Happy Valentines Day from your Secret Admirer.... ... this is Primula Belarina® Valentine, a recent introduction (well, new to me -) with fully double flowers of deepest red, forming neat rosettes and contrasting beautifully with the collar of fresh green leaves. A very appropriate bloom for the day.
container gardening
Primlets – sweetheart rosebuds in sorbet colours
Primlets, a very pretty but extremely tough addition to the family of primroses and polyanthus and at your garden centre now - dark green, textured leaved subtly scented evergreen in milder areas a rainbow of colours double, rosebud flowers edible flowers full shade to part/bright shade in the garden and great for containers flowering December…
Continue reading ➞ Primlets – sweetheart rosebuds in sorbet colours
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Dogwoods and container displays…. and car parks
I saw these pots at Wisley earlier in the week and very effective they are too! Cut 'canes' have been inserted into planted containers - I can see muehlenbeckia in one, though the choice is endless. Left to their own devices, these stems will very likely root but that isn't really the idea. Equally this…
Continue reading ➞ Dogwoods and container displays…. and car parks
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Christmas Rose – Helleborus niger
Just two simple pictures today - most forms of Hellebore really get into their stride in very early Spring - and some continue long into Summer. In the vanguard are these delightful pure white forms of Helleborus niger, the Christmas Rose. Plenty of time for the rich ruffles of plum, chocolate and slate that come…
Continue reading ➞ Christmas Rose – Helleborus niger
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Iles des Salut
Îles des Salut, off the coast of French Guiana: former penal colony and one-time home to Dreyfus Land! After nearly six days at sea, a very welcome opportunity to set foot on dry land - Tenerife is some 3500 miles back east. A tropical island - a group of three in fact including Devil's Island -…
Continue reading ➞ Iles des Salut
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Antique Shades
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
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Of cabbages and kings
Ornamental cabbages and kales - decorative leafy additions that are especially useful for winter containers. The RHS has the following advice on the care of winter planted containers and the choice of plants available. I don't see the coloured stems of various dogwoods (Cornus selections) here but think they would make excellent companions to these…
Continue reading ➞ Of cabbages and kings
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No shrinking violet.. Echinacea Hot Papaya
Echinacea Hot Papaya These magnificent blooms are the first ever orange-red double coneflowers - the colour stays true and doesn't fade. The fragrant flowers are borne on strong stems are excellent for cutting. Attracts butterflies in a wide variety of garden settings. Full sun, moist but very well-drained soils. Flowering June-September/October. Height and spread 80cm…
Continue reading ➞ No shrinking violet.. Echinacea Hot Papaya
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Diary Notes
My Diary.. Busy, busy this week - gardening on Monday and Tuesday despite the poor weather - much clearing of leaves and aerating a very compacted lawn and then a trip to London for the excellent RHS Shades of Autumn show. These pictures are from the show - there have already been slideshows but they…
Continue reading ➞ Diary Notes
The Teddington Gardener 