Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
The wisteria blossom is almost over, a brief but intense affair, but before it goes altogether, a look at one last display at the RHS gardens at Wisley, taken a week or so ago. On a sturdy pillar, twin pillars in fact, a glamorous, deeply fragrant display that you can get right up close to…
Continue reading ➞ Brief Encounter
There seems to be a series developing here. Garden Centres I have known. Some, like Petersham Nurseries are pure fantasy, a theatrical experience where plants dress the stage, along with much else besides. Wych Cross Garden Centre, just south of East Grinstead, has magic too but for different reasons - real passion and a collection…
Continue reading ➞ Roses all the way; a superb specialist rose nursery in Sussex.
My favourite rose, of the moment, since she is doing so well in my less than propitious garden (NW facing, enormous horse-chestnut tree, much competition from other climbers). Dozens of blooms with more promised and, thus far, not a hint of powdery mildew. Marvellous. And as with many plants, the reverse of the flower can…
Continue reading ➞ Mrs Alfred Carriere, feeling shy
My neighbour's climbing rose, Penny Lane. Bred by Harkness and introduced in 1998 (it was Rose of the Year that year). Medium sweet fragrance. 4m x 2.5m (13' x 8') As with many of the best modern repeat-flowering climbers, it is a hybrid between 'New Dawn' and a modern bush rose. Its flowers are large,…
Name: Clematis 'The President' Hardy: Fully hardy Height: 3 metres (10ft) Flowers: RHS Award of Garden Merit. Bred by Charles Noble in 1876, clematis 'The President' is a hybrid between C. x jackmanii and C. patens. The deep purple flowers (do not easily fade in the sun) are 15cm (6in) with silver on the reverse…
Continue reading ➞ Clematis, The President
A very lovely tender (half-hardy) climber, the Morning Glory, Ipomoea Star of Yelta, with the most intense blue trumpet flowers. Not bindweed, but in the same family, Convolvulaceae. In the summer, it can be used as an annual climber on walls, fences, over arches, or as ground cover. The large flower buds open to reveal deep…
Continue reading ➞ Love me tender..
If the rose is the King of Climbers, and Clematis, the Queen, what High Rank must the wisteria hold? Beautiful, fragrant & vigorous - in May and early June, it is surely unsurpassed for sheer Impact. The Laurels nursery, near Cranbrook in Kent, specialises in Wisteria (and birch) and featured in The Garden magazine recently…
Very probably the No. 1 Frequently Asked Question I hear deals with shade and what to plant in the supposedly inhospitable, gloomy parts of the garden. Of course there are different kind of shade, from buildings, fences, other plants, overhanging trees, deep shade, dappled shade, dry shade, damp shade, partial shade, at different times of…
Continue reading ➞ Plants for a shady garden?
Wisteria sinensis - a vigorous, deciduous twining climber, suitable for growing on trellises, pergolas, and walls; also it can be trained as a standard - and the examples I have seen, in full flower with heads more than 4' across - magnificent. I'm reading from the RHS Encyclopedia of Planting Combinations for further information... The…
Continue reading ➞ Chinese Wisteria
The Teddington Gardener 