Six on Saturday From The RHS Chatsworth Flower Show

I’m joining in with The Propagator to share my six favourite plants from the ongoing UK flower show that runs until Sunday 10th June. It’s a good discipline to be just allowed six, but you should know there was a small battle for every one of these slots. I hope I’ll not be the only one this week to share pictures from Chatsworth, as I’d love to see other people’s highlights. Here goes:

1. Digitalis ‘Foxlight Rose Ivory’

Looking this up online, the first search result is a data card for trade sellers, saying: ‘…bold novelty colors boost retail appeal and drive impulse sales’. I’m sure they will! I had thought this foxglove was part of the Illumination series, but was puzzled by the pointed lip, so was pleased to find I’d photographed the label. This doesn’t always happen, especially if I am over-excited to see the plant.

2. Polemonium ‘Northern Lights’

I’ve always had a soft spot for polemoniums. This cultivar has a radiance because the lighter centres of the flowers are displayed against lavender blue petal reverses. The yellowy-orange stamens help too.

3. Gaura ‘Rosy Jane’

I love gaura (butterfly bush), even though it does much better in my sweetheart’s Mississippi garden than it ever did in my own tiny Lancashire one. The petals of Gaura ‘Rosy Jane’ have white centres and broad pink edges, with attractive veining along the border where the two colours meet. I note that Wikipedia is listing a new name for gaura, but as the label had the ‘old’ name and as even the Wiki article seemed to be using half and half, I’m going to pretend I haven’t seen it.

4. Heirloom beans

Does ‘lovely’ and a warm sigh cover it? I think so, especially as I didn’t make a note of the names.

5. Corydalis calcicola

Corydalis always has a lovely flower form – the tubular flowers seem to swim in shoals along the stems, rather than simply grow. The ethereal colour combination is an added delight, with the luminous, pearlescent blue, the green snouts and the burgundy mouths. The label actually read Corydalis cf. calcicola – if anyone knows what cf. means, I’d love to know.

6. Ixia viridiflora

Every RHS show I’ve ever been to has at least one first, but this shot has two. As I mentioned in my earlier post about Chatsworth, I’ve not seen bottle trees at a UK flower show before, though I don’t mind betting this will not turn out to have been a one-off, given the amount of attention they were attracting. The plant that really lifts Hillview Hardy Plants’ already colourful display, making it remarkable for me, is the turquoise ixia. It’s unearthly.

I’ll leave you with a link to The Propagator’s weekly post with an exhortation to check out some of the other submissions, and one to the RHS Chatsworth website where you can find more information and pictures from the show.

Those who read my earlier post might want to join in with my ‘Hurray!’ at finding out that the People’s Choice Award has been won by ‘Hay Time In The Dales’, as I’d hoped.