Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Cotinus obovatus, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, richly decked in Autumn colours A spectacular rare shrub or very small tree native to North America with great autumn colour, Cotinus obovatus has outstanding foliage, with very large (up to 10 cm), oval leaves. In the autumn these leaves turn stunning shades of red, orange and…
Continue reading ➞ Autumn blaze – Cotinus obovatus
Viola Antique Shades - one of my favourites This, from the excellent Seedaholics website... Some unbelievably coloured violas have come on the market in recent years with little notice. Most gardeners pass up these rugged, cool-season performers in favour of their larger cousins, the pansies. But don't be in too much of a hurry to…
Continue reading ➞ Antique Shades
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’
Hippeastrum Royal Red Sarah Raven, never one to shy away from strong colours, expounds on the beautiful amaryllis/hippeastrum... The Telegraph 16th November 2007 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3345515/Amaryllis-the-power-flower.html Dazzlingly over-the-top, amaryllis are the perfect cut flower for Christmas. Sarah Raven shows how to grow and arrange them Amaryllis have replaced poinsettias as Britain's favourite Christmas plant and that's a…
Continue reading ➞ You say amaryllis, I say hippeastrum
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
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…
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata var. maximowiczii 'Elegans' A compact climber with attractive variegated leaves and gem-like berries - and a tongue-twisting name to boot! The leaves of this outstanding, if little known, little climber are outstanding in themselves - emerging pale copper with reddish rim, vaulting off pink leaf stalks, later turning fresh green. As they mature…
Continue reading ➞ The Porcelain Berry Vine, no less…
Painted heathers - very scary!
A little more to look forward too, as border grasses take on their golden garb and become the main attraction. These pictures are from the RHS Gardens at Wisley, featuring the double Piet Oudolf Borders running between the orchards and the lake. A few more weeks and the show will be at its zenith -…
Continue reading ➞ Grasses take centre stage…
The Teddington Gardener 