Eucomis - Geum (excluding Geranium)

Eucomis: the Pineapple Lilies are summer growing bulbs, suited to sun or dappled shade in borders which don't become excessively cold, and to pots. When pot grown, repot in February, before the roots grow. For a superb gallery of Eucomis pics, go to www.theafricangarden.com.

Eucomis autumnalis £3 / £4
Ultimately a stout, broad leaved plant with clean white flowers of real substance, but well shorter than pole-evansii. Hannah, the budding plantswoman among our kids, when asked which of our many Eucomis was her favourite, immediately selected this.

Eucomis comosa 'First Red' £3 /£4
No implication of earliness here, it's first as in foremost, although it isn't. Lost? Not as deep a colour as 'S.B.' but the leaves are a pretty light carmine, paler near the midrib.

Eucomis comosa selected for spottiness £3 / £4
The whole plant, leaves, stem, flowers and large tuft is a pretty reddish pink. Red spotting is clearly visible through this on the leaf bases, hence our tag, but it's the colour that wins.

Eucomis comosa 'Sparkling Burgundy' £3.50
Strikingly red-tinted leaves. Pink flowers on reddish stems to 50cm. Hardy in most places.

Eucomis pallidiflora £3 / £4
A smaller species, with spikes of greeny white flowers with pink-tinged ovaries and a small tuft. Finely spotted stems and leaf backs.

Eucomis pole-evansii £4
Pale green leaves with crinkled edges, hefty inflorescences with pineappley tuft of leaves on top, which can exceed 1m. Like the others, for a reasonably large pot (repot each February, before the roots get going) or a warm sunny border.

Eucomis vandermerwei £3.25 / £4
One of the smallest pineapple lilies, but rather exciting. Flat rosettes of pointed, crinkly edged leaves heavily speckled with maroon on the upper surfaces. 20cm spikes of dark red flowers, even on quite small bulbs. Perhaps less hardy, and best in a pot.

Eucomis 'Zeal Bronze' £3 / £4.50
Stout hybrid whose leaves start the season almost as deep a red as 'Sparkling Burgundy', but become bronze tinted green by midsummer. Long inflorescences with a good pineapple tuft.

Eupatorium arnottianum RCB/Arg - L2 £3 / £3.75
A wiry stemmed Argentinian, distinctive for its amazing Ageratum-like powdery lavender-blue flower heads. 1m tall. New in cultivation, perhaps not very hardy.

Euphorbia amygdaloides 'Craigieburn' £3 / £4.50
An even darker version of the classic 'Purpurea', apparently less prone to mildew. The contrast between the yellow-green of the flowers and the rich purple of the bracts is a delight when caught by spring sunshine.

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae 'Pom Pom' £2.75 / £4
Non-flowering shoots have very short internodes, so they appear as rosettes on stalks, only elongating as they go up to flower the next spring. A charming freak.

Euphorbia 'Blue Haze' £3 / £3.75
A short (to 40cm), very blue leaved hybrid (seguieriana niciciana x nicaeensis - the two classic glaucous spp) selected by Robin & Sue 'Blackthorn' White. 'Prune hard in August for compact blue foliage all winter' - I'd do what Robin tells you if I were you.

Euphorbia characias 'Portuguese Velvet' £3 / £3.50
Highly distinctive, with its velvety glaucous leaves and compact habit. Great fun for a sunny, well drained spot.

Euphorbia x martinii 'Helen Robinson' £3 / £3.75
A very nice form, tall (1m), neat and bushy. It does not seem to run. Dark green hairy leaves, good sized yellow green heads in spring.

Euphorbia rigida £3 / £3.50
The spirals of short, broad, pointed leaves around thick stems recall the well-known E. myrsinites, but instead of flopping around they stand upright in a branching 50cm bush. Yellow green flowers at the stem tips early in the year (from late January here). The leaves near the tips turn a lovely red brown towards summer. A great favourite of ours for a sunny well drained spot, perhaps on the edge of a low wall.

Filipendula palmata dwarf £3 / £3.50
A neat little plant, only 15cm high. Frothy pink flowers over a long season. Moisture in summer is important.

Filipendula ulmaria 'Rosea' £3 / £3.50
The scarce pink flowered form of our native meadowsweet. Most reds/pinks belong to other, taller species.

Francoa appendiculata red form £3 / £4
Tall spikes of long-lasting red-pink flowers from late summer.

Francoa 'Confetti' £3.25 / £3.75
Its pure white counterpart, highly desirable.

Freesia (Anomatheca) viridis £3
The green flowers, like little skeletal hands grasping at you, would suit a horror film. Winter growing, tenderish small corm for a pot.

Galanthus
We offer a few spares from our collection, potted for convenience so you can order them along with other plants, not in an 'in-the-green' spring frenzy. Numbers very limited. G. 'Curly' (£8)- small hybrid with relatively big flowers - green X on inner segments, some green veining on outers. Fragrant. G. elwesii 'Sickle' (£8) - a beautiful, scarce, tall variety of the classic large snowdrop species. Very long outer segments and a large, strangely shaped green mark on the inner. G. 'Ginns' (£4) - very like the classic 'S. Arnott', but with a distinctive bitter almond scent. G. 'Hill Poë' (£4.50) - a dense, neat double, usually with five outer segments.  G. 'Jacquenetta' (£3.50)- one of the nicest Greatorex doubles, tight and neat, and nothing like the common, loose nivalis 'Flore Pleno'. G. 'Mighty Atom' (£5)- large, beautifully formed flowers look even larger on such a short plant. The green inverted U on the inner segment is dark and striking. A very good do-er in our heavy moist ground. G. 'Bill Bishop' (£9) is rather similar, earlier in flower and with splendid long outer segments. G. nivalis 'Greenish' (£4) - small, easy; delicately, not solidly greened over both the outer and inner segments. G. nivalis 'Lady Elphinstone' (£5) the yellow marked form of the ordinary double snowdrop which, inexplicably, is green some years but then comes good the next (this sounds like nurseryman's tosh, but I swear it's true). G. nivalis Sandersii group (£7) - the Northumberland Yellow - ordinary snowdrop in which the ovary and marks on the inner segments are yellow, not green. It has a reputation for being miffy, but this clone, which has been passed around in AGS circles in the Midlands for years, is a good grower. Very few to spare. G. 'Orion' (£7) - Dot Underhill's find, simply a very large, perfectly proportioned, fast bulking plant. A beauty. G. plicatus 'Augustus' (£4) - plump, rounded flowers with a seersucker texture to the outer perianth segments. G. 'Robin Hood' (£6) - beautifully shaped, good sized flowers with a green crossed-swords mark on the inner segments.  G. 'Saint Anne's' (£7) - a choice hybrid, with slender flowers which show the two green marks on the inner segments to good advantage; glaucous leaves. One of our favourites. G. 'Sutton Courtenay' (£10) robust and early gracilis hybrid, with distinctive olive green ovary. G. 'Tubby Merlin' (£5) - glaucous, almost prostrate leaves; plump flowers, often two per bulb, with a solid bottle green inner segment. The first 'special' snowdrop we ever grew, and still one of the smartest. G. 'Warwickshire Gemini' (£7) is a robust snowdrop, with a good reputation for making two flowers per bulb once established.

Galega orientalis £3 / £4
Very distinct from the usual officinalis/hartlandii varieties in its upright spikes of indigo blue pea flowers. Pale green foliage, spreading habit. Height to 1.2m. Sunny site.

Galtonia princeps £3 / £3.50
Creamy-green bells in summer on a 60cm plant. Winter dormant.

Geranium (see SEPARATE PAGE)

Geum coccineum 'Eos' £3.25 / £4
Kevin Marsh's eyeboggling selection of the true violently orange flowered coccineum. This one has bright yellow leaves. Has to be seen to be believed, but not nearly as tasteless as you might imagine. A real hot dog.

Geum hybrids: classic border plants for any normal soil in sun or part shade. All these are summer flowering, and 30-40cm tall in flower. All £3 / £3.50 unless marked

'Abendsonne' Soft orange flashed burnt orange. Effective.

'Bell Bank' Very pretty semi-double pink.

'Coppertone' Coppery apricot.

'Diane' £3.25 / £3.75  Big upward facing bright yellow flowers on a very short plant. Excellent.

'Farmer John Cross' Lovely nodding lemon yellow flowers on red stems.

'Fire Opal' Fiery orange-red, large flowers.

'Mrs W. Moore' Nodding flowers in pastel red.

'Pink Frills' Nodding flowers with frilled, peachy pink petals.

'Sigiswang' Small but plentiful, somewhat nodding, flowers the colour of ripe oranges.

'Unnamed Hybrid' £3.25 / £3.75 A seedling from capense: single, very pale yellow flowers fringed pink, giving a peachy effect. Thanks to Kevin Marsh, again.