Travel broadens the mind

A Riot of Roses at David Austin HQ – An Access All Areas Tour of the Gardens, Glasshouses, Breeding Program, Trial Fields … and musings on Fragrance in the summer and autumn garden –

Categories David Austin roses, Fragrant plants, Open to the public, Pest control, Petersham Nurseries, Plants for a shady garden?, Pruning, Roses, Seasonal colour, Summer garden, Travel broadens the mind16 Comments on A Riot of Roses at David Austin HQ – An Access All Areas Tour of the Gardens, Glasshouses, Breeding Program, Trial Fields … and musings on Fragrance in the summer and autumn garden –

The Gardens at David Austin Roses, Albrigton, Shropshire They may have been battered by the rains but how beautiful are these gardens still! A veritable riot of colour, in beds and borders, along paths and clothing walls and clambering up and over pillars. Every conceivable space is festooned. Walls have climbers and ramblers flowering from…

Continue reading ➞ A Riot of Roses at David Austin HQ – An Access All Areas Tour of the Gardens, Glasshouses, Breeding Program, Trial Fields … and musings on Fragrance in the summer and autumn garden –

15 Favourites – Roses

Categories Climbing plants, colour, Cottage Garden, David Austin roses, Fragrant plants, General comment, Mottisfont Abbey, National Trust Gardens, Open to the public, Petersham Nurseries, Roses, Shrubs, Sissinghurst Castle, Summer garden, Travel broadens the mind7 Comments on 15 Favourites – Roses

My fifteen favourite roses

The Great Pagoda at Kew Gardens – there be fearsome Dragons

Categories Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, General comment, Hydrangea, late summer border, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Plants for a shady garden?, Rhododendron & Azalea, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, shade, Summer garden, Travel broadens the mind2 Comments on The Great Pagoda at Kew Gardens – there be fearsome Dragons

The newly restored Great Pagoda at Kew Gardens, replete with fearsome dragons. Built in 1762, it was one of a series of oriental-inspired buildings smattered through these new gardens, though the only one to have stood the test of time. The dragons are beautiful, colourful, gilded and sparkling, and quite fearsome. On the lowest tier…

Continue reading ➞ The Great Pagoda at Kew Gardens – there be fearsome Dragons

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire – summer, this time around

Categories Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Clematis, Climbing plants, conifers, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dahlias, Exotic, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, Grasses, herbaceous, Magnolia, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Seasonal colour, Summer garden, Travel broadens the mind, WisteriaLeave a Comment on Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire – summer, this time around

The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, run extraordinarily well by Hampshire County Council, is an exceptionally varied, beautiful, diverse, botanically curated landscape with so much to recommend, at pretty much any time of year (their winter garden is a beauty and possibly the best in the UK). An extended stay at Mottisfont and then the charms…

Continue reading ➞ Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire – summer, this time around

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018 – the show gardens, the great pavillion, the roses and … well, pretty much everything

Categories Acid-loving plants, Alpine, annuals, Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Bulbs, Clematis, climbing plant, colour, container gardening, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dahlias, David Austin roses, Dry Garden, Evergreen shrubs, Exotic, floristry, Flower Shows, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, Garden Design, Grasses, Hellebore, herbaceous, House plants, Hydrangea, Indoor gardening, Iris, Japanese Maples (Acers), Kitchen Garden, late summer border, macropetala, Magnolia, Mediterranean Garden, Mottisfont Abbey, Open to the public, Orchids, Organic Gardening, Ornamental trees, Plants for a shady garden?, plants for roses, Rhododendron & Azalea, Roses, Seasonal colour, shade, Shrubs, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Summer garden, Television, Travel broadens the mind, Trees, Trees for smaller gardens, Tropical, Water gardening, White Garden, Wildlife gardening, Wisteria, Woodland Garden1 Comment on RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018 – the show gardens, the great pavillion, the roses and … well, pretty much everything

From my walk through Chelsea, to the very last moment - a few hours in the company of the world's greatest flower show....

Oranges and Lemons – a Mallorquines Odyssey

Categories Mediterranean Garden, Travel broadens the mind1 Comment on Oranges and Lemons – a Mallorquines Odyssey

A week away under a Mallorcan sun - on the north-west coast of this beautiful island  at Port de Soller. Not that we were lacking in sunshine at home - we left on the Bank Holiday Monday when temperatures in London were set to reach 27C, but the location, in a horseshoe bay beneath the…

Continue reading ➞ Oranges and Lemons – a Mallorquines Odyssey

An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter

Categories Architectural Plants, Bulbs, colour, conifers, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dry Garden, Exotic, Flowering Cherry, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, Great Dixter, herbaceous, Kitchen Garden, Magnolia, Mediterranean Garden, Open to the public, Organic Gardening, Organic pest control, Ornamental trees, Seasonal colour, shade, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Travel broadens the mind, Tropical, Vegetables, Wildlife gardening, Woodland Garden1 Comment on An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter

Well this time I'll let the pictures do the talking. And I nearly didn't call in this time around to Great Dixter and am so glad I did. I don't recall that I have visited in Spring before (it is a stupendous garden in late summer and autumn) and I did attend one of Fergus…

Continue reading ➞ An East Sussex Odyssey and the jewel in the crown, Great Dixter

A Grand Day Out. First stop, Pashley Manor Gardens, East Sussex

Categories Art in the landscape, Bulbs, Camellias, Climbing plants, colour, conifers, container gardening, General comment, Magnolia, Open to the public, spring flowering, Spring Garden, Travel broadens the mind, Woodland Garden1 Comment on A Grand Day Out. First stop, Pashley Manor Gardens, East Sussex

Such a glorious day to go out exploring and so I headed out to the wilds of East Sussex to take in these gardens at Pashley Manor before heading on to .... King John's Nursery and Gardens, Merriments and Great Dixter, and ending up making a few purchases at The Old Rose Nursery in Northiam.…

Continue reading ➞ A Grand Day Out. First stop, Pashley Manor Gardens, East Sussex

Kew in the Country – an early Autumn tour of Wakehurst Place

Categories Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Autumn garden, Japanese Maples (Acers), Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Seasonal colour, Travel broadens the mind, Trees, Trees for smaller gardens, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on Kew in the Country – an early Autumn tour of Wakehurst Place

Quite the contrast from the sunshine and blue skies enjoyed just yesterday. Cool, cloudy, a little drizzle and everybody kitted out as if they were about to take on a winters' trek through the Lake District. Still, October it is and Autumn is beginning to tickle the trees in this vast and varied landscape and…

Continue reading ➞ Kew in the Country – an early Autumn tour of Wakehurst Place