英国 韦斯特代尔苗圃 Westdale Nurseries – 200 余种九重葛专营苗圃

一家只做九重葛的苗圃

韦斯特代尔苗圃 Westdale Nurseries 在威尔特郡，是一家家族经营的苗圃，专攻九重葛这一个门类。1940 年代由 Charles 与 Evelyn Clarke 夫妇在布拉德福德-奥文创办；生意做起来、需要扩地之后，1954 年迁到现在这块两英亩的场子。如今由 Charles 和 Patricia Clarke 夫妇与他们的子女打理，已是第三代。

苗圃的口号直接写着「九重葛之家」。它常年从世界各地收集九重葛品种，目前总数超过两百种，每年还在增加。在售分两种：养了一年、适合买回去继续长的苗，以及已经长成、能直接搬进家里、暖房或日光房的成熟植株。

为什么是九重葛

九重葛这个属是在 1729 到 1811 年间那位法国海军上将兼探险家路易·安托万·德·布干维尔环球航行期间被发现的。同船的法国植物学家 Philibert Commerçon 博士从巴西采到标本并作了鉴定，这种植物随后以那位海军上将的名字命名。

这种花给园艺带来的颜色非常多，从最深的紫到淡粉和白的，火红、金黄，再到浓郁的橙色，苗圃这些颜色都齐。它对气候的适应面宽，花期一年到头断断续续没有断过。九重葛还是不少城市的市花，密克罗尼西亚的格林纳达与关岛都拿它当官方花卉。

收藏与老桩

九重葛养法多，苗圃给的建议只有一句：当成天竺葵来养就不会错。在英国，盛夏放在向阳的户外位置最舒服，但最理想还是放进暖房，冬天可以避霜。

苗圃把它当一项收藏来做，株型可以从盆栽、造型树、悬挂篮一直做到墙面攀爬、金字塔形，或者沿着顶棚爬满一片做遮阴。九重葛寿命不算短，常见能活五十年上下，而苗圃手上就有一株两百年的九重葛盆栽摆着，是难得一见的老株。

买苗与租用

不方便到场的可以网上下单，苗圃直接把植株打包送到家。店里也提供九重葛的租用服务，出租的是标准株型的盛花植株，用在活动场地或者婚礼一类需要临时布置的场合，一次能撑起整个场子的花量。也接受电话或邮件预约到店看苗。

苗圃常年在英国皇家园艺学会的几个大花展上设摊，包括切尔西花展、汉普顿宫花展和塔顿公园花展。周二到周六十点到五点营业，周日需要电话或邮件预约。

温室与到店

场子里有一座四分之一英亩的温室，苗圃里的植株就在这里培育，到店的人可以先在温室里看一遍实物，再听人讲种植要点。这片温室只用来种九重葛，不掺别的东西。

因为常年专注这一个属，苗圃对它们的脾气摸得比较透：什么位置长得旺、冬天放哪里、怎么修剪、怎么过冬，都在站内分成几页写清楚了，买之前先看看，多数常见问题那里都有答案。

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A nursery that grows one genus

Westdale Nurseries is in Wiltshire, a family-run nursery that specialises in one genus: bougainvillea. It was founded in the 1940s by Charles and Evelyn Clarke in Bradford-on-Avon, and when the business outgrew its first site it moved in 1954 to the two acre site it occupies now. Today it is run by Charles and Patricia Clarke and their children, the third generation.

The nursery calls itself the home of bougainvillea. Varieties have been collected steadily from around the world for a number of years and the total now runs past two hundred, with more added each year. Two kinds of plant are sold: year-old specimens for growing on, and mature plants ready to grace a home, greenhouse or conservatory.

Where the plant came from

The genus was discovered during the circumnavigation of Louis Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (1729-1811), the French admiral and explorer. Dr Philibert Commerçon, the French botanist who accompanied the admiral, gathered specimens in Brazil and classified the plant, which was then named in the admiral’s honour.

It brings a great deal of colour to horticulture, ranging from deepest purple through pale pink and white to fiery red, golden yellow and deep orange, and the nursery has all of them. It copes with a range of climates and can flower more or less continually through the year. Bougainvillea is also the flower of several cities, and is the official flower of both Grenada and Guam.

Collection and an old bonsai

The nursery’s advice for growing them is short: treat a bougainvillea like a pelargonium and you cannot go wrong. In Britain they do well outdoors in a bright sunny spot at the height of summer, but a conservatory is best because it keeps them frost free over winter.

They are grown as a collector’s plant here, trained as pots, standards, bushes, hanging baskets, espaliers or pyramids, or trained over an arch or across a ceiling to provide shade. Their lifespan is not short, around fifty years being typical, and the nursery has a two hundred year old bougainvillea bonsai on display, which is remarkable even for the species.

Buying and hiring

Those who cannot visit can order online and have plants delivered to the door. There is also a hire service for bougainvillea, supplying large standard plants covered in flowers for weddings and other events that need decorating at short notice. Visits can be arranged by phone or email.

The nursery exhibits at the major Royal Horticultural Society flower shows, including Chelsea, Hampton Court and Tatton Park. It opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, with Sunday by appointment.

The greenhouse and visiting

A quarter of an acre greenhouse on site is used to raise the plants, so visitors can look over the stock under glass and pick up practical advice at the same time. The greenhouse is given over to bougainvillea alone, with nothing else grown in it.

Because the nursery has stuck to one genus for this long, it has got to know its habits well: where it grows best, where to put it in winter, how to prune it and how to overwinter it. Those answers are broken down across several pages on the website, and most of the usual questions are answered before you have placed an order.