Saxifraga fortunei
by Sue Gray
Had Covid19 not forced the cancellation of the AGS event, originally scheduled to take place at Harlow Carr on October 14th, I am sure that during the past couple of weeks I would have been planting some of these little jewels which I would have been unable to resist buying. I say ‘little jewels’, and they are usually sold by nurseries specialising in alpine and woodland plants, but although some are grown as ‘specimen’ plants, largely for foliage effect, many are robust, very good garden plants which are extremely useful at this time of year.
Saxifraga fortunei was first introduced to Great Britain from China by the English Botanist William Jackson Hooker, and named for the Scottish Plant Hunter Robert Fortune, in the mid 19th century, and is native to China, Japan & Korea. Whilst the species form has white flowers, there are now many named forms in colours from white, through various shades of pink, to darkest red. I would describe them as ‘quiet plants’, almost the Autumn equivalent of hepaticas; you hardy notice the foliage emerging but when it becomes crowned with the delicate flowers, they are such a welcome sight at this time of year.
They are herbaceous perennials and, according to the official advice, prefer a shady, or part shady spot with the usual ‘moist but well drained’ soil. However, I find that by October, when the sun has lost much of its strength, few gardens can really be said to be in ‘full sun’ so S. fortunei can withstand a more open position, and this, now sadly unlabelled, plant (right)
performs beautifully in my garden in a relatively open spot. From my experience, and this may just be me, I find that the white and pale pink varieties are more floriferous.
The deep pink and red varieties are more dramatic with the flowers set against often dark foliage, but I find the flowers can be rather more sparse, as shown on this plant of S. fortunei ‘Reica’.
When I started thinking about writing this, I got out my copy of ‘Plant Finder’ to check on some of the named varieties. I expected to find them all recorded, in alphabetical order under the heading ‘fortunei’, but instead I discovered them all, in common with all other named varieties of other Saxifraga species, in alphabetical order, spread throughout the full list of Saxifraga entries, followed by (fortunei) and (5) so, for example the entry for one of the best known varieties ‘Wada’ reads ‘Wada’ (fortunei) (5). Turning to the front of ‘Plant Finder’ I discovered that there are 15 classifications of Saxifraga; class 5 is entitled ‘Irregulares’ and describes plants in this class as ‘shade-tolerant, usually herbaceous perennials forming rosettes of broad, palmately lobed leaves, with leafless stems bearing lax panicles of small flowers with short upper, and longer lower petals, in summer or autumn’.
Shortly after discovering all this, I was in the company of a very knowledgeable friend and said to him, ‘explain to me, in words of one syllable that even I will understand, about Saxifraga classifications’. He gazed into space, as if thinking ‘where do I begin?’, but then said, ‘I shouldn’t worry about it’, so I won’t, but just enjoy these lovely plants for what they are. I am indebted to our Secretary Pat who has sent me some images taken at Holehird recently, and to a friend with whom I was visiting Harlow Carr and who photographed various examples on display in the Alpine House. Their images appear below.
S. fortunei ‘Wada’ 
S. fortunei ‘Sybill Trelawney’ 
S. fortunei ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ 
S. fortunei ‘Shiranami’
You may not be surprised to hear that, having spent some time thinking about these lovely plants, I think I can accommodate several more in the garden, and an order has been sent off to one of my favourite nurseries!