Andrew Ward

Plants and Prejudice

Plant and Prejudice – Andrew Ward, April 2nd 2022

In a fascinating talk, Andrew first gave us a definition of a prejudice - an ‘unreasonable or unfair dislike or preference’. Prejudices are very common in the gardening world and, as someone who has several, I was interested to hear this talk. Would my prejudices be justified, and what did other people have a problem with?

Andrew identified the most common plant prejudices and, in many cases, gave the reason for them (particularly vigorous species, ‘difficult’ colours/forms, short seasons etc.). Rather than dwelling on the negatives, however, Andrew identified the plants to be avoided and then offered useful alternatives. These could be well-behaved or more charming species, or new cultivars with long seasons of interest or improved characteristics.

Andrew owns Norwell Nurseries near Newark, a 2-acre site on heavy clay which is in a frost pocket. He therefore has extensive experience of the garden worthiness of the plants that he recommends. Andrew has had a long involvement with Plant Heritage and holds the national collection of hardy chrysanthemums, which provide valuable autumn colour after asters have finished flowering.

The following are examples of the plant prejudices and solutions covered.

·       YELLOW. A cheerful colour, but hard yellow can be difficult to place. Primrose/lemon is much softer and easier to mix with pinks, blues and pastels.

·       DAISIES. Helianthus ‘Monarch’ can be thuggish, but we were given examples of reliable, well-behaved daisies, e.g. H. ‘Lemon Queen’ (one of Andrew’s top 10 plants), Helenium ‘Bressingham Gold’, Anthemis tinctoria ‘Sauce Hollandaise’ and A. ‘EC Buxton’ (pale yellow and responds to the Chelsea chop).

·       DAY LILIES. These are widely disliked, but many modern cultivars are repeat-flowering, and, unlike lilies, they thrive on heavy clay. They can get Hemerocallis midge, but Andrew had examples of cultivars that do not suffer too much.

·       POKERS. Many are considered old-fashioned and boring, bi-coloured thugs, but modern varieties can have more subtle colouring (e.g. yellow ‘Wrexham buttercup’) and are repeat-flowering (e.g. ‘Popsicle’ cultivars).

·       MUSCARI. A problem because some keep their leaves all year and only flower for a short time but ‘Valerie Finnis’ leaves die down and ‘Golden Fragrance’ (yellow) has a lovely scent.

·       INVASIVE/RAMPANT PLANTS. Dense clumps of montbretia may be tolerated in a natural setting, but modern crocosmias are very decorative, including ‘Firebird’, Lady Hamilton’, ‘Hellfire’ and ‘Okavango’. Similarly, Alstroemeria aura appears to aim for world domination, but there are many garden-worthy cultivars, including ‘Orange Glow’, ‘Princess Theresa’, ‘Apollo’ and ‘Selina’.

This talk was very reassuring to the prejudiced among us - Andrew even admitted to some prejudices of his own! We were given a useful list of the plants mentioned in the talk and Andrew brought along a selection of delightful seasonal plants, many of which were quickly snapped up.

I am working hard to break down some of my prejudices and embrace a broader perspective. I will benefit from the many suggestions, but I particularly support Andrew’s final statement: ‘Rejoice in your prejudices – they make your garden yours’.

Jane Chard

EAGG Member