Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Hydrangeas can offer us hard pressed gardeners a garden plant with a very long period of interest. The bold leaves can be quite architectural and many offer up a few fiery tints come autumn-time. The flowers are long-lasting and very importantly, can die well, gently decaying over the course of a long autumn and into…
Continue reading ➞ Hydrangeas and the Art of Dying Gracefully
This is my favourite Crocosmia, surpassing the ubiquitous Lucifer by a country mile. More compact and vigorous but not thuggish, the mid-green strappy leaves are a great foil to the golden egg yolk flowers. Height and spread 60cm. George Davison' is named after the head gardener at Westwick Hall, an early crocosmia enthusiast who bred…
These sunflowers have come on a-pace in the last few weeks, and have put on height and a grand floral display that will continue until the frosts - and beyond - the blackening seedheads will be a structural element to the cutting garden as well as a wildlife food resource as the seeds ripen. Bright…
Continue reading ➞ Bring me Sunshine (reprise) with Sunflowers from the Cutting Garden
Thug, the Petersham Nurseries Cat, enjoying the shade amongst some choice terracotta today.
Getting dizzy in the grass borders at Kew.
More tropical goings on at the Princess of Wales' Conservatory - and below, from the colourful beds along the Broad Walk (with apologies for giving them another airing).
Exactly why this tree - an oak - has been decked out thus, well, I can't say. The sheep are a mystery to me too...
Rather a baby Egyptian Goose (the one with the darkly-circled eyes). A family with four young-uns were being fed scraps of bread, some pieces larger than others, requiring contortions and dedication to get them down...
Pat Austin (the orange) and Princess Anne (above, in shades of pinky-purple) - both from David Austin and looking, in every bed, very happy and healthy. Cerise Bouquet, below The white hydrangea-like heads of shrub rose, Sally Holmes Reine des Violettes (above and below) Morning Mist, from David Austin roses, always impossibly healthy. A big…
