that seemed charming at first (and Is if its invasive properties are ignored) is Procumbent Yellow Sorrel 

 (Oxalis corniculatus). This has been spread inadvertently when I have gifted pots of plants to friends, 

 some of whom are still friends. 



I made some seriously bad choices in acquiring species. Of an attractive-seeming collection of six 

 species of Allium, five died promptly but Allium triquetrum (Three-cornered Garlic) survived and now 

 occurs all over the garden and my neighbours' gardens. Allium vineale, Wild Onion, arrived from 

 somewhere and is even more difficult to eliminate. Seed of Duchesnia indica (Yellow-flowered 

 Strawberry) was acquired from the Alpine Garden Society's seed distribution because I had never heard 

 of this species. It grew well and is now thoroughly naturalised. Other species arrived as unintended 

 gifts. The late Bill Baker was always very generous with plants from his fine garden in Tidmarsh and 

 often there was more in the pot than expected. The attractive small annual Saxifraga sibthorpii has 

 persisted for many years and an even more attractive Annual Pink Oxalis {Oxalis rosea) is very well 

 established. This behaves very similarly to Mexican Fleabane (Erigeron karvinianus) that is also well- 

 established even though my home is anything but stately. I first became aware of the beautiful annual 

 Phacelia campanularia in Bill Baker's garden: Chiltem Seeds offers seeds of this lovely thing, which 

 seeds around gently in gritty areas. A very serious error was to introduce the Comfrey Symphytum 

 tuberosum, possibly from the population at Lockinge. This is highly invasive and not very attractive: it 

 does, though, disappear from sight at the end of April. 



Gardens provide an environment in which spontaneous hybridisation can occur more readily than in the 

 wild. "Helleborus orientalis" {Lenten Rose) provides an example of this: I have many that seed around 

 enthusiastically, providing excitement when a new seedling first flowers. Helleborus foetidus and 

 Helleborus corsicus also seed around but, so far, Helleborus viridis has not done so. I have a hybrid 

 swarm of Arums. First came the rare Arum apulum grown from seed purchased from the Archibalds, 

 then there was A. italicum subsp. italicum, then the unmarked A. italicum subsp. neglectum collected in 

 the Isle of Man. All have flowered and fruited and some bird has introduced A. maculatum so now there 

 is a mass of arums with all sorts of leaf patterns and different colours of spadix. 



I have Cyclamen hederifolium all over the place as the light soil seems to favour seed germination and 

 to favour the ants that move the ripe seed around. Cyclamen coum also seeds around pleasingly but 

 cannot compete with the larger C. hederifolium. There are many different snowdrops that proliferate but 

 I cannot count them as "wild" because I doubt that any of them reproduces by seed. Flowering at the 

 same time is Crocus tommasinianus which gives great pleasure in late February and spreads around 

 well. I have other crocuses and I have seen possible hybrids of these with C. tommasinianus but none 

 of these has persisted. 



Overseas walking trips have provided opportunities to collect seeds in the wild. The success rate in 

 cultivating these to maturity is not great but some persist. Of various species collected during an Alpine 

 Garden Society expedition to Nepal, the one that survives is Rosa sericea, whose new shoots are as 

 attractive as its white blooms and red fruits. It seeds around gently. Atrip to Bulgaria provided one of my 

 favourite species, Celsia rutifolia, a relative of the mulleins but more graceful. This provides seedlings 

 readily and I suspect may hybridise with Verbascum species. Another Bulgarian species that has 

 succeeded from seed is Rayed Tansy (Tanacetum macrophyllum); a fine plant for the back of the 

 herbaceous border that I suspect may find its way into the countryside as it seeds itself with enthusiasm. 

 A work trip to Turkey in September provided an opportunity to collect seeds of various species. Seriously 

 prominent among these (it reaches 4m. in my garden!) is Giant Fennel (Ferula communis): self sown 

 seedlings are developing well. Two other species of Ferula are growing up from seed collected in 

 Kazakhstan but have not yet bloomed. On a different scale, from seed collected in Sicily is the annual 

 Fedia comucopiodes (in the valerian family, half way between centranthus and corn salad in 

 appearance) that has persisted in a gravelly path for many years. Seed of the Perennial Honesty 

 (Lunaria rediviva) proved very fertile, producing plants that combine nicely with the Rayed Tansy and 

 with spontaneous seedlings of a perennial, yellow-flowered Dame's Violet {Hesperis lutea). Curiously, 

 the common Dame's Violet (Hesperis matronalis) does not persist in the garden. Berkshire species that 

 reproduce spontaneously in the garden are Spurge Laurel (Daphne laureola) and Wild Candytuft (Iberis 

 amara) that seems very much at home in RG1. Stinking Gladden (Iris foetidissima), originally collected 

 at Swanage, seeds around and contributes valuable winter colour. 



Some species have surprised me by reproducing well in the garden. A Skullcap, perhaps Somerset 



32 



