Malvern Memories: Heucheraholics!

Today's Malvern Memory is our first from the reknowned Ms Arabella Sock of The Sea of Immeasurable Gravy. She takes us away from the the show gardens we've been enjoying over the past couple of weeks and propels us firmly towards the exciting nurseryman's stands in order to indulge in one of her favourite plant genera, the Heuchera...

Look what the Sock got!!!!

It is a pen from the eponymous 'Heucheraholics' (previously Solva Plants) and it says on it 'Heucheraholics for the hopelessly addicted!' Bet you are all really jealous now!

The Sock couldn't resist visiting the gorgeous 'Heucheraholics' stand at Malvern but had instructed herself not to buy any more heucheras for her already burgeoning collection.

Obviously she bought another one, the irresistible 'Sugar Frosting' because let's face it you can't have too many. The Sock mentioned to the nice lady on the stand that she had to buy one to blog about. "Oh, what blog is that" asked the lady. The Sock realising her identity might be discovered quickly blurted "I can't tell you it's a bit scurrilous". "Not the Gravy one?" Too late - the Sock's cover was blown.

It turned out that the lovely 'Heucheraholics' people were Sea of Immeasurable Gravy fans, finding the bloggywog after the Sock mentioned their stand at the RHS Inner Temple flower show last year. How funny is that! You must all buy lots of lovely plants from them. They will be at Chelsea next week and giving away fridge magnets - go and demand one and tell them the Sock sent you.

And to finish my eulogy to heucheras here is a 'pome' the Sock wrote a few years ago on getting home from a fruitless heuchera search, proving that the addiction has been going some time.

The Heucheras

(with apologies to William Wordsworth's 'The Daffodils')

I wandered lonely as a cloud

In search of heuchera 'Pewter Veil'

Or 'Can Can','Geisha' - names that wowed

Please let my favourites be for sale

A 'Strawberry Candy, 'Vanilla Spice

'Or 'Purple Petticoats' sounds quite nice

I dream of heucheras in line

Of 'Silver Shadows' 'Starry Night'

A 'Frosted Violet' would be fine

A 'Peach Flambé' would be all right

There's nothing from my list of faves

Just one sad pot of 'Amber Waves'!

And oft when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood

I think of heucheras and sigh

Those lovely plants with names of food

And then my heart with pleasure fills

(I want the one with Chocolate frills!)

We don't get nearly enough bad poetry on the gardening blogosphere these days and the Sock blames J-AS for proclaiming his dislike of it. But what does he know? Hmmm.. that is possibly like asking what the Romans did for us.........

Content and photographs courtesy of The Sea of Immeasurable Gravy.