New Additions for the Garden

Those of you that have followed my blog for a while will gather that I am in the process of completely re-planting this garden and have retained very little of the original planting.

This means I have a very long “plant shopping” list.

It is not a list that has to be bought immediately – but over a period of years.

Living where I do (and not venturing out much) my plant shopping opportunities are limited, the Malvern Spring Show presented a wonderful opportunity to buy some of the plants on my list.

To-day I was reflecting that actually the Malvern Spring Show is the ideal place to indulge in all garden related shopping for a variety of reasons the most important being car parking!

We came by car – albeit Zoe’s car, which fortunately had a boot large enough for 4 ardent gardener’s purchases.  As Zoe had a “gold pass” the parking was incredibly close to the show ground.

This was so much nicer than struggling home on the tube with plants from say Hampton Court.  In fact shopping at the Malvern Spring Show was a very civilized experience.

Apart that is, from the huge choice that was available … Oh and the fact that I had left my list behind in Wales.

So what did I buy:-

Well my first purchase was a little bit of frippery – it wasn’t on any list I have – but I could not walk past this primula without putting it in my shopping bag …err, after paying for it

Primula ‘Francisca’

The next purchase has been on my shopping list for a long time;- Actaea simplex ‘Brunette’ which should do very well in our moist soil.

After meeting Milla – and seeing her haul of herbaceous perennials which she paid a rather good price for Dobby and I tracked down the stand, where I hoovered up 2 Knautia “Mars Midget’, Penstemon digitalis ‘Huskar Red’ and a Carex elata ‘Aurea’ – all of which were on my permanent shopping list.

Dobby and I were both after plants for our ponds, she bought a beautiful yellow waterlily and I got two more plants that were on my permanent list a lovely Thalia Dealbata

And some nice big fat Equisetum

I had noted down some hostas  for future reference, so rather than just having hosta on my planting list I now had the names of some actual varieties,

I wrote down which tulips I would like in the garden for next year – but didn’t order them,

And I wrote down a few things – which I have completely forgotten what they are and will have to look up such as:-

Podophyllum but I neglected to write down which one, or which nursery stand

Disporum cantoniense ‘Night Heron’ (Dobby’s favourite plant – although I have noted “a bit like bamboo with flowers)

Uvularia Grandiflora var pallida (just spotted nice photograph of this on Wisteria and Cowparsley)

and lastly

Dodecathcon meadia f. Album (shooting stars)

So all in all – the shopping part of the show was going swimmingly – I got some great hand-cream for my grime encrusted hands, some beautiful cards designed by Hannah McVicar ….

Then disaster struck I spotted the most delicious thing on the Cotswold Garden Flowers Stand, actually there were a lot of delicious things on the CGF stand but this one caught my eye. It wasn’t on my list. I had never heard of it, it was rather expensive and (curses) they still had some left.

I wondered around the stand with the plant in my hand ….. it didn’t seem to want to go back …. so I bought it.

Of course having got it home it does not look as wonderful as it did on the stand – and I know that I am going to have to wait a couple of years for it to really shine

What is it I hear you ask?

It is a  CHLORANTHUS FORTUNEI ‘DOMINO’

“Scented white fluffy flowers April – May, black foliage goes dark green in June 75cm. Leafy shade”

And look – there is one remaining space in the spring border that is just made for it and fingers crossed the slugs wont find it.