Jack Aldridge, for whom Cornus is not the only genus

by Clare L. E. Foster, WHF Trustee

Jack Aldridge, WHF Trustee and Horticulturalist at RHS Wisley, gave a Thursday Garden Chat for Garden Masterclass about his work on Oakwood at Wisley; other recent talks range from ‘Woody Plants that Should be Better Known and Grown’ for Plant Heritage, and an overview of Camellia sasanqua for the International Camellia Society.

Jack has recently played a key role, along with Rod White, who has an unofficial national collection of Camellia reticulata, in identifying and labelling the camellia collection at White House Farm (some 100+ cultivars and 40+ species) which will be a feature of the April 4th guided tour and discussion; as will Magnolias (200+, some 50+ years old, including 12 national champions), which Maurice Foster is speaking about at a Wespelaar IDS Magnolia Study Day in Belgium next month.

WHF is known for its use of Magnolias as canopy trees for underplanted camellias, rhododendrons and hydrangeas, along with other small trees of interest for their flower or foliage, from cornus, styrax, and corylopsis, to carpinus and euonymus, with clematis, wisteria and climbing roses joining in, wherever siting offers each plant its best combination of light and shade, space and protection. This tiered woody co-growing approach offers sequential colour but is also low maintenance, enabling colourful year-long effects achieved without a team of gardeners. As well as looking at the best spring-flowering plants, and others that deserve not to be rarities, these methods and more will be showcased discussed as design strategies at the April Garden Masterclass event – an informal guided tour designed to be directed by participants’ specific interests and questions.

Spring at WHF is dominated by the spectacle of magnolias on all sides, set off by evergreen camellias and rhododendrons below, with conifers as high backdrops. But WHF is also known for the range of other often overlooked genera in spring gardens, such as Meliodendron, Staphylea and Berberis, as well as the colourful spring foliage of birches, maples, and hornbeams. A few places are still available for the April 4th event: for more information click here.

Jack is working on Cornus for Trees and Shrubs Online (TSO) and has an article in this month’s The RHS Plant Review about Cornus hybrids – an issue which also has contributions by two other WHF Trustees, Chris Sanders (on an overlooked clematis) and Chris Lane (on dark-stemmed flowering cherries).

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Jack will join Maurice Foster and horticulturalist and gardening lecturer Caroline Jackson in leading the first of a series of Garden Masterclasses at White House Farm on Thursday April 4th, informal tours designed to be led by participants’ interests and questions – observing not just the best or some rare selections but also some growing and planning lessons learned over the past 50 years.