Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
I've posted about this elegant, arching Spring flowering perennial, recently changing its name from Dicentra to Lamprocapnos (trills off the tongue doesn't it?). Let's settle on Bleeding Heart. An unusual photograph for the concentration of flower, usually seen in, well, single, elegant arches. A bit of a cheat since there were about a dozen…
Continue reading ➞ You say Lamprocapnos, I say Dicentra….
Bluebell time at Kew.
It’s cherry blossom season. Here’s a poem called "Loveliest of Trees" by A. E. Housman (1859 – 1936). The poem is about cherry blossoms, the quickness of life, and how now is the time to appreciate what’s around you. "Loveliest of Trees" LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough,…
Continue reading ➞ The loveliest of trees
One of the most extraordinary flowering trees, with pea-like blossom, hugger-mugger on bare stems, on the previous year's wood and main branches. This specimen in the heart of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, in the Mediterranean landscape, the purple of the Judas tree contrasted with the golden-yellow of the Cistus x purpureus. Inversely heart…
Continue reading ➞ Judas tree – Cercis siliquastrum
The garland spiraea or bridal wreath is a popular hybrid, widely planted for its profuse spring flowers an old alternative name is May foam. It is one of the larger spiraeas, ideal for growing towards the back of the border, where it can make a soft green background for other plants after its lavish spring…
Continue reading ➞ The Garland, Bridal Wreath, May Foam…
Wisteria sinensis - a vigorous, deciduous twining climber, suitable for growing on trellises, pergolas, and walls; also it can be trained as a standard - and the examples I have seen, in full flower with heads more than 4' across - magnificent. I'm reading from the RHS Encyclopedia of Planting Combinations for further information... The…
Continue reading ➞ Chinese Wisteria
I don't remember this particular plant looking as lovely last year, but here it is, in a shadier spot with hints of sunlight picking out the detail. I've posted about other macropetalas (Jan Lindmark most recently), so I don't need to repeat any details about staminoids and tepals, fascinating though they are. Nor do…
Continue reading ➞ Clematis macropetala Propertius
Sometimes confused with the snowdrop, the summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum, is a much larger, later flowering plant, growing 60-75cm tall. Each stem has three-five bell-shaped nodding flowers with green tipped sepals and, though I have yet to put this to the test, a scent of chocolate! Flowering in May and preferring the shadier, wetter spots…
Continue reading ➞ Summer Snowflake
The Teddington Gardener 