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Viscum album
Mistletoe has fascinated humans for millennium, many plants have superstitions attached to them but mistletoe seems to have attracted more than most. It’s not hard to understand that a clump of evergreen leaves growing out of dormant tree in midwinter would grab the imagination. The druids are said to particularly venerate mistletoe growing on an…
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Prunus laurocerasus
The cherry laurel is one of the most widely planted screening plants in gardens having reached western Europe by the end of the 16th century and is recorded in cultivation in Britain in the 17th century. It has been cultivated that extensively its geographical origins seem to be a little hazy but would appear to…
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Garden Myths: Number 9
Evergreens don’t lose their leaves. It is an old misconception, older enough for me to be for warned by my amenity horticulture lecturer, that people think by choosing evergreen you will not have to clean up fallen leaves. The logic is easy to see; if the plant is evergreen it has leaves all the time…
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Taxus baccata
The Yew tree is an easily recognisable plant of gardens and the countryside, being one of the few native British plants to be widely grown as an ornamental plant. It is a very adaptable plant growing in most situations with the exception of water logged ground and it responds very well to cutting. This, with…
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Fatsia japonica
One of the classic garden plants for shade Fatsia japonica is much admired for its large, glossy, evergreen leaves and easy temperament. It grows happily in any reasonable garden soil and does particularly well in shade, though not so well in dry shade. It is also tolerant of a maritime garden though its large leaves…
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Eucryphia × nymansensis ‘Nymansay’
This may not be a very popular plant; I fear the name may put off some, but it should be far better known. Not only is it an evergreen with attractive foliage all year round but every late summer it disappears under a mass of white flowers. Though not spectacular individually they are borne in…
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Olearia x macrodonta
The “New Zealand Holly” rightly earns is common name; its pointy edged leaves make look a lot like a grey holly leaf. They can be a little tender but are sufficiently tolerant of salt laden winds that that do well near the coast. This makes them a valuable plant in seaside gardens where their tolerance…
