RHS Silver Medal Award 2019
Sensory Plants List
Scroll down for the full list of plants
E=Edible V= Visual A=Audible S=Scented T: TACTILE
Scroll down for the full list of suppliers.
Kitchen Combinations
The lamiaceae plant family offers touch, taste and scent to offset audio and visual in a busy show setting.
Melissa officinalis
Lemon Balm
E / S / T
The clean citrus scent of this plant will reach you when you gently rub these leaves, a rather different experience to the apple mint textures, in the same family of plants.
Thymus 'Hartington Silver'
Creeping Thyme
E / S / T
This slow growing evergreen plant provides wonderful scent though pale pink flowers in the summer, and maintains visual interest throughout the winter due to the variegated leaves. Rubbing these also releases the plant scent. A classic next to rosemary in cooking recipes and a different experience when used next to the clean lemon balm. Try combing the different scents and see what happens to each.
Mentha suaveolenS
Apple Mint
E / S / T
This unassuming mint is actually rather special. Rub the the highly textured leaves to release a strong apple scent. A robust and edible plant, it likes to spread and unlike more invasive species it is easy to unroot for controlled maintenance.
Agastache 'Blackadder'
Giant Hyssop
E / S / T
Rub the leaves to increase the otherwise subtle aniseed scent. Hardy plant with tall edible flowers that bloom all summer.
AGASACHE ‘Rugosa’
Wrinkled Giant Hyssop
E / S / T
Like the Agastache ‘Blackadder’ but with lighter, more wrinkled leaves, also aniseed flavoured and this scent releases when rubbed.
Diverse structure
These plants can be used together to bring structure and repetition to any display providing familiarity, whilst retaining the element of contrast.
Eryngium bourgatii
Sea Holly
V / T * spikey
This visually spiney plant is included to contrast with the thistles in the display and it does what it says on the tin, both elegant and sharp it gives a strong architectural look. The reflective amethyst or radiant blue is particularly striking at early or late hours and in the rain, when the senses are further heightened and alertness is needed.
Allium ampeloprasum
Elephant Garlic
E / V / S
When the senses are different, things can appear very different too and perception is altered. Admire this out of proportion hardy and rare English plant. Used architecturally in planting, tall alliums can add significantly to the eye level structure of a scheme, helping improve visual orientation. Often called Blue Leek, because of the appearance, the leaves surprise with a mild garlic flavour.
Cirsium heterophyllum
Plume Thistle
V / T
Another great architectural plant, these can grow up to 1.2m tall. The softly textured but strong crimson flower heads invite you to touch this hardy and tough looking plant. The leaves also prove surprising soft, belying their spikey appearance.
Cirsium ‘Mount Etna’
Thistle ‘Mount Etna’
V / T *Spikey
Rather much a dwarf thistle, this variegated type has combination pink and white flowers. Like the plumb thistle these plants have soft flowers but not so soft leaves. A summer long flower loved by bees it provides an opportunity to observe these docile beings, providing a connection to nature that is sadly missing in many urban landscapes.
Allium nutans
Garlic Chives
E / V / S
At up to 30cm, this plant deceives to be a dwarf chive at first glance. The repeated form in a different size adds interest whilst providing cohesion with similar looking plants in overtly different sizes. With edible leaves giving away the garlic flavour, it flowers in diverse range of colours from rose-pink to mauve-blue and white in early or mid summer.
Positive emotions
These multi-sensory plants are chosen to evoke positive memories and associate sensory experiences with positive feelings.
Rosmarinus officinalis (Prostratus Group) 'Sea Level'
Trailing Rosemary
E / V / S / T
A wonderful flavour accompaniment to the Thymus ‘Hartington Silver’. With sweet flowers around early Easter and late summer, these are both attractive in scent and hold a strong flavours if eaten. We’ve chosen a trailing variety for easy access at hand level when passing the display, either standing or in a wheelchair.
Cosmos atrosanguineus
Chocolate Cosmos
V / S
Some will need to get close to pick up on the fascinating scent of chocolate, others will notice it simply walking past. Good in a space of play where it can be combined with balance and motion learning, and draws on emotional reinforcement as chocolate is often associated with positive special occasions. The scent of chocolate is further enhanced when near to apple scented plants such as the Mentha Suaveleolens.
Dianthus barbatus ‘Green Trick’
Pink
V / T
Research shows that green colour planting has the most calming effect on people, so its good for respite spaces. Unlike the rest of the Sweet William family, some will need to look twice to spot the simple chlorophyll rich flower heads on this plant. Commonly used as a cut flower in special arrangements, once discovered, the tufted texture appeals and delights.
Fragaria vesca
Wild Strawberries
E / V
Similarly evoking positive memories through the association with food and positive experiences, the sight of strawberries never fails to draw on happy memories. These miniature flowers repeatedly turn their way to food production throughout the summer. Keep removing the fruit to keep them going.
Fragaria × ananassa
Garden strawberries
E / V
A less pungent but larger strawberry, the early fruits remind that summertime is near. The colour red in itself is said to trigger stimulation and appetite, so these are useful for people whose sensory systems don’t always remind them to eat.
Pause your day
Sounds of rushing water or wind tells the mind to pay less attention. Combine with other senses to associate them with a restful state.
Lavandula stoechas
French Lavender
V / S
A small reminder of holidays visiting grandparents, the scent of lavender liberally used around the house to welcome guests. This compact, bushy, evergreen shrub with linear, aromatic, grey-green leaves bears dense spikes of dark purple flowers, echoing the salvia but topped with conspicuous, light mauve-purple bracts.
Stachys byzantina 'Big Ears'
Big Lambs Ear
V / T *AIR POLLUTION PLANT
The big brother to the silver carpet, overindulge in these extra large silky soft textures or take step back to enjoy the repetition and observe the calming relationship of these larger plants relative to their counterparts in the display.
Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet'
Little Lambs Ear
V / T *AIR POLLUTION PLANT
An extremely soft to touch and almost silky plant, good for taking a pause out of the day. A commonly grown plant for children's gardens, as it is easy to grow and the thick felt-like leaves are fun to touch. We’ve included the sound of water so you can close your eyes, touch the 'Silver Carpet' and listen to nature’s own white noise to relax the mind.
Salvia × sylvestris 'Mainacht'
Wood Sage
E / V / T / S
'Mainacht' is a compact early flowering sage, which we’ve used in the long border design to create an orientation salvia stream, a flow of repeated elements which reassures and calms. Salvias' pungent scents come from the aromatic oils inside their cells.
Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'
Balkan Clary
E / V / T / S
A taller salvia, used in the display to create variation is size whilst in keeping with repetition along the ’stream’. This perennial cultivar holds upright racemes of violet- purple flowers through the summer above narrow, rough, grey-green leaves.
Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra'
Japanese Blood Grass
V / A / T
This red grass offers you to stroke the long smooth leaves and enjoy the rich red colour all summer long and into the autumn, warming up the visual display even when the weather turns. Ruffle the leaves and listen to the sound of paper.
Baptisia ‘Cherries Jubilee’
Red False Indigo
V / A / T
A visually more compact form than many other baptisias, this plant also shares many positive qualities, including to become drought tolerant once well established. The slender stems hold seed pods in the winter proving an opportunity to touch, see and hear the plants at the same time.
Baptisia Australis ‘Indigo Spires’
Blue False Indigo
V / A / T
Contrary to the name, this plant does flower a purple-blue and is the more common of the baptisa range. It provides pea like spires of colours in the summer months. evoking memories of early spring and the return of longer daylight hours. Attractive silvery paper-like foliage in the winter continues to reflect the light as the season progresses.
Calamagrostis x acutiflora
Feather Reed Grass
V / A / T
The tall arching leaves and eventual height on these grasses make them brilliant architectural plants. In addition to the visual impact they can make for orientation, these also have wonderful grass heads in the summer and seed heads in the autumn. For a pressure sensory outlet when the stress ball is left at home, crush the heads and listen to the sound of the grains.
Show Suppliers List
Thank you to our show suppliers who have helped us to source plants and materials for the show!
Cumbria
Larch Cottage Nurseries
Phone: 01931 712 404
Melkinthorpe, Penrith, Cumbria
CA10 2DR
Derbyshire
Bridge Farm Plants
Phone: 01773 742848
www.planthuntersfairs.co.uk/bridgefarm.htm
Bridge Farm, Main Road, Lower Hartshay
DE5 3RP
Herefordshire
Newent Plant Centre
Phone: 01531 670 121
Little Verzons, Hereford Road, Ledbury
HR8 2PZ
Leicestershire
Coles Nurseries
Phone: 0116 241 2115
624 Uppingham Road, Thurnby,
Leicester
LE7 9QB
Northamptonshire
Manor Farm Nurseries (Wholesale only)
Phone: 01327 260 285
Hellidon Road, Charwelton, Northamptonshire, NN11 3YZ
Swallows Nurseries LTD
Phone: 01280 847 721
Mixbury, Brackley, Northamptonshire, NN13 5RR
Oxfordshire
The National Herb Centre
Telephone: 01295 690 999
www.herbcentre.co.uk
Banbury Road, Warmington, nr Banbury, OX17 1DF
Autism Careers Project Sponsored By:
Rutland
Thistleton Herb Nursery
Phone: 01572 767 658
The Herb Nursery, Main Street, Thistleton, Nr Oakham, Rutland, LE15 7RE
Somerset
Pennard Plants
Phone: 01749 860 039
Pennard Plants, The Walled Gardens, East Pennard, Somerset, BA4 6TP
South Yorkshire
Valleyside Garden Centre
Phone: 0114 230 1925
Manchester Road (A57), Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S10 5PX
Suffolk
Harveys Garden Plants
Telephone: 01359 233363
Great Green, Thurston, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP31 3SJ