
Every year, hundreds of new plants are introduced. It is impossible to keep up with them all. Most are variations on a well-known theme and I sometimes feel despair when a new petunia claims to be the best, biggest, brightest or bluest! Surely there are enough petunias!
And, by the way, there are now transgenic, glow-in-the-dark petunias for sale in the USA, called ‘Firefly’ though I suspect regulations will prevent their sale in the UK – but I could be wrong.
But now and then a new plant is introduced that is truly new and astonishing. I would put the coloured-leaf heucheras among these. They transformed a dull perennial into a mainstay of my patio pots and borders with amazingly bright foliage. I admit that too many were introduced, too fast, but the best are still great plants. The same is true of the many new echinaceas which are now totally bewildering, and every new variety is claimed to be the best! I can’t keep up.
But I want to discuss a new plant that actually serves a purpose. We all know that box hedges (buxus) are suffering a double whammy of box blight and, now common in this area of the UK, box moth caterpillar.
This is quite a tragedy since box is a native plant and it has been an important component of our gardens for centuries; something that was reinforced a few weeks ago when I finally watched Wolf Hall, in readiness for the new TV series. Tudor gardens were full of it.
I planted box in my own garden. I like propagating plants and I took 500 box cuttings to plant two areas of box hedges, one a formal parterre-like affair, though really too simple to deserve such a name! After four years it was finally starting to take shape. But then I did something stupid and planted tall bedding within the hedges which shaded and smothered the box which, combined with a wet, dull summer, meant box blight, which thrives in damp, airless conditions, ripped through the hedges and severely damaged and, more or less, killed some areas. I do not relish spraying or reviving ailing plants so the only option was to dig out the worst plants and replant some, simplifying the design so it is now just a hedge around the square bed. I hope you can learn from my mistakes.

Articles frequently suggest alternatives to box as low hedges but very few actually offer a real alternative. Lovely as a lavender hedge might be – and I do have one elsewhere – It is not a satisfactory alternative to box as you will discover if you plant one in shade or heavy soil.
So, why was I writing about new plants at the top of the page? It is because we now do have a good alternative to box. And it is an entirely new idea. It is a rhododendron that can be clipped as a hedge, has small pink blooms in June and can be kept at 45-60cm high and naturally grows to about 1m high. It was actually introduced a decade ago but seems to be largely ignored which is a great pity.

Called Inkarho ® Bloombux, (‘Microhirs3’) (just ask for Bloombux) it is a hybrid of Rhododendron hirsutum and R. micranthum. It also has one other revolutionary feature and that is that it does not demand acid soil, unlike most rhododendrons. It will grow best in acid soil but will also grow in neutral or slightly alkaline soils – up to pH 7.5 – which is slightly alkaline. It is not suitable for very alkaline soils or over chalk but it does extend the range of soils that rhododendrons can grow on.
Bloombux grows best in part shade or areas with shade for part of the day and may look rather yellow in hot, dry sun. The small, evergreen leaves are a good alternative to box and it should be trimmed in late June, after flowering. Fork in organic matter to the soil before planting and use small plants if planting a low hedge. Otherwise, larger, more mature plants are ideal if growing them as specimens.

There is a healthy low hedge of Bloombux at Nags Hall at the bottom of the site, near the cottage, where plants are for sale. If you do not need a hedge, why not get a Bloombux as a dwarf garden shrub anyway? It is ideal for small borders, rock gardens and as a pot plant on a shady patio. It would even make a thoughtful Christmas gift, especially if studded with some bows and baubles. .