Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Narcissus romieuxii subsp. albidus A treat from the Alpine House at RHS Wisley, a tiny white narcissus - I thought I should continue with the pure white theme for a little while more, following on from the previous item on the Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger. Not one to be strewn across a grassy expanse, King…
Continue reading ➞ Narcissus romieuxii subsp. albidus – if you please….
Just two simple pictures today - most forms of Hellebore really get into their stride in very early Spring - and some continue long into Summer. In the vanguard are these delightful pure white forms of Helleborus niger, the Christmas Rose. Plenty of time for the rich ruffles of plum, chocolate and slate that come…
Continue reading ➞ Christmas Rose – Helleborus niger
Boxing Day and a brief hush before the next round of hospitality. The apples in the foreground, small brightly-red baubles, are Cocket's Red - windfalls from the orchards at RHS Wisley collected on Christmas Eve. Fragrant, crisp, lilac-scented fruits only a tad larger than a golf ball and rich ruby-red. The two named trees at…
Continue reading ➞ Boxing Day Greetings
Bright stems of dogwood, willow and ornamental blackberry by the lake in the RHS Gardens at Wisley There was a little doubt whether these gardens would be open today after the storms over night - many gardens have been forced to close today - but hard work on the part of the garden team made…
Continue reading ➞ Christmas Eve at RHS Wisley
The kousa dogwood - - a most elegant dogwood, but often lost in the landscape shadow of Cornus florida. For many parts of the country however (referring to the US), C kousa is probably a better choice. In youth the habit is stiffly upright, almost vase-shaped, but with age it becomes rounded to broad-spreading, with…
Continue reading ➞ More strange fruit… Cornus kousa ‘John Slocock’
An apple variety curiously called Winter Banana Hailing from Indiana, USA and introduced in the 1870s - an large sweet apple, with alleged banana flavour (that was distinctly missing from the example I scrumped!) A creamy yellow, pink flushed skin might contribute a little to its naming, perhaps - late ripening, a touch of frost…
Continue reading ➞ Winter Banana
We've been here before, the double borders created by Piet Oudolf at Wisley, combining perennials with grasses, wave after wave - and the equally dramatic planting around the lake, concentric arcs of repeated blocks, catching the low autumn sun. The Piet Oudolf Borders pre-date the Glasshouse and are relatively mature now, evolving along their considerable…
Continue reading ➞ Piet Oudolf & Tom Stuart-Smith at Wisley
More strange fruit, this time the berries of Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii 'Profusion' AGM This mature specimen photographed at RHS Wisley, on the lower slopes of the Rock Garden and in the woodland margin, is particularly eye-catching ~ leafless now and with a profusion of these uncommonly coloured spherical berries. This article, from Horticulture Week,…
Continue reading ➞ Beautyberry
Piet Oudolf Borders at RHS Wisley Much that one can say about prairie style planting and especially the combination of grasses with late season perennials, is that the show doesn't stop when the blooms die and the rot sets in - add low, slanting sun, a stiff breeze for animation and later, frost and snow…
Continue reading ➞ Live and let die…
The Teddington Gardener 