Tritonia - Wachendorfia

Tritonia
Relatives of Crocosmia from South Africa, well proven as garden plants. A burgeoning collection here…

Tritonia crocata group varieties £3 / £3.50
Lots of tubby flowers crowded on 30cm stems in late spring. Winter green. For a sunny, well drained spot. Bulks up quickly to make a striking clump. Good in a pot, potted on or split annually at the end of summer, and put in the greenhouse during cold snaps. T. deusta and T. squalida may be involved here too. I'd like to call this group by its South African name, the Mossel Bay kalkoentjies, but I can't pronounce it.
'Pink Sensation' - clear pink, probably a form of squalida; 'Princess Beatrix' - intense orange with dark basal blotches; 'Serendipity' - a delicate light orange, 'Tangerine', ditto, if you're collecting names, and 'Plymouth Pastel'  - very delicately blended pastel shades of orangey yellowy pink (I do realize that this is imprecise, but I'm struggling). A very pretty plant, which Dave Fenwick was given by Mrs. Pickard of Plymouth. She says that many years ago, all her Tritonias were pale shades, which she has since rejected in favour of stronger colours - it seems that everyone else did the same, with the result that this is now a special thing!

Tritonia disticha ssp. rubrolucens £3 / £4
Classic tall species, 1m high in flower. Like a delicate Crocosmia, carrying lovely clear red-pink flowers on wiry, branched stems in late summer. Easy in good soil in sun. Winter dormant.

Tritonia lineata winter growing forms £3 / £3.50
This 30cm species is variable, and while it mainly lives in the Eastern Cape, does extend into the winter rainfall area.

i) light orangey-brown (goes under many wrong names - came to us first as 'Baby Doll' and we unfortunately perpetuated the error.)

ii) slightly larger cream flowers, veined brown outside. Both are lovely May flowerers, before dying down. Grow as crocata. Both these are very beautiful plants, although I've not made them sound like it - it's the word 'brown' I think.

Tritonia lineata summer growing form £3 / £3.50
As above, but biscuit flowers in late summer, 20cm high, winter dormant. Previously listed as simply lineata.

Trollius x cultorum
Classic perennials for moist, fertile soil in sun.

'Alabaster' (£3 / £3.50) Famous creamy flowered cultivar from post-war Germany, by division. 40cm.

'Commander-in-Chief' (£3 / £3.75) Big, bright orange bowl shaped flowers. Vigorous, to 60cm.

Trollius stenopetalus £3 / £4
Big, bold, upward facing buttercup yellow flowers. 60cm. Sarah insists, rightly, that I stress how distinctive and excellent is this plant.

Tulbaghia aff. cernua CDR 199 £3.75 / £4.50
Broad leaved, winter dormant plant with stout crowns. Heads of small green flowers with yellow coronas in summer. 50cm. Sun, ideal for a pot. The wild collection was erroneously labelled ludwigiana.

Tulbaghia coddii £3
A little sweetie. Flowers resemble miniature Pheasant's Eye narcissus on 15cm stems in summer. Winter dormant.

Tulbaghia 'Fairy Star' £3 / £3.50
Short (25cm) with fine leaves and starry pink flowers. Very floriferous and distinctive. Evergreen too.

Tulbaghia 'Fairy Snow' £3.25 NEW CULTIVAR NAME
Sarah couldn't resist the name for its exact counterpart in white; the base of the perianth tube is purplish, which I think adds to it.

Tulbaghia leucantha H&B 11996 £3 / £3.50
Little orange and brown flowers on thin 25cm stems. Fast bulking and free flowering. The form once known as dieterlinii. Visit www.theafricangarden.com for an inspirational gallery of Tulbaghia photos.

Tulbaghia montana £3 / £3.50
Tiny, delicate species, best in a pot both for winter protection and so you can admire the little orange and brown daffodilish (i.e. very noticeable corona) flowers in spring.

Tulbaghia natalensis B&V 421 (clone 2) £3 / £3.50
Pink flowers, with an orange brown corona. The scent is reminiscent of pinks. A small, reasonably hardy plant flowering in late spring.

Tulbaghia simmleri 'Cheryl Renshaw' £3.25 / £4.50
A very stout, broad leaved  American clone of this variable species, with pure white flowers. Only briefly dormant in winter. Choice.

Tulbaghia sp. (307) £3 / £3.50
Lots of small greeny purple flowers on 40cm stems in summer. Fine leaves.

Tulbaghia violacea 'John May's Special' £3 / £3.50
A splendid large violacea, around 80cm in height with 2cm diameter mauve flowers in summer and autumn. As hardy as tulbaghias get, in a well drained soil in sun. Evergreen, like all the violaceas.

Tulbaghia violacea pallida £3 / £3.50
Pretty white flowers from pale pink buds; 50cm. Equally tough.

Tulbaghia violacea 'Peppermint Garlic' £3.25 / £3.75
An American selection, almost as tall as John May's, but with larger, paler flowers with white margins. Very nice.

Tulbaghia violacea 'Silver Lace' £3 / £3.50
Beautiful silver variegation contrasts well with pink-purple flowers on 30cm stems. Bulks up to form an attractive clump, but best given some protection in colder parts of the UK. Often flowers more freely in pots.

Urospermum dalechampii £3.25 / £3.75
Large soft yellow dandelion flowers on a grey-green, spreading clump in later spring. Sunny position. Very effective and scarce too.

Uvularia perfoliata £3 / £3.50
A delicate little Solomon's Seal in habit, but with larger, if evanescent, hanging yellow flowers. For humus rich soil in some shade.

Valeriana wallrothii £3.25 / £3.75
The only species we know whose pinnate leaves have very fine, narrow leaflets. Pure white flower. 75cm. Our favourite by far - but the cats don't seem to discriminate - they get high on all of them.

Vancouveria chrysantha £3.25 / £3.75
Crudely, this is Epimedium with flat, nodding, spurless flowers, and petals and sepals in sixes. Wiry inflorescences of yellow flowers and strongly red-tinted foliage - an impressive sight. Humus, shade.

Verbascum 'Monster' £3 / £4
A great big scary yellow job, well perennial.

Vernonia crinita 'Mammuth' £3.25 / £4.50
The effect is somewhere between Aster and Eupatorium - rich violet-purple (the trouble we have naming colours in that red-blue area...) composite flowers on tall stems, 2m+ under the right conditions. An excellent plant for the border in autumn.
Slow to propagate.

Veronica dabneyi £3 / £3.50
One of the very few pink veronicas, and certainly the most unusual. Upright spikes of clear pink flowers to 10cm tall; spreading stems with tiny, glossy leaves. A useful and long flowering cover for a sunny bank, as at Glasgow Botanics.

Veronica spicata 'Icicle' £3 / £4
Beautiful 30cm front of border clumper. Flowering at the height of summer, the pure white flowers are perfect with its light green leaves. A much undervalued plant.

Veronicastrum latifolium £3 / £3.50
Unlike the well known virginicum, this is a traily / climby species, which can root to form fair sized clumps or ramble through shrubs. Small blue flowers in axilliary clusters. Interesting and pleasant, but not for tidier parts of the garden.

Veronicastrum virginicum 'Lavendelturm' £3 / £4
The usual 2m stems with whorled leaves, with branched spikes of lavender flowers in this case. Self supporting. I picked it out in the garden at Beth Chatto's as being somehow more graceful in habit than other varieties, but I still can't put a finger on why.

Viola 'Marie-Louise' £3
Parma violets are grown for cutting and then smelling, not for their good looks - few double flowers look such a mess. A little winter protection is good away from the south coast. Good fragrance.

Viola odorata rosea £3 / £3.50
Pink sweet violet. A strong, dusky colour, not at all washy or lilacy. Wonderfully fragrant.

Viola sororia 'Priceana' £3 / £3.50
The Confederate Violet. White flowers with a heavy purple stain, give a jazzy bicolored effect. 15cm.

Wachendorfia thyrsiflora £3.75 / £4.50
What an interesting plant! From dense clumps of dark green, corrugated leaves in fans, emerge furry 1.5m stems bearing yellow flowers in summer. South African, and hardiest on well drained soils, but still only borderline. Easy and drought tolerant in a large pot: this also allows you to break the ice at parties by showing your friends its vivid orange roots. Or maybe not...