Month: May 2015

From the Queen’s Garden, skirting the Orangery for some beautiful Irises and a hint of the peonies to come – and on to two remarkable wisterias. Kew Gardens – take a walk with me….

Categories Abstract Photography, General comment, Open to the public, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, WisteriaLeave a Comment on From the Queen’s Garden, skirting the Orangery for some beautiful Irises and a hint of the peonies to come – and on to two remarkable wisterias. Kew Gardens – take a walk with me….

Leaving Kew Palace behind me and heading towards the Duke's Garden, the walk takes me past several stands of striking variegate Irises, which I think would convert anyone who is averse to any varigated foliage, full stop. The flowers are a bonus, but the leaves on their own, especially with a froth of blue forget-me-nots,…

Continue reading ➞ From the Queen’s Garden, skirting the Orangery for some beautiful Irises and a hint of the peonies to come – and on to two remarkable wisterias. Kew Gardens – take a walk with me….

Kew Palace, the Queen’s Gardens and a Laburnum-swagged pergola

Categories Abstract Photography, Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Climbing plants, Fragrant plants, Garden Design, General comment, Open to the public, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, spring flowering, Spring GardenLeave a Comment on Kew Palace, the Queen’s Gardens and a Laburnum-swagged pergola

Bright blue skies, golden Laburnum, lilac-pink Cercis siliquastrum, snowballs of Viburnun opulus, pale blue iris, lavender-grey lilacs and a lot of beautiful greenery. A bee-line today straight over to Kew Palace and the gardens behind - a sunken herbalists garden and a more formal parterre. Around the former, an arched pergola wrapping around three sides…

Continue reading ➞ Kew Palace, the Queen’s Gardens and a Laburnum-swagged pergola

If you really do go down to the woods today… Leith Hill, composting, bluebells and birdsong

Categories Abstract Photography, Composting, Organic Gardening, Petersham Nurseries, Plants for a shady garden?, spring flowering, Wildlife gardeningLeave a Comment on If you really do go down to the woods today… Leith Hill, composting, bluebells and birdsong

A long walk through the Surrey countryside from Westcott near Dorking, south across woodland and vale to Leith Hill, the highest point in Surrey. A National Trust property now, it has a commanding view across the landscape - and from the top of the tower, you have more altitude than the viewing platform of The…

Continue reading ➞ If you really do go down to the woods today… Leith Hill, composting, bluebells and birdsong

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…. Petersham Meadows

Categories Abstract Photography, colour, spring flowering, Wildlife gardening1 Comment on What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…. Petersham Meadows

A field of buttercups in the deep depth of the countryside? A bucolic scene where black & white cattle graze the long grass and rub their rumps on wild plum and ancient hawthorn? Petersham Meadows, actually, and the cattle are the Belted Galloways that are taking their summer holidays from the main herd at Box…

Continue reading ➞ What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…. Petersham Meadows

Flowers for a Friday….

Categories colour, Cutting Garden, Flower Shows, General comment, Seasonal colour, spring flowering, Spring GardenLeave a Comment on Flowers for a Friday….

I hope that Thomas Bloom won't mind my hijacking these floral displays for my own delight and edification - and yours - but I am very taken with them. Keen-eyed viewers will have seen some of the individual items in my photo-reports from recent trips to Wisley and Kew and indeed, these flowers are all…

Continue reading ➞ Flowers for a Friday….

Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost tea, manure brews and the best comfrey tea (and borage is for the compost, not just for Pimms). Some steps towards Organic Gardening

Categories General comment, Organic Gardening1 Comment on Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost tea, manure brews and the best comfrey tea (and borage is for the compost, not just for Pimms). Some steps towards Organic Gardening

We may not have a plot the size of Sissinghurst here, but we may have one of the 15 million gardens in the UK, or a piece of an allotment - or a single solitary pot. We may however, dream. Then just as we want to get started - confusion strikes. We can all be…

Continue reading ➞ Explaining a little about fertilisers; What N:P:K means; the benefits of Organic Matter, mulches & green manure – and making your own compost tea, manure brews and the best comfrey tea (and borage is for the compost, not just for Pimms). Some steps towards Organic Gardening

If you go down to the woods today – neon rhododendrons, bluebells, magnolias (still), bergenia, Flamingos and a glorious Staphylea emodi – at RHS Wisley

Categories Acid-loving plants, Camellias, Evergreen shrubs, General comment, Magnolia, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Plants for a shady garden?, Rhododendron & Azalea, RHS WIsley, Seasonal colour, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Trees for smaller gardens1 Comment on If you go down to the woods today – neon rhododendrons, bluebells, magnolias (still), bergenia, Flamingos and a glorious Staphylea emodi – at RHS Wisley

A perfect wander through the meandering paths on Battleston Hill at Wisley - quiet too (it usually is) giving you the peace and solitude to really appreciate the diverse planting, the understory, shrubs and tall mature trees. The magnolias were until recently the thing here, some real superb specimens, absolute stars, and the hellebores too…

Continue reading ➞ If you go down to the woods today – neon rhododendrons, bluebells, magnolias (still), bergenia, Flamingos and a glorious Staphylea emodi – at RHS Wisley

Camassias take centre stage at RHS Wisley…

Categories General comment1 Comment on Camassias take centre stage at RHS Wisley…

These camassias are at their absolute best - two fields of blue, banking either side of the Bowes Lyons Rose Garden at Wisley. Just the most beautiful sight. The cherry is Prunus Shirofugen I think there is another massed planting of Camassias in the gardens at Kew - parallel to the Rhododendron Walk - and…

Continue reading ➞ Camassias take centre stage at RHS Wisley…

Auriculas and other delights – the Alpine House at RHS Wisley, early May

Categories Alpine, Auricula, Open to the public, RHS WIsleyLeave a Comment on Auriculas and other delights – the Alpine House at RHS Wisley, early May

A delight, as ever, inside the Alpine House at RHS Wisley. Auriculas are out in numbers, and much else besides. A perfect spot then to while away half an hour, taking in the rich detail and rich colours of many of these splendid little fellows.