Having one of my late evening walks around the garden I began to think back to when I first started to create a garden for myself.

What sparked off these thoughts was seeing the Hostas and Hebes in flower. It is hard to believe that way back they were not that commonly grown in small gardens and were looked upon as something almost exotic.

There were not many varieties to choose from in the local garden centres or nurseries then. I suppose there was not enough demand and so not worth stocking.

Hostas

The gardening book which was my bible at the time had a small write up about Hostas.

The two things I remember are the warning that they are slugs and snails’ favourite delicacy and the advice to cut off the flower spikes as Hostas are grown mainly for their leaf colour and architectural qualities.

There is no doubting that those slimy enemies of all gardeners can reap havoc but there are varieties that seem to survive far better than others.

As for the advice to cut off the flower spikes I can maybe see the benefit in a very formal garden but personally I love the bell shaped flowers towering above the foliage. And there are those that are scented, one that I have which is not yet in flower but when it is it will fill that end of the garden with its delicious perfume.

Hebes

Again I found little articles about Hebes with the warning that they were not that hardy in our climate. The big problem I had was finding any at all to grow and then found two in a small nursery, one with red flowers and the other blue. The red was a real beauty with large flowers but the warning in this case proved to be right, it did not make it through the winter. This put me off growing them for quite a while but more varieties became available as the garden centres grew in size. Now I have several and one in particular has become a very large bush that gets covered in scented flowers.

Of course it is not just Hebes and Hostas that are more readily available in garden centres now. Twenty years ago, perhaps even less than that, I remember struggling to find ornamental grasses and when I did there was little advice on the varieties to grow. I bet I am not the only gardener to plant a grass and see it try to take over a border within two seasons.

I still hear criticism of garden centres not providing adequate advice for customers about their purchases. However in my experience of too many years to admit to I have to say it is better now than it used to be. The small nurserymen have always known their stuff but it is the larger new fangled supermarket type garden centres that needed to improve. Providing the expertise for the variety of trees, plants and shrubs that are now available is not that easy and it does come with a cost attached, an extra price that perhaps many of us are not happy to pay.

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