The right plant for the right place

I have heard it said that all gardeners enjoy a challenge. They gain pleasure from successfully growing a plant that other people find difficult. Which plant do you reckon is the ultimate challenge? Why do some people find one type of plant easy to grow and others difficult?

Some people find gentians easy, whereas many a good gardener struggles to raise even one specimen. Others have trouble with rhododendrons, yet consider it the simplest thing to grow, say, an African violet, an exotic lavender, a rose, a rare cyclamen, an orchid, a snowdrop, or androsace to perfection.

Salvia argentea can be a challenge - the sage that has broad leaves, covered with long, soft hair, like a kitten – so remember to root plenty of cuttings for replacements. This applies also to many herbs.

Why can some people grow a particular plant and not others? Choosing the right plant for the right place is part of the answer. It is easier to grow plants that suit the conditions in your garden.

Hardy, half-hardy or tender – In Britain plants must be frost hardy if they are to survive winter in the open garden. Many garden owners liven up the summer scene by buying in half-hardy plants that nurserymen have raised. Green-fingered folk get an early start with tomatoes by transporting them in and out for their sunlight and air in early spring. More people are buying young plants for patio pots. Tender plants will require greenhouse protection.

Type of soil – whereas some species of plant thrive in a chalky or limy soil; others require a peaty or sandy soil. And some plants are more difficult to please than others! It is essential for success to suit plant to soil type. But there is always the possibility of growing plants that are not suited to the sort of soil in your district - simply plant in containers using purchased compost.

Sun or shade – Plants such as hardy geraniums are right for areas that receive sunshine all day; some will also tolerate shade. Geraniums are especially suitable for cottage gardens. Pelargonium varieties (often called geraniums) can be successfully cultivated in pots on sunny patios. Iris foetidissima, grown for its bright scarlet berries, will tolerate shade - an attractive variegated form exists.

Wet soil – The yellow Iris pseudacorus ‘Variegata’ is right for areas with free-draining moist soil around a pond (I. siberica is better for small spaces), as are some primulas and sisyrinchium. 

Dry soil - Hardy cyclamen will often flourish and create interest in dry-ish areas of dappled shade under trees, or along the base of hedges. Elsewhere, more plants are lost through over-watering in late spring, when the sun begins to warm up, than by frost in winter – especially if they are in pots that are not well drained.

Stony – Iris unguicularis does particularly well in very free-draining neutral or alkaline soil – a marvellous plant.

Wall or rock garden – wall flowers are right for a wall top – richly scented flowers burst out from black buds; sempervivum and dianthus grow over and in between boulders, or in sharply drained, gritty soil; ferns and other alpine plants find homes in the crevices in rocks.  Take care over the choice, as alpines are suitable according to type of soil, location and aspect.

Architectural plants such as red-striped Cordyline ‘Sundance’ are right for gardens where leaf colour, texture and shape for year-round impact are paramount considerations. And look out for new varieties of phormium, which also thrive in seaside areas. Colours of foliage vary from dark plum, reddy brown, cream-striped green, yellow-green.

A truly inspiring artist’s garden contains colours that blend in with background or form pleasing contrasts that appeal to the eye. Some gardeners like subtle shades as are mainly found in the flowers of natural species; others go for a pattern of brilliant hues. Tulips in the spring, followed by poppies, blue larkspur and annual cornflowers in early summer, will provide a bright picture.  A bold effect for summer and autumn can be gained by planting dark-leafed Dahlia ‘Roxy’ and D. ‘Bishop of Llandaff’.