Focus on an inspirational breeder...

Peter Moore is an international plant breeder who has been breeding plants for over 40 years, & this year he will have been working in horticulture 65 years, although he’s now semi-retired (which I’d say is well deserved) & he is a member of the RHS hardy plant trial committee & custodian of the Buddleja National Collection. Out of new plant creators, he has to one of the best, not only for his longstanding skill & dedication but also for his impact on others outside of the gardening world: every year he gives a percentage of his plant royalties to charities of his personal choice.

This year, he supports the following 18 charities with 10% of his royalties: Alzheimer's Society , Fight for Sight , Great Ormond Street Hospital and Charity , Macmillan Cancer Support , Marie Curie UK , Motor Neurone, Muscular Dystrophy, Myeloma UK , Perennial - Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society, Plant Heritage , Prostate Cancer UK , The Ramblers , RHS - Royal Horticultural Society, St John Ambulance , Scope , Sir Harold Hillier Gardens , The Children's Society , National Trust. I’m sure there are very few people out there for whom at least one of these charities does not resonate with. In 2020, Peter gave 25% of his royalties to Perennial (which supports people in horticulture during tough times) to mark his 60th year in horticulture, & back in

1990-92 he gave over £10,000 to the Greenfingers Charity through royalties for his Oenothera Crown Imperial. He is generous.

He is inspiring. It was seeing him on Gardeners’ World in 2018 that made me question myself more & ultimately spurred my shift towards growing more perennials from seed, and look towards uplevelling more of my annual choices to perennials: for example he launched the perennial Antirrhinum ‘Pretty in Pink’ at Chelsea in 2015.

He has worked across a number of different ranges of plants including Buddlleja, Chiosya, Honeysuckles, Deciduous Shrubs like Philadelphus & Weigela, & Evergreen Shrubs such as Escallonia & Hebes as well as his work with Perennials.

With his perennials, three of them are only available in the USA & the PBR (plant Breeders Rights) have been withdrawn which means that propagation for resale is illegal without a licence from the agent, one of these is Lychnis Scarlet O’Hara. I would love to have a chance to own one of these to compare to my Lychnis Vesuvius Arkwrightii (pictured) mainly to see the difference in the contrast of the foliage as it is hard to envisage many variations can reach even brighter flowers than what this gives me.

Do you like to know about the breeding of plants? Have you ever dabbled in creating your own hybrids?  @just.me.in.my.garden