Some brooms with harsh yellow blooms leave me cold, but not this delightful semi-prostrate one with its masses of cream coloured flowers. As its name suggests, it was raised at Kew and, in spring, half inch pea like flowers appear all along its downy stems, followed by hairy seedpods. The leaves are small, tri-palmate, soft and hairy. It is excellent as ground cover, growing about one foot tall and spreading over five feet, and looks stunning cascading over a bank. It thrives bests in moderately fertile, very well drained acid soil in full sun. It dislikes being transplanted, so buy young and plant it out while small.
Propagation: Sow seed in a cold frame in autumn or spring. Root ripewood cuttings in midsummer and semi-ripe cuttings in late summer. |
A magnificent evergreen first introduced to Britain in 1734 from the eastern USA and one of the best late spring flowering shrubs for acid soils. It is similar to a rhododendron with glossy oval or lance shaped leaves and large corymbs of pale or deeper pink flowers. The individual flowers are one inch bowls that are a rich sugar pink in bud becoming paler as they open. When mature, this attractive bushy shrub will be about ten feet with a similar spread and suits a shrub border or woodland setting. Plant in sun or partial shade in moist, acid soil and for those with alkaline soil, it will grow well in a tub.
Propagation: Sow seed at 6°C to 12°C in spring. Take greenwood cuttings in late spring and semi-ripe cuttings in midsummer. Layer in late summer. |
Skimmias are aristocrats of the shrub world with very attractive evergreen leaves, fragrant flowers and bright red berries that persist throughout the winter. 'Kew Green' is perhaps the best for flowers but, being male, does not have berries. The flowers are larger and more showy than other skimmias, making their appearance in the spring as elegant conical panicles of tiny, creamy white, fragrant flowers. The shiny mid-green leaves are broadly elliptical. It has a compact growth pattern, becoming a ten foot dome with a five foot radius when mature. Ideal for a shrub border or a woodland garden, 'Kew Green' grows happily in sun if provided with moderately fertile, humus rich, but well drained, soil.
Propagation: Root semi-ripe cuttings with bottom heat in late summer. |
