House plants

Cool customers – Cyclamen for a Cool Yule

Categories House plantsLeave a Comment on Cool customers – Cyclamen for a Cool Yule

Cyclamen persicum, a cool customer for a cooler spot in your home this winter. Clean whites, blush pinks, deeper carmines, burgundy and wine... and the occasional flash like these ones, which I rather like. LINKS The Cyclamen Society - http://www.cyclamen.org/faq_set.html Sarah Raven gives some advice - http://www.sarahraven.com/articles/indoor_cyclamen.htm The Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/7250834/Cyclamen-to-brighten-up-your-home.html and a first, from…

Continue reading ➞ Cool customers – Cyclamen for a Cool Yule

Teddington Gardener Goes International… Madeira explored (Part 1. Quinta da Casa Branca)

Categories Architectural Plants, General comment, House plants, Travel broadens the mindLeave a Comment on Teddington Gardener Goes International… Madeira explored (Part 1. Quinta da Casa Branca)

A base for a couple of weeks horticultural adventuring - and a little relaxation - on the island of Madeira, a volcanic outcrop in the midst of the Atlantic with a bewildering variety of exciting plant life to explore. Our hotel, Quinta da Casa Branca, despite the greenery and seclusion evident from these photographs, is…

Continue reading ➞ Teddington Gardener Goes International… Madeira explored (Part 1. Quinta da Casa Branca)

Echeverias – perfect little rosettes for the winter house and summer garden

Categories Alpine, Architectural Plants, House plantsLeave a Comment on Echeverias – perfect little rosettes for the winter house and summer garden

Echeverias Tough perfect rosettes for the summer garden and a holiday indoors for the autumn and winter....   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/5621823/How-to-grow-succulents.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningpicturegalleries/8899769/Sarah-Ravens-favourite-indoor-plants.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/plants/8899770/Houseplants-Enjoy-the-garden-indoors.html Houseplants: Enjoy the garden indoors Keep your green fingers busy with stylish, no-fuss houseplants that make indoors a horticultural retreat. By Sarah Raven    7:00AM GMT 24 Nov 2011 Recent rain and gales have left…

Continue reading ➞ Echeverias – perfect little rosettes for the winter house and summer garden

Sky News – a stunning Hibiscus

Categories Architectural Plants, House plants, Petersham Nurseries, Summer gardenLeave a Comment on Sky News – a stunning Hibiscus

Hibiscus (detail) - these are in fact blooms at least 5" across (in old money), serene satellite discs with frosted icing, blushed pink and with beaujolais wine centres and a scaffolding of creamy white stigma and stamens. I don't  know the cultivar but am told it is hardy (root hardy maybe?). I might have the…

Continue reading ➞ Sky News – a stunning Hibiscus

Lilac hues in the glasshouse – Passiflora ‘Amethyst’

Categories climbing plant, Climbing plants, General comment, House plantsLeave a Comment on Lilac hues in the glasshouse – Passiflora ‘Amethyst’

    Passiflora 'Amethyst'- a tender, vigorous climber suitable for the conservatory. A lilac/lavender cousin of the more usual blue Passiflora caerulea. (P. caerulea  is a hardy climber, more or less happy outside whatever the weather) Of Amethyst - this beauty can survive outside, down to 0°C, if the new wood has had time to…

Continue reading ➞ Lilac hues in the glasshouse – Passiflora ‘Amethyst’

Winter Sunshine, Hellebores, Iris Katharine Hodgkin, Cymbidiums and farewell to Syon….

Categories Bulbs, General comment, Hellebore, House plants, Orchids, spring floweringLeave a Comment on Winter Sunshine, Hellebores, Iris Katharine Hodgkin, Cymbidiums and farewell to Syon….

Hellebore x ericsmithii Winter Sunshine is a bushy, clump forming hellebore, flowering for a long period in early spring. Creamy white flowers age with green tints through to a mellow pink, and all the colours seem to blend very well together, nothing muddy about the transitions either. Lots of flowers, though again, spaced enough apart…

Continue reading ➞ Winter Sunshine, Hellebores, Iris Katharine Hodgkin, Cymbidiums and farewell to Syon….

The Alpine House at RHS Wisley – a box of delights!

Categories Alpine, container gardening, General comment, House plants, RHS WIsley1 Comment on The Alpine House at RHS Wisley – a box of delights!

I love the Alpine House at RHS Wisley - a traditional glasshouse packed full of plants, their terracotta pots sunk into a raised sandy bench. Just the right height for a close look at these intricate and beautifully bright jewels. The Davies Alpine House at Kew - the clam shell - has cutting edge architecture…

Continue reading ➞ The Alpine House at RHS Wisley – a box of delights!

Escape winter….. Orchids at Kew 2014

Categories Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Climbing plants, colour, Flower Shows, General comment, House plants, Open to the public, Orchids, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Travel broadens the mindLeave a Comment on Escape winter….. Orchids at Kew 2014

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

Escape Winter – Orchids at Kew 2014

Categories General comment, House plants, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Teddington Gardener on FacebookLeave a Comment on Escape Winter – Orchids at Kew 2014

This is my beautiful, but simple, orchid exhibition at home - just the two phalaenopsis (moth) orchids. I'm prompted to photograph them given the imminent opening, next weekend, of the annual orchid display at Kew Gardens, transporting an already tropical Princess of Wales Conservatory into a technicolour paradise. I urge you to go if you…

Continue reading ➞ Escape Winter – Orchids at Kew 2014