Inside the catmint trial
ONE of the most useful—and least trumpeted—services provided by the RHS is its Plant Trials. Many varieties of the same plants are grown side-by-side in controlled conditions at RHS sites around the country and observed by expert members of the relevant Plant Committees, sometimes over several years, to see how they perform. Varieties are judged on a wide range of criteria and the best will be given the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM). Plants range from favourites such as catmint, the subject of the trial we report on today, to the new and less well known and the results are published, free, online, so all gardeners can look up to see which plants will work best for them.
