There are lots of plants that are treated like ‘Wallflowers’. Those shy background plants who get sidelined by large precocious plants like roses or lilies or dahlias. I have two favourite background plants: Erysimums (which actually are wallflowers) and Euphorbias. As far as I’m concerned, both groups of plants deserve to be treated like stars.
Wallflowers, the real ones in gardens, not the invisible people who line the walls at dances, remind me of early-settler patchwork quilts. There’s a homeliness about them with their petals the texture of butterfly wings. They seem sewn together, patches of similar colours, some bits faded and some bits bold.
Wallflowers are underrated flowers. They’ve never been in fashion but they’ve never been out. Wallflowers are simple honest flowers, much loved by Margery Fish and Gertrude Jekyll. Many are scented and most are easy to grow. Wallflowers come in purples, browns, reds, oranges and yellows (and every colour in-between). Even on a single coloured plant there’s often a wide range of hues, which change as the flower ages. The Wallflower is the quintessential cottage garden plant.
Wallflowers used to be divided into 2 groups: Cheiranthus (Alpine Wallflowers) and Erysimum (Wallflowers), now they all belong to one group - Erysimum. They are members of the Cabbage Family, Brassicaceae, along with candytuft and honesty. All plants in the cabbage family have four-petalled, cross-shaped flowers and a leaves that smell like mustard.
Here are the wallflowers in my garden.
This variegated plant is called Erysimum linifolium ‘Variegatum’. You can see the flower buds in the centre. They’ll open up to become a brown-mauve colour.
I bought this red wallflower on sale at a nursery. It didn’t have a tag. I don’t know if it’s a biennial or perennial.
I bought this low-growing orange wallflower from Hokonui Alpines. It’s called Cheiranthus ‘Taieri Sunset’. I bought 2 of them a year ago and they are clumping up nicely. This one is too far back in the border. I’m worried about it getting lost when the new plants in front start to grow. I think I’ll have to move it.
Here’s what Gertrude Jekyll had to say about wallflowers. She describes the colour of one of her orange Wallflowers so eloquently.
‘No planted out-out Wallflower can ever compare, in my light soil, with one sown where it is to remain; it always retains the planted-out look to the end of its days and never has the tree-like sturdiness about the lower portions of its half-woody stem that one notices about the one sown and grown in its place. Moreover, from many years observation, I notice that such plants only, show the many variations in habit that one comes to recognise as a kind of individual or personal characteristic, so that the plant acquires a much greater and almost human kind of interest. I have one such seedling that gives me great pleasure. the flower is of a full, clear, orange colour, more deeply tinged to the outer margins of the petals with faint thin lines of rich mahogany, that increase in width of line and depth of colour as they reach the petals outer edge, till, joining together, the whole edge is of the strong, rich colour. The back of the petal is entirely of this deep tint, and though the flower is of some substance, I always think the richness of colouring of the back has something to do with the strong quality of the deep yellow of the face. The calyx, which forms the covering of the unopened bud, is of a full purple-brown. The leaves are of a dark dull green, tinged with brown-bronze, much like the colour of the brown water-cress.’ (Gertrude Jekyll)
This purple wallflower is ‘Pat’s Purple’ and it’s from Marshwood Gardens.
Here is my most recent wallflower. It’s a ground cover from Wake Robin Nursery called Erysimum ‘Orange Flame’
I ordered 2 classic wallflowers online this morning from Marshwood Gardens, along with 4 different kinds of Euphorbia. I ordered Erysimum ‘Constant Cheer,’ with orange-red-purple flowers, and Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve,’ named after the famous gardener, plant hunter and garden writer E.A. Bowles either out of affection for him or because a seedling of a wallflower plant was found growing in his garden at Myddelton House. Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve,’ is supposed to be a long flowering wallflower with unscented flowers.
This purple wallflower is the very first I bought, Erysimum ‘Lilac Joy.’ It’s scented and long flowering. I’ve grown lots plants from cuttings which I took from the parent plant.
I received a wonderful parcel in the post last week. It came from a gardener I follow on Instagram called @oldtimersgardening. I’m now the proud owner of 2 yellow ground cover wallflowers and lots of Heucheras. Thanks Janice.
Here’s what Margery Fish has to say about wallflowers in her book ‘Cottage Garden Flowers’, 1961.
‘We have almost forgotten that wallflowers are so named because they are at home in a wall. We are so used to seeing them treated as biennials and bedded out each year with mathematical precision, that those which appear in walls are treated as weeds. I have a very old wall that screens me from the road. It is almost too full of gaps for safety but it is a perfect paradise for plants that like to grow in a wall. I have not grown wallflowers deliberately for many years but when I did, nearly twenty years ago, it was to fill up odd gaps in the borders and not to plant in a bed by themselves. The ones I grew were usually such strains as the delicate flame pink ‘Eastern Queen’, the pale ‘Primrose Monarch’ and the rich ‘Ruby Gem’. Where, then, did the strangers in my wall come from? They live there, year after year, a bright yellow and the typical cottage tawny-brown, which glows in the sunshine. No latter-day named variety can produce anything like the strong, sweet scent of those desiccated veterans that sun themselves in the wall year after year. One wonders how any nourishment can be extracted from the old mortal but the flowers are large and glow with health.’ (Margery Fish)
Euphorbia is a very large group of plants, some like the sun and some are happy in the shade. Some are rampant and colonise large areas of ground, while others prefer to keep themselves to themselves. I only have a few different sorts and I love them all.
This is my biggest grandest Euphorbia (photo above any many below). I think it’s Euphorbia amygdaloids Subsp. wulfenii AGM. I planted it in a sunny position above the brick courtyard, at the back of the house. I have another one growing in red and purple flower garden. That one has grown into a very twisted bush, which you’ll see in a photograph soon.
This Euphorbia is planted with an Aeonium and the two grow around and through each other.
This Euphorbia is a prolific self-seeder, which I’m very happy about.
I’ve ordered another Euphorbia amygdaloids Subsp. wulfenii AGM from Marshwood Gardens for my front garden, where I think it will look glorious in the middle of some old roses: 2 rugosa ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’ and Complicata.
All Euphorbias have milky sap that is corrosive to skin and can cause temporary blindness if it gets into people’s eyes. It’s best to use gloves when you cut the stems. This is what happened to Sarah Raven (flower grower and author).
‘I used to scoff slightly when I read that you should never cut euphorbias without gloves on because it has a highly allergenic milky sap. But this is a plant to which you can gradually develop a sensitivity and I certainly have. If I fail to put on gloves or rigorously wash my hands after picking, my face swells up like a football. The reaction seems to be most violent on a hot day.’ (Sarah Raven)
Last week I showed you a photograph of Euphorbia mellifera. This is how it looked yesterday (above and below). It’s planted beside my new shed.
I don’t know much about Euphorbias, which is why I wanted to write about them. They belong to the Spurge Family, Euphorbiaceae. It’s a very diverse family that includes poinsettias and castor oil plants. Most plants in the Spurge Family produce a poisonous milky sap.
The red stemmed Euphorbia above, Euphorbia martinii, lives in my red and purple flower garden. It doesn’t get enough sun. It probably gets too much water for such a drought-tolerant plant.
There are at least 4 different kinds of Euphorbia in the red and purple flower garden ( the photo below shows a section of this garden). The garden is a bit of a mess, you could say it’s transitioning from a winter wreck into a spring garden. The weeds have taken over and so has the alstroemeria. The entire garden needs a thorough edit. I’ve been too busy working on the new gardens and have forgotten about this one.
You can see the writhing limbs of Euphorbia amygdaloids Subsp. wulfenii AGM. Like its cousin E. martinii it doesn’t get enough sun and its losing a battle with the alstroemeria.
This is one of my favourite small Euphorbias, Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow’. It’s another sun loving Euphorbia, which, in this instance, is getting smothered by the honeywort.
I have no idea what sort of Euphorbia the one below is. I planted it in my driest garden and it’s still alive and expanding. Some of its new growth has turned pink. It needs a bit of a tidy.
The photo above and below is Euphorbia griffithii ‘Wickstead’. I have 2 plants and they disappeared over winter. I hope they’re hibernating and will soon reappear now it’s spring. Of course they could be dead, killed by the bad frosts a couple of weeks back.
According to Sarah Raven Euphorbias make beautiful cut flowers. She recommends picking the flowers during the coolest part of the day (which you’d do for any cut flower) and searing the ends of the stems. You dip them into boiling water for 20 seconds while protecting the flowers from the steam.
Margery Fish loved Euphorbias. Here are 4 photographs of her garden in Somerset. The last two are taken by photographer Clay Perry. There are Wallflowers in some of the photos if you look for them. Here’s what Margery had to say about Euphorbias.
‘Walking round a cottage garden in late spring you may spy a dazzling dome of green-gold and may wonder what it is…On closer inspection the rounded clump turns out to be Euphorbia epithymoides or E. polychrome and the gold comes from the conspicuous bracts behind the tiny flowers. Whatever its name it is a captivating plant, with its compact shape and glistening radiance, and I think will grow in popularity…Later in summer the creeping euphorbia, E cyparissias, may be filling a shady corner with delicate green. The country name for this plant is ‘ploughman’s mignonette’ - but it really looks more like a little green cypress with a small head of golden bracted flowers. Tidy-minded gardeners are sometimes frightened to let it in the garden because it is so inclined to run. It has been known to run like mad, but it it is planted where it cannot get up to much mischief, it can be enjoyed without reservations. I have a friend who put a scrap in a shaded piece of paving, and very soon it had popped up in every crevice it could find. But it was limited by the size of the paving, and where it got too thick, she puled out handfuls and left it to repeat the performance. In addition to the green-yellow flowers on their shaggy green stems, that delight us early in the day, in autumn it turns a glorious red. (Margery Fish 1961)
I’m growing two kinds of wallflowers from seed. Erysimum cheiri ‘Giant Pink’ and Erysimum cheiri ‘Velvet Wine Wallflower Collection’. Heres how they look at the moment. There’s a problem, I’ve forgotten which are the pink ones and which are the wine ones. I don’t want to wait until they flower because they’re ready to be planted out.
This evening I was driving to Porirua to pick up my son from football training when I got held up by traffic at Johnsonville. I was shocked to see these poor wallflowers, degraded and humiliated by Wellington City Council. Imagine how they must feel, stuck in a soulless bedding scheme on a roundabout on a particularly ugly piece of roading. No wonder people get the wrong impression about these plants.
