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| In 2005 I bought a plant of Roscoea
cautleyoides from Aberconwy Nurseries. I grow it in a
raised bed and it is now a well-established clump with
twenty-eight flower stems this year. In its first year it
had just one flower stem so it is obviously very happy in
its present position, but I am sure it would do just as
well in the open garden. I have become very fond of this
plant and it is much admired by visitors to the garden.
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| It
comes into flower around the second week in May and the
flowers remain in good condition for up to four weeks.
With its pale primrose-yellow flowers it is like a beacon
in the garden especially in the late evening. After the
flowers fade the 50 cm green stems persist for the rest of
the summer.
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| I also grow a form of this
species which I got as ‘Kew Beauty’. This comes into
flower about three weeks later than the aforementioned
plant. I think ‘Kew Beauty’ is the more widely grown
form of the species and this explains why so many people
are surprised to see the other plant in flower so early.
’Kew Beauty’ has slightly larger flowers and is
shorter, up to about 40 cm, but I prefer the plant I grow
in the raised bed which I think is just the basic species.
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| R.
cautleyoides is a very variable
species. It is easy to please and, for me at least, is one
of the most attractive members of the genus. There are
some fourteen different forms in cultivation and colour
varies from the pale lemon of both my plants to a deeper
yellow and onto various shades of purple and even red. The
purple form is known as R. cautleyoides forma
sinopurpurea. All the forms are I think worth growing
but from photographs I have seen I would seek out ’Dark
Beauty’, ‘Purple Giant’, ’Wine Red’, ‘Reinier’,
and ‘Vien Beauty’.
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