Month: September 2014

Pink (H8) flowers, VIII–IX, sparse; bright green foliage; dwarf, erect forming a very attractive mat of green; height 10–15cm; spread 31–45cm.

Wild-collected; a witch’s broom found near Newry, County Down, Ireland, most probably by G. N. Smith (son of Thomas Smith); introduced by Daisy Hill Nursery (Newry, Co. Down) by 1930.

Named from minimus = very little. Maxwell & Beale seem to have devised the name ‘Minima (Smith’s Variety)’, with the last words enclosed in brackets. In this case, the name refers to Thomas Smith, Daisy Hill Nursery, Newry, County Down, Ireland.

Mauve flowers, VIII, sparse; green foliage; forms a very dwarf cushion; height less than 10cm; spread 10–15cm.

Seedling from ‘Öxabäck’; raised by Hilding Nilsson (Sweden) in 1976; introduced by Arthur Persson (Tostarp, Sweden) in 1985.

Name derived from Öxabäck, with mini- = little. The name is not hyphenated.

White flowers fading pink, VIII–IX; dark green foliage; upright; height 46–60cm; spread 46–60cm.

Sport on ‘Ralph Purnell‘; found by H. Westdijk at Boskoop, Netherlands, in 1977; introduced by Westdijk in 1979.

Named after the finder’s eldest daughter.

Pale lilac-pink (H11) flowers, VIII–X; dark green foliage; dwarf; height 10–15cm; spread 16–20cm.

Seedling; found by D. Page at Lohbrunner Gardens, Vancouver Island, Canada, before 1962.

Name is perhaps an allusion to its size.

❁ Red flowers, IX–XI, large; dark green foliage, tined grey in winter; open erect habit; height 46–60cm; spread 61–75cm. Flowers larger than, but not as dark as ‘Red Star‘.

Sport on ‘Elsie Purnell‘; found in 1981; introduced by Werner Stier (Wiesmoor, Germany) by 1987; submitted for plant breeders’ rights in Germany on 27 August 1987; withdrawn on 13 March 1991.