Gardens Illustrated is launching a brand new podcast featuring a host of horticulture’s top talent on 21st March.

The Talking Gardens podcast features conversations with the great and the good of the gardening world about their dream gardens.

Gardens Illustrated’s new podcast: Talking Gardens

In conversation with Gardens Illustrated editor Stephanie Mahon, guests choose the places, people and plants that have shaped their love of gardens and pick the things they would most like to have in their fantasy spaces.

In season one, Stephanie chats to head gardener Fergus Garrett about his fantasy garden, from the borders of Great Dixter, where he has worked since 1992, and the spirit of its creator Christopher Lloyd, to the wild landscapes of Turkey. We also hear from garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith about his new Plant Library at the Serge Hill Project, his work abroad in India and Morocco and his dream of eliminating plastic from gardens. Alice Vincent, author and Gardens Illustrated columnist, tells us why her dream garden would have to include Piet Oudolf-style naturalistic planting and a glasshouse for entertaining friends such as Diana Ross (the garden writer, not the disco diva).

Tune in to find out why head gardener Troy Scott Smith is no longer watering the borders at Sissinghurst; why herb expert Jekka McVicar loves a moon gate; and how gardening saved the life of Charlie Harpur, head gardener at Knepp Castle Walled Garden. We also learn what ethnobotanist James Wong’s imaginary Eden would look like, and what garden designer Sarah Price would never allow in her garden.

Talking Gardens – Season One release dates

• Episode One: Fergus Garrett 21/03/2023
• Episode Two: Alice Vincent 28/03/2023
• Episode Three: Tom Stuart-Smith 04/04/2023
• Episode Four: James Wong 11/04/2023
• Episode Five: Troy Scott Smith 18/04/2023
• Episode Six: Jekka McVicar 25/04/2023
• Episode Seven: Charlie Harpur 02/05/2023
• Episode Eight: Sarah Price 09/05/2023

New episodes will be released every Tuesday, subscribe so you never miss one! The Talking Gardens podcast is sponsored by J Parker’s Bulbs

Garden designers have been speaking up and showing their support for a new campaign against artificial lawns and plants launched by the Society of Garden Designers.

‘Say No to Plastic Grass and Plants’ is a new initiative from the Society of Garden Designers (SGD) to highlight the environmental damage that is caused by the growing trend for plastic grass and plants. Supported by the Royal Horticultural Society and the Landscape Institute, the campaign aims to encourage homeowners to opt for keeping lawns and other forms of greenery instead of replacing them with plastic alternatives.

Plastic grass is rising in popularity

The three organisations are encouraging millions of homeowners, gardeners and garden designers to help cut down the pollution and ecological destruction caused by artificial grass and to create more habitats for birds, bees and other wildlife.

The SGD says that according to Google Trends, which tracks the popularity of online searches, the search for artificial lawns surged during the pandemic, with a 185% jump in May 2020 compared with the same month the previous year. Meanwhile a survey by Aviva revealed that over recent years, 1 in 10 households in the UK have replaced their garden’s natural lawn with artificial grass, leading to the loss of the crucial natural habitats and ‘green corridors’ on which wildlife depend.

SGD Co-Chair Lynne Marcus MSGD said: “Plastic grass is far from an eco-friendly alternative to natural grass. Covering your garden with a layer of plastic has absolutely no climate benefits at all. It will suffocate the soil beneath it, destroy all sources of food and habitat and have devastating consequences for microorganisms in the soil beneath as well as the bugs and birds above. Compare that to a real lawn where a vast ecosystem of organisms, microbes, invertebrates and plant life can thrive, helping both the food chain and biodiversity, and it’s clear that there is absolutely no place on the planet for these products.” She adds: “We are all aware of the damage plastic bags do to the environment. Plastic grass and plants are no different.”

Garden designers support the campaign against artificial grass

Since the campaign launched, many designers have come forward to share their grievances about the use of plastic grass. Ann Marie-Powell Gardens took to Instagram to share their thoughts on plastic lawns, citing among other things that they destroy natural habitats and soil, contribute to urban heat islands and can’t be recycled.

Echoing these thoughts, Helen Elks-Smith said “I never use plastic grass in my designs and don’t believe that there is any space or requirement where a beautiful and natural alternative can’t be used instead.”

The SGD hopes that people will realise that their lawns and gardens can be a vital resource for wildlife, with bees, birds and other insects and animals all reliant on these varied habitats. They are also debunking claims by manufacturers that these plastic products are harmless and low-maintenance, promoting several alternatives such as low-mow lawns and drought-tolerant lawns.

Cassandra Crouch Garden Design also shared their support, saying “nothing beats nature and plastic really has no place in our gardens.”

Other design studios that have shared their support include Richard Miers Garden Design, winners of the People’s Choice at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2022 for the Perennial Garden ‘With Love’.

For more information about the campaign and a downloadable leaflet, head to sgd.org.uk.

From Solway Firth in Scotland to the Peak District and West Wales, and from the edge of Dartmoor in Devon to Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and Surrey, gardeners have been reporting unusual plant losses in their gardens over the 2022/23 winter to Gardens Illustrated.

Which plants have died?

Evergreen shrubs have been most likely to succumb, with hebes and pittosporums being particularly badly affected. Hebes have been blackened, and pittosporums have lost their leaves.

Almost 71 per cent of respondents to our polls on Instagram and 64 per cent on Twitter told us that they had lost plants this winter. They include rosemary, phormium, cordyline, lavender, euphorbias, ceanothus, star jasmine, topiary bay, cistus, Chinese witch hazel, fatsia, santolina, Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’, hoheria, physocarpus, parahabe, crinodendron, elaeagnus, abutilon, grevillea, thyme, coronilla, convulvulus, bottle brush (callistemon), euonymus, date palm, daphne, privet, camellia, brassicas, passionflower and winter-flowering clematis.

@katesq24 told us: “It hurts to list them: Hebes, pittosporums, grey leaved cistus (green ones ok), phormiums, parts of rosemary, astelia, Ugni, Euphorbia palustris, ceanothus, Hoheria. Gardening on sand but in an exposed part of Oxfordshire.”

Perennial plants have also suffered

Perennials such as penstemon, Oenethera lindheimeri (gaura), Erigeron karvinskianus and salvias, which can often be relied on to make it through the winter in milder areas, also appear to have died. Brassicas such as cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli have also succumbed to the cold.

@oxleaze_garden commented on Instagram: “Hebes all dead, sisyrinchium, Euphorbia mellifera and Euphorbia wulfenii, penstemons perished too. Not sure yet about Salvia ‘Amistad’ and Salvia involucrata yet as they usually survive outside but maybe not this year…”

Many plants affected are borderline hardy

Many of these plants come under the RHS ratings of H3 or H4. H3 plants are classed as ‘borderline hardy’ – hardy in coastal, mild or sheltered areas except in hard winters and at risk from sudden (early) frosts. H4 plants are considered hardy in an average winter throughout most of the UK, except at altitude or in central or northerly locations. However many gardeners now expect these plants to come through winter unscathed.

Read more about plant hardiness ratings.

Pittosporum. Lavender. Thyme. Rosemary. Cistus. Cordyline. No surprise really. The prolonged frosty and frozen period was asking a lot from plants that would always be on the borderline hardy list.

— knives out (@nickyknivesout) March 7, 2023

But the losses are understandable, coldest winter since 2010 & we love to plant RHS H4 hardiness plants who are only ok to -5° BUT it's an opportunity to shop 😀😀😀 with British 🇬🇧 growers & nurseries

— Nick Coslett (@madaboutplants) March 8, 2023

Was the 2022/23 winter especially bad?

According to the Met Office, this meteorological winter (December, January and February) was actually slightly milder than average, with an average mean temperature of 4.3°C, 0.2°C above average.

However there was significant rainfall in late autumn, followed by a significant spell of low temperatures in December, which saw temperatures drop as low as -17.3°C in Braemar, Scotland. There were subsequent spells of cold weather, too – including the coldest March temperatures since 2010 that we are currently experiencing.

“In winter, average temperatures can be misleading,” explains Guy Barter, chief horticulturalist at the RHS. “It is the extremes in temperature and duration of extremes that are significant. At RHS Garden Wisley we experienced -8C° on two occasions for prolonged periods. A brief dip to -8°C is much less lethal than prolonged periods at -8°C, when the ground freezes. This will put H3 plants at severe risk and imposes much cold stress on H4 plants, which they may or may not survive.”

The wet autumn could have contributed – but not the summer drought

Guy does not believe that the drought in summer would have weakened plants: “I would expect hot, dry summers to enhance hardiness, as new growth will be limited and robust and the plants will have an accumulation of carbohydrates from the high light levels promoting photosynthesis – i.e. they will have been hardened. However, this good effect was often undone I suspect by the lush autumn period.”

He continues: “Mild, wet conditions in autumn and early winter promotes soft growth. Plants made use of nutrients accumulated during the summer drought as soil organic matter decayed when it was too dry for plants to utilise them. This led to lush soft growth that lacked the hardening normally induced by chilly autumn episodes.”

What can gardeners do?

Guy Barter says: “I fear many gardeners, me included, have been a little complacent in applying winter protection, winters having been so mild since 2010. We go to great efforts to shield our Wisley bananas, tree ferns and certain palms – it will be instructive to see if the frost has cut through to damage these plants.”

Don’t give up hope for your plants just yet, however. “There will clearly be a reckoning this spring and early summer when we survey the damage,” says Guy. “I find it can often take until early summer to be sure some plants are dead from frost. In the meantime, prune out dead material – check for green beneath the bark.”

Plant Atlas 2020 is the most in-depth survey of British and Irish flora ever undertaken, and the results show a devastating loss.

Building on two previous Atlas surveys from the twentieth century, thousands of botanists from the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) have spent twenty years collecting data on changes in British and Irish flora.

Their findings have shown that four main trends have emerged since the 1950s:

• 53 per cent of native plants have declined in Britain due to human impacts.
• Non-native plants now outnumber native plants in the wild.
• Many montane plants have declined due to climate change.
• Some non-native species have become invasive and are disrupting ecosystems.

Julia Hanmer, Chief Executive of BSBI said the study presented a “powerful and concerning insight into the changing distributions of our wild plants.”

3,445 different plant species were recorded; 1,692 are native to Britain and 1,753 non-natives were found that have been deliberately or accidentally introduced to the wild by humans.

Changes in agriculture since the 1950s have had a large impact on the habitats that our wild plants depend on. Nitrogen enrichment, habitat degradation and changes in grazing pressure have led to the decline of species such as heather and harebell, whereas the draining of damp meadows has led to substantial declines in devil’s-bit and scabious. Traditional grasslands have been reseeded or over-fertilised and 62 per cent of ancient arable wildflowers such as corn marigold have declined as a result of this.

Climate change is likely to be the leading cause of the decline of some mountain plants such as alpine lady-fern, alpine speedwell and snow pearlwort. Peatlands, which will be essential in our efforts to combat climate change, are being affected by species such as Sitka spruce which regenerate into these habitats and reduce their ability to sequester carbon.

Moving forwards, Plant Atlas 2020 data can help to guide land-use management decisions and BSBI have already been working with Natural England through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme and with The Wildlife Trusts who helped fund the publication of the study.

Head of Science at BSBI, Dr Kevin Walker said of the findings “There’s lots we can do to reverse these declines, but the most important are to increase the protection plants receive, extend the habitat available to them, and to place their needs at the very heart of nature conservation.”

The annual list of the most prevalent plant diseases has been released by the Royal Horticultural Society.

The annual disease ranking shows that fruit trees and fruit crops are at the front line of impact from the extreme weather conditions, brought about by climate change.

Periods of drought, high temperatures, heavy rainfall cause plants to become stressed and therefore more susceptible to problems.

The list of the top ten plant diseases in 2022 are

Honey fungus
Phytophthora root rot
Powdery mildew on Prunus (cherry laurel)
Rose black spot
Peach leaf curl
Brown rot of fruit
Silver leaf
Apple and pear scab
= Pear rust
= Apple and pear canker
= Bacterial leaf spot and canker of Prunus (fruit trees)

Honey fungus is again at the top of the list, having taken the number one spot every year since the list was first published in 1995. The fungus has a large host range of more than 140 garden plants, particularly large woody ones, and results in dramatic symptoms, including death, cracked and bleeding bark and failure to flower. Stress is known to leave plants more susceptible to honey fungus.

For the coming year, the RHS advises gardeners to adhere to the mantra: ‘right plant, right place’ in order to help avoid plant disease. Good plant care and hygiene is also encouraged. Here are more tips for gardeners:

• Mulch plants now, while the soil is still moist, so that water can be trapped ahead of any drought.
• Prune dead or diseased material at the right time of the year – pear and apple in winter, summer for prunus.

Liz Beal, RHS plant pathologist, said: “The prolonged drought last summer followed by a wet and mild autumn provided the perfect conditions for fungi to spread, so it is unsurprising that we have seen an increase in many diseases, particularly in fruit trees which can be very susceptible to rot and other fungi. Gardeners can help combat many of the most common diseases in our ranking by practising good hygiene, keeping tools clean and removing diseased plant material from their gardens. Providing the preferred conditions for the plants in your garden can also help ensure plants do not become stressed and less able to fight off infection.

“The RHS is also calling on gardeners to remain vigilant to new plant problems. For example, blueberry rust could become more of a concern as an increasing number of gardeners try out crops that were previously the preserve of warmer climates.”

Visitors to RHS Garden Wisley, the horticultural charity’s flagship garden, have long admired the large Arts & Crafts style, Grade II listed building at the entrance to the gardens. Who has been lucky enough to live there? Were the gardens once part of a grand estate? Since the house was built in 1908, the public have never been allowed in and its purpose has for many been a bit of a mystery.

In fact, for over a century this has been the beating heart of RHS’s key remit to learn, understand and improve horticulture. It was here that diploma students took their classes and scientists recorded their findings.

In a melding of heritage and horticulture, the building is now open for the public to explore. The large house was purpose built to look like a residential home as the base for the society’s science labs and student lecture theatres.

With the move of the science team to RHS Hilltop, the new, state of the art centre for gardening science and public learning at Wisley back in 2021, the house needed a new purpose. Following a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and help from donors, funders and RHS members, the move opened up the opportunity for the libraries team to clear all the rooms, attics, cupboards and storage areas of their papers and equipment and discover more about the society’s history.

As Fiona explains, ‘The libraries team has searched through 4,000 found objects and 5,000 photos to tease out some of fascinating stories and personalities behind our horticultural heritage.” All their research has been meticulously recorded to present visitors with a theatrical, interactive and exhibition space that brings to life many of the hidden stories of Wisley’s past. It also brings to light how the learning and experimentation that has taken place within its walls has shaped gardens and how we garden in the UK and around the world today.

Visitors can see:

• The Townsend Lecture Theatre – a mock-up of a 1921 student classroom with microscopes, benches and a brass and mahogany magic lantern projector. Examples of timetables, exam questions and reveal just how hard the students worked – although they did get Sundays off!

• The Advisory Room – set in war-time Britain and depicts a busy office humming with the sound of typewriters and featuring ‘Dig for Victory’ material, informed by the RHS. Did you know that the iconic Dig for Victory poster showing a foot and spade was photographed at Wisley with one of their gardeners as the staring booted foot?

• The Wolfson Laboratory – explores many of the experiments conducted by students over the years, including pioneering female scientist, Dr Janaki Ammal who developed several hybrid crop species still grown today, including varieties of sugarcane. Here you can try your hand at chromosome manipulation, and experiment with the method of boiling daffodil bulbs to rid them of eelworms – a method trialled by RHS scientists. Their success saved the daffodil from decimation.
• Plant Collections – focusing on a 1962 expedition to Iran, and celebrating the role of indigenous communities and the global nature of UK garden plants. The RHS’s scientist would study and catalogue sent back to them from all over the word.

• A temporary exhibition featuring a stunning collection of exquisite watercolours signed by the charity’s royal patrons from the Society’s first royal patron Queen Charlotte (wife of King George III) – whose 1816 signature painting shows a bird of paradise flower, Strelitzia regina, named in her honour and painted by William Hooker, botanist and first director of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – through to Queen Elizabeth II’s signature painting, which marked the Platinum Jubilee and was painted by artist Gillian Barlow. There’s also a copy of King Charles’s specially commissioned Highgrove Florilegium. A vast tome with exquisite botanical drawings documenting all the plants growing at HM’s garden at Highgrove.

Speaking of the melding of horticulture and heritage, Fiona Davison says: “The immersive and interactive displays shed light on how our gardens have evolved from formal Edwardian landscapes to more sustainably conscious spaces and the role the RHS has played in helping them to flourish.”

The restored ‘Old Laboratory’ opens to the public on 20 March, and can be toured as part of a visit to the RHS Wisley.

Advance booking is necessary. For more information visit rhs.org.uk/wisleylaboratory

They’re cropping up all over the place at the moment, brightening up lawns, adding pops of colour to borders and basking in the early spring sunshine. Crocus flowers are mostly purple, yellow or white and the corms are brilliant for naturalising in gardens, leading to the characteristic swathes that we see at this time of year.

But what is the correct plural term for these flowers that provide blankets of colour: crocuses, or croci?

Is the plural of crocus crocuses or croci?

We asked our followers on Instagram in 2022 whether they favoured crocuses or croci as the plural term for crocus, and got an amazing response.

Sixty three per cent of respondents said that crocuses is the plural of crocus, whereas 37 per cent voted for croci. One follower suggested that a collection of crocuses should be referred to as a ‘chorus’.

To confirm our findings, we asked our resident botanical advisor, Dr James Compton, what the correct terminology for the plural of crocus is. James told us that in Latin terms, croci would be the correct plural form. However, crocuses is also correct as the vernacular plural of crocus. It does, therefore, come down to personal choice whether you prefer a carpet of crocuses or a chorus of croci.

Whatever you call them, these lovely plants grow best in a sunny spot, in well-drained soil. You can find small pots of them at garden centres now, or plan ahead, checking out the most attractive varieties to plant as corms in autumn. You can read more about crocus and how to grow them, plus recommended varieties to grow, in our Crocus growing guide.

You may also like…

Miniature narcissi and how to plant them

The best summer bulbs to plant in spring 

Spring bulb displays in a Cotswold garden 

Having advertised the position for a new head gardener last August, the Garden Museum and trustees of Benton End have appointed James Horner to the role.

James will be taking on the position at the start of March, moving from Sussex to Suffolk to be the custodian of the gardens at Benton End.

James brings with him a wealth of experience, having been a gardener at Great Dixter under the mentorship of Fergus Garrett as well as collaborating with Luciano Giubbilei, travelling Europe and North America as a planting designer and consultant.

He has worked on a range of projects from public to private gardens across the UK and abroad, including the garden in Hastings Country Park of the artist Richard Smith. This ongoing project in particular has helped him to develop different colour palettes in borders, as Richard likes subtler tones and ‘off-colours’.

James has always been aware of the work of Cedric Morris, having had plants including some of the Benton End Irises. “I’ve always said if an amazing opportunity like this came along I would be interested in exploring it,” he told Matt Collins, head gardener at the Garden Museum.

“I’m super excited to be starting at the beginning of March,” he says “in some ways that’s the perfect time, in terms of seeing most of the bulbs that remain in the garden from Cedric’s time. The site is going to be a challenge, but we are very much at the beginning; everybody’s forming their own ideas about what this project is going to look like. It will take a huge amount of sensitivity, but I feel like there will be a lot of excitement.”

Keep an eye on the Benton End website for updates on the project.

Benton End is the former home of celebrated artist and plantsman Sir Cedric Morris and his partner, the artist Arthur Lett-Haines. It is now under the care of the Garden Museum and a board of trustees. The house is preparing to reopen as a place to learn about art and horticulture. While it remains closed to the public, preparations are underway to bring the house and gardens back to life for visitors.

Winners of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition for 2023 have been announced, with Tony North from Manchester taking the title of Overall Winner for his photo in the category Breathing Spaces.

The head judge of the competition said of the image “Tony has literally elevated the Breathing Spaces category to new heights, by photographing endemic mountain-top flora with a breathtaking landscape view – well framed to include many points of interest.”

Tony North said “I am incredibly thrilled and honoured to be chosen as the overall winner of International Garden Photographer of the Year. This is a dream come true for me”. He will receive £5000 and his photograph will feature at the flagship exhibition at Kew Gardens, which opens to the public on 4 February 2023 and runs until 5 March.

Discover all of the winning images below

In the Portfolios category, Barry Webb placed first for his set of six images titles Slime Mould Biodiversity.

This is run as a stand-alone competition in association with The Royal Photographic Society. Barry will receive £1500. Every image in the portfolio has used focus stacking, to show the fruiting bodies of the slime moulds, which include; Arcyria cinerea, Comatricha nigra, Metatrichia floriformis (mature), Trichia botrytis, Physarum sp., and Metatrichia floriformis (immature).

Competition was fierce this year, and among other finalists, we loved these photographs:

The Kew Gardens orchid festival returns this weekend at the Princess of Wales Conservatory. For 2023, the festival is inspired by the biodiversity of Cameroon. It is a vibrant celebration of colour to brighten up the winter months. The festival will be running until 5 March.

There will be a series of horticultural displays and living sculptures within the glasshouses highlighting the varied landscapes and native wildlife of Cameroon. From giraffe sculptures to a troop of gorillas, everything has been handcrafted by a team of horticulturists from real plants and an array of orchids.

As part of the festival, art critic and historian Christine Eyene will curate a photography exhibition from the Bikoka Art Project, a new independent initiative dedicated to providing artistic and professional opportunities to the next generation of creatives in Lolodorf, Cameroon.

In the Kew cafes and restaurants there will also be a selection of new dishes created by Cameroonian chef Carine Ottou.

This year’s Orchid Festival at Kew