Contact: Alun Whitehead
Email: web@auldenfarm.co.uk
Tel: 01568 720129
NATIONAL IRIS COLLECTION TO STAY IN HEREFORDSHIRE
Aulden Farm has been awarded National Collection Status for their Siberian IrisesPlant Heritage has awarded full National Collection status to Alun & Jill Whitehead at Aulden Farm near Leominster for their collection of Siberian Irises. This preserves the important link the Welsh border area has with these garden plants. Lingen Nursery just inside the Herefordshire border held a similar collection until 3 years ago when the nursery closed. However, Harry Foster from Crickhowell started breeding these irises in earnest in the 1980s and this breeding has been continued and advanced by Jennifer Hewitt from Clee Hill, near Ludlow. Last year she was awarded the Dykes Medal for her cultivar �Peter Hewitt� � the highest award a British iris can obtain and not routinely given.
The collection consists of Siberian irises which are either British, Award Winning or have significant historical value. Alun & Jill also grow a great many other Siberian irises in the garden so that visitors can appreciate and compare how this valuable garden plant has changed over the years and how they are still changing. In order to ensure the preservation of the historic cultivars, Alun & Jill are working with Brita Carson in Dumfriesshire in the hope that she too will be given National Collection status for this second collection which will also give an opportunity to compare how the different cultivars perform in the different parts of the country.
Aulden Farm is a country garden & plant nursery established 13 years ago specialising in herbaceous perennials run by Alun & Jill. Jill is the secretary of the British Iris Society and Alun is a member of the RHS committee overseeing their iris trials.
If you would like more information about this topic, please email Alun Whitehead at web@auldenfarm.co.uk, or alternatively there is an answerphone on 01568 720129 (Alun & Jill are usually in the garden!)
