US growers influence Plantfinder inclusions

The latest edition of a book from the UKs premier garden and greenhouse authority has a distinctly US flavour to its new additions.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), many of the new inclusions in its Plantfinder publication have been the result of intensive work across the pond.

The book is considered to be a gardeners bible with more than 70,000 plants listed, along with information on where to source them.

This years edition contains 3,400 new additions, with a large number having come to the UK from the US.

Examples include the Hemerocallis, a traditionally popular American species which has had 400 new cultivars added to Plantfinder for 2010.

Another is Heuchera, which editor-in-chief Janet Cubey revealed has 30 new cultivars.

"Whats interesting about the Heuchera is that one variety, Berry Smoothie, has come in with 29 nurseries supplying it right from the start," she said. "Weve never had that before."

In other news, an RHS scientist has managed to save the worlds smallest water lily from the brink of extinction.