a l t e r n a t i v e s Plant List 2002
R
# 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.
R. acris.
Meadow Buttercup. +
Tall, clump-forming
buttercup. The plants will flower repeatedly with feeding and cutting back or
removal of the old flowering stems.
R. acris ‘Flore
Pleno’ - Old and venerable
variety with fully double, bright yellow flowers. £3.50
R.
acris ‘Stevenii’
– An exceptionally tall and vigorous form with romping rhizomes.
The handsome leaves look quite different from all other forms of R.
acris I have seen. Does anyone know its provenance?
£3.00
R. bulbosus. Bulbous Buttercup.
+ The stems of this species
have a swollen base and the flowers are easily told by the sepals which bend
right backwards.
R. bulbosus
'F.M. Burton' - A
cultivar with gleaming, pale creamy-yellow flowers instead of the usual rich
yellow. Gets mildew in dry sites. £3.00
R. ficaria.
Lesser Celandine. Low, patch-forming plant with an enormous capacity for variation in
foliage and in flower. It flowers
from early to late spring, then 'disappears' until late winter.
Cultivars abound. Unless otherwise stated, the flowers are yellow.
R. ficaria ‘Chedglow’
- The large leaves are
interestingly shaped, with a pale
milky overlay and faint purple stripe. From
Martin Cragg-Barber. Autumn.
£2.50
R. ficaria ‘Dappled Grey’#
– The leaves are grey-green with pale silver-grey markings, with or
without a faint purple stripe. The
yellow flowers have relatively long, slim petals. Contrasts well with R.
f. ‘Brazen Hussy’ and similar dark-leaved forms.
Few. Autumn.
£3.50.
R. ficaria
‘Green Petal’ - The double flowers start as tight green
rosettes, gradually opening into an interesting muddle of green petals with odd
streaks of yellow. Neatly triangular leaves with thin paler markings. £2.50
R. ficaria 'Undercurrent'
- An intriguing form: the green leaves, which are marked with silver-grey and
have a slender purple central streak, are also intricately marbled and mottled
with a creamy pale variegation, of pulverulent appearance on the youngest
foliage. The flowers are single, with purplish-brown backs and the yellow
petals, viewed close up, have a curiously scratched appearance - presumably a
floral expression of this particular variegation.
Few.
Autumn. £3.00
R. ficaria ‘Yaffle’-
Distinctive flowers with slightly crimped, reflexed petals that are green
streaked with yellow. The leaves
are green with the usual dark central streak.
£2.50
R. repens.
Creeping Buttercup.
+ An alternatives speciality, ideal for damp, shady places, weedy lawns and
anywhere else you can think of without hurting their feelings.
The (single) flowers in mid- to late spring serve a wide range of insects
with nectar and pollen.
R. repens
'Cat's Eyes' - A selection with the young leaves a striking, deep
chocolate-brown with paler green spots, the ground colour becoming greener with
age. Bright yellow flowers in
contrasting dusky calyces. Best in
sun. Available from summer. £2.50
R. repens ‘Creeping Beauty’ - albeit
rather subtle: in late winter and spring the unfolding leaves are a greenish
gold, becoming greener as they mature but developing a diffuse pale edge which
accentuates the lobed outline of the leaf and perfectly complements the inner
pattern of pale spots. Usual flowers and vigour. £2.50
R. repens 'Dinah
Myte' - A variegated selection
with the foliage variously streaked, splashed and mottled in pure white and in
shades of green from very pale to dark. Light
yellow flowers. The variegation is
liveliest from late winter to early summer.
£2.50
R. repens
'Gathering Gloom' - In winter and early spring the leaves become
finely speckled with dark purple-brown.
By flowering time the effect is all but gone. Usual yellow flowers.
Discovered in our garden. £2.50
R. repens
'Gloria Spale' - A rare form worth cherishing for its primrose
yellow flowers. Found locally.
Looks wonderful mingling with other plants or with its deeper yellow-flowered
brethren. £2.50. I also have a
sister-plant with slightly more overlapping petals.
R. repens ‘Broken Egg’# - An extraordinary form
with variegated flowers: the petals are white streaked with rich yellow, like a
broken fried egg. Normal habit and
foliage. £2.50
R. repens
'In Vein' - A
reticulated form with the leaf veins picked out in a pale yellowish colour in
winter and spring. Quite effective in season. £2.50
R. repens
'Joe's Golden' - A fine yellow-leaved buttercup, greener in shade,
with usual bright yellow flowers. Found
by Joe Sharman. £2.50
R. repens ‘Little Creep’ - A form remarkable for its small leaves of a very pale yellow colour
when young. Much less vigorous than usual. One to fret over. £2.50
R. repens ‘Nearly Orange’# – Perhaps not quite an orange-flowered
buttercup, but well on the way. £2.50
R. repens
var. pleniflorus -
Vigorous form with pointed leaf divisions and tightly double, golden-yellow
flowers tinted green in the centres that are very long-lasting.
£2.50
R. repens,
semidouble - The flowers regularly have ten or more petals, but
these do not fill the centre to replace the stamens. A charming form which in good conditions produces crops of flowers
from spring to autumn. £2.50
R. repens ‘Snowdrift’#- A
pure white-variegated form (with crimson pink markings in spring) given to me by
John Newbold and discovered by Tim Hooker in his Dorset garden. The variegation
sometimes disappears but is very exciting when in full swing.
Peg down and pamper the plantlets or they will shrivel and die (as did
most of mine last year). Plantlets
available from summer (I hope). £3.00
R. repens ‘Time Bomb’# - This fascinating form adopts an intense streaked and mottled variegation
of pure white and grey-green during its flowering season.
Even the flowers are variegated in combinations of matt and glossy
yellow, a phenomenon which may distort the petals.
Plants look completely normal the rest of the year! £2.50
R. repens ‘Timothy Clark' – A
tall, sturdy form with tightly double flowers and substantial, shiny leaves.
Seems almost reluctant to creep. £3.00
RUMEX
DOCKS AND SORRELS
R. acetosa. Common Sorrel.
The
sour young leaves are great in salads.
R. acetosa ssp. acetosa ‘Saucy’
– Our own delightful variegated form in which the foliage is streaked, marbled
and finely spotted with a mixture of cream, pale green and white and is a lovely
rich shrimp colour when young. Very
occasionally reverts. A female
plant. Some seedlings will be true. £4.00.