A frosty morning at Petersham Nurseries – and the Christmas Trees arrive …

Almost a perfect mirror, crossing by Teddington Lock this morning. Had to stop and take a picture though Important Business going on at Petersham Nurseries with the arrival of the Christmas trees. They were packed up for us in Warwickshire at about 5am to get to us in time for opening. Busy Busy. But first…

RHS Wisley – blue skies and sunshine illuminate this beautiful late-November landscape

Such a beautiful day, yesterday, 24th November, under a bright blue clear sky and welcome sunshine. Chill but quite beautiful. I'd never seen the car parks so full - in fact I was directed over a mile down the lane towards the village before heading cross-country into previously unseen fields before making the trek back…

The Rose Garden at Kew. Vital still in November ….

Remember Remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder, treason and.... Roses? This floriferous rose garden certainly has other ideas about a quiet slide into senescence, leaf-drop and rose-hips - these are flower-packed shrubs with more to come. Colour, fragrance aplenty and fresh, clean leaves in abundance. A remarkable display given it really is November and hardly…

Life in Death – Rebecca Louise Law at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens

A real treat to see this installation by Rebecca Louise Law. I'd read an article in the Kew subscribers magazine, and someone had mentioned it to me though I confess it had dropped from my immediate consciousness until yesterday and I veered across the lawns to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. 375,000 flowers,…

A peek at the Grass Borders in Kew – a study in gold ….

Just the pictures this time around - it is for the overall impact of these borders that I took the time to visit, rather than a label-by-label guide to naming of individual plants. I'm quite sure I've done that before and a quick search in these pages may provide some further elucidation. In the meantime,…

The Salvia Border at Kew Gardens – a plant family that just keeps on giving

The Salvia Border at Kew is a wonder now. Hardly worth a look in mid-summer (though you can, then, find the plant labels, a job which is nigh on impossible now the growth is so generous - hence these are images only with no naming of names, this time at least) - but now, my…

Take a walk with me through Kew Gardens – Part 1 – Magnificent Trees, The Hive

My first visit in ages to Kew it seems, certainly I haven't kept up the mini-incursions where I would rush in to see one thing or another - just the Alpine House, or the Paeonies, or the raft of Camassias, the flowering cherries, or the roses, each taken in within a hurried hour (or two),…