Primarily from our own wild seed collections divided into 3 sections:

- Woodies including some climbers 2009
- Herbaceous to tuberous including a few climbers 2009
- New cultivar names we are allocating or introducing 2009

Woodies including some climbers

Acer species are fast becoming a mainstay of our nursery business, now that we are offering such a wide range of previously unobtainable species, as well as open ground (bare rooted) plants.

Acer buergerianum v. formosanum CWJ12361 For the forthcoming season we will have small plants available of A. buergerianum v. formosanum CWJ12361 as I was able to collect a fresh supply of seed on my 2007 expedition to Taiwan. The species is almost extinct in the wild due to its habitat being in the path of their ever expanding capital city of Taipei. The variety has been well tested in our open field for a number of years without protection.

A. campbellii v. serratifolium GWJ9360 A. campbellii v. serratifolium GWJ9360 is yet another species that has emerged from our field grown seedlings. Written up in my reference book as being too tender to grow where it has been since 2003, when it was lined out in an open exposed field. A rare variety of a rare species, with distinct foliage which emerges and retains a glossy bronze appearance.

Acer pectinatum GWJ9354 We also collected seed of A. pectinatum GWJ9354 in the same area. While this species with shallowly lobed thick textured leaves is regarded in literature as being tender, our collection must be illiterate, as again they have thrived in our open field. Maybe its because of the high altitude we collected them from, an area of the Lachung Valley that the diesel froze in our Jeep on a previous trip.

Acer sikkimense  While our collections of A. sikkimense are from the high mountains of the northern most area of Vietnam that is yielding so many unexpectedly hardy woody plants. These are proving to be one of the most colourful species, almost evergreen for us in sheltered conditions, with really thick textured simple leaves which emerge red on bright petioles, expand and slowly suffuse with dark green until the cooler autumn transforms them back to red again. If you need more the snake-bark is virtuous to boot.

Aralia vietnamensis We have two new species of Aralia new to our list, A. searelliana was from a 2006 Vietnamese collection, where I was surprised to see such ripe fruit on the 2 m tall stems with large bi-pinnate leaves 1.5 m long.

While A. vietnamensis BSWJ12349e was growing in the same area the seed was not ripe until later, hence the seed was posted on to us. This most spectacular species of the genus has been recorded to 12 m tall, I would not even expect half of that in our climate. The leaves are the largest I know of, to 2 m long while almost as wide, composed of leaflets that can also be to 25 cm. What has always impressed me is the texture of the leathery foliage covered in bristly hair.

Buddleja cordata BSWJ10433 is from the other side of the World, a seed collection from a small tree with glossy dark green narrow leaves almost white below. With large congested pyramidal panicles of orange-yellow ball-like clusters, growing at one of the highest points of the Sierra Los Cuchumatanes, Guatemala in 2004. While in the Americas, Cestrum coccinea BSWJ10255 was easily spotted in the high mountain forests of Oaxaca, Mexico in 2004, on account of its red flowers held in terminal clusters on small shrubs to about 1.5 m tall.

Back to Asia for my collection of Carpinus kawakamii an elegant species with elongated pleated leaves and loose catkins of winged seed somewhat smaller than the elusive Taiwanese C. rankanensis we were looking for, which had by December lost all its seed. While in Taiwan I managed to collect seed of several species of Celastrus, a woody twinning climber that seems to be creeping more to the fore. C. punctatus CWJ12439 was growing on a sunny mountainside with its characteristic long pointed leaves and globose yellow seed capsules bursting to reveal the red-orange aril surrounding the seed. Very popular for flower arranging in Asia.

Celastrus hookeri BSWJ11667 Anything but sunny where we collected our second species as we were almost drowned on our feet in that part of Vietnam where we collected C. hookeri. A stocky plant with almost rounded leaves with conspicuously impressed venation, again a good show of fruit on this.

Very few people seem to have heard of moon-seeds, so called after their strange crescent-shaped knobbly seed. Cyclea polypetala KWJ12157 will be a new introduction from Vietnam, with leathery peltate (stalk is in the middle of the leaf, like an umbrella) leaves, a feature I find so attractive as peltate leaves are in such short supply, virtually unknown in the European Flora.

Stephania tetrandra WWJ11896 Sticking with the moon-seeds, the herbaceous twining climbers Stephania longa KWJ12163 & S. tetrandra WWJ11896 were both collected in Vietnam, these as our previous species are collected for their tubers, sometimes valued for their medicinal or culinary qualities. The foliage on these are far more delicate, while the fruit form large clusters of red berries.

 Daphniphyllum aff. angustifolium is a name change, as stated in last year’s list D. chartaceum, which has since been referred to D. himalaense (in the RHS Plant Finder), which in turn is in a different section of the genus to either of the above mentioned. This may well turn out to be a hitherto undescribed species, until someone is brave enough to revise the genus, something the new Flora of China have made a pig’s year of.

 

Daphniphyllum longeracemosum D. longeracemosum is easily distinguished though, here my problem has been germination.

Third time lucky seems to be the case with this large leafed species with extraordinary long racemes of large elongated purple-black fruit from the mountains of northern Vietnam.

Deutzia maximowicziana was very high on our hit list in Japan, ever since we discovered that what we previously grew was incorrect. Again very distinct with silvery starry hairs below the leaves, a striking feature that involved my neck almost attaining a permanent crick as I inspected the underside of every Deutzia in sight (have you seen how many there are there?).

I also took the opportunity to gather some fresh collections of D. taiwaniana in 2007, this time from the mountains of the north, to gather some descent hardiness.

This year we have also taken the opportunity to name some of our Fuchsia collections, please refer to the New Cultivar section for their descriptions.

Holboellia angustifolia ssp. linearifolia BWJ8004  Holboellia angustifolia ssp. linearifolia BWJ8004 was my collection from Longzhoushan in Sichuan China back in 2000. Where Dan Hinkley and myself found only the cast off fragments of the fruit as some helpful soul had eaten the fruit and spat out the pips. That besides, its an elegant species with small Schefflera-like slender leafleted leaves, with green scented flowers in this collection.

H. aff. chapaensis BSWJ7250, has been even more difficult. I retain the affinity as I am not convinced of the name. I collected this as a layer from the limestone slab of a mountain, Doi Chiang Dao in northern Thailand, where this genus has never been recorded before (in the country that is).

For us it starts to flower in January and carries on for months with up to seven leaflets to the leaves, while the female flowers are a bronzed pink, with a wonderful fragrance. While H. coriacea BSWJ2818 still remains a mystery (collected in Japan), we have offered the dark purple form of this collection before. This time we are offering the more normal flower coloured form, but ours bears vast quantities of highly scented flowers for ages.

Holboellia latifolia dark flowed form HWJK2213 Finally we have seedlings of Holboellia latifolia dark flowed form HWJK2213 the name explains it all, unusual in this species.

Of the same family, a collection I gathered with our friend Finlay Colley from Dublin of Stauntonia obovatifoliola CWJ12353, was the first time I had found fruit of this species. Especially accommodating as this was as about as far north as one could be, not least the sheer quantity of large fruit, we could have filled a sack.

By comparing the former collection we no longer consider BSWJ3685 to be this species, but a form of S. purpurea or what used to be regarded as S. keitaoensis. Imagine my excitement on wondering upon bright yellow fat elongated Stauntonia fruit, with initial dismay as they had been eaten. All the same we eventually secured a good seed collection of S. leucantha KWJ12218 as well as satisfying our porters appetite. Lets hope the sweetly scented flowers are as good as the fruit.

Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris from Yakushima Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris from Yakushima has a confused pedigree (the naming of this group is not consistent), nevertheless our latest collection BSWJ11487 is available as young plants. Our previous collections from 1998 are planted out and flowering away at only a meter high which is as tall as they have grown in all those years (and you wondered why they were pricey!). The plants seem almost dwarfed by the size of the flowers though.

Sound the fanfare! Finally we have plants of the true H. aspera ssp. robusta only one of the many confused names in horticulture. GWJ9430 has been slow to multiply for us after finally finding ripe (enough) seed in Sikkim in 2002 on fabulously clothed specimen with lavish inflorescences, borne so late in the season that they often miss bearing seed. We only have a small number of large plants of that collection, meanwhile Peter Wharton and I were pleasantly surprised to find a small colony in the mountains of northern Vietnam.

Hydrangea aspera ssp. robusta WWJ11888 Even more surprised to get a bumper harvest of strong seedlings of WWJ11888 that we can offer in 2009.

From the same area we also have new collections from 2006 of H. indochinensis, which we always find with blue flower, yet pink in our compost. All the same they are forming great plants in the garden.

Hydrangea kwangsiensis We are also introducing Hydrangea kwangsiensis BSWJ11609 & 11717, which we used to consider to be part of H. indochinensis,but on closer examination this species should be segregated by its thick textured glossy leaves and smaller (but in proportion) inflorescences.

 They form striking small shrubs which try to be evergreen with blue or pink fertile flowers subtended by large white sterile florets.

Hydrangea longifolia CWJ12413 H. longifolia CWJ12413 is also long overdue to our inventory, having first clasped our eyes on the plants in 1992. The attention to detail required to produce something more than a handful of these plants has been incredible, it would challenge a saint. I’m not one so my blood pressure is sky high. At last we have young plants that will be available of this small to medium sized shrub similar in habit and closely related to H. involucrata, but with longer narrower leaves and bearing more substantial inflorescences.

From the remote island of Yakushima we have Hydrangea grossiserrata BSWJ11500 & 11506 that were considered to be H. angustipetala, but are now regarded as distinct with much thinner textured leaves which can be deeply serrated and bronze to reddish on the undersides, only slowly forming shrubs to 1m tall for us.

From the same group within Hydrangea are two species we collected from the high cloud forests of the Philippines back in 1996.

Hydrangea glabrifolia BSWJ3869  H. glabrifolia BSWJ3869 is a small shrub around a meter tall and wide with reddish brown stems bearing small ovate to orbicular stiff thick textured evergreen leaves. Bearing many terminal small cymes of white both sterile and fertile flowers.

While Hydrangea aff. pubiramea v. parvifolia BSWJ3942 with bristly chestnut brown stems to no more than 1m tall, bore small ovate stiff thick textured evergreen serrulate leaves hairy on the veins below, on blue petioles with many terminal small cymes of white both large sterile and small fertile flowers. They have been slow to form shrubs large enough to propagate from, which can quite often be the case with seed. That stage in their life has thankfully been left behind now they are established.

We will also have young (cheaper) plants of the rare H. hirta and H. sikokiana.

While on the subject of the Hydrangea family, Schizophragma aff. elliptifolium WWJ11905 was an exciting find as seed presented to us on what appeared to be a dead stick. We had encountered seedlings before, but seed had always eluded us, as this is usually high in the tree canopy some 30 meters up. It is a distinct species, if not correctly identified it is most likely to be an undescribed species. The young elliptic foliage is thick with bristly hairs, while we have been shown pressed specimen of the unusual orbicular bracts, in the National Park headquarters.

For the eagle-eyed amongst our readers, I have changed the identification of my Schizophragma collection BWJ8150 to S. corylifolium after seeing photos of a collection of S. megalocarpum. Amateur! How many different Ilex have I grown? Only a fraction of what I would like to, have you seen how many there are? Some without a prickle in sight, but most with a crop of fruit to match anything. I. cornuta BSWJ8756 was a gathering from Korea in 2001, a curious evergreen with rectangular leaves with the spines at both ends. The identity of Kadsura coccinea had baffled me for ages, so much so that I had discarded my first couple of collections.

My guides in the mountains of northern Vietnam had always been keen to eat the lilac multi celled orbicular fruit 10-12 cm across, in fact they were tasty. That was until the penny dropped, an evergreen hardy twining climber with sizeable flowers, red in this species. I’m sure I should have a go at that.

When the word finally got around that we were offering Lagerstroemia, we sold out overnight and have been pestered ever since. Imagine my relief on finding L. subcostata CWJ12352 in northern Taiwan, another species with ornamental trunks and flamboyant purple to white flowers in showy terminal panicles. Lindera lancea BSWJ11118 is another prized collection from the mountains of Fukuoka southern Japan. Where we had long admired the colonies of these small understorey shrubs with bright yellow narrowly ovate leaves contrasting with the old conspicuously black slender stems. The glossy fruit was also black, but very elusive in those dark conditions.

	Lindera praecox southern form BSWJ11125 Certainly differing in fruit from the preceding L. praecox is from a section of the genus that has marble-sized fruit, pleased as I was to find the southern form BSWJ11125, I was confused. It differed so much from what we had collected in the north of Japan with its small thick textured leaves, I found it difficult to equate the two.

Magnolia will be featuring strongly in forthcoming years.

I had the privilege of collecting with one of the World’s leading experts for two years in northern Vietnam. I shall never get to Peter Wharton’s level, but lets hope some of it rubbed off. M. aff. floribunda v. tonkinensis DJHV06105, is not one of Peter’s identifications hence I retain the affinity.

A seed collection generously shared by Dan Hinkley on our arrival/his departure in 2006 in Vietnam. Dan’s notes read ‘’Evergreen species, trees to at least 45' perhaps taller, terminal buds covered in golden tomentose. Fruit erect, stout.’’ You may be excused if you have not heard of Polyspora, as the Asian species have only recently been segregated from Gordonia. That explains everything.

Polyspora speciosa BSWJ11750 Undoubtedly P. speciosa BSWJ11750 will be viewed with great suspicion as these close relatives to Camellia bear such large showy flowers they have never been considered to be hardy - until now that is. The populations we are finding in Vietnam have survived for many thousands of years, retreating to altitude during glaciation later re-colonizing the lower ground as the ice melted. I think they called it global warming at that time.

Sarcococca saligna MFP2056 is a valued gift from one of the country’s greatest plantsman Maurice Foster, who collected this in Pakistan. It is not the toughest species hence would appreciate a bit of shelter from the cold, but what wonderful distinct foliage with yellowish flowers.

Sarcococca brevifolia GWJ9480 S. brevifolia GWJ9480 a new species to cultivation, will also appreciate a bit of shelter. Can you imagine our disbelief when we came across this in dense undergrowth at high altitude on the Horton Plains in Sri Lanka in 2002. Busy looking for Disporum leschenaultianum we were. Just to add insult to my credibility, it was only when we arrived home

that we discovered that there was another species just down the road from it. We were back there the following season.

Schefflera multinervia BSWJ11727 From northern Vietnam, is a new species for our listing, this collection is well worth checking out as the seed parent was colourfully endowed with dark purple petioles and new shoots.

Schefflera fantsipanensis BSWJ11666 Similarly with S. fantsipanensis BSWJ11666 (Syn. hoi v. fantsipanensis) which was selected for its grey-green leaflets, contrasting with the purplish petioles on a single stemmed small tree.

Schefflera hoi BSWJ11747 From a different area of the north, where we are discovering lots of new treasures, S. hoi BSWJ11747 is new to cultivation, naturally similar in habit to what used to be considered as its variety (above). The seed parent of this collection was a small tree 5 meters tall with larger leaves.

Our collections of Skimmia have been under renewed scrutiny this last season, mainly thanks to Philip Brown, who presented a paper on the subject to the Plantsman in 1980. Hence some of the naming has been jiggled around, meanwhile Skimmia black fruiting species from northern Vietnam BSWJ8259 stands out as being different from what was considered to be S. laureola v. multinervia, by way of the foliage being stiffer and a distinct waxy grey-green as opposed to dark glossy green. We also suspect the flowering to differ in that this species/variety is hermaphrodite, but more material needs to be studied to confirm this.

Sorbus is yet another can of worms, particularly the new species we are finding in the north of Vietnam, falling into the previously little known Micromeles section of the genus. All of these appear to have distinctively ornamental new foliage which is apparent for a considerable time, with larger spotted (lenticels) fruit.

Sorbus corymbifera WWJ11860 I will always remember Peter Wharton’s excitement when we found S. corymbifera WWJ11860 with terminal corymbs of exceptionally large fruit, this is an evergreen species in the wild. A memorable day it was indeed, we were later attacked by killer wasps, huge things black with yellow stripes. Just the sting I received on the back of my hand felt like a sledge hammer had hit me. Poor old Uoc (our long suffering guide) had to be rushed to the nearest hospital (no mean feat) as he received eleven stings to his head, lucky to be alive.

Another bit of excitement was on finding S. epidendron WWJ11930 commonly growing as an epiphyte in our more northerly happy hunting ground. Another species with lightly ribbed foliage and fruit ageing reddish.

Back on Fansipan we were treated to some spectacular autumnal displays from small high altitude weathered trees of S. subulata which Ben Kettle and I duly collected as KWJ12272 a collection that will be available in due course, but is still available from a previous collection HWJ925.

As a note of interest this last species was voted the best of its section in a recent study day at RHS Wisley, by the most eminent of panels.

Sorbus ligustrifolia WWJ12004 Incidentally Peter and I also found a good collection of S. ligustrifolia WWJ12004 on an exposed ridge, a very distinct small leafed species which will be available in time. Meanwhile we still have some Sorbus ligustrifolia - HWJ984 left from a 2003 collection.

Sorbus commixta v. sachalinensis Finally from the Aucuparia section, S. commixta v. sachalinensis BSWJ8515 & 8496 is a stunning ‘chunky’ variety identified by Roy Lancaster on his visit last spring. However, you will be fortunate if we still have some as all the plants we containerised last year flew out.

Stachyurus aff. lancifolius I am pleased that Stachyurus are finally being recognised for their garden merit. S. aff. lancifolius from Yakushima BSWJ11508 are still young plants, but stand out as differing from any previous collection encountered, by its pale foliage on pale vigorous stems, as well as long inflorescences which we selected it for in the wild.

S. aff. chinensis from Nepal HWJK2052 is similarly different from what was supposed to be growing there, possibly an overspill from China.

Stewartia pteropetiolata BSWJ11726 only formed medium sized shrubs where I gathered this seed, with dark green leathery serrated leaves almost hiding the seed capsules which had resulted from the white flowers.

Styrax suberifolius WWJ11868 If the quantity of seed that we found on Styrax suberifolius WWJ11868 is an indication of the flowering there will be no disappointment, with this new possibly evergreen introduction.

Found on the day the killer wasps struck on our hasty if not undignified retreat down a sheer bank. I had to carefully retrace our tracks to top up the collection after Peter left for the reasons given above.

Tripterygium hypoglauca WWJ12009 Before we leave Vietnam I must mention yet another delight. We collected the conspicuously yellow cordate winged seed of Tripterygium hypoglauca WWJ12009 growing on an open mountain ridge. Not sure yet if this is the same creature I once collected in China in a distinctly hot environment. Could definitely have done with a bit of that in this location, hence this woody twining climber should do well in our climate from such a hostile spot.

Tetrapanax papyrifer 'Di-Sue-Shan' BWJ12488 (named below) is the result of scouring Taiwan for another form, this time I had the seed sent on after my return home as the seed was still under-ripe when we left.

On this occasion I chose a plant from the western side of the island. Viburnum sambucinum HWJ838 is from a fairly low altitude in the north of Vietnam, bearing large textured leaves and huge cymes of red fruit when we found it growing at the edge of the forest.