Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Astrantia 'Roma' Astrantia 'Roma', a delightful and very useful herbaceous perennial, was exerting some kind of magic on the bees while I was working (my Roehampton project), this afternoon. Nearby drifts of Geraneum and Nepeta were a-buzz, with much busy-ness from one flower to another and another - By contrast, Hattie's Pincushion must be insatiably delicious…
Continue reading ➞ Sleepy Bees
Meconopsis betonicifolia - Himalayan Blue Poppy A few blue poppies in the woodland margins at Kew, something seen out of the corner of my eye, deserving closer inspection (I was on the hunt for peony and rose). Meconopsis have a reputation for being difficult, in warmer latitudes especially - the various species grow best in…
Continue reading ➞ Himalayan Blue Poppy
Hosta sieboldiana var Elegans I know this image was included in my 200th post/gallery but I got to thinking that lots of the other plants included therein were doing just what was expected of them - flowering plants, flowering (albeit beautifully). The verdant hosta indeed comes in a huge range of leaf size, shape and…
Continue reading ➞ More than just a pretty leaf
A rather lovely soft apricot coloured foxglove, with tall spires that will illuminate a shady spot in the garden. A form of the most familiar foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, it is generally considered a biennial plant, though it can be tricked into a short-lived perennial-ness by prompt deadheading (still, not gaining very much and losing some…
Continue reading ➞ Digitalis purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’
A snapshot of my day - beautiful plants some good weather some wet and worse - and some particularly vindictive gusting of winds bunting (before the aforementioned destroyed same) and here it is, my 200th post. Thank you, truly, for taking the time to look at this and any of the first one hundred and…
Continue reading ➞ My ‘200th Post’ Gallery
What a lovely spot from which to admire your garden. An apartment just behind the Tate Modern, Bankside, overlooking the communal garden, though I can imagine it as my own. Hmm. Prices for 2-bed apartments starting at £1M... I'll resist the urge to look up the penthouses - they may have a multi-million pound View…
Continue reading ➞ Yes please…
My favourite rose, of the moment, since she is doing so well in my less than propitious garden (NW facing, enormous horse-chestnut tree, much competition from other climbers). Dozens of blooms with more promised and, thus far, not a hint of powdery mildew. Marvellous. And as with many plants, the reverse of the flower can…
Continue reading ➞ Mrs Alfred Carriere, feeling shy
Wandering through the winding paths of Battleston Hill (RHS Gardens Wisely, Surrey) this first week of June, I wasn't expecting pristine Magnolia blossom, despite the chilly countenance of Spring setting most flowering calendars out by a week or three. Taking a new path on the lower slopes (the gardeners have been extending the network of…
Now I have a north-west facing garden and roses are not supposed to fare well when the sun skids around the plot so quickly, leaving much in shadow and much else, with just a couple of hours to make do. The Noisette climbing rose, Madame Alfred Carriere, is reputed to be one of those roses…
Continue reading ➞ Madame Alfred Carriere is enjoying herself, this year
The Teddington Gardener 