The Sunday Times May 1, 2022 15Home
A PLANT FOR
ALL SEASONS
In her new book, Anna Pavord unveils an all-star cast that will give your garden year-round splendour
W
hat a month
it has been!
“Just hold it
there,” I’ve
wanted to
shout, as April in the garden
galloped on towards May,
throwing primroses, tulips,
magnolias and fantastic
chartreuse spurges in my
path. Things I’d forgotten I’d
ever planted, like the elegant
little Tulipa clusiana, narrow
white petals washed over with
luscious pink, leapt up
between anemones and
violets. Sprawling rosemary
bushes were (and still are)
covered with sky-blue flowers,
which foraging bees evidently
appreciate as much as I do. It’s
been glorious.
But what comes next? For
gardeners, perhaps nothing is
quite as intoxicating as the
rollercoaster that is spring, but
you could be lining up masses
of treats to come: bearded iris
and peonies, violas and
poppies. Planning a garden
that provides delight
throughout the year is the
theme of my new book, The
Seasonal Gardener. It’s divided
into four sections, starting
with spring, and for each
season I’m suggesting a stellar
cast of plants — shrubs as well
as perennials and bulbs — that
can pay rent several times over
in a garden.
Shrubs bring substance to a
garden. Well chosen, in terms
of aspect and soil, they will
give their own dramatic
performance in season, but
they will also provide a
splendid backdrop to more
ephemeral plants around
them. One of the shrubs I’m
suggesting for this present
season, late spring, is
Rhododendron luteum. The
word rhododendron may
bring to mind a huge
evergreen shrub with
elephantine heads of flower in
frightening reds or purple.
Forget that image. R. luteum is
a light-limbed, deciduous
shrub that slowly builds into
an easy, open beauty. From
this framework come trusses
of soft yellow flowers that will
scent the whole garden. And
that’s not all. In autumn, the
whole thing blazes out in
brilliant red, as the leaves
show they can be just as
showstopping as the flowers.
Sixty star plants are divided
between the four seasonal
chapters. And each comes
with suggestions for two The bright yellow heads of yarrow (Achillea filipendulina) hover like miniature spaceships over a meadow of perennialsFor gardeners,
perhaps nothing
is quite as
intoxicating as
the rollercoaster
that is springCONTINUED ON P16 WW
plants (all splendidly
illustrated) to use as
companions. With the
rhododendron for instance,
I’m suggesting the enchanting
little iris ‘Lady Beatrix
Stanley’, which can spill its
blue flowers around the
rhododendron before the
shrub itself has even come into
bud. And to provide an extra
treat, here is a gorgeous deep
violet primula, P. capitata,
unusual among this tribe in
flowering in late summer,
rather than spring. The three
plants do not flower at the
same time, but hand the
spotlight on, one to the
other, through a long season
in the garden, with the
rhododendron providing the
anchor for its two more
ephemeral partners.
This is the decision you
have to make when thinking
about plants that you might
put together. Are you planning
for continuity in a group, so
that over as long a period as
possible, when you look at a
particular spot something
good is likely to be happening
there? Or are you looking for
maximum impact in a
particular combination, with
each of the plants at their bestCLAIRE TAKACS