Melanie Bloom - What Gardeners Grow

600 plants chosen
by the worlds greatest
plantspeople

What
Gardeners
Grow

Illustration Melanie Gandyra

Contents

Foreword

In my early teens I remember a tear-off-style calendar on my fathers desk that offered the following words of wisdom: If you give your child anything, give them enthusiasm. It stuck with me.

Finding enthusiasm is one key to a lifetime of happiness. It allows you to radiate an energy that can awaken a new interest in others its contagious. It doesnt matter what someones day-to-day demeanour is like: bring up the subject of their personal passion and an enthusiast is transformed. Even the quietest characters become lively and eager, sharing their joy with anyone whos willing to listen and often those who arent. And when that joy is plants and gardening, enthusiasm and passion can transform lives.

This book is filled with personal recommendations from discerning enthusiasts who appreciate exactly what it takes to make a good plant. They have seen it, grown it and understand its nuances. Now they want to share the pleasure. The breadth of experience within these pages is astonishing. What Gardeners Grow embraces an unparalleled diversity of expertise, from specialist nursery owners and plant breeders to award-winning designers, plant explorers and broadcasters, and it gathers this expertise into one place through recommendations for you. It is a unique and personal insight into their love of plants and their very favourite selections, and it is a priceless opportunity to benefit from their sage advice so you can make discerning choices in your own garden.

Each entry offers a brief glimpse into the mind of the contributor and their tastes and approach to plants. Some gardeners have been reflective and personal, others lyrically extol the virtues of their chosen plants, offer proven plant associations or simply provide a detailed visual description. Cultivation details ensure that you too can make an informed choice, so you can confidently put the right plant in the right place, then proudly name-drop the source of your inspiration, as gardeners are wont to do.

One of the unique features of this book is that it turns the spotlight on a vast treasure trove of knowledge from a hidden gardening world. Among them, unheralded head gardeners at private gardens, with their vast and wide-ranging practical experience, experts at august organisations like the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Royal Horticultural Society, as well as those in charge of the planting at attractions such as Keukenhof and Giverny youll be privy to their personal plant preferences, often revealed for the very first time. The addition of websites means this book also doubles up as an international directory of consultants, designers and gorgeous gardens to visit, while the contemporary yet informative illustrations will be a source of inspiration when painting with plants in your own garden.

Featuring hundreds of plants of all kinds, think of this book as a glorious chocolate box full of treats and surprises. Youll find yourself dipping into its pages again and again, tapping into its energy to fuel your own burgeoning enthusiasm for gardening and plants.

Matthew Biggs, gardener and broadcaster

Publishers note

One thing you learn very quickly when working with gardeners is that they are a truly generous bunch. Theyre not only willing and keen to share their discoveries and their experience, they actively seek to excite and encourage anyone with even a passing interest in gardening.

There are those that want to tell you very specific details about a plant they know and love the exact temperature its hardy to or whether its leaves are serrated or acutely lobed. Then there are those that paint with much broader strokes, preferring to highlight the way a grass catches the evening light or the delicious scent of a salvia. Its something youll notice time and again as gardeners divulge the plants that have captured their hearts. The motley collection of plant descriptions all written especially for this book and listed in no particular order offers a fantastic mix of both approaches and everything in between. But for me, what was most captivating were the stories of discovery: of falling for a plant on holiday, being gifted a cutting by a relative or remembering some magical moment from childhood. On occasion, more than one gardener has selected the same plant and this is where you see personal experience and individual tales really shine through no two plants grow the same and no two stories are identical.

Corralling this much information from plantspeople living around the world was a challenge, but that moment of discovering what the next gardener had to say, and the next and the next, was the greatest thrill throughout this project. Each one was like a little gift, opening my eyes to a new way of looking at a plant or simply a new plant. The advice and tips from each contributor were as unique as they are, but in fitting them all to a uniform format I hope weve made a useful book while allowing the personality of each gardener to shine through, unfiltered. Id love this to be an evolving project with more gardeners and more plants added to each new edition. I look forward to plantspeople getting in touch with this in mind.

I hope the genuine effort we myself and a small but dedicated Bloom team have put in to showcase the knowledge and passion of gardeners around the world is apparent, and this rich book encourages you to return to old favourites and unearth your own new discoveries.

Zena Alkayat, publisher

MARYLYN ABBOTT

Garden designer and writer, UK and Australia

Marylyn Abbott is an Australian gardener known for two gardens Kennerton Green in New South Wales and West Green House in Hampshire, UK. For 15 years she moved between the two, but now gardens in West Green House, a ten-acre garden around a 1720s manor house. westgreenhouse.co.uk

Erythronium Pagoda

Dogs tooth violet Pagoda

I like polite plants and the small Pagoda has very good manners. Over the years it forms larger and more luscious clumps with leaves that are polished and hold their deep green form perfectly. The flowers recall the roof line of an oriental pagoda, or the hats of dancing figures in chinoiserie illustrations, and are held on deceptively strong, needle-thin stems with just a gracious droop. The plants do not invade and are tough mine live in deep, dry shade beneath a mixture of hornbeam and oak trees, returning each season after total neglect. After flowering, the leaves yellow and the plant disappears before coming back in early spring. This erythronium grows well alongside other clump-forming plants, particularly silvered leaves of Pulmonaria Diana Clare with deep blue flowers, and the spotted leaves of P . Smoky Blue. I think I first saw erythronium flowering on a stand in the great tent at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. I lived in Australia in those days and was so cross that I couldnt take the bulbs home. It was just one of many episodes of frustration that eventually led me to move continents. I know it sounds far-fetched, but the desire to grow plants and garden in another climate was overwhelming. Its a challenge Im still trying to overcome.