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Plant of the Day
Wednesday 29 June 2022
In this dry garden the self seeded Eschscholzia californica (California poppy) are blooming. These short-lived perennials are native to Mexico and the south-west of the USA but grow as annuals in the UK.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Wednesday 5 October 2022
At the base of this wall the clump-forming, evergreen perennial Corydalis lutea (yellow corydalis) is thriving in the shaded location. The pale green leaves form mounds of fern-like foliage with bright yellow flowers.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Thursday 19 May 2022
The upright biennial Smyrnium perfoliatum (perfoliate alexanders) will seed around the garden and produces these stunning lime-green flowers during late spring. This plant will thrive in dappled shade and here compliments the trunks of Betula cultivars.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Friday 23 July 2021
In this seemingly abandoned glasshouse the Lobularia maritima 'Snowdrift' (sweet alyssum) has taken over. The air was filled with the sweet honey scent of the flowers. This annual or short-lived perennial will self seed, as it has here, and used to be a staple traditional summer bedding plant.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Thursday 22 July 2021
The biennial or short-lived perennial Alcea rosea (hollyhock) was flowering locally where the plants have grown at the base of a brick wall. There were a range of colours in these self-seeded plants. Unfortunately I’m allergic to the short hairs that cover the plant so I enjoy admiring them in other people’s gardens.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Monday 3 May 2021
The hardy annual or biennial Lunaria annua (honesty, moneywort, grandpa's specs, silver dollar) is a useful self seeder for the garden. It has heart-shaped leaves and open clusters of purple flowers, or white flowers with Lunaria annua var. albiflora, in the late spring and early summer. The flowers are followed by flat, round, silvery seed pods. Plants grown as a biennial (2 year life cycle) will make larger, well-branched specimens that flower and seed in the second year.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Tuesday 23 June 2020
Here the self-sown plants of the annual grass Briza maxima (greater quaking grass) are dancing through a groundcover of Aegopodium podagraria 'Variegatum' (variegated bishop's weed, variegated ground elder) catching the light. The seedheads are on thin stems which have been described as ‘raindrops’. The dark purple foliage of the shrub Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' (smoke bush) acts as a backdrop to help the display standout.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Saturday 23 February 2019
The flowers of Crocus tommasinianus (early crocus, woodland crocus, snow crocus) provide an early source of vital pollen and nectar for foraging bees in late winter. This species flowers early and can easily become naturalised in borders and lawns and will spread by self-sowing. There are a number of cultivars including Crocus tommasinianus f. albus, which has white flowers. In my garden they flower in the lawn with the Galanthus (snowdrops) and here at Hodsock Priory, Nottinghamshire, they had naturalised in this border at the base of a sunny wall. The bees had flown in from some examples of historic hives in the garden.
Jill Raggett
