News and events about White House Farm, Maurice Foster’s garden and arboretum in Kent, England
Welcome to the fourth White House Farm biennial newsletter, for Friends of White House Farm. This comes to you as an email twice yearly if you enter your email address here.
NEWS:
Maurice’s book ‘The Hydrangea: a Reappraisal’ was published in December 2023 by Crowood Press. It’s been well received: John Grimshaw said it was his book of the year; Francois Gordon that ‘if you buy only a single book on plants in 2024 you should make it this one’. But especially gratifying is the response of readers new to the genus, for example (a reviewer on Amazon): ‘It’s the best combination of a definitive guide on the genus as well as a great beginner book and a wonderful historical story of an iconic plant. Fantastic photographs and high quality narrative. A brilliant gift for any gardener or historian.’
To order a signed copy from us for £25 plus p&p, email us at whitehousefarmarb@mail.com. All proceeds from ordering through us benefit the White House Farm Arboretum Foundation.
In October 2023 Maurice gave a talk at Kew for staff and students, a revised version of his 2021 IDS Winter Lecture, ‘The Second Golden Age of Woody Plants’; and in November he gave a second talk on this theme for the IDS, selecting and discussing a further 80 or so remarkable plant introductions since c.1980. A version of this talk will be published as an article in the 2025 IDS Yearbook.
Julian Harber (a recognised authority on the genus Berberis) recently described a new species, Berberis ludingensis, based on a plant found by Maurice in Sichuan and grown under the name B. panlanensis Hort. at WHF for many years. The new species and its botanical description were published in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine in December 2023.
One of our Volunteers, Francois Gordon, will have his book about William Purdom translated into Chinese and published in Ghanzou province, China later this year. It’s a testament to the years of Francois’ detailed research about Purdom’s personal connection to China (Purdom learned the language, played a role in creating Chinese national forestry policy) that it could get such an accolade. We wish Francois and wife Elaine all the best as they travel to Lanzhou for the book launch.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
IDS Camellia Study Day
March 30th 9.30am-5pm
(IDS members £65 each, Junior IDS members £20. Click here for how to join the IDS).
Talks, tours and discussion of specimens with Maurice Foster, Jack Aldridge and Roderick White
A special opportunity to look in depth at Maurice Foster’s collection of Camellia at White House Farm. The garden is home to a representative assortment of over a hundred cultivars and hybrids, but what makes this collection of special interest is forty plus species cultivated in woodland conditions in chilly Kent, many of which have turned out to be hardier than expected, and excellent garden plants – not just for flower, but also for attractive foliage and form. There is much more to the genus than the seminal species and crosses (japonica, x williamsii, sasanqua, cuspidata, reticulata etc.)
Cut specimens of plants from the collection will be gathered for examination and discussion: participants are encouraged to bring any from their own gardens of special interest or for possible identification.
In addition to our own study days (see below) White House Farm is excited to be working with Garden Masterclass (Annie Guilefoyle and Noel Kingsbury). A series of collaborative events will enable us to share the garden, the plants and the knowledge built up by Maurice over a lifetime with new and wider audiences of garden designers, landscape architects and horticulture professionals/enthusiasts. This year we are offering a summer pruning workshop and three seasonal afternoon walks, led by Maurice and the other WHF Trustees, which will take in plant highlights and insightful details about their history, cultivation and use in a garden context.
April 4th Garden Masterclass – ‘Spring: a profusion of colour’
1pm for a 1.30 start with tea, cake and summing up discussion/Q & A at 4pm
A guided tour of White House Farm’s collection of spring flowering trees and shrubs including more than 200 magnolias and 140 camellias, and significant numbers of other genera such as Rhododendron, Melliodendron, Staphylea and Berberis, as well as colourful spring foliage of birches, maples, and hornbeams, from the most effective cultivars to recently introduced new species. Book here.
Saturday June 8th: WHF STUDY DAY on Hydrangea serrata
WHF Hydrangea serrata Study Day (note change of date: was June 29th)
10.30am-5pm: bring your own picnic lunch. Talks, specimens, tour and discussion. With Maurice Foster, Jack Aldridge, Chris Sanders, Chris Lane, and Rod White. An overview of Japanese cultivars and WHF seedlings, and the role of H. serrata in the genus as a whole. To book email whitehousefarmarb@gmail.com.
July 10th Garden Masterclass – ‘Summer colour: the hydrangea reappraised’
2pm for a 2.30 start, with tea, cake and summing up discussion/Q & A at 5pm
A guided tour of White House Farm’s comprehensive range of hydrangea species and cultivars, highlighting unique selections bred over the last 30 years at White House Farm, suitable for a wide range of garden conditions. Book here.
Weds August 21st: IDS STUDY DAY on Hydrangea asperae
A reappraisal of the important ‘asperae’ subsection of the genus Hydrangea (aspera and involucrata) with an emphasis on the challenges of cultivating H. aspera and the gardenworthiness of recent new cultivars of H. involucrata. Combines with a tour/discussion of White House Farm’s many dark-leaved aspera hybrids, along with other species hydrangeas then in bloom.
October 24th Garden Masterclass – ‘Autumn colour: flowers, foliage and fruit’
1pm for a 1.30 start, with tea, cake and summing up discussion/Q & A at 4pm
A guided walk through the variety of trees and shrubs that can dramatically colour the landscape in autumn, not only with foliage but spectacular displays of berries and hips. The WHF collection includes not only much-admired Acer, Liquidamber, Nyssa etc but also Euonymus, Viburnums, Sorbus, Prunus and other often over-looked smaller trees and shrubs. Book here.
If you’d like to request to visit, propose another type of event, or join our wonderful weekly group of volunteers, get in touch!
White House Farm Garden and Arboretum 