seed – requires good shower (5) 32 A rhododendron cultivar ‘Muse of love poetry’ (5) 34 A poisonous aconite’s unusual fawn lobes (9) 36 Species name signifying plant comes from a Spanish archipelago (9) 38 Gets rid of garden storage buildings? (5) 40 Cowboys’ show of skill for Daboecia

cantabrica (5) 42 A feature of ivy at this time of year (7) 44 Plant in Artemisia genus distorts worm gut! (7) 46 In tub, a silvery sort of herb (5) 47 __ fir: stately Christmas tree that retains its needles (5) 49 Filbert, a little diminutive (3) 50 Blooming prickly plant at this time of year! (9,6)

DOWN

1 After cabbage, it’s a Cordyline plant (4) 2 An Abies fir that retains its needles – name before and after random mixture (8)

3 Genus of succulents with foul-smelling, starry flowers – palate is spoilt (8)

4 Dwarf rhododendron bred by 34 down – a help to Snow White (6) 5 Pure white Asiatic lily, central Italian region (6)

6/30 A shade of lilac Dierama, sounds like a wild hyacinth? (4,5) 7 Shoot – a bit of holly? (5) 8 Tall bold flower with ‘hairy’ fall petals (7,4) 9 Relating to Ivy’s partly mulched, er, allotment (7)

11 Plant, genus Leptospermum, also called manuka (3,4) 16 It goes round… some carrot (oriental) (5) 19 Hang down… a fleshy fruit with a stone, we hear (5) 20 The hollyhock genus in coastal Ceanothus (5) 21 Plantain lily genus has to change (5) 22 Bushy fuchsia with red/white flowers – ‘Premium Bond Selector’ (5) 24 Lily-like water plant and genus of bird’s-foot trefoil (5)

26 A low-growing plant of the Ajuga genus that might be blown (5)

27 Evergreen clematis with creamy-white flowers and popular Christmas tune (6,5) 28 Wine obtained from Ontario, Jasper (5) 30 See 6 down 33 A lilac tulip in Bengali biome (5) 34 Percy, breeder of dwarf rhododendrons – one of three Christmas visitors? (7) 35 Eg hollow-tined tool for spiking lawn (7) 36 Fruit-tree flowers (8) 37 Genus of plants also called Alyssum – I ruin, sadly, in extremes of arboreta (7)

39 Campanula rotundifolia is the __ bluebell (6) 41 Adulterate… centre of cabbages in seed, perhaps (6) 43 Stops flower stalks (5)

45 Syringa tendril conceals access (4) 48 Plantswoman Chatto’s first compact dessert pear? (4)

SOLUTIONS TO THIS MONTH’S CROSSWORD WILL BE PRINTED NEXT MONTH