Earlier this year we had a lovely write up in The Garden magazine following Roy Lancaster’s visit to the garden and nursery here last May.

A gorgeous little pink umbellifer was out in flower and much admired by all. The original plants were here on the nursery when I took over in 2007. It was labelled Pimpinella major ‘Rosea’ and I planted it in the garden in dappled shade, where it has thrived and is highly sought after by my visitors. A picture of the plant was used in the article with the result that I soon sold out of the plants I had raised from its seeds the year before.

Anyway, some helpful souls have written to the RHS pointing out that it is not Pimpinella, but Chaerophyllum hirsuitum var. roseum. This has now been confirmed and a correction will be published in a later edition of the magazine.
So, if you bought ‘Pimpinella’ from me earlier this year, hoping it would turn out like the picture in The Garden or the same as the plant in our garden here, then you will not be disappointed. You may however, like to re-label it Chaerophyllum, as above.
If, on the other hand, you were looking for Pimpinella major ‘Rosea’, then I appear to have sent you the wrong plants. I apologise and I will happily issue a refund on request.
Chaerophyllum hirsuitum ‘Roseum’
I do have a small number of Pimpinella major ‘Rosea’ plants, sourced elsewhere this year, which I had set aside because they looked different – taller and with smaller, less finely divided leaves. The flower is very similar indeed – perhaps a slightly darker pink. I shall plant them in the same bed as the Chaerophyllum, a few feet apart so that we can remind ourselves, and anyone else who wants to know, how to tell them apart.
June 21, 2013