Yes we do have fabulous underwear!  At least, we have a ginkgo tree amusingly named ‘fabulous underwear’, along with a further 20 different varieties of ginkgo biloba.

Also known as Maidenhair tree, Ginkgo bilboa is a deciduous conifer found in fossils dating back 200 million years.  Ginkgo trees have both male and female plants.  The female fruit is edible but when it ripens has an unpleasant smell, so male clones are preferred.

Ginkgo has long been cultivated in China with some trees believed to be over 1,500 years old.  An extract of ginkgo leaf has been studied as possible treatment for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, with mixed results.

Ginkgo adapts well to the urban environment, tolerating pollution and confined soil spaces.  They suffer very few disease problems and for this reason are widely planted as street trees.  Extreme examples of the ginkgo’s tenacity may be seen in Hiroshima, Japan, where six trees growing between 1-2km from the 1945 atom bomb explosion were among the few living things in the area to survive the blast!

Ginkgoes come in all shapes and sizes, with one to suit every garden.  The following varieties are grown at Lime Cross Nursery and we probably have the largest selection to be found anywhere.  Most of these plants are available now although some will become available in the autumn – just pop in and ask!

Ginkgo biloba at Lime Cross Nursery – available varieties

Fabulous Underwear, Troll, Lil Matthew, Variegata, King of Dongting, Obelisk, Chi-Chi, Umbrella, Robbies Twist, Saratoga, California Sunset, Autumn Gold, Thelma, Finger, Jade Butterflies, Tubifolia, David, Mariken, Buddy, Everton Broom.