Section J notes.

Section J is at the lower end of the amphitheatre and faces almost south.

‘Caleb Cope’ (1J-012) is described as pale rose with no mention of the pink stripes this plant has, making me very dubious that the name is correct. It is also very reluctant to open fully and often barely opens at all.

‘Fred Sander’/’Dainty’ (1J-019). ‘Dainty’ is a name that has been applied to three different varieties and this looks like it should have been labelled ‘Dainty (California)’, a sport from ‘Tricolor’ that should be white with red stripes and a fringed edge. How that differs from ‘Cinderella’, a sport of ‘Fred Sander’ with the same characteristics and which also derives from ‘Tricolor’ via ‘Lady de Saumerez’, I don’t know. However, this plant is solid light red, so has reverted back to ‘Fred Sander’ and has been relabelled.

‘Sasanqua Alba Plena’ (1J-053) was planted out in 2020 and flowered in late 2023. The brevity of the Register description of the variety does nothing to support the validity of the name and this plant is producing single flowers with a few petaloids. I think it is probably ‘Kenkyo’ or ‘Setsugekka’.

‘Souvenir de Claude Brivet’ (1J-051) is a hybrid between oleifera and sasanqua. It should have petals with a mix of pink and white areas, but has reverted to solid pink, which the description says it is prone to doing. The plant at (5A-062) has done the same.

‘Yukimiguruma’ (1J-004) keeps turning up under different names. This one was labelled ‘Amabilis’. Elsewhere in the collection it had been labelled ‘Alba Simplex’ and ‘Devonia’. It is generally quite distinctive; the flowers open out almost flat with the stamens somewhat flared and separate right to the base. Many of the single whites are trumpet shaped with the stamens fused for the bottom 1/4 to 1/3 of their length. 

A few years ago some plants were removed from this area after a tree fell on them. They have been convalescing in pots and as of March 2018 have now been planted back where they were. These are 1J-043 ‘Cheryll Lynn’, 1J-044 ‘Commander Mulroy’, 1J-045 ‘Donnan’s Dream, 1J-046 ‘Kewpie Doll’ and 1J-047 ‘Lemon Drop’. 1J-048 ‘Lemon Drop’ is regrowth from the roots of the plant that was lifted. 1J-047 ‘Lemon Drop’ and 1J-046 ‘Kewpie Doll’ are struggling because of drought in summer 2018.

An adjacent scrubby area, just to the right of the picture above, was cleared and more plants introduced in 2020 and 2021. They have struggled to get going because of deer damage and extreme weather so not all have been included here. They are numbered 1J-049 – 1J-059.