How much does it spread? 12in or 36in?
June 10, 2010
I’m in the last weeks of completing work on my next book and I’ve been checking all the details in the section where the plants are described. [No, I’m not going to tell you what exactly it’s about yet, the publishing business is just too competitive!]
But one thing’s been worrying me – as it has done for years, I have to say. I’ve given the height of all the plants, but what about their spread?
Think about it. If you plant, say, the well known, award-winning Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’, and invaluable plant - what happens? The plant may be just 6in/15cm across when you plant it but it grows and spreads and spreads some more and continues to spread for years. So how can put a figure on how much it spreads? Over how long? In what kind of soil? In what climate?
I took a look to see what figures various sources give about the spread of Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’.
* The American Horticultural Society’s A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants says 18in/45cm.
* Rather bafflingly, neither the Royal Horticultural Society’s online Plant Selector nor its Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers mention the plant at all but their little Plant Guide to Perennials gives a 12in/30cm spread for all forms of C. verticillata.
* Tracy DiSabato-Aust, in her Well-Tended Perennial Garden, says 2ft/60cm.
* The Missouri Botanic Garden says 18-24in/45-60cm.
* Perennial Resource, from Walters Gardens, says 18-24in/45-60cm.
* The US commercial grower Monrovia says 2ft/60cm.
* White Flower Farm mail order nursery (US) says “spacing 12-18in”/30-45cm – but that’s not quite the same, is it?
* The UK mail order nursery Crocus says 18in/45cm.
* The US mail order nursery Wayside Gardens says 3ft/90cm.
* Plant guru Allan Armitage in his Herbaceous Perennial Plants says 3ft/90cm.
So, does Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’ spread to 12in/30cm or to 3ft/90cm or somewhere in between? I give up. And don’t get me started on plants like Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ – it’s a great plant but it might be 15in/38cm wide at the base and then arch out to 3ft/90cm wide in flower.
In my Encyclopedia of Perennials I simply didn’t give spread. Not everyone was happy. But neither were they confused of misled. In the book I’m working on now I started including a figure for their spread – now I’ve taken all those figures out. If I pick a figure, it will end up being wrong for the majority of readers. The publisher doesn’t know yet. Hope they don’t mind. OK Tom?
Think about it. If you plant, say, the well known, award-winning Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’, and invaluable plant - what happens? The plant may be just 6in/15cm across when you plant it but it grows and spreads and spreads some more and continues to spread for years. So how can put a figure on how much it spreads? Over how long? In what kind of soil? In what climate?
I took a look to see what figures various sources give about the spread of Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’.
* The American Horticultural Society’s A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants says 18in/45cm.
* Rather bafflingly, neither the Royal Horticultural Society’s online Plant Selector nor its Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers mention the plant at all but their little Plant Guide to Perennials gives a 12in/30cm spread for all forms of C. verticillata.
* Tracy DiSabato-Aust, in her Well-Tended Perennial Garden, says 2ft/60cm.
* The Missouri Botanic Garden says 18-24in/45-60cm.
* Perennial Resource, from Walters Gardens, says 18-24in/45-60cm.
* The US commercial grower Monrovia says 2ft/60cm.
* White Flower Farm mail order nursery (US) says “spacing 12-18in”/30-45cm – but that’s not quite the same, is it?
* The UK mail order nursery Crocus says 18in/45cm.
* The US mail order nursery Wayside Gardens says 3ft/90cm.
* Plant guru Allan Armitage in his Herbaceous Perennial Plants says 3ft/90cm.
In my Encyclopedia of Perennials I simply didn’t give spread. Not everyone was happy. But neither were they confused of misled. In the book I’m working on now I started including a figure for their spread – now I’ve taken all those figures out. If I pick a figure, it will end up being wrong for the majority of readers. The publisher doesn’t know yet. Hope they don’t mind. OK Tom?