Acid-loving plants

Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – April 2014 – RHS London Show, Kew Gardens, Ightham Mote, Knole, Emmetts Garden & Petersham Nurseries. Spring in full spate.

Categories Abstract Photography, Acid-loving plants, Alpine, Architectural Plants, Auricula, Bedding, Bulbs, Camellias, Clematis, Climbing plants, colour, container gardening, Cutting Garden, Flower Shows, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, General comment, Magnolia, my projects, National Trust Gardens, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, Rhododendron & Azalea, RHS WIsley, Roses, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Trees, Trees for smaller gardensLeave a Comment on Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – April 2014 – RHS London Show, Kew Gardens, Ightham Mote, Knole, Emmetts Garden & Petersham Nurseries. Spring in full spate.

  A colourful progression through the month, featuring Wisley, Igtham Mote, Knole, Petersham Nurseries, RHS London Show, Kew Gardens, my own projects featuring Spring Bulbs and new planting..... Flowering Cherries, Crab Apples, massed Tulips, Rhododendrons and Azaleas, Bluebells, Auriculas.... a gorgeous month.

Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – March 2014 – Kew and Wisley, The Savill Garden and Petersham Nurseries. Spring advances.

Categories Acid-loving plants, Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Auricula, Bedding, Bulbs, Camellias, Clematis, Climbing plants, container gardening, Cutting Garden, dark foliage plants, Evergreen shrubs, Fragrant plants, Hellebore, herbaceous, Lawn Care, Magnolia, my projects, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, Rhododendron & Azalea, RHS WIsley, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Savill Garden, spring flowering, Spring Garden, The Savill Garden, Trees for smaller gardensLeave a Comment on Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – March 2014 – Kew and Wisley, The Savill Garden and Petersham Nurseries. Spring advances.

My first March visit to Kew Gardens A purchase of a very brilliant little machine - scarifying and aerating the lawn with ease... My first March visit to Kew Gardens - taking in the Pagoda, Chokushi-mon Japanese Landscape, the Xstrata and some of the arboretum. My first week at Petersham Nurseries, at the beginning of…

Continue reading ➞ Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – March 2014 – Kew and Wisley, The Savill Garden and Petersham Nurseries. Spring advances.

Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – February 2014 – Kew and Wisley, Syon and Petersham Nurseries. Spring approaches.

Categories Acid-loving plants, Alpine, Architectural Plants, Bedding, Camellias, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, Grasses, Hellebore, Indoor gardening, Open to the public, Orchids, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, RHS WIsley, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, Snowdrops (Galanthus), Winter GardenLeave a Comment on Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – February 2014 – Kew and Wisley, Syon and Petersham Nurseries. Spring approaches.

Primulas providing some welcome colour Birch bark at Kew Crocus at Kew and snowdrops - Ulmus villosa, also at kew The new fruit and vegetable area at Syon Park Garden Centre - my last month there before moving across the river to Petersham Nurseries in March The Orchid Festival at Kew The Rockery and Alpine…

Continue reading ➞ Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – February 2014 – Kew and Wisley, Syon and Petersham Nurseries. Spring approaches.

RHS Wisley – life and death in the Surrey hills… Hydrangeas, Camellias and Hellebores, mostly, Sorbus and Malus, Cornus, Salix and Rubus, Acer, Rhododendron, Chimonathus, Henry Moore and a Squirrel

Categories Abstract Photograpy, Acid-loving plants, Alpine, Architectural Plants, Camellias, Christmas, Fragrant plants, General comment, Hellebore, herbaceous, Hydrangea, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Plants for a shady garden?, Rhododendron & Azalea, RHS WIsley, Trees for smaller gardens, Wildlife gardening, Winter Garden2 Comments on RHS Wisley – life and death in the Surrey hills… Hydrangeas, Camellias and Hellebores, mostly, Sorbus and Malus, Cornus, Salix and Rubus, Acer, Rhododendron, Chimonathus, Henry Moore and a Squirrel

Acer griseum, lauded for its peeling bark, caught here in the chill morning sunlight on the slopes of Battleston Hill at the RHS gardens at Wisley. The gardens feature the remnants of many fine plants, dying beautifully, hydrangeas foremost in this class, as well as the heralds of a new season, with the earliest hellebores…

Continue reading ➞ RHS Wisley – life and death in the Surrey hills… Hydrangeas, Camellias and Hellebores, mostly, Sorbus and Malus, Cornus, Salix and Rubus, Acer, Rhododendron, Chimonathus, Henry Moore and a Squirrel

Ideas for Autumn container displays – our native heather and something from the South African Cape

Categories Acid-loving plants, Autumn garden, container gardening, General commentLeave a Comment on Ideas for Autumn container displays – our native heather and something from the South African Cape

Pale and interesting - Calluna vulgaris in shades of pale pinks, white and cream. Specimens such as these offer Ideal planting for window boxes and containers providing a long period of interest, alone or partnered with trailing ivy for contrast, baby skimmia rubella, the soon-to-be everywhere cyclamen, violas and pansies, black grasses (Ophiopogon) and heucheras,…

Continue reading ➞ Ideas for Autumn container displays – our native heather and something from the South African Cape

and the final few from an April afternoon at RHS Wisley…

Categories Acid-loving plants, Architectural Plants, Fragrant plants, General comment, herbaceous, Magnolia, Plants for a shady garden?, Rhododendron & Azalea, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Wildlife gardeningLeave a Comment on and the final few from an April afternoon at RHS Wisley…

Violas and wallflowers in a very successful partnership. The viola is Etain, a particularly hardworking plant that will be in flower from spring through to autumn, needing little care other than regular watering and clipping back if it gets too leggy. I shall be copying this next year. Meanwhile, some flamingo pink in the gardens…

Continue reading ➞ and the final few from an April afternoon at RHS Wisley…

If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of many more suprises – Rhododendrons, Battleston Hill, RHS Wisley

Categories Acid-loving plants, General comment, Plants for a shady garden?, Rhododendron & Azalea, RHS WIsleyLeave a Comment on If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of many more suprises – Rhododendrons, Battleston Hill, RHS Wisley

A quick scoot around the meandering paths that wind round the slopes of Battleston Hill in the RHS gardens at Wisley. I had a glimpse of what I might find in the Wild Garden, another part of the gardens there, when I visited earlier in the week and had less than an hour to explore…

Continue reading ➞ If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of many more suprises – Rhododendrons, Battleston Hill, RHS Wisley

Springtime Blues at Wisley… and the rather excellent online RHS Plant Selector

Categories Acid-loving plants, Alpine, Bulbs, Evergreen shrubs, Garden Design, General comment, Rhododendron & Azalea, RHS WIsley, Roses, Seasonal colour, spring flowering, Spring GardenLeave a Comment on Springtime Blues at Wisley… and the rather excellent online RHS Plant Selector

Fields of Blue - Camassia leitchlini at RHS Wisley - with Rhododendrons in the woods there too (below) Primula auricula Blue Velvet - in the Alpine House at RHS Wisley yesterday Wisteria floribunda Yae kokuryu (above) at RHS Wisley - below, Clematis alpina Pamela Jackman (in my garden) If you are planning a blue-themed garden…

Continue reading ➞ Springtime Blues at Wisley… and the rather excellent online RHS Plant Selector

Rhododendron cinnabarinum at Emmetts Garden – pendant, deep, warm shades of orange

Categories Acid-loving plants, spring flowering, Spring GardenLeave a Comment on Rhododendron cinnabarinum at Emmetts Garden – pendant, deep, warm shades of orange

I saw this rhododendron right at the top of the bluebell wood in Emmetts Garden, a National Trust property just outside Sevenoaks in Kent and noted the pendant habit of the flowers and of course, the warm, deep shades of orange, both setting this apart as a rather special rhododendron. I suspected it was R.…

Continue reading ➞ Rhododendron cinnabarinum at Emmetts Garden – pendant, deep, warm shades of orange