Colchicum Waterlily growing in the woodland edge of the EA Bowles Garden at RHS Wisley earlier this week. Delicate they look, but are clearly tough enough to rough it out with the other woodland floor dwellers, like the Arum marmoratum in the foreground there. The leaves make a brief appearance in spring but are gone…
Bulbs
Thug, the Petersham cat, reminding us that is is bulb planting time…
We might just have stepped into September, but bulb planting - or at least bulb choosing time - is upon us. Certainly the best choice in the shops is now, even if you are going to delay planting up in the garden and in containers for a few weeks yet. Tulips really should be left…
Continue reading ➞ Thug, the Petersham cat, reminding us that is is bulb planting time…
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Gawd Bless ‘er – Agapanthus ‘Queen Mum’
Agapanthus Queen Mum - broad, strappy leaves with tall stems topped with these large, bi-color globes (individual flowers are blue and white on the outside/pure white on the inside). From this angle, the blue is reserved for the sky.... Writing in the Telegraph, Bunny Guinness expands on the subject - How to get the best out…
Continue reading ➞ Gawd Bless ‘er – Agapanthus ‘Queen Mum’
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Just Agapanthus Queen Mum
One of my favourite Agapanthus this, Queen Mum (not even Queen Mother or HRH Queen Mother), a tall statuesque thing of beauty, with lilac-violet-blue blushes to the pure white trumpets, forming large globes held aloft at least 1m/1.2m above the strappy green leaves. No shrinking violet, this. Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis Queen Mum ['PMN06'] (Queen…
Continue reading ➞ Just Agapanthus Queen Mum
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The best of the rest at Kew – a miscellany from my latest visit: the Rock Garden, Woodland and Water Lily House
Geraneum phaeum (above) - small, dark, richly colouted flower heads held in a haze above chevron'd foliage. Ideal for shady spots. Scilla peruviana (above) - last seen in the Alpine House at RHS Wisley - here it is in amongst the peonies at Kew The Japanese Pagoda Tree (below), well supported - Wild Garlic (above…
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Allium rosenbachianum in the Davies Alpine House at Kew Gardens (something a little sparkly – little else was….)
Not strictly an alpine bulb - it is quite garden worthy - but one of the earliest Alliums to flower and a favourite of Vita Sackville West. Here it was sitting in the Davies Alpine House at Kew. Dare I say it, this was probably the most exciting thing there, large or small; I'm usually…
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The Darling Buds of May – the first Alliums, fragrant Roses, lilac, flashy tulips and buttercup fields –
Alliums and ironwork in the Cutting Garden at Petersham Nurseries - elsewhere the first of the roses coming into flower - so many more in furious bud; I had to wait until July last year for the first roses to bloom - March was so bitterly and consistently chill, day and night, that the whole…
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Petersham House – my first look at the gardens
Petersham House opened its gardens last Sunday (part of the National Garden Scheme) and this was my first opportunity to have a look around. I've glimpsed tree and blossom from behind high walls and hedges, and through the iron gates into the Kitchen Garden, but this was more like it! I'll let the photos do…
Continue reading ➞ Petersham House – my first look at the gardens
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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
The Teddington Gardener 