A chance remark and the right alignment of dates and here we are, wandering through these remarkable gardens created in the midst of a wooded valley, bisected by a tributary of the River Lune, a showcase for the imagination and talent of garden designer Arabella Lennox Boyd. Up North, in the village of Caton outside…
Autumn garden
A Rose Masterclass with David Austin Nurseries (An October Showcase)
Michael Marriott at the David Austin Rose Nursery in Albrighton providing some insights into rose planting, care and pruning on a bright October day a couple of years ago. He is the Technical Director at David Austin, a Rosarian of renown, accomplished designer of rose gardens for the great, grand and good across the globe.…
Continue reading ➞ A Rose Masterclass with David Austin Nurseries (An October Showcase)
Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – November 2014 – Madeira, Kew Gardens, RHS Wisley, Isabella Plantation (Richmond Park), Petersham Nurseries, Salvias, Ginkgos and prepartions for Christmas. Tropical Island Gardens while Autumn makes an appearance at home.
Teddington Gardener Review of the Year – October 2014 – Dahlias (a lot), Petersham Nurseries, Thug, Wild Food Foraging, Pruning Climbing Roses, A Cutting Garden. Hints of Autumn.
Dahlias all the way at Petersham Nurseries Echeverias - tender (-ish) succulents with perfect rosettes Wild Food Foraging with Claudio Bincoletto at Petersham Nurseries Thug, the Petersham cat, nap interrupted and none too happy for that! Rose pruning at Peteresham Nurseries - making sense of a very overgrown climber Colour elsewhere in the Cutting Garden.…
Pink, Orange, Gold (Euonymus ‘Red Cascade’, Hydrangea Annabelle, Ginkgo biloba, Parrotia persica) at RHS Wisley
Euonymus europaeus Red Cascade at RHS Wisley this weekend. Intensely bright pink parachutes with intensely bright orange seeds. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/99750/Euonymus-europaeus-Red-Cascade/Details http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3336362/How-to-grow-Euonymus-europaeus-Red-Cascade.html How to grow: Euonymus europaeus 'Red Cascade' 12:01AM BST 08 Oct 2005 Matthew Wilson on how to grow a taste of the blazing glory of New England Very little compares to a really good show…
Luxuriating in decay – the Glasshouse Borders at RHS Wisley
The Glasshouse Borders at RHS Wisley There is much to recommend these borders - the long double beds running down from the Fruit Mount to the Lake and running in concentric, linking arcs around the reflecting mirror of water and bounding the Glasshouse. Add a clear sky and low slanting sun, at the end of…
Continue reading ➞ Luxuriating in decay – the Glasshouse Borders at RHS Wisley
Hand-made Christmas decorations using the very lovely Ginkgo biloba (a Blue Peter moment…)
One very good reason to have your own very own Ginkgo tree, a local and renewable source of original hand made Christmas decorations - I've had to 'scrump' for these leaves but they do make lovely little baubles. Well, I think so. Now I'll do a little research to find just the tree suitable for…
Gilded Trees – Ginkgo biloba and Parrotia persica at Kew Gardens – liquid gold, ruby & emerald
Ginko biloba - the prehistoric Maidenhair Tree, with a weeping form which is even more of an absolute gold mine, still, with generally larger leaves and longer leaf-stalks than its upright neighbours. Parrotia persica (below) gold with flashes of red and emerald. and finally, a Grandstand Wisteria... Just half an hour today at Kew Gardens…
This time around, a final Kew Gardens Miscellany – woodlandy, watery, with a little bird life and some proper Art
A grove, as far as I could tell, of Zanthoxylum .. The Botanical Art collection in this uber-stylish building... That's Magnolia stellata arching over the Camellia Walk and finally, Henry Moore, newly installed Reclining Mother with Child (1975-6).









