News
Double win for MPG’s UK summer tour garden
Members visited Marwood Hill Garden, Devon, at the end of June as part of the annual UK summer gardens tour. The garden has this week won both an RHS gold medal and the best Plant Heritage exhibit at Hampton Court Palace. Marwood holds four National Collections, including the prize-winning collection of Astilbe, which they started in 1990 and contains over 200 different species and cultivars. The display of plume-like upright plants is captured here by John Fielding. The UK gardens tour also included other outstanding gardens and a guided wild-flower walk on the sand dune reserve of Braunton Burrows, home to many rare plants and animals.
Puya alpestris flowers for first time at Kew
This mountain puya (Puya alpestris) is in bloom for the first time at RBG Kew. Native to the Chilean Andes, it is a relative of the pineapple plant and some of them flower only once in their lifetime. Its blue nectar-filled flowers attract insects and birds but its leaves are lined with spines. Thank you to Angela Fenhalls for telling us about this.
Competing for the wow factor
A begonia bred by MPG management committee member John Fielding is one of seven finalist in the annual FleuroStar contest in the Netherlands and Germany which ends this week. Begonia rex SpaceStar Maia is a versatile compact indoor and outdoor plant suitable for containers, hanging baskets and bedding with appeal to retailers because of its relatively long shelf life. An attraction for growers is that it can be grown in energy-saving cooler temperatures. It is now being bred and marketed by Beekenhamp Plants, Maasdijk, Westland, Netherlands.
Alpines supplier closing down
The Perthshire family firm Pitcairn Alpines has been rearing bulbs, some rare, since opening in 1985 as a wholesaler but is closing in preparation for the retirement of the owners. Last online orders from their web shop will be 1 August 2022. Crocus chrysanthus ‘Herald’, shown here, is already out of stock but bargains remain. Buyers can expect to wait a few years for small bulbs to mature and flower. Click here for website.
New president of Cyclamen Society announced
We were pleased to learn that our member Melvyn Jope has been appointed president of the Cyclamen Society. His interest in cyclamen is well known and some members will have met Melvyn when he took part in MPG visits to Jordan, Armenia, Crete and the Peloponnese, and many others enjoyed his talk about wild plants in Greece which can be watched again here. This photo shows Melvyn on his recent trip to Gramos, Greece.
Early entry RHS Chelsea tickets
Tickets for members who have booked for early entry to RHS Chelsea will be sent out by email on Monday 9 or Tuesday 10 May. The image – which you can enlarge by clicking on it – shows a display by Jacques Amand, our sponsors for this special opportunity. Thank you to Jacques Amand for their support and to John Fielding for the image.