Garden OF THE WEEK
One couple’s obsession with this plant has bloomed into a garden hosting a National Collection
Like many gardeners who become hooked on different genera of plants and go on to grow many varieties of it, Brian and Kathy Pike picked up a plant obsession that led to them applying for the National Plant Collection of Eryngiums (sea hollies), which they were awarded in 2020. At the latest count, they had an impressive 32 species and 36 varieties.
“They just crept up on us. We just kept collecting more and more and actively seeking out others,” explains Kathy. Brian adds: “Collecting plants is a bit like being involved in crime. You start off with a little minor shoplifting and end up becoming a drug lord. Once you’re in too deep, you can’t get out!”
But unlike some National Plant Collections, these aren’t squirrelled away in a greenhouse or polytunnel or planted en masse in blocks or rows. “This is very much an ornamental garden,” says Brian.
“So the sea hollies aren’t ‘fenced off’, but are planted around the garden in different settings to show how they work in a normal garden and how other gardeners can make the most of them.”
Eryngium alpinum, for example, which the couple say is one of the most stunning with its lacy flowers, grows naturally in the wild in alpine grassland. Despite its name, it doesn’t need a rockery, and the couple grow it next to ornamental grasses and other plants, popping up between and through them.
E. spinalba, on the other hand, naturally grows on rocky scree slopes where nothing else does. “We built a scree garden especially for this one, but added other rockery plants including saxifrages, thrift, dianthus and others. E. spinalba is tricky to flower, and the years it didn’t flower, this area would otherwise just look like a pile of rocks!” Kathy says. Brian continues: “E. variifolium, the Moroccan sea holly, grows naturally around water, so we planted it next to the pond.”
A prominent feature in the garden are three mainly octagonal, linked, wooden raised beds of different heights, each containing a different soil mix to satisfy the requirements of different sea hollies. “The strappy leaves of some of the South American varieties look lovely hanging down the sid
