Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Erddig, now in the hands of the National Trust, represents a House and Estate that had suffered successive generations (seven or more) of penury and all of the neglect that comes with well-intentioned but financially improverished ownership. Good intentions but lack of funds saw this beauty diminished until the NT took the helm and have…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Wales – Erddig
Strong winds and lashing rain as we left Shropshire and headed into Wales (by Welshpool - not that great a distance from our starting point at Wollaston Lodge) to visit the extraordinary castle and gardens at Powis Castle. More impressive than I was expecting too - the topiary and towering hedges yes, but not the…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Wales – Powis Castle and Gardens
Well it has been a busy week - holidaying in the English & Welsh countryside, with sunshine and rain in equal parts and some beautiful castles, gardens, nurseries and stately homes to keep us company. Based for the the first part of this last week near Shrewsbury in Shropshire (the excellent Wollaston Lodge B&B http://www.wollastonlodge.co.uk/ )…
Continue reading ➞ Postcards from Shropshire – Wollerton Old Hall Gardens
The Shade Garden A generous soul, I, for these are my notes for my workshop today on gardening in those shadier spaces in the garden - cool boundaries, beneath deciduous and evergreen trees, in dry and damp, northerly aspects all - and for shrubs, perennials, bulbs and annuals that will help create a year-round tapestry of beautiful…
Continue reading ➞ Cool plants for shady gardens …
No, I'm surprisingly not a VIP guest on the David Austin Stand - can they please take note - but they had closed the exhibit for a bit of filming, so the Great Unwashed had to clear out and leave - leaving me with moments to capture an empty rose garden. Well almost empty, the…
A revisit to RHS Wisley in March 2015, to compliment my recent workshop on shade gardening – and there is certainly no lack of colour to be had in these woodland places ….
Stachyurus chinensis, a beautiful golden rain next to the House at RHS Wisley, looking across to the Lily Pond, past the King and Queen..
An exceptional specimen this, spicily fragrant and with larger flowers than the common-or-garden variety – there is one Ordinary specimen next to the Stachyurus pictured above that is going over now, while this one, in a shadier spot in the centre of the Bowles Corner garden, is much fresher altogether.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/wisley-blogs/wisley/July-2014/rediscovering-bowles-corner
Working my way now back along the upper path above the meadow towards the Rock Garden…
A little collection of Corydalis now in the shade of one of the larger trees, though with no labels to tell me which they might be..
Curious flowers, these and I have never been sure that I actually like them – seeing them in this mix, little pockets of colour among other spring bulbs, I think I might…
A…
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A reblog of a Spring post from the Woodland Garden at Kew – the end of March 2015. Adding some colour to the long lists I’ve just posted on the art of gardening in shade …
Leucojum aestevum against blue Scilla
Leucojum aestuvum in great drifts in the borders surrounding the Temple of Aeolus, the very cultivated woodland area at Kew Gardens. Hints of the expansive carpets of Scilla in the background.
Summer snowflake – Leucojum aestevum
Great drifts of vigorous Scilla
Scilla colonising these banks
Scilla in detail
Iris lazica
Iris lazica
Pulmonaria rubra
Stachyurus praecox var matzuzakii with great pendant curtains of flower
Stachyurus praecox
Drifts of scilla continue
Magnolia stellata and the Temple of Aeolus on the mount
Renovation work on the grass edging
Crown Imperial Fritillaries
Scilla and daffodils in the dappled shade of the woodland
Blue and white Scilla
Arum creticum
Arum creticum
More blue and the rarer, white scilla
Highly scented Crown Imperials
Loving the dappled shade, these Fritillaria imperialis
Cornus mas
Cornus mas with matching lichen
Hercules and Aechelus in the lake
Plaque for the lake fountain sculpture and…
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I thought I’d reblog this post following my workshop at Petersham Nurseries earlier this week – gardening in the shade – Spring through early Summer. This post was in June 2015. My notes for the workshop will be up in a new post soon.
After giving a talk on the beauty and possibilities of gardening in the shade – indeed on a day like today and with temperatures set to soar next week, the necessity of shade and all that means, it was a timely visit to the woodland gardens beneath the tall trees that wrap around the lower slopes of the Temple of Aeolus. These are well tended, heavily mulched and well watered gardens though many of the plants will cope with much drier soils and some, deeper shade again.
Green is the thing – with such a variety of leaf shape, form, colour and texture that it is by no means boring. Bold, grass-like, pleated, rough, shiny, tiny, the filtered light allows all of the detail to be seen. While the over-arching colour scheme is green, the same cool light allows the flowers to stand out – they pack quite a punch…
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A few images from a day at the Nurseries. I've been tweeting and instagramming over the past few days and posted a couple of videos too - they'll be easy to find from the links on my blog - featuring amongst other things, this vibrant Cutting Garden. They will give you an overview of this…
The Teddington Gardener 