Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Anyone who has seen my Facebook or Twitter account (@Martin_Ogden), will already have seen pictures of these intense-shock-therapy-orange tulips, a furnace-like pot of them on my front doorstep - but I am in a proselytizing mood and Orange domination is the theme... If you are uncertain as to my commitment to this bravest of colour…
Continue reading ➞ A bolt of voltage orange – Get thee behind me, pale pastels!
Antique urn with Hellebore Pirouette, Muehlenbeckia and moss.. A new delivery of some very old things! The delicious red-flowering standard camellia is very Alice in Wonderland The cutting border - the bulbs are coming through and I can't wait to see what buried treasure we have here. The border will develop through the year providing…
Continue reading ➞ A little slice of Petersham – and a little announcement
Did you know that 8% of all flowering plants are orchids? Well there are quite a lot of them here in the Princess of Wales Conservatory for the Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens... Warm, humid spaces, with a tropical soundtrack too, filled with all manner of floral delights, thousands of orchids and other exotica. The…
Continue reading ➞ Escape winter….. Orchids at Kew 2014
Viola Antique Shades - one of my favourites This, from the excellent Seedaholics website... Some unbelievably coloured violas have come on the market in recent years with little notice. Most gardeners pass up these rugged, cool-season performers in favour of their larger cousins, the pansies. But don't be in too much of a hurry to…
Continue reading ➞ Antique Shades
Rose, Super Trouper A walk through the gardens at RHS Wisley this afternoon - and it being quite late in the year - this gorgeous super-nova of a rose is still going strong, with impossibly healthy foliage and buds aplenty. This love affair shows no signs of abating!
Japanese maples, come Autumn time, can give some of the most exciting displays as their leaves turn to bonfire shades. Many make excellent trees for the smaller garden and many are happy in containers too. They prefer a little dappled shade - a more open site if they are kept well watered but not the…
Continue reading ➞ Japanese Maples – planning for some garden fireworks
Writing in the Telegraph (not me, not yet!) Autumn plants: crocosmia, agastache and euphorbia The partnership of crocosmia, agastache and euphorbia is a smouldering late-season show-stopper, says Val Bourne. The blue-black spires of Agastache 'Blackadder' lend a dramatic flourish to autumn gardens. By Val Bourne 18 Sep 2012 Autumn tends to major in burnished golds,…
Russian Sage - Perovskia atriplicifolia Little Spire I'm quoting from Graham Stuart Thomas' book, Perennial Garden Plants and I think he is a fan. Ardent sun-lovers for well-drained soil. In shade they will flower but tend to sprawl. Though truly shrubs they are best cut to the ground every spring to encourage strong shoots and…
Continue reading ➞ Blue Spires
Dan Pearson, writing in the Observer today, can't be wrong! Orange all the way... http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/18/choosing-orange-flowers-for-the-garden
The Teddington Gardener 