The Nymans Plant School

Last week’s ‘plant ident’, set up in the gardeners’ mess room

As well as being a Grade II listed garden with a fantastic history behind it, Nymans is also rated by Roy Lancaster as having a plant collection that is in the top five of gardens open to the public in England. We are therefore rightly very proud of that huge collection of very rare plants and because of that we try and make sure our staff and volunteers have as much knowledge of those plants as possible so that we can pass that information on to our visitors. With this in mind, each week a senior member of the garden team chooses a selection of plants that the rest of them team must try and identify and then learn a little bit more about. As you can see from the above picture, cuttings from each plant are placed in water on the window sill of the garden mess room for each set of ‘contestants’ to have a go at! In this week’s blog we thought we’d show you the plant choices from last week so that you can join in for yourselves at home. All of the plants in this ‘plant ident’ can be found in the Walled Garden so you won’t have to walk far to see all of them quite quickly if you pay us a visit…

Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriniana

Also known as the Handkerchief Tree, Dove Tree or Ghost Tree, Davidia involucrata was once considered to be the Holy Grail of exotic flora. Scottish plant hunter Augustine Henry first found a single tree in China, sending a preserved example back to Kew, but when another great plant hunter, Ernest Henry Wilson, was dispatched by the Veitch nursery in 1899 to bring back specimens, he found that it had been felled for building purposes! He later found a grove of the trees overhanging a sheer drop but still managed to collect some material. In 1901 his ship was wrecked on the journey home but Wilson managed heroically to save the Davidia specimens!

The fruit of the Handkerchief Tree

This tree is obviously usually know for the large white floral bracts in late Spring but at the moment lots of our visitors are interested in the hanging fruit too. Each fruit contains 6–10 seeds, which germinate erratically, while the trees themselves may need 10–20 years to flower. Native to south central and south west China, Davidia is named after Father Armand David, a French missionary and keen naturalist who lived in that region. The species name involucrata means ‘ring of bracts’.

Albizia julibrissin ‘Rosea’

Also known as the Persian Silk Tree, this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it beauty is currently flowering well in the Walled Garden, something it doesn’t necessarily do every year. Native to southwest and eastern Asia, it has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM). The Genus was named after Italian nobleman Filippo Albizzi, who introduced the tree to Europe in the mid 18th century. The species name julibrissin is a corruption of the Persian word for ‘silk flower’.

The intricate foliage of the Persian Silk Tree

Another name for this plant is the Sleeping Tree. This is because the leaves slowly close up when it is dark or sometimes during heavy rain storms. This is obviously in response to light levels, the flowers also being more prolific at the top of the tree. This ‘Rosea’ cultivar is much more frost hardy then the generic form of the tree and therefore much better suited to the climate down here in Sussex.

Cornus kousa ‘Madame Butterfly’

Native to Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan, Cornus kousa is more commonly known as Chinese Dogwood. Some dogwoods are grown for their brightly coloured stems in Winter but these larger types bloom profusely in late Spring and through the Summer with large showy bracts surrounding the inconspicuous flowers. As we head into Autumn however, it is their fruit which is catching all the attention. These compound berries are actually quite sweet to taste if you can remove the flesh from the rough skin and are sometimes even used to make wine. There are plenty of other forms of Cornus here at Nymans. In fact in the Walled Garden alone you will also find the following:

Cornus ‘Gloria Birkett’

Cornus kousa ‘Centennial’ with the Nymans Baby Arch beyond

Flowering Cornus trees had many uses for early European settlers in the United States. The wood is shock-resistant, is able to withstand abrasion, and wears smoothly under friction. This wood was therefore used for the likes of barrel hoops, bobbins, farm implements, golf club heads, hayforks, knitting needles, mallet heads, pulleys, rake teeth, rolling pins, sledge runners, splitting wedges, tool handles, weaving shuttles, wheel cogs, and wheel hubs! The powdered bark was used as toothpaste, while both the inner bark and the root bark were used as an antiseptic. The outer bark contains cornine, betalic acid, gallic acid, tannic acid, verberalin, and verbenalosida, and so many physicians made medicines it. They were listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1894 and in the National Formulary from 1916 to 1936.

Jovellana violacea

Also known as the Slipper flower or the Teacup Flower, this unusual rarity from Chile hides away at the far end of the Walled Garden here at Nymans but it really is worth seeking out. It was brought back from Edinburgh Botanical Gardens by our head propagator Charlene a few years ago and she plans to take cuttings to make lots of new plants this Autumn. This herbaceous perennial is in the Calceolaria family but the leaves when crushed produce a very strong spicy mint fragrance. This South American stunner is similar to the slightly more common Jovellana punctata, although that particular plant has white flowers instead of pink.

Colletia cruciata

This rare South American oddity is one of the spikiest, spiniest plants you are ever likely to see and you certainly wouldn’t want to fall into a thicket of it! The large flat section are actually modified stems with the leaves themselves being very small and insignificant and only forming on new growth. The white flowers begin to arrive in early Autumn, and while also small, are heavily scented of vanilla, but just go careful of the spines if you try and give them a sniff!

Guess what the common name of this plant is!

As you can see from the picture above, the very apt common name of Colletia cruciata is the Jetplane Plant! Other names include the Anchor Plant or the Crucifixion Thorn. With the flattened stems being able to catch more sunlight and the thorns stopping predators from eating the plant, Colletia cruciata has adapted very well to survive in a variety of conditions. While it is accustomed to arid climates, it can tolerate regular rainfall if grown in fast-draining soil such as that here at Nymans.

Luma apiculata

The final plant choice from last week should need no introduction to regular readers of this blog. The Chilean Myrtle was featured heavily in a post we produced back in mid August but if you missed it you can play catch up by clicking here. To summarise it quickly for you here, Luma apiculata, previously known as Myrtus apiculata, is native to the central Andes between Chile and Argentina and is covered in fragrant white flowers in Summer, which are very popular with bees, and then deep purple berries in Autumn. Our largest Chilean Myrtle, the stunning stems of which you can see above, was brought back from South America by celebrated plant hunter Harold Comber who also happened to be the son of James Comber, the first Head Gardener at Nymans!

Here are those flowers we were talking about…

…and here are the berries

So the next time you come and see us here at Nymans, make sure you explore the Walled Garden fully on your way around the gardens and see how many of these six plants you can spot. Watch out though, if one of the gardeners see you they might just test you on them! Of course, there is plenty more to see and do here at all times of the year so to make sure you keep up to date with all that is going on at Nymans, don’t forget you can interact with us on both Twitter and Facebook as well as finding out all the important visitor information via our official website. If you want to be alerted by email when each new Nymans Garden Blog is published, simple click the ‘Follow’ button at the top of this page and carry out the instructions.

The Letter Of The Lawn

The Autumn turf care at Nymans is in full swing

The lawns at Nymans may not be the most celebrated part of these great gardens perhaps but there is certainly no danger of the garden team here taking them for granted in any way. A shabby lawn soon becomes very noticeable and can really detract from the overall effect of the planting displays and other garden features. A well-kept healthy lawn however can set off the beds and borders within and around the grassed areas perfectly. There are not many weeks of the year where we aren’t caring for our turf in one way or another but this time of season in particular is a very busy time when it comes to lawn management.

The business end of our newly acquired aerating machine

While the likes of mowing and edging will continue for some time yet until the late Autumn and early Winter temperatures start to cease grass growth, there are two practices which are dominating our turf time right now: namely aerating and scarifying the lawns. The traditional practice is to scarify first and then aerate (or spike) afterwards but this year we have switched things around a little. Once the area of grass in question has been freshly mown, we begin by spiking using the machine you can see in the picture above. This practice improves drainage and also allows better movement of air and water in the root zone by reducing compaction of the soil. A well-aerated lawn will also be able to cope and manage better in periods of drought or waterlogging. For a small domestic lawn, this aerating job can be done simply by pushing a garden fork into the lawn and wiggling it to create drainage holes.

A close-up of the holes made and the plugs of soil that are removed in the process

As you can see from the above image, we are using a hollow-tine aerating machine which means that long tubes of soil (or plugs) are actually removed from the lawn instead of just a simple hole being made as would be done when using a solid-tine version. One option now would be to remove these soil plugs and compost them before brushing a top dressing material of a sandy loam mix into the vacant holes. This process can be a very time consuming and costly one however, especially if like us you have large sections of lawn that need caring for. It is also not necessary to perform this particular part of the lawn care regime every year, so this year here at Nymans we are trying something different. And that is where the next part of the work comes in…

…namely the scarification process

Scarifying (which is essentially vigorous raking) helps to keep levels of thatch at an acceptable level. And what is this ‘thatch’, you may ask? Well, lawn thatch is determined as material such as old grass stems, dead moss and other debris that can build up, almost unnoticed, on top of the turf. Layers of thatch greater than 1cm deep can very quickly impede water and fertiliser penetration into the root zone. As well as hindering drainage, thatch can also encourage weeds and turf diseases to take hold so it is important give your grass a really good going over to remove as much as possible. It is worth noting that turf can be damaged if scarified too deeply however. This is especially important to remember if scarifying in Spring, as the lawn may not recover in the hot Summer conditions.

This is the sort of thatch material that we have been removing from the main lawn at Nymans this year

As I mentioned earlier, scarification is often done before the aerating but this year we have swapped the order because we have found that the process of using the scarifier actually breaks up the removed soil plugs at the same time as it removes the thatch. Therefore, instead of spending time sweeping up and removing the cores, we turn them into a kind of top dressing that can then be raked back into the holes. Before anyone asks why we would remove the soil from the lawns, only to add it back again, please let me explain. The plug that was removed is solid and compacted whereas the material that is left after the scarifier pass is lighter and crumblier and mixed in with the grass blades from the lawn surface making it ideal as a cheaper, easily created top dressing! All that remains to be done is to physically encourage the material back into the holes…

…using this drag mat, firstly in one direction…

…and then in the other!

The remaining thatch and soil on the lawn is then removed with a large lawnmower and the process can be repeated on the next section of lawn. Once this process is complete we will also attempt to perk up any sections of tired lawn by giving them an Autumn feed which is high in phosphates and potash. This will help strong roots to develop over Winter, which will in turn produce healthy leaves and blades of grass next year. It is important not to be tempted to use a Spring fertiliser however as these contain high levels of nitrogen, which encourages soft, sappy leafy growth that’s vulnerable to disease and could be severely damaged by frost. As we head further in Autumn and beyond we will stop mowing altogether of course and simply make sure we remove fallen leaves from our lawns which could smother and weaken the grass, while also providing Winter shelter for unwelcome garden pests. It is also important to remember to avoid walking on your lawn when it’s frosty, as this can also damage the grass, leaving nasty black footprints for a while after.

So the next time you come and pay us a visit here at Nymans, try and look past the dazzling displays of flowers and foliage and maybe spare a thought for some of the hard work that goes into making our lawns look lovely too. Of course, there is plenty more to see and do here at all times of the year so to make sure you keep up to date with all that is going on at Nymans, don’t forget you can interact with us on both Twitter and Facebook as well as finding out all the important visitor information via our official website. If you want to be alerted by email when each new Nymans Garden Blog is published, simple click the ‘Follow’ button at the top of this page and carry out the instructions.

Hail To The Heathers

The Heath Garden at Nymans

There are not many UK gardens that have areas which truely offer visual interest to the visitor during every month and season of the year but here at Nymans we do actually have such a place. The Heath Garden can be found at the furthest point from the main entrance to Nymans but it really is worth the journey to get there. Planted originally around 1902 when the idea of having heathers in a garden in this country was something very new indeed, our heather garden was one of the first of its kind in Britain, and is still lovingly maintained to this day by the team here, and our Head Gardener Philip Holmes in particular.

The heathers here are planted in large drifts, in-keeping with the style in other parts of the gardens at Nymans

Ludwig Messel was keen to introduce as many different species of heather as possible when he first began designing the Heath Garden, cultivars not being available at the time. In the pioneering, experimental spirit that the Messels had when it came to horticulture, Ludwig really threw himself into collecting plants, with heathers and conifers being right at the forefront of that obsession. Some of this passion for amassing such a large collection came from rivalries with other local gardens and gardeners. In fact, the Messel family often used to swap plants with other local land owners, each in turn trying to offer something new and rare to the other while still keeping choice specimens for themselves!

Even when only budding and not fully in flower, the heathers have a zingy colour to them

Most of the current crop of heathers here have been added since the big storm of 1987 that caused so much damage to Nymans and many other gardens across the south of England. We still try to add a few new varieties every year too, keeping that tradition of collecting plants going. We are rightly proud that there will be heathers in flower during every month of the year. During Winter and Spring you will find the likes of the Erica carnea and Erica darleyensis types in flower for instance. In Spring and Summer it will be the Daboecia heathers that will be stealing the show, and as Summer carries on into Autumn the Erica vagans and Calluna vulgaris cultivars for instance take their turn in the spotlight. The Winter-flowering heathers are generally found on the outskirts of the beds whilst the Summer varieties sit in the centres.

Erica cinerea ‘Lilac Time’ is another horticultural heather highlight as we head into Autumn

The soil in this part of the garden, like much of Nymans, is an acidic sandy loam. Despite being in the acid-loving Ericaceae family, not all heathers thrive only in acidic soil. Some will tolerate neutral to alkaline soils too. Here at Nymans however they all seem to be perfectly happy in our soil and also, being pretty tough and hardy, able to cope well in this exposed spot. Elsewhere in the gardens you will also find quite a display of heathers along the Winter Walk. The specimens here, such as Erica carnea ‘Isabell’ or Erica x darleyensis ‘Kramer’s Rote’ for instance, are all exclusive to this area and won’t be found in the Heath Garden itself.

The sharp grass paths really offset the heather beds

Not only are cultivated heathers very attractive all the year round, they are also incredibly popular with bees especially commonly found buzzing around the bulbous blooms. Anyone who has ever tried heather honey will testify that this can only be a good thing! Heather plants are also fairly low maintenance and relatively pest and disease-free. Winter-flowering heathers are not trimmed after flowering while the Summer-flowering types are simply trimmed in Spring to create soft hummocks which reflect the soft rolling hills of the Sussex downs beyond the Nymans garden boundary fence.

One of the many Calluna vulgaris heathers flowering in the Heath Garden right now

There is one bed within the Heath Garden here that is filled with heathers that have a Sussex connection. There are some groups of plants named after areas of Sussex like Calluna vulgaris ‘Crowborough Beacon’ for example and also some named after people associated with the Nymans county such as Calluna vulgaris ‘Edith Godbolt’. This is a very floriferous heather that was named after Mrs Godbolt who originally discovered it growing in her garden in East Sussex. Calluna vulgaris is the native heather and a common sight in upland areas where it benefits a range of wildlife. It has also been equally beneficial to plant breeders, giving rise to myriad cultivars, which provide a huge range of foliage and flower colours.

Morning dew catching on a spider’s web in the Heath Garden

Heathers are historically quite interesting within the British Isles. A drink has been known to have been made from them for many centuries in Scotland, and archaeologists have found traces of a fermented drink made of heather flowers on a 3,000 year old Neolithic shard of pottery on the Isle of Rum. The idea that white heather is lucky was popularised by the Victorians and their love of Scottish traditions. In 1884 Queen Victoria herself wrote about her servant Mr Brown, who “espied a piece of white heather, and jumped off to pick it. No Highlander would pass by it without picking it, for it was considered to bring good luck.” White heather’s luck may have been attributed to it because of its scarcity, in a similar way that four-leaf clovers brought other Celts good luck. Other suggestions include the more romantic notion that white heather grows above the final resting places of faeries, or the idea white heather grew on patches of battle ground where no blood had been shed.

The Heath Garden looks out over the parkland, often grazed by local cattle

Historically, heather was also put to many practical uses. Long leggy stems could be used for durable thatching while a yellow dye was derived from some heather plants. Strong ropes which withstood the effects of seawater were twisted from it and it was also gathered together in bundles to make a variety of brooms. In fact, the Genus name Calluna is derived from the Greek ‘kalluna’, meaning ‘to brush’. On the Isle of Lewis, a particular kind of garden hoe had two rows of wooden teeth followed by a row of heather to smooth the soil behind it. In the Highlands the medicinal properties of an infusion of heather tops were used to treat coughs and colds and to soothe the nerves, while heather tea and ointments were used to treat arthritis and rheumatism. The soporific aroma from the dried flowers was also put to use to make heather mattresses, flowers uppermost and leaning slightly towards the pillow end. In the 16th century James VI’s tutor George Buchanan wrote that a heather bed was “so pleasant, that it may vie in softness with the finest down, while in salubrity it far exceeds it and restores strength to fatigued nerves, so that those who lie down languid and weary in the evening, arise in the morning vigorous and sprightly.” We have plenty of heather beds here at Nymans but not the sort the King was referring to!

Berberis georgeii is one of a number of non-heather plants to be found in this part of the Nymans garden

As you can see from the picture above, the Heath Garden at Nymans is not only filled with heathers, but also plenty of other botanic gems to increase the interest even more. Planted in the middle of the beds and in amongst the feature plants are things which combine well with heathers such as coloured stems on shrubs like Dogwood (Cornus sp.) and trees such as Betula utilis and Prunus serrula (Tibetan Cherry). There are also tall ornamental grasses which provide a good contrast of form, dwarf conifers such as the beautiful blue Abies pictured below and low-growing ericaceous shrubs such as Rhododendron racemosum ‘Forrest’s Dwarf’ for instance. There is even one of our Champion Trees growing in one of the heather beds. Hakea lissosperma, the tree which is the largest of its kind in the UK, is a James Comber original collection and hails from Tasmania and south east Australia.

Abies concolor ‘Compacta’

Hopefully this has piqued your appetite to come and have a look at the heathers in our Heath Garden here at Nymans sometime soon. Of course, there is plenty more to see and do here at all times of the year so to make sure you keep up to date with all that is going on here, don’t forget you can interact with us on both Twitter and Facebook as well as finding out all the important visitor information via our official website. If you want to be alerted by email when each new Nymans Garden Blog is published, simple click the ‘Follow’ button at the top of this page and carry out the instructions.

Salivating Over Salvias

The corner of the Salvia bed here at Nymans

Over the last three or four years, the garden team here at Nymans have been busy building up our collection of Salvias. This is of course in keeping with Leonard Messel’s fascination with collecting plants and other possessions, but the most important reason is for their more obvious aesthetic qualities. From a purely gardening standpoint, adding more ornamental Salvias to our horticultural displays is a bit of a no-brainer, as these stunning plants add so much colour in late Summer in such a huge range of shades and forms. They are also pretty drought tolerant, which suits the low watering policy at Nymans, as well as being relatively low maintenance plants that mostly just get on and do their flowering without too much input from us gardeners. In this week’s Nymans Garden Blog we’ll show you some of our star Salvias and let you know where you can find them the next time you visit us.

Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ is sometimes referred to as the Nymans Salvia!

The widely recognised link between Nymans and Salvias in very recent times stems from perhaps one single variety: Salvia ‘Hot Lips’. One of the most talked about and popular of the modern Salvias, when we started growing this around the gardens a few years ago we had so many inquiries about it that we started to make it available for sale to our visitors. And it is on the back of that one plant that our extremely popular nursery scheme of growing plants purely for sale in the Nymans Plant Centre initially took off. We still grow it here today but it is important to note that there is so much more to the Nymans Salvia collection than that one variety, as you will see below.

Salvia involucrata ‘Bethellii’, or Roseleaf Sage, is a herbaceous perennial from Mexico

The best place to see the Nymans Salvias is in the corner beds surrounding the Rose Garden. Currently containing around twenty different types of Salvia in a huge range of colours, this has the be the part of the garden for all Salviaholics to head to first. As Summer starts to wane and some plants are beginning to be past their best, most Salvias are just hitting their stride. Whether you like soft muted whites and blues or hot pinks and reds, there is certain to be a Salvia in this area for any discerning eye. But rather than go on about them at great length, why don’t we just let the pictures do the talking and show some of our favourites to you instead? Click on the pictures for a bigger, better view…

Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ is a borderline-hardy, vigorous hybrid that blooms from early Summer right through to November in good conditions

Salvia microphylla ‘Wild Watermelon’ (or Baby Sage) is one of the best small-leaved Salvias, thriving in dry conditions. The big bottom ‘lip’ makes this variety really stand out

Salvia ‘Waverley’ is a fast growing, continual flowering plant of American origin that provides a ready supply of cut flowers and acts as a butterfly and bee attractant too

Bog Sage, or Salvia uliginosa (meaning ‘of the marshes’) was described and named by botanist George Bentham and will survive most UK Winters

Salvia microphylla ‘Trebah Lilac White’ has very aromatic stiff foliage and fragrant blooms

Salvia curviflora, also known as the Tubular Bells Salvia, almost never wilts but is best known for its curved lower petal

This Salvia discolor is known as the Andean Silver-Leaf Sage. It will produce almost black-blue flowers from beneath the white bracts later in the year

The reason that so many of these Salvias thrive so well in this part of the garden is for a variety of reasons. Firstly, this area is bathed in full sun for much of the day and is also backed by a tall Yew hedge that provides plenty of shelter. Furthermore the sandy soil here means that the well-drained conditions that these plants love is also well catered for. The beds and borders in this section are looked after by Ness, one of our gardeners here, and she plans to add even more new varieties to this scheme next year. For now though, let’s have a look at some of the other Salvias in this corner of Nymans that are strutting their stuff right now…

Salvia patens is a tuberous rooted tender perennial from Mexico that has soft, hairy petals and leaves…

… while S. patens ‘Cambridge Blue’ is a variant on the species with a lighter, more delicate shade of blue

Salvia ‘Silas Dyson’ is a shrubby perennial Salvia that was raised and named at Dyson Nurseries in nearby Kent

Salvia microphylla ‘Trelissick Creamy Yellow’ is a tall woody Salvia with a perfect built-in colour combination! Named after the National Trust property in Cornwall

Salvia ‘Amistad’ is such a new plant that the breeders have only just applied for breeding rights. “Amistad” is Spanish for friendship, perhaps a comment on how well the flowers and foliage combine

Salvia microphylla ‘Pink Blush’ is bushy, spreading sub-shrub that looks great at the front of a border

Salvia guaranitica ‘Blue Enigma’ is also known as the Anise Scented Sage. Give it a sniff and find out why…

Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae family itself, Salvia is member of the tribe Mentheae within the subfamily Nepetoideae and is one of several plants commonly referred to as sage. Salvias are distributed throughout the Old World and the Americas, with three distinct regions of diversity: Central and South America (approximately 500 species), Central Asia and Mediterranean (in the region of 250 species) and Eastern Asia (around 90 species). The defining characteristic of Salvias is their unusual pollination mechanism. It consists of two stamens (instead of the typical four). When a pollinator probes a flower for nectar, a lever causes the stamens to move and the pollen to be deposited on the pollinator. When the pollinator withdraws from the flower, the lever returns the stamens to their original position. The lever of most Salvia species is not specialized for a single pollinator, as some plants are, but instead is generic and selected to be easily released by many bird and bee pollinators of varying shapes and sizes.

New Salvias being grown from cuttings in our glass houses

The name Salvia derives from the Latin salvere which means “to feel well and healthy”. The verb is also related to salus which translates as “health, well-being, prosperity or salvation”. These both refer to the plant’s historic healing properties and is most likely linked to the sage herb. Pliny the Elder was the first author known to describe a plant called “Salvia” by the Romans, likely describing the type species for the genus, Salvia officinalis. Here at Nymans we don’t use our Salvias medicinally but you can view more of the ornamental varieties in our Summer Borders (more of which you can read about in this previous blog entry) including the following…

This Salvia horminum ‘Pink Swan’ also comes in white and purple versions. The interesting, coloured ‘petals’ are actually the bracts, the flowers themselves being very small and insignificant

Salvia farinacea comes in shades of purple and silvery white. The stiff stems make great cut flowers.

These Salvia ‘Lighthouse Red’ plants may look small but that’s because they have only just been planted to replace early Summer flowering annuals that have already gone over

Hopefully this blog has whetted your appetite for coming and seeing our Salvias for yourself very soon. There is plenty more to see elsewhere in the gardens at Nymans of course if Salvias aren’t your thing however! To make sure you keep up to date with all that is going on here, don’t forget you can interact with us on both Twitter and Facebook as well as finding out all the important visitor information via our official website. If you want to be alerted by email when each new Nymans Garden Blog is published, simple click the ‘Follow’ button at the top of this page and carry out the instructions.

The Chilean Myrtle & The Head Gardeners’ Son

Luma apiculata in the Chilean Borders at Nymans

Although the dazzling display of the Summer Borders is taking centre stage within the Walled Garden here at Nymans right now, there is much more to that area than just our amazing annuals. The prime example of this are the Chilean plants which fill the inner borders of the Walled Garden, and are aptly named the Chilean Borders. Nymans has an extraordinary collection of Chilean plants, despite the massive distance between South America and Sussex! Chilean plants grow remarkably well here due in part to our fertile soil and sheltered conditions within the walls. Through a long association with the country and the skilled cultivation work of our team we now have over 100 different species of Chilean plants thriving outside in Nymans Garden.

The largest of our four Chilean Myrtle plants

One of the stars of our Chilean collection right now is Luma apiculata, or Chilean Myrtle. These large evergreen shrubs not only show off with their older branches clothed with a cinnamon and cream coloured bark, but also with their aromatic white flowers which adorn the stems in great numbers. Later on in the year these flowers will be replaced by masses of dark purple berries. These hardy plants thrive in either full Sun or partial shade and tolerate east, south or west-facing aspects, not particularly fussy whether that spot is sheltered or exposed. They also aren’t overly particular about the soil type they put their roots into. Although The Chilean Myrtle grows along water currents in the Valdivian temperate rain forests in Chile, it romps away in soil that is predominately chalk, clay, sand or loam, no matter whether the pH is acidic, alkaline or neutral. They are also generally pest and disease-free and requite little pruning so what’s not to like?

As you can see they’re very popular with the bees too!

And here is some of that delicious bark in a little more detail

Reaching up to 8 – 12 metres in height with an ultimate spread wider than 8 metres, they can take anywhere from 20 – 50 years to actually reach this size however. Also known as Orange Wood or Shortleaf Stopper, the main areas to find these slow-growing plants in their native habitat are on the Quetrihué Peninsula and on Isla Victoria on the Nahuel Huapi Lake. The most notable Chilean myrtle forest of the Los Arrayanes National Park covers 20 ha of the Quetrihué Peninsula, where the cinnamon-coloured myrtles leave almost no space for other trees. Outside of Chile they are quite rare however so we are lucky here at Nymans to have four specimens in our Chilean Borders. The edible fruit is appreciated in Chile and Argentina while the delicately scented flowers are important for honey production in South America. The Chilean myrtle also has medicinal uses for the Mapuche people of Chile (‘Mapuche’ being the local translation for ‘myrtles’).

Harold Comber
1897 – 1969

The largest of our Chilean Myrtles is known here as one of our Comber Originals. This means that it is one of the actual plants brought back from Chile by celebrated plant hunter Harold Frederick Comber. The eldest child and only son of James Comber, who was Head Gardener here at Nymans to Ludwig Messel from 1895 to 1953, Harold was actually born at Nymans. Initially working in the gardens at Nymans under his father, Harold eventually went to study at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, where he lead plant hunting expeditions to Chile and Argentina, one in 1925-26 and the other in 1926-27. The areas selected were carefully chosen where the climate was considered to be similar to most areas of Britain. His collections were of great interest and during the late 1920’s and early 30’s, many receiving awards from the RHS. In total he brought back around 1200 species from South America, some of which were sent straight to Nymans. Comber also had several plants named after him including Escallonia × stricta ‘Harold Comber’ and Gaultheria leucocarpa ‘Harold Comber’.

Another Comber plant here at Nymans is this Weinmannia trichosperma

Nymans has one of best collections of Chilean Plants growing outside in the UK, in fact the second largest in Britain after only Edinburgh Botanic Garden. The collection is both historic and current with venerable old plants collected by Harold Comber growing alongside new arrivals from the Darwin Initiative or Edinburgh’s Martin Gardner’s introductions. The majority of our plants come from Central and Southern regions of Chile, an area recently classified as the ‘Chilean Winter Rainfall- Valdivian Forests Biodiversity Hotspot’. This area covers 40% of Chile’s landmass, stretching south of the Atacama desert. The Weinmannia shown above was collected by Comber in July 1927 and is a typically Chilean shrub – understated and elegant. Comber gives us an insight into the intricate and painstaking nature of seed collecting when we wrote “I should be able to get plenty of seeds of Weinemannia this year, We have a big axe!”.

Berberis valdiviana

Another Comber find, this Berberis valdiviana was collected on 28th April 1927 and should dispel any snobbery about Berberis as it is one of the finest shrubs in cultivation. Comber was excited to discover it: “Our first camp near the far Western end of Lago Lalog was a success in that we found a new Berberis which will oust Berberis darwinii if it proves hardy and amenable to cultivation. It is a loose, evergreen shrub of vigorous habit, and here in the middle of November is covered with large warm apricot coloured flowers and rosettes of leaves bearing 5-10 stalked blooms”.

This Persea lingue may not look that impressive at first glance but it is actually a Champion Tree as the tallest in the UK

Collected by Comber May 1926 Persea lingue is a relative of avocado. Our specimen however comes from the Edinburgh Botanical Garden collection. Harold was obviously a hardy individual as his account of his sleeping arrangements at this time reads “The open air life is suiting me well, and although at 6000 ft it is very cold at night and windy. I slept quite comfortably outside with two blankets and a canvas, better than in the tent where the noise does not permit sleep!”

The Chilean Borders at Nymans, like much of the garden, is an exciting area that is constantly evolving in line with the historical spirit of experimentation here. The development of these borders will involve thinning-out or removing non-Chilean plants and replacing them with new plants
propagated from our current stock, or grown from seed obtained from botanic gardens such as Edinburgh where much research and conservation work relating to Chilean flora is currently on-going. There is plenty of interest throughout the borders right now including…

…this stunning huge clump of Lobellia tupa…

…the mix of pink seed heads and red berries of the Amomyrtis luma…

…and the unusual jewel-like white berries on our Azara serrata shrubs

So the next time you’re in the Walled Garden at Nymans and you fancy a change of pace from the bright colours of the Summer Borders, why not take a few steps over to South America and experience the charms of our Chilean Borders?

To make sure you don’t miss anything that is going on here at Nymans, don’t forget you can interact with us on both Twitter and Facebook as well as finding out all the important visitor information via our official website.

South Africa – Closer Than You Think!

South African flavour under the bright blue skies of Nymans

In last week’s blog we showed you the Summer Borders, arguably the most colourful part of the gardens here at Nymans right now. Well, running them a close second is surely the South Africa bed, found beyond the house near the Loggia building. The South African bed is a celebration of the plants of the region, making great use of herbaceous perennials, bulbs, daisies and annuals to give maximum colour, playful textures and rhythmic patterns together with bold drifts. In keeping with the Messel family style it aims to have a theatrical element too. The South African Bed is an experiment in hardiness, with the aim to try and have fun, testing new plants whilst increasing the South African collection at Nymans.

The bed in its previous incarnation…

…before it was cleared ready for planting

The South African Bed was designed by one of our current gardeners Kirstin Kelly whilst she was training here back in 2011 as part of the Historical Botanical Gardens Bursary scheme. The clearing of the old bed was done that Winter with the initial planting taking place in late Summer the following year. Tweaks obviously still continue to be carried out now, with tasks like direct seed sowing done on an annual basis.

Kirstin starts to plant out her design…

…with the first stage of planting in the early infant border finished in September 2012

The planting scheme is a combination of two important elements of the heritage at Nymans. The bed was always known historically as the Wild Garden, with records of a wild flower meadow in the area. Staying true to the wild theme we planted a new meadow with a twist, whereby the bed was made up only of South African plants. This reinstates the second historical element – a South African plant collection. The Messels were great collectors of rare and unusual plants and a large important South African collection was amongst them.

Gorgeous soft pinks of these Watsonia hybrids counter-balance the hot colours elsewhere

Other floral highlights include this Berkheya purpurea ‘Zulu Warrior’…

… and these awesome Eucomis bicolor show-stoppers

This year our South African Meadow has been basking in all its glory under the sunshine and blue skies of our long hot Summer. The bed is a real beneficiary of this heatwave and after the mild Winter it certainly hit the ground running with plants such as Melianthus major surviving the frost and growing bigger than 5 ft 6 inch Kirstin herself who planted them! The wonderfully gaudy apricots, oranges and pinks of the Watsonia Hybrids have also been a dazzling success, keeping their foliage thorough Winter for a vital head start in Spring.

It’s not all about the flowers in this border. The foliage of this Melianthus major is stunning too.

The South African Bed, also known here as ‘The Wild Bed’, is now the grand old age of two years old and is really filling out nicely. We’re very pleased with our work but if you’re undertaking a similar scheme yourself there are a couple of things to bear in mind. When planting a new bed don’t be in doubt when you read plant information that gives potential final height and spread. They really will grow as tall and as wide as the information states, given the right growing conditions of course. When it also states that they self-seed prolifically, take it from us, they really do! The meadow is now billowing with hot coloured plants and soft textured grasses. There is a river of orange daisies (Dimorphotheca aurantiaca) running thorough accents of Red Hot Pokers (Kniphofia ‘Nobilis’) as well as tussocks of reeds (Elegia tectorum) for added texture. We like to think of it as a treasure chest of fun colour combinations and rare and unusual plants, some of which we’ll talk you through below…

Seeing the colours beyond through this Elegia tectorum reed is a great way of revealing the plants gradually.

Known as the Thatching Reed, Elegia tectorum is grown in South Africa as a roofing material. This reed like plant comes from a family of plants known as Restios, and it is grown here for its attractive evergreen foliage. Elegia tectorum forms tufted clumps of stunning deep green spikes patterned with brown flower bracts. They flower in Autumn and form attractive seed heads that enjoy a mild and breezy climate. We have situated our plants where the bed undulates down as they like a moisture retentive soil. It is only hardy to -8c however and requires Winter protection in the form of horticultural fleece.

Even the bees love our South African Bed!

Known as Red Hot Pokers or Torch Lillys, plants such as Kniphofia uvaria ‘Nobilis’ (as seen above) have been out of fashion of late but really deserve a bit of a come-back in our opinion. The ones seen here are evergreen perennials producing spikes of vibrant orange flowers from Summer onwards. They are dazzling, flamboyant and architectural. Growing up 2.5 meters high they produce upright accents in this low planting scheme that shout for your attention. Loved by visitors and insects alike, Kniphofia are really useful vertical flowers that come in all sorts of colours from bright reds to jade green, apricots and corral pinks, giving plenty of options to choose from.

Pennesitum villosum ‘Cream Falls’

Pennesitum villosum, or Feathertop Grass, is one of the easiest, most attractive and supremely tactile grasses to grow. Brilliant white, ‘rabbit-tail’ spikes are produced in abundance from these bushy, clump-forming deciduous plants. ‘Cream Falls’ is highly eye-catching as the spikes catch the breeze, adding movement and texture to the border. These grasses are quick to flower and often used as an annual, although strictly they are a perennial. They are not fully hardy however and so may not make it through our Winters but they are likely to self-seed to perform again the following year though. They should flower from July right through to September, reaching about 45cm high.

These South African Daisies really ‘zing’ at the front of the border

Dimorphotheca aurantiaca, also known as African Daisy, Star of the Veld or Cape Marigold, grows to about a foot high, with a dense mass of aromatic leaves, topped in summer by bright orange blooms with a brown centre. It used to be included in the genus Osteospermum, and is still sometimes referred to by that name. These fantastic annuals are easy to grow and flower up to 9 weeks in the Summer months, direct sown here in large drifts to mimic their natural habit in South Africa.

South Africa in Sussex!

If you want to include some South African plants in your own garden scheme and some of ours sound a little too exotic for your tastes, don’t forget that the likes of Agapanthus, Crocosmia, Nerines and Pelargoniums are also from that part of the World. Either way, make sure you come and see our South African bed here at Nymans soon. Along with the sub-tropical planting on the Terrace which is full of drama and big leaves and even bigger colours, and not forgetting the vibrant colours of our Summer Borders as seen in our previous blog, we invite you to come along and enjoy the dazzling fruits of our Summer. Just don’t forget your sun glasses!