Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
My favourite rose, of the moment, since she is doing so well in my less than propitious garden (NW facing, enormous horse-chestnut tree, much competition from other climbers). Dozens of blooms with more promised and, thus far, not a hint of powdery mildew. Marvellous. And as with many plants, the reverse of the flower can…
Continue reading ➞ Mrs Alfred Carriere, feeling shy
I'm hoping that by looking at lots of pictures of auriculas, that I won't need to go out and buy these beautiful and dramatic little beauties. And the more I find them in glasshouses (at Wisley, Kew, Harlow Carr), the more I hope to believe that they are temperamental creatures, needing all the mod-cons that…
Continue reading ➞ Primula auricula Gordon Douglas
As part of London Open Garden Squares Weekend, the roof garden at the Blue Fin Building (IPC Media) on Southwark Street was opened and provided a real treat, a surprising garden and panoramic views across London.40m/ten storeys up above London's streets, it is a substantial terrace on three sides of this distinctive building, with extensive…
Continue reading ➞ Blue Fin Roof Garden, community gardens, Wren churches and The Temple.
A few more days of this warm sunshine and the dam will break, the floodgates will open, the genie will be out of the bottle, the cork will pop, the..... you get the idea. Roses, roses and more roses and very welcome they will be. In flower now are Wisley 2008 (above) and The Alnwick…
Continue reading ➞ Any day now, roses
Actually, it is St. Michael's Convent garden, a 4-acre garden attached to the Convent on Ham Common, open today as part of London Open Garden Squares Weekend. It is also just a cycle ride away, which is handy, and not far from The Palm Centre nursery and Ham House (NT but also included within the…
Continue reading ➞ Not just any Convent garden, this is a St. Michael’s Convent garden..
An article from The Telegraph about this coming weekend and the annual Open Garden Squares Weekend. Maybe a little late for entry into 10 Downing Street, but other treats I think... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/open-gardens/10088452/Open-Garden-Squares-weekend-embrace-a-greener-London.html Open Garden Squares Weekend is the London Parks & Gardens Trust's highest profile event and, since 1998, has become a regular fixture in…
Continue reading ➞ London Open Garden Squares Weekend – 8th & 9th June 2013
Wandering through the winding paths of Battleston Hill (RHS Gardens Wisely, Surrey) this first week of June, I wasn't expecting pristine Magnolia blossom, despite the chilly countenance of Spring setting most flowering calendars out by a week or three. Taking a new path on the lower slopes (the gardeners have been extending the network of…
Lupins - Masterpiece (purple) and Beefeater (red) - two outstanding, robust and free-flowering cottage garden plants from West Country Lupins (their website noted below). Strong of stem, these sturdy plants giving several weeks of flower in the early summer. Fantastic colour combinations in varieties such as Towering Inferno, Manhattan Lights, Persian Slipper, Tequila Flame and…
Now I have a north-west facing garden and roses are not supposed to fare well when the sun skids around the plot so quickly, leaving much in shadow and much else, with just a couple of hours to make do. The Noisette climbing rose, Madame Alfred Carriere, is reputed to be one of those roses…
Continue reading ➞ Madame Alfred Carriere is enjoying herself, this year
The Teddington Gardener 