'I Had My Own Acre Of Rhubarb At 17'

As a student with no experience of ornamental horticulture, I found learning plant names for tests a real challenge, particularly those from the tropics.

The first plant I ever grew 

I was raised in the 1940s on my grandparents’ family farm in the Yorkshire ‘rhubarb triangle’ and spent most of my free time, aged 10, helping tend their 110 acres of rhubarb, and 200 acres of mixed vegetable and arable farm crops. Aged 17, I had my own acre of rhubarb which, three years later, I sold to my employer for a not insubstantial £400.

The plant that shaped the gardener I am today 

As a student with no experience of ornamental horticulture, I found learning plant names for tests a real challenge, particularly those from the tropics. One plant I could rely on was blue-flowered Plumbago capensis, which I still appreciate to this day.

My favourite plant in the world