Plant of the Day

Wednesday 29 June 2022

In this dry garden the self seeded Eschscholzia californica (California poppy) are blooming. These short-lived perennials are native to Mexico and the south-west of the USA but grow as annuals in the UK.

Jill Raggett

A Rose by Any Other Name

A Rose by Any Other Name

Polar Joy, Polar Heartache. Polar Joy Written April 2009 A few years ago, the wholesale company of Bailey’s Nursery, located here in MN, developed a new tree rose that was supposed to be winter hardy. Trust me, out here on the prairie, it’s not. Several years ago, after touring the growing facilities and trial rose gardens at Bailey’s we were all presented with a free tree rose to take home.…

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Today's #harvest: an immature fig leaf gourd (a.k.a. malabar gourd, shark fin melon, or chilacayote), native to the Americas (from Argentina to California) and introduced to Europe and Asia in the 16th and 17th century. The immature fruit can be eaten like cucumbers. Mature fruit can be used as pie filling, in similar ways as spaghetti squash, or as a substitute for shark fin in soups. It's flesh, seeds, and leaves are edible. This vining plant can grow up to 15 meters long as produce as much as 50 fruits as large as watermelons on a single vine. It is known for its long shelf life and can be stored for months when properly cured. #victorygarden #gardening #permaculture #shortlivedperennial #forestgarden #themoreyouknow #betterme (at Eastside, San Jose) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXEzejfPlmt/?utm_medium=tumblr

Plant of the Day

Monday 4 July 2022

In the Royal Horticultural Society feature garden, the ‘Forest Bathing Garden’, at the Hampton Court Flower Show the Digitalis purpurea f. albiflora (white-flowered foxglove) is brightening the shaded areas of the planting. This plant is a biennial or short-lived perennial.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Saturday 20 August 2022

The fine, wiry branches of Verbena officinalis var. grandiflora 'Bampton' (vervain) support a mist of small purplish-pink flowers which contrast well with the dark green-purple leaves. These plants withstand drought well and continue to bloom.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Saturday 22 October 2022

Flowering well into the autumn is the stately Nicotiana sylvestris (woodland tobacco plant, flowering tobacco, South American tobacco plant) which is a biennial, short-lived perennial or a half hardy annual in colder areas. The plant can reach up to 1.5m high with the fragrant white flowers borne on a stalk that rises from a basal rosette of large leaves.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Sunday 16 October 2022

Providing colour into the autumn Verbena rigida (slender vervain, large-veined verbena) is a low-growing tuberous perennial. It’s not fully hardy and is best grown in well-drained soil to avoid excessive wet conditions. These growing conditions also suit the fine leaved grass Stipa tenuissima (Mexican feather grass) with which it was growing.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Friday 21 October 2022

As a short-lived perennial Oenothera stricta 'Sulphurea' (evening primrose) may not survive the winter but is worth the effort for the scented, lemon-yellow flowers which open from red buds and mature to a soft orange. The plant may self-seed needing a sunny, sheltered location.

Jill Raggett






Plant of the Day

Tuesday 3 May 2022

A wonderful self-seeder between other plants is Meconopsis cambrica (Welsh poppy) with bright yellow flowers and Meconopsis cambrica var. aurantiaca providing a splash of orange. This biennial or short-lived perennial has a tap-root with light green, pinnately lobed leaves. They are easy to grow in situ from seed sprinkled on the soil.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 26 July 2022

This Digitalis ferruginea 'Gigantea' (rusty foxglove) has nearly finished flowering but still makes a great plant association with the upright Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' (feather reed grass) in the background.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 16 August 2022

One of the traditional plants of the British cottage garden is Alcea rosea (hollyhock). The tall stems of single or double flowers come in a range of colours including pink, purple, red, white or yellow. These short-lived perennials, usually grown as biennials, may line a path or be used to give height to the back of a border.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Monday 27 June 2022

In the sunlit patches of the Happy Valley woodland, Orkney, the naturalised Claytonia sibirica (pink purslane, candy flower, Siberian spring beauty, miner's lettuce, Chinese chickweed, Siberian purslane) was flowering. This annual or short-lived herbaceous perennial produces a rosette of fleshy leaves with upright, leafy stems of small, pink or white flowers.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 26 April 2022

Growing in the grassy mounds and cliffs of Orkney were clumps of Silene dioica (red campion, red catchfly). This short-lived perennial or biennial plant has downy stems and deep pink flowers.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Saturday 23 October 2021

Even though summer is over the Verbena bonariensis (purple top, Argentinian vervain, South American vervain) is still creating a display and casting some great shadows on the adjacent paving. This tall, narrow, short-lived perennial thrives in well-drained, moderately fertile soil in full sun and seeds into gravel paths and drives. It has good nectar supplies for pollinators and attracts butterflies.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Sunday 12 December 2021

Next to the compost heaps at Great Dixter, Sussex, a couple of Lavatera arborea ‘Variegata’ (tree mallow, sea lavatera, sea mallow, velvet leaf, wild tree mallow) plants were thriving. This plant grows from seed to be a biennial or a short-lived perennial with semi-evergreen variegated foliage and purple flowers in the summer.

Jill Raggett

Plant of the Day

Wednesday 10 November 2021

In the Alpine Glasshouse at the Royal Botanic Garden Kew, London, the cheerful, bright red flowers of Jamesbrittenia bergae (crimson phlox) looked great against the grey rock work. The plant is a short lived (2-3 years) herbaceous perennial that forms a spreading mound. In South Africa the species is considered threatened in the wild and is listed as ‘Vulnerable’.

Jill Raggett