The nice-guy anemone

IF I was to recommend planting autumn anemone to any gardener, I would be met with a look of disgust as they immediately conjure the thug that is the pink Japanese variety.

Twelve years ago, Elizabeth MacGregor, who runs a nursery in Scotland, spotted an anemone with very different characteristics among a batch of seedlings. It showed real, hybrid vigour and had elegant, white flowers, 7-9cm across, held well above attractive green foliage.

‘Wild Swan’ as it is now called, has lilac-blue bands on the reverse of the petals and, at twilight, closes to a nodding lilac-blue and white bell. It flowers continually from late May until the first frosts, usually in November.

This is a very well-behaved plant, unlike the Japanese anemones, which can take over your garden. Anemone ‘Wild Swan’ stays where you put it. It prefers a rich and fertile soil, which does not become too dry, and, although it will grow quite happily in sun, it prefers dappled shade. It was chosen as 2011 Chelsea Flower Show Plant of the Year and grows to about 60cm in height and has a spread of about 50cm.

Several plants have a bad name because of misbehaving family members like the pink, Anemone japonica. Don’t be put off the entire genus because of one nasty species — we wouldn’t appreciate the beautiful and impeccably behaved ‘Wild Swan’ if we hadn’t experienced her brute of a cousin.

nFor some people, the garden is for dining alfresco when the climate allows. For others, it becomes all-consuming and the excitement of finding a sought-after cultivar, or discovering a new plant, makes all the previous disappointments worthwhile. If this is you, then you have to make your way to the gardens at Fota on Sunday, Sep 29, for the Irish Specialist Nursery Association Plant Fair. Fota will host its annual autumn gardening seminar at the same time.

You may or may not find the specific plant but you will find some treasure to bring home to your garden. Horticulture is a tiny industry in a tiny country, and, by virtue of the fact that these growers are specialists, you begin to see how small the niche they fill. We are blessed, in Ireland, with nurseries of this calibre whose love of plants and gardening, alone drives them.

I urge you to get to Fota on the 29th and give your garden a present, and ensure the continued success of these specialist growers. The last few years have been extremely difficult for everyone working in horticulture in Ireland. Can you imagine what it would be like if we only had the foreign multiples from which to source our plants?

As a gardener, I find these fairs and exhibitions great fun. I can waffle away to my heart’s content about the different attributes of my peonies, and other herbaceous plants, and Phil Havercroft, of Leamore Nurseries gets it. Because Phil is one of Ireland’s best growers, and peony roses are one of his specialities, along with beautiful varieties of allium. So, too, Gerry Harford, who introduced me to anemone ‘Wild Swan’. Phil and Gerry will be there on the 29th among many other nurseries showing on the day. Look out for Future Forests, Mount Venus; Camolin Potting Shed; Moonwave; Leamore; Two Lions; Perennial Plants and Caherhurley.

Of course, getting to a plant fair like this early is all-important as there is great kudos among gardeners in getting that sought-after variety, of which there may only be two or three available. Picture that group of plant collectors chatting over their tea at Fota, when one among them mentions that they couldn’t find that rare Celmesia, or suchlike, at the fair.

When they add that they only arrived at the show at 12pm, mouthfuls of tea will be sent spluttering at the naivete. No, one will have to get there early to bag the special finds. The plant fair kicks off at 11am, with I suspect, a queue forming before that.

Registration for the seminar starts at 9.30am and whether you’re serious about gardening or just fancy a nice day out among plants and their people, then make your way to this rather special fair.