a l t e r n a t i v e s Plant
List 2002
B
# denotes name of plant which, to the best of our knowledge, is new to cultivation in the period 2001/2002 or which has not been offered before commercially under any other valid name.
*
means that seed may be available.
+
denotes species beneficial to butterflies and/or moths.
Please note double-flowered forms are of little or no benefit as they
lack nectar.
A
large number of the plants listed are of native provenance and many are local.
B. perennis. Common Daisy.
In the wild daisies
thrive in short grass but they can be strangely tricky in the garden.
They are more likely to survive if they are well-nourished and not allowed
to become smothered by neighbouring plants. Pot culture is also recommended, but
see tips below. Endearing, highly
collectable plants.
Here are a few tips for keeping daisies healthy:
-
if grown in pots, divide and repot in fresh compost regularly.
-
never let them dry out.
-
A lightly-shaded spot is far better than a hot, sunny one.
-
check them regularly, removing any
unhealthy or flaccid-looking leaves as soon as they are noticed. Treat them to a
seaweed extract tonic (such as Maxicrop) now and again in the recommended dose.
- why
not put them back in the lawn? (see my new book).
PLEASE
NOTE STOCKS ARE VERY LOW SO PRICES MAY BE PER SINGLE ROSETTE.
B. perennis ‘Aucubifolia’ - Essentially
unreliable variegated form. At its
best the leaves have garish yellow veining on a green background, especially in
winter and spring. They can also stay green.
From Adrian and Elsa Wood’s garden in Tintern. £2.50
B. perennis
'Jocelyn Castle' - A double daisy found on our garden path and named
for my daughter, who probably spotted it before I did. The rays are flushed pale
pink on the upper surface and deep, rich pink beneath, this contrasting colour
showing well on the inner rays prior to expanding. The innermost rays unfurl to
reveal a tiny core of yellow disc florets.
Pretty and less formal than some doubles but not as compact in growth.
Great in the lawn. £2.50
B. perennis
'Miss Mason' - Tightly double, pure-white flowered form, the rays
strap-shaped (not quilled) on a sturdy plant.
£2.50
B. perennis ‘Prolifera’ - The
‘hen and chickens’ or ‘childling’ daisy, a form probably known since
Elizabethan times or earlier. Unpredictable, but when ‘performing’ produces
small green swellings among the (leafier than usual) bracts at the back of the
flowerhead. These develop into
perfect little flowerheads, some on long stalks, some sessile, surrounding the
‘mother’ flowerhead. Sometimes a ‘baby’ will appear (or try to) from the
centre of her yellow disc. Children vary in number, but I have often counted
fourteen of them. Sometimes
individual stalked flowerheads are borne in the axils of leaves growing from the
main stalk. A most variable and inventive plant in its childbearing habits but
(contrary to what I thought at the beginning of last year) does not always show
the aberration. Plants are now only
supplied as divisions of stock that is either showing the aberration at the time
of supply or has shown it within the current growing season, but no guarantee
about future proliferous behaviour can be given. Availability is likely to
be very limited. Plants supplied are vigorous, (but normal-sized), sometimes
producing proliferous seedlings. £4.00
B.
perennis
'Upper Seagry' - The flowers are double in the manner of ‘Jocelyn
Castle’ but are pale pastel pink (pardon) on a delightfully compact plant. A
Wiltshire find from Martin Cragg-Barber.
B.
rotundifolia – Very like our common native daisy but with
spoon-shaped leaves and lilac-pink rays. May not be fully hardy as it comes from
Southern Spain/North West Africa, but has so far survived in a sheltered spot in
our garden. Likes a slightly shaded
position. £3.00