These pretty little plants are wonderful for creating a sense of space, says James Wong
ardening trends may come and go. Yet there are some once ubiquitous styles of old-school horticulture that have been desperately out of fashion for so long that even someone in their 40s, like me, has only really seen them in the yellowed pages of dusty text books. Something so iconic of their time – the outdoor equivalent of crocheted doilies – that it is almost impossible to imagine them reinvented to be relevant and practical.
In my defence, it seems I was not the only one who felt this way. For years, the genre which once inspired cult-like devotion has been declining in popularity, with this year’s Chelsea Flower Show only featuring a single grower where once there would have been half a dozen.
Even if all you have is a single large dish or tray on a balcony, with these plants you can lose yourself for hours in a paradise of your own creation, with species from all over the world. Aside from their insistence on full sun and a fast drainage substrate, most are straightforward to care for.
With a new generation of aquarium stores selling an array of small, finely detailed rocks that look like miniature boulders and twisted hardwood twigs that resemble jungle branches, there are now far more hardscape options to really effectively cheat the convincing scale. The possibilities here for people who long to have vast gardens but live in small spaces are endless. I am blooming excited to get exploring. Thank you everyone at Kevock, for sparking my latest adventure.
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