Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
I meant to identify the trees on the island when I posted this picture beforehand - I don't think it is too poetic to think that the branches appear to be flowing away from the trunk, like seaweed or reeds in a stream - or flames in a strong wind. I've never noticed this before,…
Continue reading ➞ Swamp Cypress
The seasons begin their shift towards Spring - isn't it noticeably lighter, later, already - and Hellebores will be coming to the fore. Certainly a plant that can be the subject of (more than) a mild addiction. Penny's Pink Plant breeder Rodney Davey gives us this beauty - Penny's Pink - and another (my favourite)…
Continue reading ➞ Hellebore Heaven – Penny’s Pink and Pirouette
Not for the average conservatory, Encephalartos ferox, almost a living fossil and apparently a ferocious one too (ferox). And Orange, or reddish-orange, these cones. Altogether striking, enjoying the heat and high humidity of the Palm House at Kew. http://www.kew.org/plants/cycads/pollination.html
I've photographed these willow fungi before, but I think they deserve another outing, bathed as they were in late afternoon sunshine last Sunday. A BBC video featuring Tom Hare, the artist responsible and the work of the Fungarium at Kew - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24473667 http://www.kew.org/video-galleries/galleries/Tom-Hare-fungi-sculptures.htm
Early preparations in the Princess of Wales Conservatory for their Orchid Festival, beginning next month (8th February to 9th March). These spaces will be unrecognisable once their work is complete - a riot of colour. I'm sure I posted a gallery of photographs from their displays last year and this year should be bigger and…
Continue reading ➞ Orchid Mania at Kew
The Xstrata Treetop Walk at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew A chance to walk amongst the tree canopy and to enjoy views across the gardens (including the Pagoda and the Temperate House, undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment) and landscape beyond - Sunday was a clear day and Wembley Stadium, The Shard and swathes of West…
Symphoricarpos orbiculatos - Indian Currant or Coralberry http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1890 I know this particular spot, with the waterfall next to the Davies Alpine House and have photographed something interesting, maybe something orange I seem to recall, here before - so I must have also photographed this shrub too, in leaf. It seems to have made no impression…
Continue reading ➞ Indian currant – Symphoricarpos orbiculatos
The Japanese Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Beautiful here in mid-winter, with sculpted box, evergreen waves of Liriope muscari, flowering Iris unguicularis, clipped Pachysandra terminalis, Cotoneaster and Callicarpa in berry, a few choice Chaenomeles flowers, beautifully spreading Winter Cherry - Prunus subhirtella Autumnalis, sunshine and raked gravel. http://www.kew.org/heritage/places/japaneselandscape.html
A grove of Witch Hazel, Hamamelis, at Kew - like those at RHS Wisley, in profuse bloom - these specimens are obviously in full sun rather than a woodland setting - they form part of the Mediterranean Garden displays, a setting for King William's Temple, and they seem to be liking it! Smaller plants than…
Continue reading ➞ Bewitched… Hamamelis at Kew
The Teddington Gardener 