There’s nothing plastic about the plants today; all perfectly proportioned in every way and you didn’t need to dig to find the gold

I can confirm spring has officially begun

In previous diaries at this time of year I have reflected on the flowering of the cherry trees outside the alpine yard. They started to flower on 2 March this year and the alpine team use this measure as being the start of spring. After the dark days of winter it certainly lifts the spirits. I have included here several pictures of plants that I’ve shown over the past two years as these are old friends that should be celebrated and appreciated in the moments that they shine. Prunus itosakura f. ascendens ‘Rosea’ has a specific epithet from the Japanese – ito – thread and Sakura – cherry blossom, known as the thread cherry. All pictures were taken on 09 March 2026.

The Alpine meadow is full of miniature daffodils

Narcissus bulbocodium are near their peak producing a sea of yellow, looking very jolly in the spring sunshine. In the second picture there are some Erythronium dens-canis, (the dogtooth violets) which can be seen amongst the Narcissus when you look closely.

Out on the main rock garden the spring show is in full display

Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ is on the Brucie list. It has the added bonus of the bronze foliage and the lovely autumn colour, as well as the stunning blossom, even if it is short lived. Jess has planted some autumn flowering snowdrops at its base and I’m looking forward to seeing how they will look.

Forsythia ‘Paulina’ is growing in the crevice garden at Wisley. The genus name is to honour William Forsyth (1737 – 1804) who was a Scottish botanist who was famous for several reasons, one of which was that in 1774 he built one of the first rock gardens, although it appears it was not a great success. In 1779 he was appointed as the superintendent of the royal gardens at Kensington and St James Palace. William was also one of the founding members of the RHS attending their first meeting on 7 March 1804 shortly before he died on 25 July.

Mukdenia rossii is known as the red leaved mukdenia and was named for John Ross (1842 – 1915) a Scottish missionary. It thrives in a lightly shaded position and is found in North East China to Korea (Manchuria). John collected plants between 1876 – 1886 sending them to Kew for identification while he was working in China. He was a linguist who spoke 11 languages and learned Korean so that he could translate the New Testament for the Korean converts. The genus name comes from Mukden, which was the old name of Shenyang and was the provincial capital of Liaoning Province in China. There is also an Iris rossii named for him, not currently grown at Wisley.

Helonias thibetica (synonym Ypsilandra thibetica) is from south central to southwestern China, into Taiwan and the Himalayas. The flowers are heavily scented with vanilla and the evergreen perennial plants grow to 30cm in shaded forests. In Chinese traditional medicine it is used to stop bleeding. The previous genus name is from the Greek – ypsilo – Y shaped and – andros – anthers. The specific epithet is from the Latin – from Tibet. The flowers emerge white but change to a lovely coppery pink.

Pieris japonica ‘Prelude’ was included in a diary last December when it was in bud. The flowers are now fully open.

Helleborus cyclophyllus comes from the northwest Balkan Peninsula including Bulgaria, Albania and Greece. All parts of Hellebores are poisonous but poisoning is very rare. When working with the plants sensible precautions are enough. The plants contain cardiac glycosides which are very unpleasant. The genus name is from the Greek – elein – injure and – bora – food. The specific epithet is also from the Greek – kylos – circle and -phyllon – leaf.

Exochorda racemosa MAGICAL SNOWDROPS (‘Kolmagisn’ PBR) is known as the pearl bush plant, referring to the appearance of the flower buds. The species was first collected by Robert Fortune (1812 – 1880) in 1845 when he was in China. This particular cultivar was bred in the Netherlands by Kolster, who also bred MAGICAL SPRINGTIME (‘Kolmasprit’). The genus name is from the Greek – exo – outside and – chorde – a cord or thong (the shape of the structure of the ovary). The specific epithet is from the Latin – racemus – cluster or bunch – racemosa – full of clusters.

Helleborus × hybridus was plentiful in the fern glade and in other parts of the rock garden. Many of the forms are un-named as are seedlings that have spread around. There was a tremendous amount of variation in colour and patterns to the flowers.

In the Alpine Display House

One day I’ll go into the ADH and just be whelmed by the display. Today is not that day. It’s overwhelming (as usual).

Saxifraga oppositifolia ‘Splendens’ AGM has rich rose-purple flowers. It thrives in a cool north-facing site in neutral to acid soil. The species is found in numerous countries in the northern hemisphere, subarctic and subalpine locations including the UK.

Saxifraga ‘Greenslacks Valerie’ was raised by William Francis Winton Harding OBE (1917 – 2005) who was known as Winton Harding. He studied, grew and wrote about Saxifraga, and is particularly known for his book “The Genus Saxifraga in the wild and in cultivation”. He was introduced to Saxifraga by Valerie Finnis VMH (1924 – 2006) in the 1960’s, so this must have been a very special plant to Winton.

Lapeirousia silenoides can be found in the Western Cape growing in coarse granite sand and in the crevices of granite outcrops. It grows 30-45cm but the plant at Wisley is smaller than this and the pictures on the Pacific Bulb Society site also show smaller plants. The specific epithet is from the Latin – resembling silene. Some authorities list it as growing in Namaqualand which is a little further north.

Romulea bulbocodium ‘Knightshayes’ is a selected form of the species, being a darker deep violet colour than is usual. It has a wide distribution across many countries in the Mediterranean region. Jon Evans writes about Knightshayes Court garden in Devon in a diary entry from 2024, including pictures of the house and garden https://alpinegardensociety.net/news/westward-ho

Tulipa sogdiana grows to 15cm with white flowers and a yellow base. The specific epithet comes from the name of an ancient Iranian civilisation centred on Smarkand a desert area, now in Uzbekistan.

Scilla forbesii ‘Rosea’ was named to honour Walter Siehe (1859 – 1928) who was a German botanist, plant collector, engineer and businessman. Walter collected plants in western Turkey between 1895 and 1913.  This particular Scilla comes from western and southern Turkey growing to 20cm. The plant might be more familiar to some under the old name of Chionodoxa forbesii or Chionodoxa siehei but it is now recognized as Scilla forbesii.

Hepatica falconeri was named to honour Dr. Hugh Falconer MD. FRS (1808 – 1865) who was a Scottish botanist, geologist and palaeontologist and also superintendent of the Saharanpur Botanical Garden (1832 – 1842). He was appointed as a Fellow to the Royal Society in 1845.

Scilla × allenii ‘Frà Angelico’ was given an AGM in 2017 and is a selected form of the naturally occurring hybrid of Scilla bifolia x S. siehei (previously known as × Chionoscilla allenii). It was found by James Allen (1830 – 1906) who was a British plantsman and galanthophile who introduced many snowdrops cultivars, including ‘Merlin’ and ‘Magnet’, both of which have been given an AGM, two of only 28 snowdrops out of the thousands now being grown to receive such an award. This selection of the Scilla was made by Elliot Hodgkin in 1972. Frà Angelico was an early Renaissance painter (c.1395 – 1455) and Dominican Friar.

Scilla melaina can be found growing in southern Turkey. The specific epithet is from the Greek – melas – dark or black. Melaina is a chthonic epithet for the Greek Olympian Goddess Demeter, who was the goddess of agriculture, harvest, fertility, crops, grain and food. It likes cool moist, well drained growing conditions and is found from 500m – 1400m in subalpine meadows.

Moraea elegans has sweetly scented flowers and  is found growing in the southwestern part of the Western Cape from Caledon to Napier. The genus name was to honour Robert More FRS (1703 – 1780) who was an English academic, botanist and politician. In 1762 Carl Linnaeus amended the name to Moraea to honour his father-in-law, J. Moraeus who was a Swedish physician. 

Oxalis comosa is another South African plant this one coming from the Northern Cape which is 1.5 times the size of the UK, South Africa is truly a large country. The specific epithet is from the Latin – shaggy or tufted. It is one of the few shade-loving species, and plants growing in full sun are smaller and densely branched. The team is checking the identification of this plant as it may be O. obtusa.

Just to highlight the differences in the flowers of the Hepaticas on display, Carla has put in a bowl of water and floated a selection of the flowers on show, to highlight the differences in colour and form.

Scilla cilicica can be found from southern Turkey to northern Israel including Cyprus, Lebanon and Palestine. The specific epithet is from the Latin – cilicicus – from Cilicia, southern Turkey.

Fessia greilhuberi (previously Scilla greilhuberi) is named in honour of Johann Greilhuber a botanist and associate professor at the institute of botany at the University of Vienna. He retired in 2010 after 30 years studying plant genomes. It is found in the wild in northern Iran.

On this day in history 1959

Barbara Millicent Roberts made her public debut in New York on this day. I’ve discovered she is not who I thought she was. I also have found out about some of the controversy that surrounded her, at least in the past. Lilli was a cartoon character in the West German newspaper ‘Bild Zeitung’ in 1955. She was portrayed as a rather racy character, flirtatious gold-digger with risqué outfits. Due to her popularity she had been made into a plastic doll , initially a gag gift for men, that had become unexpectedly popular with children.

In 1945 Ruth Handler and her husband Elliot along with Harold ‘Matt’ Matson had founded a toy company they named Mattel (Matt + el). This is a portmanteau (combination of names). In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass (1871), the concept of a “portmanteau” word is introduced by Humpty Dumpty, to explain the blended vocabulary in the poem “Jabberwocky”. He describes them as words with two packed up meanings into one. Think of Breakfast and lunch becoming brunch. Ruth was looking for ideas to make the company a success and had thought of an adult doll to inspire girls. During a trip to Europe in 1956 she saw the Lilli doll and that became the inspiration for her doll. She named it after her daughter Barbra. My usual start up advice applies again, I’d change the name to something a bit more popular. Fortunately for them they did and ‘Barbie’ has gone on to sell over 1 billion dolls worldwide and counting. So far she has had over 250 careers and she must be one of the most glamorous pensioners, showing no signs of ageing, having turned 66. No one will believe her bus pass picture.  Lilli’s owners sued Mattel in 1961 for copyright infringement and settled out of court. In 1964 Mattel acquired the patents and copyrights for Lilli. If Barbie was a real person she would stand 175cms (5’ 9”) and weigh only 50kg (110 lbs), her neck would be unable to support her head and her tiny feet and ankles would not allow her to walk. It was felt that this was creating unrealistic expectations and by 2016, in a more enlightened age, dolls with more life like proportions, petite, tall and curvy were introduced.

Barbie didn’t have a surname initially. In the 1960’s a book was written and published to add to her story which included a middle and surname with the aim to turn the doll into a character.

There’s lots of good back stories about plants and some have a very interesting past. Controversies are not unknown in the gardening world and hopefully no one is going to sue anyone at Wisley for breach of copyrights. I’ve seen a few crocus this year that have suffered from ‘Barbie’s neck syndrome’, perhaps I should try and copyright that expression. I may also not make as much money as Mattel has. You have to manage realistic expectations.