Three things that are not necessarily intrinsically exciting, but I grew them all from seed, so they are special to me.
Magnolia maudiae
A seedling Rhododendron, the parent was in seed when I visited [redacted] , so I didn't know what the flowers were like. I had selected it for the russet indumentum, which isn't well developed in the seedlings. But I have flowers.
This is the hybrid between Euphorbia mellifera and Euphorbia santamariae. Since the latter was raised to species level the hybrid now needs a name. I propose Euphorbia x praze-an-beeblensis to keep the Cornish happy.
That Euphorbia is interesting Chad. Is it a plant you developed? Accidentally? Deliberately? What attributes from each of the parents is it displaying?
I think growing anything from seed is rewarding, especially when they grow into fine shrubs or trees, as yours have. I’ve kept a Nicotiana glauca going which I grew from seed from my first visit to Madeira. I didn’t know what it was at the time but the Madeira plant was festooned with bloom. Mine has only ever been mediocre but it’s special to me and brings back fond memories.
I also grow mellifera and santamariae. Last summer I collected seed from my santamariae but only after I had enclosed a couple of branches in a fleece bag for the entire flowering period.
I used a paint brush to move pollen around from flower to flower within the bag. Young plants resulting from the seeds I collected don't look any different from plants I've grown from cuttings.
Perhaps not surprising as although they are not strictly clones, any diffences may not be undetectable to the naked eye, time will tell.
What about a name for these plants?
The hybrid Euphorbia arose by chance. There are several obviously hybrid plants and I only have mellifera and santamariae in the garden.
Mark and John have been watching them with interest, not being entirely convinced they were hybrid, but now they are in flower, they are clearly not simply seedlings of the mellifera under which they have appeared.
Mark was the first to suggest 'praze-an-beeblensis' John agrees the name is technically 'allowed' but isn't keen on it.
Sometimes the simple things give the greatest pleasure.
Phlox bifida just doing it's thing
Daphne x latimer 'Spring Sonnet'
This was bought as a tiny plant many years ago as Daphne x susannae 'Tichborne', but the flowers are a muddy purple rather than the pink I was hoping for. Any ideas if this is the real thing or simply an inferior seedling? The fragrance is good but not filling the air as you would expect when in full flower.
Sacha Hubbard called in on Tuesday, for those that dont know she helped husband Ray with the running of Hill House nursery which sadly closed last August, when chatting I dug out some pictures from 2015 when Ray was still alive.
It's so sad when these specialist nurseries fold. They used to have some very tempting stuff but if I remember correctly, they didn't have mail order. I know I would have been a regular customer, especially when I had the big garden.
It amazes me Charlie how much you get into your vans. At the Dorothy Clive Garden PHF, the Roseland House tables seemed to be vast and were constantly bombarded by streams of buyers, at least while Alix and I were there. I hope it was a fruitful day for your son.
Yes Chris did well at Dorothy Clive and set a new record (but he does have a bigger van than us!), we had to work hard at Dixter to beat him!
I tried hard with Ray to get him to do mail order, he hated doing it! but the main problem was they grew stuff in different size pots so packaging was difficult and their prices were generally cheap and he wouldnt charge a flat rate for postage so each parcel had to be weighed before it got paid for and Ray also hated computers! But the main reason it closed is that Matthew his son who worked with him found himself mostly stuck doing admin had a bad back and wanted to retire, and possibly only saw plants as a living, you have to love it as its pretty full on running a big nursery, I am pretty sure Ray would have carried on if he hadn't had his accident
