Sage Advice - William Robinson

"One of the first things the lover of flower gardening should do is to get a clear idea of the distinction between gardening and botany. Gardening is an inexhaustible art; botany is a world science, and the great mistake is to consider gardening from the point of view of the botanist."

William Robinson, writing in the Preface of the 1934 edition of The English Flower Garden

Image of William Robinson courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

On the naming of plants (part 1)

Like many students before me, I had to learn to identify a large and diverse range of plants during my formal horticulture training. As well as identifying the plants in tests, I had to write down the genus, species, variety and family for formal assessment by our lecturers. Marks were given for correct identification and likewise deducted for spelling and other stylistic mistakes. Although I didn't appreciate it at the time, these exercises taught me to be aware of botanical variations as well as learning the scientific language of botany. Now, many years later, I have learnt to enjoy repeating the many tongue-twisting names invented by scientists from the time of the late 18th century. Two personal favourites are Parthenocissus tricuspidata (Boston Ivy) and Ceratostigma willmottianum (Chinese Plumbago).

Many gardeners are bamboozled
by the scientific names of plants

While botanists and many horticulturists are happy to use scientific names this is not so with most home gardeners who find this elitist technical language as incomprehensible as the artificially constructed 19^th century European language Esperanto. So why do we persist in using scientific names?

The standard response given by horticultural educators is that there is only one scientific descriptor given to a plant while there are many different common names given to the same specimen; this, according to the educators, often leads to confusion. This is indeed the case with the east Asian climber Parthenocissus tricuspidata, which as well as being known in English as Boston Ivy is also called Japanese Creeper, Japanese Ivy and Grape Ivy. On a personal note, my parents once had this plant growing on the front of their home for many years and erroneously called it Virginia Creeper, an epithet given to another member of the genus.

While it is true there is only one official botanical name given to a plant at one time it may have had many other scientifically sanctioned names in the past. Many of these were published in floras and in nursery catalogues and therefore persist to the present day. Many in the nursery world fall in love with a particular name and refuse to change labels whatever the scientists pronounce as correct. One of the few local botanists who have tried to unite the disciplines of botany and horticulture is Roger Spencer of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. Spencer regularly writes articles for the trade press where he updates changes in the botanical names  given to plants.

One organisation that has tried to inform the public of historic changes in scientific names is the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales (HHT). A free access website managed by HHT is the Colonial Plant Database. Keying in the name of a modern plant name supplies a list of variant plant names and the time of introduction to Australia (if the plant was first introduced in the 19th century). http://collection.hht.net.au/firsthht/searchColonialPlants.jsp?linkN=1.3

While most horticultural educators prefer the naming of plants by the binomial name method (genus and species name) there have been some dissident opinions. The Irish-born garden writer William Robinson (1838-1933) had strong views on the naming of plants. While recognising the need for botanists to use scientific descriptors he found little reason to use them in the home garden. Robinson, writing in The English Flower Garden vented his views on the subject:

It is best to speak of things growing about our doors in our own tongue, and the practice of using in conversation long Latin names, a growth of our own century, has done infinite harm to gardening in shutting out people who have a heart for a garden, but none for the Latin of the gardener. There is no more need to speak of the plants in our gardens by their Latin names than to speak of the dove or the rabbit by Latin names, and where we introduce plants that have no good English names we must  make them as well as we may.

While Robinson’s views are thought prevoking, his romantic perspective is somewhat naive. Whether we like it or not the persistent use of scientific naming in the horticultural world will continue well into the future. While it is important for botanists to inform horticulturists and gardeners of changes it is onus on the nursery trade to respond to these changes. If they don’t we might as well follow Robinson’s view and rely on using common names.

In a future post I will write about the good and bad ways to  label plants in the garden.

Garden Craftsmanship in Yew and Box

One of the treasures of my library is a 1925 book on hedge making originally owned by my maternal grandfather. Garden Craftsmanship in Yew and Box by Nathaniel Lloyd (1867-1933) is a how-to manual for the construction and maintainence of formal hedges and topiary. Formal hedges made of european yew (Taxus baccata) and Box (Buxus spp) became fashionable in late 19th century grand British gardens and Lloyd's book reflects their popularity in the following century. While the text is minimal the book includes a series of instructive photographic images showing how to maintain the formality of the planting.

An instrument for determining the batter of a hedge
photo from Garden Craftsmanship in Yew and Box 

Nathanial Lloyd based his garden advise on the hedges he laid out at his Great Dixter home in East Sussex, England, after he purchased the Tudor-era property in 1910. Many years later Great Dixter became world famous as the stunning garden of Nathaniel's youngest son, the provocative garden writer, Christopher Lloyd (1921-2006). While the gardens originally laid out by Lloyd senior have evolved into a landscape dominated by flowering plants, many of the original hedge and topiary plantings from his time survive giving the current garden structure.

Testing level of old hedge top with a short batten and spirit level
photo from Garden Craftsmanship in Yew and Box 

Not everyone appreciated Lloyd's book at the time of its publication. One harsh critic was the garden writer William Robinson (1838-1935) who described the work as 'the poorest book that so far has disgraced the garden'. Robinson, a vocal advocate of wild or natural looking gardens despised the geometric formality that Lloyd's monograph advocated. Despite this criticism, Garden Craftsmanship in Yew and Box gives valuable textbook advice to gardeners keen to have neat well grown hedges.

The Great Dixter house and garden as it is today
photo courtesy Great Dixter Charitable Trust

Whether we like it or not hedges can be important elements in gardens. They can help delineate a landscape, provide privacy, and protect the house and garden from wild weather. The happy balance of Nathanial Lloyd's design formality and the looseness and spontaneity of his son Christopher has made Great Dixter one of the worlds great gardens. http://www.greatdixter.co.uk/

In future posts I hope to write more about hedges, topiary, Christopher Lloyd and the garden at Great Dixter.



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Showy Sedums

From low maintenance, sun-drenched, inner-city balconies to rural plants-man's gardens the hardy Sedum genus is a group of Northern Hemisphere succulent plants that should be included in every Australian garden. Tough as old boots these plants - commonly known as stonecrops - can withstand frost, strong winds, and intense heat. Last month my Sedum's survived 45 degree plus conditions in Sydney, while last winter, in my mountain garden, they managed -10c without complaint.

An early advocate of the low growing sedum's was the influential 19th century Irish garden writer William Robinson who recommended them for use in rock gardens or grown under roses. While Robinson chose to ignore their use in Victorian carpet bedding schemes, these plants have maintained their popularity despite changing fashions in garden design. 

Sedum 'Bertram Anderson'

Thoughtful selection will find cultivars that will flower at different times of the year. My winter  flowering yellow Sedum (pictured at foot of page) reliably flowers from mid-winter until early spring. One of my favourite stonecrops is 'Ruby Glow'. In late summer this attractive low growing plant produces lovely reddish-purple flowers which last until early Autumn. A similar variety is  'Bertram Anderson'. This cultivar also flowers in late summer but has darker foliage. Both plants look great in large pots.

Sedum 'Ruby Glow'

Apart from a sunny position and good drainage stonecrops need little care, and there are few pest or disease problems. Propagation is done by dividing the plant during dormancy in late winter.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

For those looking for more drama in their planting schemes, consider the taller growing stonecrops such as 'Autumn Joy', a plant much admired by the late garden writer Christopher Lloyd who found it 'arresting at every stage from bud to seed'. This is a plant best grown in garden beds rather than in containers.

The winter flowering Sedum confusum

Sedums can be purchased from most nurseries, but the tall growing varieties are harder to find. One nursery which sells them is Lambley nursery in Ascot, Victoria. http://lambley.com.au/

There are many books on succulents that make passing mention to sedums. Specialist book mostly approach the subject from a botanical perspective. Readers besotted by this hardy genus may be interested in viewing the website of the UK based Sedum Society http://www.cactus-mall.com/sedum/

Can you recommend some other Sedum varieties? If so what time of year do they flower?