Mists and mellow fruitfulness at Hergest Croft

Acer pseudosieboldianum: the only maple showing really good colour at present.

A shaft of sunshine (for about two minutes) over Hergest Croft.

I've spent the day at Hergest Croft, near Kington at the western extremity of Herefordshire, as the guest of Lawrence and Elizabeth Banks, principally to look at how specimens mentioned in New Trees have developed. Hergest Croft has one of the finest private arboreta in the country and is full of good trees acquired and planted by successive generations of the Banks family over the past 160 years. In consequence it is always a pleasure and education to go round the grounds; unfortunately it was another rather gloomy day, but at least it had stopped raining.

It seems as if it is not going to be a very good autumn for leaf colour, but berries and fruits are abundant and many are looking good now, as seen here. Preparations were under way for the annual Plant Fair and 'Celebration of Apples' at the weekend, which should be an event well-worth attending.

A very pretty small-fruited Cornus kousa (BSWJ 1230)

Sorbus pseudohupehensis

"Sorbus" megalocarpa - the generic status of these Asian entire-leaved species is far from clear.

Raindrops on Tropaeolum speciosum.

Good plants on a grey weekend

Vitis vinifera 'Spetchley Red' at Cotswold Garden Flowers: a superbly coloured vine.

Despite dingy, grey weather I've been taking my friend Jim Fox from Seattle around to visit gardens and nurseries. It's been a great opportunity to look at a range of plants that perform well late in the season - and there are plenty of them. Here are a few.

Chrysanthemum 'Posie' at Cotswold Garden Flowers.

Tanacetum parthenium 'Rowallane' at the Garden House, Condicote. Sibylle Kreutzberger told us it should be propagated by cuttings in spring.

Various Salvias and Hydrangea paniculata at Condicote.

The outstandingly floriferous Dahlia 'Oreti Bliss' at John Massey's garden, Ashwood Nurseries.

The herbaceous border in John Massey's garden, with Argyranthemum 'Jamaica Primrose' in the foreground.

Hydrangea paniculata cleverly paired with Nerine bowdenii by John Massey.

Melianthus major 'Antonow's Blue' and Rehmannia piasezkii, at John Massey's.

Big apples

'Bushey Grove' with a comparison 'Cox's Orange Pippin'

The two huge apples shown above were grown by my father, and with another pair formed part of his winning entry in the village flower show in early September. They are a cultivar called 'Bushey Grove', which was raised by a Mrs Good in Bushey Grove, Hertfordshire, and introduced in 1897. It is now a rare cultivar, but is maintained in a few collections. How it came to be in my parents' garden is an interesting story.

Prior to his retirement my father was a minister in Bushey and in his flock was an elderly couple, Peggy and Lionel Hamilton. Peggy (b. 1914) lived in the same house all her life, with her husband moving in when they married in 1935. When she was a very young girl her father planted a tree of 'Bushey Grove' in the garden - it was presumably a well-known local cultivar at that time: she grew up with it and it was cherished all her life. The huge fruits were an annual feature at the harvest festival. 

In their later years Peggy and Lionel worried about what would happen to their tree; as well as its sentimental value they knew it was by then a rarity. They mentioned this to my father, who told the story to me. I made enquiries about getting it grafted and one very grey and wet day in 2004 went to Bushey and took scionwood from the tree. It was sent to Sarah Juniper, daughter of the apple expert Barry Juniper (one of my former tutors) and a specialist shoemaker - see her fascinating website here. Sarah used a couple of different rootstocks, and sent the newly grafted trees back by post.

The Hamiltons celebrated their diamond wedding in 2005, shortly before Lionel's death: Peggy died in the following year. They knew the tree had been successfully propagated, and when large enough one of the young specimens was presented to Reveley Manor, part of the Bushey Museum and Heritage Centre to maintain the cultivar's presence in the area. It's not known what happened to the old tree after new owners moved into the house.

'Bushey Grove' is classified as a cooker: my mother says it makes excellent pulp. I found it to be on the pleasant side of bland when I tried it this afternoon, but I think the fruits are past their peak. They're very waxy, and very aromatic, which is always a nice feature in an apple, and with their size and rich colouring they're extremely decorative. These two weighed  708 g (25 oz).

Tradition and innovation at the RHS London Harvest Show

The RHS London Harvest Show - always a great day in the horticultural calendar.

The Duke of Marlborough's 'Muscat of Alexandria': the Blenheim grapes comprehensively outdid those from Chatsworth in this year's ducal competition.

Apples in the Lindley (Old) Hall.

Len Stebbings of the National Vegetable Society dispenses advice.

'Herbarium Poetry' readings in the Harvest Hangout

The American grass Setaria macrostachya shown by the LOndon Group of Plant Heritage in their excellent display from members' gardens.

A laced pink seedling shown in the National Carnation Society competition.

Michaelmas daisies at Old Court Nurseries

Symphyotrichum novi-belgii in the Picton Garden - a reminder of the wonderful diversity of Michaelmas daisies.

This afternoon, in glorious weather (the hottest October day recorded in England), we visited Old Court Nurseries in Colwall, near Malvern, which has been associated with the selection and promotion of Michaelmas daisies for over a century. Started by Ernest Ballard in 1906 it has been run since the 1950s by the Picton family, now on their third generation. The history of the nursery, and full online catalogue is available from their website.

Although one visits the nursery, it's really the adjacent Picton garden one goes to see - a small entry fee is payable - where there is a magnificent display of daisies, arranged largely by type, but there's also an interesting assortment of woody plants and shade-tolerant species including some good ferns. The nursery majors on Michaelmas daisies, but has a few 'supporting cast' in the form of Aconitum, Rudbeckia etc.

The Picton Garden is adjacent to the nursery - a view over the S. novi-belgii display, just at its peak.

The issue of what to call these plants arises, however. Traditionally all Michaelmas daisies - itself a broad term - have been called Aster, but in recent years genetic analysis has shown the group to form two very distinct lineages, one from Eurasia and Africa, and the other American in origin. In consequence the huge genus Aster has been subdivided into numerous small genera, each with distinct ancestry. In this scheme the genus Aster is European or Eurasian, with A. amellus being the type species, while the familiar American Michaelmas daisies are placed into Symphyotrichum. British gardeners, and indeed botanists, have been very reluctant to accept these clearly demonstrated genetic differences, with the result that Aster is still in use for the whole lot, but in the American gardens I've visited in the past few weeks the change has been made and the plants are labelled Symphyotrichum. My preference is always to recognise a classification based upon repeatable, scientific methods, in which shared single ancestry is demonstrated, so although it's quite difficult to make the change mentally, I'm adopting Symphyotrichum and the other genera into which the old broad Aster was split.

Aster amellus 'Gründer'; this European species remains in Aster.
I had not seen this cultivar before - it's superb, with strong stiff stems. Unfortunately the stock was all sold out.

Another true Aster: A. trinervius var. ageratoides 'Starshine' - a good, short plant.

Symphyotrichum novi-belgii 'Melbourne Magnet'.

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Colwall Galaxy'  - a fine selection from Old Court Nurseries.

S. novi-belgii (or is it a hybrid) 'Beechwood Charm', with small, single, intensely pink flowers: a pot of this accompanied us home. It will be planted next to Aconitum 'Royal Flush' next year.

Coruscating coleus



in Graham Blunt's garden, Nutley, New Jersey

In my so far quick look at the October issue of The Garden I notice that Nigel Colborn's opinion piece discusses his liking for coleus and the issues of taste in gardening that they raise. Travelling around the eastern states this month I was astonished by the wonderful array of coleus cultivars that are available there and widely used to add great richness to the garden display. As with many sumptuous foliage plants they clearly thrive in the pseudo-tropical heat, humidity and (at least latterly) wetness of the east coast summer and make stunning combinations possible. Such richness and diversity in summer bedding may not be a viable option for us in England, with our cooler summers, but there's no problem growing coleus here. Tasteless? I don't think so.
Coleus is the English name for plants derived from what has been known as Solenostemon scutellarioides, a southeast Asian plant with variably coloured and marked foliage. The cultivars are still often known as Coleus blumei, but botanists now place Solenostemon in the genus Plectranthus, so Plectranthus scutellarioides is the correct name for all these fabulous forms. I was not able to ascertain the cultivar names of most of the clones I saw, so here I've only indicated the garden in which I saw them growing.



around the fountain, Bartholdi Park, Washington D.C.



'Alabama Sunset' in Graham Blunt's garden, Nutley, New Jersey

'Religious Radish', at Wave Hill, New York

at Wave Hill, New York

'Inky Fingers' in Graham Blunt's garden, Nutley, New Jersey

'Red Velvet', at Wave Hill, New York

at Frelinghuysen Arboretum, New Jersey

Home to an autumnal garden

View over the garden from the new border: Coreopsis 'Incredible, Incredible' at the front.

An overnight flight from Philadelphia brought me home this morning, after three weeks away, to a garden that has changed from summery to autumnal, but is still full of colour and interest. Here are a few snaps, taken on a glorious sunny but fresh day.

Achillea cv, Aster x frikartii  'Wunder von Stafa', Aster 'Freda Ballard' in the new border.

Crocus pulchellus x speciosus

Aster 'Little Carlow'

Colchicum 'Dick Trotter'

Zauschneria californica 'Dublin' and Lespedeza bicolor 'Gibraltar'

Up the garden path in the late afternoon.