My first look at RHS Wisley (this year) – Colourful winter stems, Alpine and Glasshouse finery and more…

I’m fortunate that the vast array of garden landscapes at RHS Wisley in Surrey are a short drive from Teddington HQ and that I can be as frequent a visitor as I am, without ever, ever being bored – there is always something, whatever the season, to delight and inspire.

This unseasonably mild weather (about to properly hit the skids with a decidedly chilly weekend to come) has meant that the Daphne, Camellia, Rhododendron and Witch Hazel have been a colourful and in their turn fragrant feature for several weeks and with this in mind, on this first visit of 2016, steered away from Seven Acre Woods and the meandering paths of Battleston Hill that I traversed just before Christmas.

A bright clear afternoon meant that the temperatures were already heading south, and so after enjoying the colourful twiggery by the lake, took to the Alpine House for a bejewelled tour and then on into the Glasshouse, which felt very much like a holiday, the bright chill supplanted by bright humid warmth.

By the Lily Pond, on my way out into the gardens, is a beauty of a tree, Parrotia persica, which is just beginning to come into flower – in another week or so, it’ll be quite magnificent.

Parrotia persica – Persian Ironwood – closely related to the Witch Hazels, in the same genus as Hamamelidaceae

Below it, a shining example of Pittosporum tenuifolium Tom Thumb

Mahonia x wagneri Pinnacle – near the lake – while other Mahonias are long past their colourful best, this one is just getting going. I bought a Mahonia Winter Sun yesterday for a shady spot – it isn’t as big as some (3m x 1.5m) – and hope it will enjoy the difficult plot I have for it, though the ground is good and well mulched last autumn.

Chaenomeles x superba Coral Sea – which in a week or so, will be drenched in blossom

Which brings me to the ‘stemmery’, the winter twiggy garden that reflects in the lake – many varieties of dogwoods, willows and rubus planted in distinct blocks and in all their colourful finery.

Cornus sanguinea Midwinter Fire – a branching dogwood, unlike say, Cornus alba Sibirica which has red stems with few short laterals. Midwinter Fire starts a deep bright gold at the base and works through corals and richer tones to the tips.

Rubus biflorus

Bone white blooms to the arching bare stems of Rubus biflorus and Cornus sericea Cardinal (below)

Cornus sericea subsp orientalis Sunshine (above) and Rubus cockburnianus (below)

Acer negundo White Lightening (below)

Rubus cockburnianus (above, again)

Salix alba Golden Ness (above)

This is a beautiful part of the gardens at this time of year, and with low sun picking out the intense colours and architectural forms of these arching or branching stems, even more beautiful.

Salix irrorata

The Witch Hazels are out in force close by too, in a newly planted bed with Salix irrorata (the bluish-white stems) that develop the most beautiful silky catkins later in the year.

Hamamelis x intermedia Robert (above) and Hamamelis x intermedia Pallida (below) in multiple plantings

Hamamelis mollis Fred Chittenden – as a mature specimen, on the path towards the Glasshouse. I haven’t found out who Mr Chittenden was – nurseryman? – if you know, please do pass it on.

Chimonanthus praecox Luteus (above) and some remarkably happy looking lawns hereabouts too ..

Hamamelis x intermedia Harry

Before plunging into the Glasshouse to warm my chilly bones …

My camera lens, inside the humid zones in the Glasshouse was completely steamed up throughout my time inside and I hadn’t brought a lens cloth, or warmed the glass up beforehand, so the remainder of the space goes unreported (though my ipod was fine and took some pictures which I’ve already tweeted).

Looking back down to the Glasshouse, from atop the rock garden – and on into the Alpine House –

Muscari neglectum (above)

Narcissus albidus subsp orientalis (above)

Arum creticum (above) and Muscari macrocarpum (below)

Iris Purple Gem and Crocus korolkowii Kiss of Spring (below)

Narcissus bulbocodium romieuxii (above)

Lachanalia aloides var quadricolor (above) and Iris histroides Lady Beatrix Stanley (below)

Haemanthus pauculifolius (above) and Crocus sieberi subsp atticus Firefly

Gymnospermium albertii (above)

Daubenya aurea yellow-flowered

Lewisia cotyledon hybrid

Fritillaria striata

Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus (above)

Crocus sieberi var atticus and Arum creticum (once again, below)

Possibly Iris reticulata JS Digt (above)

Leaving the Alpine House as the sun begins to set over the Orchards, from the top of the Herb Garden it is soon near twilight and time to head home… passing a perfect crop of Helleborus argutifolius

and a final footnote, having called into the Plant Centre so briefly, a look again at the Hellebore Terra Nova Doubles, a varied selection of flowers from white to blush pink –

And finally a primula that I have a love/hate relationship with – I think because from my time at Syon Park, they were bought in their hundreds upon hundreds – while here there are discreet little pockets of them amongst the other selections – Primula Zebra or Zebrina – and just at the moment I think I like it very much!