February Meeting - New plants; the future for your garden

Helleborus Walburton's Rosemary

At our February meeting, we were treated to a presentation on the introduction of new plants for gardeners by Graham Spencer.  Graham was brought up by parents who ran a nursery, and rather than go into the same business, he now runs a plant agency which promotes new plants introduced by breeders.  The talk covered a wide variety of topics, ranging from the "whys" of introducing new plants, to a discussion of some new plants and their advantages in the garden.

During the evening, we discovered that one of the major sources of income in garden centers is the tearoom, and that many purchases are spur-of-the-moment impulse buys from well-crafted displays on the walk to and from the coffee shop!  We were also introduced to the concept of "competitive purchasing" from two nominal retirees named Doris and Mabel, who turn up to the garden center for tea; Doris sees a plant that she likes, and Mabel decides that she must have one as well, adding another plant from the display to out-do Doris.  Although this seems rather cynical (and possibly a little sexist - Ed!), the discussion during this part of the evening was very informative on the techniques that are used to manipulate purchasers (supermarkets use much the same techniques) - who knew that yellow flowered plants are usually only purchased in the spring, and not later in the year, or that white flowered plants are the least popular if measured by sales? Although this might not seem correct to us as gardeners, you have to remember that the bulk of sales in garden centers or nurseries are to occasional "instant" gardeners, and not fully committed stalwarts like us (who, me? I'm off for a teacake - Ed)

We also found out more practical information, such as the fact that much of the introduction process is about small annual changes that build up to larger improvements over time. In Gardener's World, one of the presenters complained about the plethora of new varieties in bedding each year, and the fact that the differences were marginal, hankering after the varieties that he had bought a year or two before (I admit to having said much the same myself, though I am a little bit of a Grump, according to my wife - Ed); Graham firmly told us that you have to look at the improvements over a number of years rather than taking the more restrictive view.

Graham also discussed the reasons for breeding particular habits in plants, and for reinforcing their existing traits.  Although we all understand the concept of breeding a disease resistant variety, say  a mildew-resistant sweet pea, which benefits the gardener, we also learned that some of the improvements are aimed at benefiting the nurseryman.  As an example, some types of plant do not do well in pots, and these can start to look dejected at the garden centre; a variety that is more suited to pots will benefit the grower as they are more likely to be sold if they look happier for longer (and they require less specialist care).  Also, the major cost of supplying plants nowadays is in the cost of fuel, and in particular the cost of transport.  If you have ever noticed that many of the plants in the garden centres that do not grow their own tend to be short, mound-like plants rather than the taller versions, look no further than the fact that, if you have short plants, you can fit more shelves in the truck and move more plants for the same cost - apparently, they also look better on the display stands to attract Doris and Mabel!

Brachyglottis Silver Dormouse

Lest you become cynical about the breeding programs, Graham also spent a great deal of time discussing some of the new varieties that he manages and promotes.  In particular, your author was taken by the description of Helleborus Walburton's Rosemary, which is a new introduction that starts to flower well before Christmas, and will continue for many months after.  This variety has a current annual production of about 7,500 plants, against a projected annual sale very much higher (as hellebores are notoriously difficult to propagate by division, the supply is limited), and I was even more pleased to find one the next day in the garden department of Waitrose (according to Graham, currently the fastest growing plant vendor in the country). Another plant that was discussed was Brachyglottis Silver Dormouse, which tends to keep its foliage all the way to the base, unlike many other varieties - this is a variety which appeals as a result to both the nursery and the end gardener as it looks good at the point of sale for longer, while providing a positive improvement to the purchaser.  The variety also has much more silvery leaves than others.

Graham runs Plants For Europe, and many of the plants that he discussed many be found on his website, www.plantsforeurope.com, by following the link marked "PFE's Portfolio of Plants").  Clicking on each of the plants will bring up an illustrated flyer for that plant, with illustrations.