Amateur Gardening – 21 May 2019

11 MAY 2019AMATEUR GARDENING 19

Causing a stink

A

VERYkindgardeningfriend

hasgivenmetwolargeplants

ofHelleborusviridisandI

intendtoplantbothof them

in mywildarea.Thisgreen-flowered

helleboreis a Britishnativeandit’sbeen

grownin gardenssince1562,according

totheOnlineAtlasof theBritishand

IrishFlora.I haveseenit nearmy

Gloucestershirehome,growingon

a slopingbankclosetoa ri

nearStow-on-the-Wold.Th

is quitetypicalbecause

thisMarch-flowering

helleborepreferschalk

andlimestone-rich

woodedbanks.

I hadtodrivemytwo

treasuresbackhomeand

therewasanindescribable

smellin thecar,somewher

betweencharredandrotte

meat,andwhenI openedthebootI

almostgagged.It knockedourother

nativehellebore,thestinkinghellebore

(Helleborusfoetidus), intotouchwhenit

cametomakinga pong.H.viridisshould

becalledthereallystinkinghellebore.

However,if I werea flyI’dbeattracted

toboththesehellebores,andmany

greenflowersattractflies.Theytend

tobeverygoodpollinatorsandwhen

I workedat TheNationalVegetable

Research Station in Warwickshire, in a

Valtakesa lookat someof theplantsin ourgardens

that deliver a pong, includinghelleboresandtrilliums

lowlypost,I usedtocollectsmellymetal

cansof maggotsfromtherailwayhalt

andtotterbackwiththem,oneoneach

of thehandlebars.Weusedthemto

cross-pollinatebrassicacrops,because

honeybeesareverygoodat selecting

onevarietyandignoringtheother.Flies

buzzaroundasandwhen,between

varieties,andproducehybridseeds.

Darkredseemsanotherflower

capableof delivering

ng.I’mremindedof a

iumI grow,Trillium

rectum, whichhas

hecommonname

of stinkingBenjamin

becauseit smellsof wet

og– a scentthatlures

fliesandcarrion

tles.Themushroom-

edT. sulcatum,

notasunpleasant,will

alsoattracttheseinsects.Bothflowerin

coolwoodedplaceswhenfew bees or

butterfliesareonthewing.

Mosttrilliumshaveanunpleasant

smell.Theexceptionsaretherose-

scentedT. albidum, knownasfragrant

whitetoadshade,andthelemon-

scentedT. luteumoryellowtoadshade.

Bothflowerlater,whenbeesand

butterfliesareonthewing.Woodants

playanimportantrolein thewild.They

lick the sweet coating on the seeds and

WhileHelleborusfoetidus(below)is known

asthestinkinghellebore,Valregards

H. viridis, picturedhere,asthe‘really

stinking hellebore’

TIP

Antsdistributecyclamen

seedsin mygardenand

lickthestickycoatingonpeony

buds,sodon’tpersecutethem.If

youfindantsundera prizedplant,

drenchit withwaterandthe ants

will soon move home.

rollthemaround,whichis a process

calledmyrmecochory.

Myowntrilliumssetseed,butmy

seedlingspopuprightnexttotheplant

somyantsaren’tinterested.Theseeds

areslowtogerminateandthere’san

18-monthwaitbeforethefirstseedlings

appearaboveground.Theydon’tlook

liketrilliumsbecausetheirleavesare

linear,almostlikelilyseedlings.They

takeseveralyearstoformthree‘leaves’,

ormorecorrectlybracts.Afterthat, they

flower in the following year.

“Iusedtocollect

smellymetalcans

of maggots”

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited

Trilliumseedlingsgerminating

next to the parent plant

Val Bourne

Thestinkinghellebore

(Helleborus foetidus)

Antswilllickthesticky coating

on peony buds

Gardening We ek

with Val Bourne, AG’s organic wildlife expert