Once more wandering through the archives of garden-visiting, photography and plant inspecting - at RHS Wisley right at the beginning of September in 2015 (four days hence and five years back). These gardens are not entirely the same now, in design, layout and content (what garden is?) but suspect that many of the plants…
David Austin roses
Kew Gardens – a look back in anticipation of looking forward to a visit soon …
A look back to a visit in early August 2018 when the Pagoda was reopening after a refurbishment and the installation of the dragons. If you want a look inside the pagoda, or a look at the landscape from its heights, you can use tags or search functions. The gardens are open again after…
Continue reading ➞ Kew Gardens – a look back in anticipation of looking forward to a visit soon …
An Afternoon at RHS Wisley – the Double Herbaceous Borders, Cottage and Jubilee Rose Gardens, a touch of woodland and more …
Another - sigh -trip down memory lane though I have booked our timed visit for mid-July and hope the gardens might look something like this, from a visit a year or three ago. Always something to admire, some combination of plants, a design feature, something new you might not have seen before. And such…
Postcards from Shropshire – Seconds from David Austin Roses
Like I said, an Inventory ... The Victorian Walled Garden The Victorian Walled Garden is a formal garden made up of three circular borders, which diminish in width towards the centre. They are planted with English Roses and other repeat-flowering shrub roses. The focal point of the garden is the large central stone carving. Visitors can…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Shropshire – Seconds from David Austin Roses
Postcards from Shropshire – a first gallery from David Austin Roses at Albrighton
A first look at the Long Garden, mostly, at the eponymous gardens at Albrighton - just a short drive from our base near Shrewsbury and a beautiful, inspirational stop-over on our way to Woodstock. I realised of course today that I have effectively inventories the gardens, as I might once have done to a flat…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Shropshire – a first gallery from David Austin Roses at Albrighton
RHS Wisley – woodlanders, rock gardens and alpines, many roses and more …
If like me you have rejoiced in the fact that the gardens at RHS Wisley have reopened, but chagrinned that the timed visitor slots are booked solid though to the middle of July, a little public service blogging here, reprising a trip to the gardens exactly a year ago. You needn't miss all the…
Continue reading ➞ RHS Wisley – woodlanders, rock gardens and alpines, many roses and more …
Mottisfont Rose Gardens, June 2018
June 2018 visiting Mottisfont with a fellow rose-lover. A day of laughter and fun. Overblown, blowsy, beautiful, fragrant, lush, a little ragged, absolutely in need of some serious dead-heading - but equally glamorous and hopelessly romantic, there are no rose gardens quite like Mottisfont. Soulful, they inhabit the walled gardens of this ancient priory, clambering…
A few scribblings on creating a White Garden
Creating a White Garden Straight out of the block, I'm talking about green. And grey, silver, and variegation. We'll get to white but a few thoughts first. ‘Green is the backdrop to the garden but in its range of shades and textures, green has much more to offer as any foreground interest. Grey dims,…
Continue reading ➞ A few scribblings on creating a White Garden
Roses, what else? Two new arrivals but many obituaries …
Lady Emma Hamilton Familiar readers of these pages, and anyone who has met me to talk about roses, will know how much I admire the roses from the stable of David Austin in Shropshire, and I am looking forward to seeing Silas Marner and The Country Parson, new introductions to be showcased at Chelsea this…
Continue reading ➞ Roses, what else? Two new arrivals but many obituaries …