Mary Berry's favourite plants (and the ones she couldn't get to grips with)

Telegraph

13-04-2025

We all have our favourite plants, as well as plants we long for but just can't grow – and, just as sadly, those we wish we had never planted.
My cousin, Claire Austin, a serious perennial grower, surprised me by saying that she could not grow the newish, often adored Salvia 'Amistad': her garden in Wales is just too wet, so it is not winter-hardy with her. I approached a few other great gardeners, to find out what they just could not grow but wanted to, and the plants they love the most.
Mary Berry
Mary Berry 's favourite plant is Iris unguicularis 'Mary Barnard'. Its brilliant blue flowers show from January until March, giving her three months of picking, so she has tiny vases for them and mixes them with other spring favourites such as primroses. They last for a couple of days in water. Mary advises growing them in a sunny position; hers are in gravel and they spread well and have been welcome presents to her friends.
She has, however, been disappointed with paperwhite narcissi. 'I have grown these, aiming to have them at Christmastime in abundance in a pot, but they were disappointing, and the sadness is that you can't plant them outside for flowers next year as they are tender,' she says.
And she rues the day she planted bear's breech: 'I planted Acanthus mollis at my old house but after a few years it was so invasive and took over – and it was tricky to get rid of. It took up valuable space at the back of the border which I wanted for other precious plants.' This smart evergreen perennial can be perfect however if you have large areas to fill.
Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton
The actors Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton have a garden full of treasures, but they struggle with sweet peas. 'We wish we had better success with sweet peas,' says Jim. 'If we grow them in a pot they become a tangled lopsided mess, with short flower stems and masses of foliage. If we grow them in the garden they turn their backs on us and head towards the sun and away from our noses.' I too do find sweet peas quite hard work, and believe they are a labour of love.
As to what Jim and Imelda are fond of: 'When we moved to this house 30 years ago we inherited a lot of wild garlic,' says Jim. 'Over the years we've edited it – it's pretty impossible to eradicate – and now its cheerful white flowers are a randomly scattered and welcome addition to the borders.'
Adam Clayton
Adam, bass guitarist for the rock band U2 and a keen gardener, says: 'One plant we have been attempting to grow, though we are on the borderline of its hardiness zone, is x Gordlinia grandiflora. We've tried planting it in a couple of spots, but unfortunately it has succumbed to frost. However, I believe that with the right placement, we may eventually succeed.' This is groundbreaking – this new cross between two species is pretty rare, and relatively untested in the UK.
Adam's favourite is the tree-like Magnolia campbellii that grows up to 30 metres tall, with huge pink flowers. As for one he wishes he didn't have? 'A plant I wish had never been introduced to my garden – though it wasn't by me – is the Victorian-era planting of laurel,' he says. 'Removing this aggressive intruder has required significant effort, but clearing it has been well worth it.' I have cleared acres of this beast, Prunus laurocerasus, from many gardens. My method is quick and painless: chainsaw branches/stumps to the ground and screw in ecoplugs into the stumps – they never come back and the roots rot in the ground.
David Haig
Actor David Haig, a keen gardener, has a problem with clematis at his garden in south-east London. 'I wish I could grow clematis more successfully,' he says. 'Invariably ours get wilt and I have no idea why. The one clematis which has always thrived in our garden is Clematis 'Niobe', so we have three. It also happens to be my favourite 'horticultural colour', deep red, at times almost black.' It is not uncommon to have a problem establishing these. I bet it is not wilt that is the problem though, but slugs, and not enough water when establishing them, which can be a slow process.
Sophie Conran
Eremurus robustus – the foxtail lily or giant desert candle – is the bane of Sophie Conran. 'Its striking spires have been playing will-o'-the-wisp with me, by positively refusing to flourish, despite a few attempts and giving encouraging initial signs,' she says. 'They have all petered out and I have sulkily given up. I have however been assured that another try will reap rewards.' I was successful with these at the third attempt and now they are like weeds.
A plant I tried to grow several times is Eupatorium maculatum, joe-pyeweed. I would love to have it, but Sophie, who obviously has far more moisture-retentive soil than mine, says: 'This giant of a plant has been banished from the borders as it spreads like wildfire, taking over the show and not giving much in the way of gentle beauty in return. I initially employed it as a filler when I started getting to grips with the big beds along the wall in the front garden, that had not much to speak of, and there it thrived in an alarming way.
'Eupatorium is just way too weed-like for me, and not nearly pretty enough to win my heart. I love nature and wild places, I even love naturalistic planting in other people's gardens, but when it comes to my borders I want lovely sunny English country garden flowers that have colour, form and abundance.'
Matthew Rice
Painter and designer Matthew Rice is a brilliant gardener but he finds blueberries just impossible in alkaline soil, despite endless peat and soil adjustments. 'I have abandoned ship as they yellow and wither – just not worth it,' he says. Many agree with this, but growing them in a large container with acid compost and adding sulphur chips does get around it. They love loads of moisture, but try to water from the rain butt, not the tap.
He champions zinnia and has grown them for 20 years. 'They are obliging and floriferous, and flower continuously from June to the middle of October in dolly mixture colours you can't find anywhere else,' he says. 'I sow most direct into the soil in May.'
Fergus Garrett
Plantsman Fergus Garrett, head gardener of Great Dixter, bemoans he cannot succeed with Agave attenuata: 'The foxtail agave is sleek but muscular, with impressive rosettes of grey green, and fascinating. I've tried to overwinter it several times now but we are just too wet and too cold.' For those of us in dryer areas with free-draining soil in a warm, sheltered spot, it might just succeed.
It's often said beware of gardeners bearing gifts, as they tend to be the incontinent spreaders. We all have some of these. Fergus Garrett's unruly number is Helianthus angustifolius which he planted in the stock beds. 'Although handsome in flower, with striking yellow flowers, it has simply taken over, running into everything and making a nuisance of itself,' he says. 'It needs to be free where its aggressive wandering habit is not an issue.'
Debs Goodenough
Debs Goodenough, former head gardener at Highgrove, struggles with Edgeworthia chrysantha: 'What a fabulous plant,' she enthuses, 'but on far too many attempts of growing this darling of a winter-flowering shrub at various gardens I've managed, it's looked at me, and said 'No'. This has been so frustrating when seeing so many good specimens and groupings at places like Hilliers and Wisley. I might try again, or maybe I'll just recommend it to others and enjoy their success.'
Debs has made the same mistake that I have with Vinca. ' Vinca major 'Alba' is a sensible evergreen cover with lovely white flowers – how I mollycoddled those first plantings and diligently weeded out between plants for the first couple of years,' she says. 'Then it decided the bank wasn't enough and this not-so-lovely periwinkle was showing up everywhere in the garden from little bits which had transplanted themselves around. Two full years of meticulously digging out and now, five years on, it shows up in the most difficult places to weed.' I'm sure many of us have had a similar experience.
Shane Connolly
Florist Shane Connolly, who designed the flowers for the King's coronation, has issues with irises. 'One of the things I hugely admire in other people's gardens are irises, but I struggle to find a suitable spot in my Herefordshire garden,' he says. 'They do not seem to want to mix and mingle easily, so they have never really had time to settle in and shine. I especially love the Benton End ones.
'What do I wish I had never planted? Sadly Alchemilla mollis; it's just too enthusiastic,' he says. 'I once saw it controlled by regular strimming at Hodges Barn in Gloucestershire and it really is the only way.'
As for his favourite, wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox, is, he reckons, essential for fragrant winter arrangements.
Derry Watkins
Derry Watkins is a passionate plantswomen who runs Special Plant Nursery, and, like Debs Goodenough and I, has had a problem with Vinca. 'A Vinca I brought back seed of from Chile twenty years ago has been the bane of my rockery ever since,' she says. Also, ' Molinia arundinacea is beautiful, especially in autumn, but the seedlings are quickly deep-rooted. They like to seed into other plants and if you miss them when young, you need an axe to get them out.'
Derry loves simple, easy-to-grow favourites that I also have and adore: Tulipa sprengeri, Smyrnium perfoliatum and Lunaria annua 'Corfu Blue'. 'They are all generous self-sowing plants with maximum impact for a fairly short period,' she says. 'They're beautiful and I never have to worry about them; they do their own thing when and where they want to. They're ephemeral, so the garden is ever changing.'