In order to make appropriate selections of plant materials for the garden that is being designed and installed by the students, it is important that we learn the broad range of plants available in England. To that end, each week we will have 10 plants that the students will have to learn by botanical name and also understand their use and horticultural characteristics. Above, John Smyth is instructing the group on the attributes of Saxifraga umbrosa. Each week we will also have a plant identification quiz dealing with the new plants.
To help students learn more about the plants we are studying, each participant received a copy of the A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants as a textbook. This hefty volume (weighs in at about 10 lbs!) is comprehensive and although we'll only look at 50 of the 15,000 plants covered in it, we'll be that much more aware of the plants that make up a small part of the constructed landscape in England.
Plants for Week 1
Brachyglottis
'Sunshine'
Phlomis fruticosa 'Edward Bowles'
Achillea 'Moonshine'
Ligustrum ovalifolium 'Aureum'
Cotinus coggygria
Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald 'n Gold'
Viburnum opulus 'Compactum'
Spiraea japonica 'Anthony Waterer'
Saxifraga umbrosa
Lonicera nitida 'Beggesens Gold'
Plants for Week 2
Prunus lusitanica 'Variegata'
Cornus alba 'Elegantissima'
Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea'
Hosta undulata
Aucuba japonica 'Variegata'
Hebe pinguifolia 'Pagei'
Persicaria bistorta 'Superba'
Bergenia cordifolia
Iris sibirica 'Emperor'
Solidago 'Peter Pan'
