This week the HPS seed scheme opened for orders. The seed is donated by members all over the world, including me for the first time this year.  Donating seeds entitles the donor to an extra 10 packs of seed. I confess this had something to do with my enthusiastic collection of seeds this year.

It’s a veritable seed cornucopia!
It can be overwhelming to be faced with a list of over 2000 varieties. How to choose? My selection strategy was a mixed bag. I had my own “I want” list, plants that I had seen in talks, in other blogs, read about, whatever, so I first used that list. I also had a plant list provided by a speaker at our HPS 60th Anniversary day back in October. He gave a talk called “Bordering on Insanity”, describing a large mixed border in his garden at Oxford Botanical Gardens. He kindly provided a long list of plants and shrubs, I used this as a reference. Finally, if I liked the look of the description in the seed list I added it in.

Here is what I ordered. I may not get exactly this depending on demand for certain varieties, the timing of other orders and other factors.

My 20

  • Abutilon × suntense (White to purple, free flowering, sun, summer)
  • Acer palmatum ex ‘Osakazuki’ (Elegant lvs, brilliant scarlet autumn colour)
  • Actaea simplex ex ‘Pink Spike’ (Pink, fragrant, purplish lvs, fertile moist soil)
  • Aster × frikartii ex ‘Mönch’ (Light violet, long flowering, sun, well drained soil)
  • Astrantia major ex ‘Ruby Wedding’ (Deep ruby red, dark stems, summer on)
  • Bergenia cordifolia ex ‘Tubby Andrews’ (E, bright pink, parent lvs, gold/pale green)
  • Clematis cirrhosa var. purpurascens ex ‘Lansdowne Gem’ (E.Claret fls with cream anthers, late autumn to early spring, silky seed-heads, sun, shelter, not acid soil)
  • Cosmos sulphureus dark orange flowers (Dk orange flrs, ferny lvs,sun)
  • Echinacea purpurea ex ‘White Swan’ (White reflexed petals, bronze cone, sun)
  • Echinops ritro ex ‘Veitch’s Blue’ (Deep blue selection, jagged lvs, sun, July on)
  • Eurybia divaricata (was Aster d.) (White, wiry black stems, autumn)
  • Geranium pratense ex red leaved form (Blue, red purple lvs, sun/part shade)
  • Helenium ex ‘Moerheim Beauty’ (Tawny orange, sun, late summer, AGM)
  • Helenium ex ‘Ruby Charm’ (Dark red fls July-Aug)
  • Helenium ex ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ (Streaked orange fls, June+, AGM)
  • Helleborus × hybridus ex Ashwood Garden hybrids (white streaked red)
  • Helleborus ex × hybridus mixed (E, dark reds/purples, sun/part shade, early spring)
  • Hemerocallis ex ‘El Desperado’ (Pale yellow flr, maroon centre,sun)
  • Hemerocallis ex ‘Janice Brown’ (Bright pink, rose eye zone, green throat, July)
  • Hemerocallis ex ‘Siloam Show Girl’ (Deep red, yellow centre/stamens)

My extra 10 as a donor

  • Iris versicolor  (Purple, narrow lvs, sun, moist to wet, waterside)
  • Linaria purpurea ex ‘Springside White’ (White, greyish lvs, compact, sun, light soil)
  • Penstemon ex ‘Stapleford Gem’ (Lilac suffused blue, white throat, long season, sun)
  • Persicaria amplexicaulis ex ‘Fat Domino’ (Fat red flr spikes, sun/pt shade)
  • Phlox paniculata ex ‘Blue Paradise’ (Fragrant violet fls with dark eye)
  • Salvia nemorosa ex ‘Amethyst’ (Reddish-violet spikes, dark calyces)
  • Salvia nemorosa ex ‘Caradonna’ (Deep purple, black calyces, free flowering)
  • Salvia patens ex ‘Blue Angel’ (Ultramarine blue, sun, fertile soil, shelter/lift)
  • Tagetes ex ‘Cinnabar’ (Copper red single fls, long season, Great Dixter strain)
  • Thalictrum ex ‘Black Stockings’ (Lilac purple fluffy fls, black stems, fertile soil)

Mrs P’s 20

  • Amsonia tabernaemontana (Blue stars, autumn colour, sun, summer)
  • Angelica gigas (Dark maroon fls & stems, fertile soil, sun/part shade)
  • Anthriscus sylvestris ex ‘Ravenswing’ (White umbellifer fls, black ferny foliage)
  • Aruncus aethusifolius (Cream, bronzed finely cut lvs, summer, autumn colour)
  • Astelia nervosa (Silvery green bold lvs, dark midrib, excellent for pot)
  • Astrantia ex ‘Hadspen Blood’ (Maroon, dark lvs, sun/part shade)
  • Cirsium rivulare ex ‘Atropurpureum’ (Prolific deep crimson soft thistle heads, sun)
  • Dictamnus albus  (White, lemon scented lvs, sun, fertile soil, summer)
  • Echinops ritro L. (Blue globes, jagged lvs, sun, July on)
  • Eupatorium purpureum (Purplish pink, dark stems, moist, sun/part shade)
  • Geranium phaeum ex ‘Samobor’ (Maroon fls May-Aug, purple mkd lvs)
  • Hesperis matronalis (White to violet, very fragrant, sun/part shade)
  • Lysimachia ciliata ex ‘Fire Cracker’ (Yellow fls, rich purple foliage, moist soil)
  • Miscanthus sinensis ex ‘Kleine Fontäne’ (Green veined lvs, pink plumes, silver)
  • Papaver orientale ex ‘Patty’s Plum’  (Purple ruffled fls, black base, early summer)
  • Phlomis tuberosa (E, rose-lilac, red calyces, sun, summer)
  • Sanguisorba menziesii (Maroon-pink bottlebrushes, moist soil, sun/part shade)
  • Stachys macrantha (Mauve, corrugated dark lvs, summer)
  • Thalictrum delavayi (Airy branches of lilac fls, cream stamens, moist)
  • Verbascum phoeniceum ex ‘Album’ (White spikes, maroon eye, sun, early summer)

To add to the fun I have also ordered a lucky-dip selection, another 20 seed packets. By definition I don’t know what those are, it’ll be a nice surprise.

This is all in addition to these seeds I listed out a couple of weeks back. Let’s ignore the fact that all told, this is an awful lot of seeds to manage, leading to a glut of plants, leading to a planting backlog and a general management issue.  La la la not listening!

I’ll be back in the new year when the seeds are delivered.