Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
The Botanic Gardens in Funchal, Madeira, are, and this is not a surprise, steeply terraced gardens with a mix of native and international flora, displayed in tropical, desert, formal, forest, succulent, medicinal and herbal.... different zones with winding paths leading up and down the hillside. There is a sad and unnecessary aviary here too with…
I'm reprising these photos, taken almost exactly a year ago, in The Savill Garden, part of Windsor Great Park, cosseted by Virginia Water. I must return there soon, before the strengthening winds strip the trees bare. I hope these pictures might convince you to put on your wellies and get out there too - or…
The gardens of Quinta da Palheiro are famous not only for the variety of plants that grow there but also for the beauty of their setting in the hills to the east of Funchal, the capital of Madeira. Madeira has long been called the Garden Isle and it seems that almost anything will grow in…
A few years ago, this scene, in front of the extraordinary Château and gardens at Villandry, in the Loire Valley. Where the rest of the photographs are, well I'll have to do some searching as they are not on this computer - was it long ago enough that there were actual negatives and prints? http://www.chateauvillandry.fr http://thegallopinggardener.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/villandry-is-this-worlds-most-perfect.html…
Continue reading ➞ Memories of the extraordinary Chateau de Villandry
One of my favourite gardens here - Nymans, in Handcross, a few miles south of Gatwick and featuring gothic ruins, expansive views, woodland, formal gardens, a grove of Davidia involucrata (the Handkerchief Tree), a 100' pergola walkway smothered in Wisteria, the first Heather Garden in the UK, tropical planting, double herbaceous borders, superb salvias, a…
Continue reading ➞ Nymans – Horticultural Pedigree
Some ideas for the conservatory at home then... maybe not anything from the new exhibition there now.... this plant? not mine, officer! A new event starts today - 20th September to 12th October - the Intoxication Season - http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/whats-on/intoxication-season From everyday to Class A, mind-altering plants and fungi arrive at Kew this autumn. Explore the…
Colchicum Waterlily growing in the woodland edge of the EA Bowles Garden at RHS Wisley earlier this week. Delicate they look, but are clearly tough enough to rough it out with the other woodland floor dwellers, like the Arum marmoratum in the foreground there. The leaves make a brief appearance in spring but are gone…
Helenium The Bishop, with Eupatorium Purple Bush - one part of the matrix of planting, mixing perennials, grasses and some shrubbery, in the double border leading up from the Lake through to the Fruit Mount. Introduction from the RHS website https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/garden-highlights/the-glasshouse/Glasshouse-Borders Drift through foliage and flowers along the Glasshouse Borders as you enjoy glorious views…
The double mixed/herbaceous borders at RHS Wisley in Surrey. A grand symphony! And there is still more to come, with asters just flushing into life to add more rich blue, vioet and purple to the mix. And in the adjacent Country Garden, just as much going on this early September. If you haven't been to…
Continue reading ➞ Heroic herbaceous planting at RHS Wisley – early autumn fireworks
The Teddington Gardener 