Rosa Florentina, in the Jubilee Rose Garden at RHS Wisley – this may be the autumn equinox but the roses aren’t letting go of summer just yet.
A little time since my last post but in my defence, I have had a holiday – a delicious time in Barcelona, if you must know – so it’s been all ‘Moderniste architecture this & Gaudi that’ for the past couple of weeks but now I’m back, as the song has it.
To ease myself into these cooler days, I thought an hour of so at RHS Wisley would be just the thing. The itinerary roughly up through the double herbaceous borders into Battleston Hill, over to the Trial Fields and back again to the rose gardens (old and new) before trotting up to the Alpine House and out through the Plant Centre. Therefore an eclectic selection of images – no real theme I’m afraid – but then it felt like neither summer nor autumn – the flowers were a little raggedy but still valiantly having a go, but the splendour and bounty of Autumn with its rich tapestry of ruby and gold is still a few weeks away.
But it brings me back to Blighty and back to photographing plants rather than property, landscapes not streetscapes, so there’s the point.
I should add that my Hozelock sunrise and sunset automatic irrigation system for pots worked brilliantly while I was away. There were downpours and heatwaves in my absence but for the 30-odd planted containers, large, small and hanging, the meandering pipes and plethora of drippers did their thing beautifully. I think some of the plants have done even better than with my irregular ministrations. If I can tidy up the liquorice-tangle of pipes into something less obvious, then I’ll keep this on until the first signs of frost and set it up again for next summer. The gardener’s version of having a dog and barking yourself, as it were.
But back to the tour – enjoy!
and a few roses, naturally
and on into the Alpine House …
and a look at the rest …
and a viola or two, or three ..
and finally, pom, tiddle-pom – the apples from their orchards, on sale by the shop, also caught my eye – the diminutive Bens Red, the drama-series courting Downton Pippin, Crimson Queening and others …
The Teddington Gardener 
I hope you show us pictures of gardens in Barcelona.
It was all pretty much bricks and mortar – and tiles – in Barcelona! I’ve put pretty much everything in public galleries on my Facebook page – there’s a link somewhere in the margins, else search for ‘Teddington Gardener Facebook’ – a brilliant stay in such a vibrant city but parks rather than gardens were the order of the day.