Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
A tree...this really is a beautiful specimen - at RHS Wisley, in the area behind the Bowes Lyon Rose Garden, that, earlier in the season, would be carpeted with spring flowering crocus. Gorgeous elongated leaves, with a twist, and in a Joseph's Coat of autumn colour. With colchicums at the base, the Autumn crocus. Symmetry.…
Continue reading ➞ Tetradium glabrifolium var glaucum. So there!
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
A little trip to southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean, to soak up some garden inspiration.... Palms, pines and ancient olives... and mimosa, hibuscus, bougainvillea, vines, eucalyptus, lantana, opuntia, peaches and lemons, slender cypress.... a few aromatic and atmospheric planting ideas for UK gardens I think! and a little of this too - well, all work…
Continue reading ➞ Researching the Mediterranean Garden…
Just a small selection of fragrant shrub roses from the David Austin stable (with the exception of Ghislaine de Feligonde, a delightful and vigorous, repeat flowering rambler) - and none of them pink. I'm particularly fond of the deep yellow/mustard rose Charles Austin, which has an antique, fin-de-siècle style. http://www.davidaustinroses.com
Cosmos Chocamocha A new-ish form of the favourite chocolate-scented, late-summer flowering Cosmos atrosanguineus... with even more chocolately aroma, velvety bronze-red flowers and all a little more compact, so less need for staking. It will flower, in full sun, from June to September and grow to a height of 45cm. A great companion for other late-flowering…
Continue reading ➞ Another chocolate fancy…
Dahlia Mingus AlexA classic deep dark red Dahlia, Mingus Alex, with strong sturdy stems and growing to a respectable and practical 1m in height. I ordered (I might have said) a few dozen dahlias from Rose Cottage Plants last year, rather forgetting that my own garden is considerably less than the couple of acres I…
Continue reading ➞ If I must have just one dahlia…
Sissinghurst, now owned by the National Trust, the former home and exceptional gardens of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson From 'The Gardens of England and Ireland' by Patrick Taylor The garden at Sissinghurst, famous as it is, has become for many people more an idea, a myth, than reality. Yet to visit the garden (especially when it…
Continue reading ➞ Late summer at Sissinghurst
Jude the Obscure, with hints of Gertrude Jekyll and Graham Thomas Gertrude Jekyll - a beautifully scented shrub rose and Fragrant English Climber Two glorious David Austin roses, in bloom now and probably (given the long summer, after a late start) in flower for many weeks to come. Few other plants can give so many…
Continue reading ➞ Jude & Gertie
English Rose, Summer Song, from David Austin Now here we have a rose with attitude! Quite unmistakeable among the catalogue of softer colours and quite distinct from the other 'orange' roses created by David Austin - Lady Emma Hamilton (of course), Pat Austin, Lady of Shalott. It is a rangy plant, even needing some support…
Continue reading ➞ Super Nova – Summer Song
The Teddington Gardener 