A few days …. all manner of early autumn – should I say late summer despite the current chill Bank Holiday weekend ahead? – herbaceous-ness, roses, dahlias, sunflower, more herbaceous perennials, heuchera and Solenostemon (finishing up with Crinkly Bottom….). 2015 here we come …

  Once more wandering through the archives of garden-visiting, photography and plant inspecting - at RHS Wisley right at the beginning of September in 2015 (four days hence and five years back). These gardens are not entirely the same now, in design, layout and content (what garden is?) but suspect that many of the plants…

Hydrangeas and nothing but Hydrangeas ….

What a lot of Hydrangeas - from a variety of destinations including RHS Wisley and the Savill Garden near Windsor. Probably a few from Golden Hill Nurseries down on the south coast who are specialists in this beautiful plant - definitely worth seeking out their expert knowledge at any future plant fair or flower show.…

The Glasshouse Borders at RHS Wisley – masterly and painterly, then – and now.

August 2015 this was, though these border will have evolved rather than been altered wholesale. The fruit mount I think is improved with alternating swirls of lavender and rosemary where earlier plantings have never been entirely successful. But a delight to spend some time wandering through these borders, down the wide grass sward to the…

What’s five years between friends? A tour de force – a tour around RHS Wisley – first up, the Herbaceous Borders

Another trip down memory lane - five years indeed to 1st August 2015 - and while there have been some significant changes at these RHS gardens - an entire new retail village and more coming besides - that particular first day of August really did look scrumptious. Enjoy.  The double herbaceous borders at RHS Wisley…

Kew Gardens – a look back in anticipation of looking forward to a visit soon …

  A look back to a visit in early August 2018 when the Pagoda was reopening after a refurbishment and the installation of the dragons. If you want a look inside the pagoda, or a look at the landscape from its heights, you can use tags or search functions. The gardens are open again after…

It’s all going Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers on trial at RHS Wisley

More from the Trial Fields at RHS Wisley, time-travelling back five years but a sight that still sticks in the memory. Such variety in height, flower size, colour, texture and bringing out the child in every one of us who ever grew them and watched them tower above us with delight. So, 2015 it is…

More A-Zs from RHS Wisley – Agapanthus and Zantedeschia in the Trial Fields

The Trial Fields are moving from their slightly backwater location, over the brow of Battleston Hill, to where the old plant centre had its home before the new visitor village was built and opened recently. I hope it finds more visitors enjoying the spectacle as well as learning about the RHS's Award of Garden Merit…

An Afternoon at RHS Wisley – the Double Herbaceous Borders, Cottage and Jubilee Rose Gardens, a touch of woodland and more …

  Another - sigh -trip down memory lane though I have booked our timed visit for mid-July and hope the gardens might look something like this, from a visit a year or three ago. Always something to admire, some combination of plants, a design feature, something new you might not have seen before. And such…

Arabella Lennox Boyd – invention and boundless imagination in the gardens at Gresgarth Hall

A garden, though visited in 2015, that has a hold on me still, with vivid memories of superb planting, striking vistas, artistry and sheer passion for the gardens and countryside around. The season 'up north' will be naturally a little later than here, 'down south' so while I visited at the beginning of July, climate…