Just a few things to look forward to this month, on show at RHS Wisley and, perhaps, in a garden near you!
late summer border
Mr Toad
Tricyrtis macropoda (of the lily family) The Toad Lilies, so-called because of their spotted flowers, are sound perennials, preferring a soil that does not dry out, and containing a good stint of humus. They do well in the north, but the cooler the district the more sun should be available to them, to hasten their…
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Happy Hydrangeas
These galleries are almost all hydrangeas with big, cone-shaped flower-heads, (paniculata), rather than rounded mop-heads (though I have included Nymphe in the galleries) - and one oak-leaved hydrangea (with distinctive leaf shape and excellent autumn colour). They have all been photographed on the slopes of Battleston Hill in the gardens of RHS Wisley, where they…
Continue reading ➞ Happy Hydrangeas
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Another chocolate fancy…
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…
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If I must have just one dahlia…
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…
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Late summer at Sissinghurst
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
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Dark Towers
Penstemon Dark Towers A change from the usual Penstemon, not so much on account of the flowers though they are delightful, but for the dark tints to the leaves and the branching habit of the stems. A wholly beautiful combination. Not as dark, perhaps, as the sticky toffee pudding I've just had, but just as…
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White lace, emerald and gold
Anemone Honorine Jobert I'm borrowing an excellent and quite perfect description of the Old Rose, Madame Hardy, 'White lace and Emeralds'. For this excellent Japanese Anemone, there has to be gold. White lace, emerald and gold. One extra photograph of this superlative plant in flower. Couldn't resist! My earlier post (9th September) gives a little…
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A classic – Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’
I'm going straight to Carol Klein here, writing in The Telegraph on 28th September 2002. This beautiful plant was a classic then, and for 150 years before that, and so it remains. How to grow: Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' Carol Klein on the unexpected joy of these classy white flowers that shine in the shade Anemone…
Continue reading ➞ A classic – Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’
The Teddington Gardener 