PLANTS OF INTEREST - National Trust

PLANTS OF INTEREST
                                                          15th April 2019
                           We are constantly enhancing the garden through propagation of existing
                            stock or the purchase of new plants and donations make a difference

                                                   Soldanella alpina in The Glen

Biddulph Grange Garden
A journey around the world

The National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846

The Garden

    In 1840 James and Maria Bateman moved to what was then a farm and grounds

   which were for the most part swampy fields. Bateman was a botanist of considerable

   note and he was at one time vice-president of the Royal Horticultural Society.

   His great love was orchids and he wrote and published ‘Orchidaceae of Mexico

   and Guatemala’ which established him as a botanist of note.

   His wife Maria came from a leading Cheshire family, the Egerton-Warburtons,

   with a tradition of creative gardening and her brother was the creator of the garden

   at Arley Hall. Maria’s interest was in herbaceous plants, particularly fuchsias and lilies.

   Together with Edward Cooke who was an architect and maritime painter, the Batemans

   created Biddulph Grange Garden and the architectural features of the garden were

   probably all the work of Cooke. Each area of the garden has its own microclimate

   formed by the use of trees as screens and rockwork to protect plants.

  The National Trust acquired the garden in 1988 and it was opened to the public

  following restoration on 1st May 1991. Throughout, there are several Coalbrookdale Seats

  each with a different design and although they are not original, they are Victorian

  and well worth a look.

                        Plants of Interest 15th April 2019

Boudoir Garden
Anemone blanda                                Clumps of small, blue, daisy-like flowers

Fritillaria meleagris                               ‘Snake’s Head Fritillaria’. Nodding heads purple fls

Bowling Green
Ilex crenata                                        ‘Japanese Holly’. Group of 12 small shrubs
Magnolia stellata                                   ‘Star Magnolia’. One shrub with white star-like flowers
Osmanthus heterophyllus                             Shrubs at entrance to BG with leaves like holly
Pinus montezumae                                    ‘Montezuma Pine’. Large pine tree with long needles

China
Adiantum aleuticum                                  ‘Aleutian Maidenhair Fern’ with fine black stems
Asarum europaeum                                    ‘European Wild Ginger’. Foot of wall, glossy leaves, red fls
Asplenium scolopendrium                             ‘Hart’s-Tongue Fern’ in Great Wall at top of China
Aubretia sp                                         Trailing purple flowers on Watchtower
Bellis perennis                                     ‘Bellis Daisy’. Small red daisy in the Dragon Parterre
Berberis darwinii                                   Shrubs high on Great Wall with orange flowers
Camellia ‘Elegans’                                  Shrubs with pink flowers near water’s edge
Camellia ‘Masayoshi’                                Shrub with red flowers near water’s edge
Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘Fastigiata’              Upright shrub to right of steps to Joss House
Cephalotaxus fortunei                               ‘Chinese Plum Yew’ to left of above plant
Chaenomeles speciosa 'Moerloosei'                   Shrub with clusters of white flowers near Great Wall
Cryptomeria japonica                                ‘Japanese Cedar’. Large tree near Temple
Cupressus funebris                                  ‘Chinese Weeping Cypress’ near steps to Watchtower
Forsythia suspensa var fortunei                     Shrub with yellow flowers nr Joss House & Watchtower
Pseudolarix amabilis                                ‘Golden Larch’. Planted 1855, believed to be the last
                                                    survivor of six brought from China by Robert Fortune.
                                                    Over the bridge, leaning slightly and a young one by its
                                                    side. A deciduous conifer now with young buds.
Pseudosasa japonica                                 ‘Arrow Bamboo’ on water’s edge near bridge
Skimmia japonica reevesiana                         Small shrub with red berries & flower buds under Acer
Xanthorhiza simplicissima                           ‘Yellow Root’. Small shrub at eye level at entrance to
                                                    Hosta Beds with tiny,deep purple/brown flowers

Dahlia Walk
Dahlia Walk has been planted with varieties of      In the Glasshouses the dahlia tubers which have been
tulips which will flower in May/June and the beds   stored over winter are now shooting and we are taking
treated to a mulch                                  cuttings to provide almost 600 plants for the beds.
Brunnera macrophylla                                ‘Siberian bugloss’. Small blue flowers, variegated leaf
Taxus baccata ‘Semperaurea’                         Three new common yew plantings at bottom of Walk

Eastern Terrace
Prunus lusitanica                                   ‘Portuguese Laurel’. Shaped and in stone planters

Glen
Buxus sempervirens ‘Latifolia Maculata’             Small leaved shrub on left facing tunnel
Caltha palustris                                    ‘Marsh Marigold’. Golden yellow flowers
Dicksonia antarctica                                ‘Soft Tree Fern’. Fern with long ‘trunk’
Ilex aquifolium ‘Crispa’                            Holly with twisted leaf near steps down from High Walk
Phyllostachys nigra                                 ‘Black Bamboo’. Growing near bridge
Rhododendron campanulatum                           Mauve flowers high on bank and near tunnel
Rhododendron fulgens                                Group of three shrubs with red flowers
Rhododendron hunnewellianum Cilpinense              Shrub on rock near stream with pale pink flowers
Rhododendron niveum                                 Large Rhododendron with purple flowers
Scopolia carniolica                                 Plant with bells of deep purple/brown flowers

Soldanella alpina                              Tiny purple-blue flowers near China tunnel

Italy
Bedding                                        White and pink forget-me-nots, Pink Diamond tulips
Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’               Slender, erect, evergreen trees
Pieris floribunda                              An original planting, shrub with panicles of white flowers
                                               at top of steps. Young one on opposite side
Rhododendron arboreum cinnamomeum              Deep rose pink flowers on bank near steps
Rhododendron jacksonii                         Pale pink flowers throughout Italy
Ribes speciosum                                ‘Californian Fuchsia’. Shrub with fuchsia-like red flowers

Pinetum
Abies cephalonica                              ‘Greek Fir’ on left facing tunnel entrance
Araucaria araucana                             ‘Monkey Puzzle Tree’. Bateman gave each a name.
Calocedrus decurrens                           ‘Incense Cedar’, a columnar tree near bend
Cedrus deodara                                 ‘Deodar Cedar’ on mound near near Monkey Puzzles
Erica arborea ‘Alpina’                         ‘Tree Heather’. Group of shrubs, white fls, near bend
Ilex aquifolium ‘Angustimarginata Aurea’       Narrow leaved, variegated holly near Bowling Green
Pinus cembra                                   ‘Arolla Pine’ on mound near bend
Pinus nigra                                    ‘Austrian Pine’ with armoured bark near Monkey Puzzles
Quercus agrifolia                              ‘California Live Oak’. Walking to Cheshire Cottage with
                                               the Calocedrus on the left, the tree after the yew.
Sciadopitys verticillata                       ‘Japanese Umbrella Pine’. Near Quercus
Sequoia sempervirens                           The ‘Coastal Redwood’ near Cheshire Cottage
Taxus baccata ‘Aurea Group’                    ‘Golden Yew’ near bend
Tsuga canadensis                               ‘Eastern Hemlock’ to left of tunnel to Rhodo Ground
Tsuga mertensiana                              ‘Mountain Hemlock’ tree at entrance to Bowling Green
Ulex europaeus                                 Common gorse. Prickly shrubs with yellow flowers

Rhododendron Ground
Rhododendron ‘Ivery’s Scarlet’                 Red flowers on edge of lake near Roundabout

Stumpery
Helleborus orientalis ‘Double Spotted White’   ‘Hellebore’. White flowers spotted red
Helleborus orientalis ‘Green Double Spotted’   ‘Hellebore’. Double green flowers

Wellingtonia Avenue
Sequoiadendron giganteum                       ‘Wellingtonia’ or ‘Giant Redwood’, reddish-brown bark

Western Terrace
Aucuba japonica ‘Crotonifolia’                 ‘Spotted Laurel’ with large spotted leaves, red berries
Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’                     ‘Irish Yew’. A column of closely packed branches
Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata Aurea’               A golden form of the above

Woodland Walk                                  Join the Walk at the bottom of Wellingtonia Avenue and leave
                                               near the big urn (largest stone garden urn in Britain)