My day in just 12 pictures – well it would have been more, but the Parrot Tulips have already had their moment…

Fritillaria persica (above) Camassia (below) Reminding me that it is still officially Spring - a golden display of narcissus and below, another softly-shaded tulip. I must ask for the name. (above) The flower buds from the Isaac Newton Apple Tree (see earlier post) and (below) the goblet-bloom of Magnolia soulangeana The Regal Pelargoniums have arrived,…

Tulip time – the flame colours are winning out but then again… how chic are Carnaval de Nice and Estella Rijnveld

Tulip Carnaval de Nice Tulip Estella Rijnvald (above) A pyre of Tulip Princess Irene   Fritillaris imperialis - just about holding its own with the fire-bright tulip, Princess Irene

Rococo – just the most flamboyant, frilled, flame-coloured Tulip

Tulip Rococo An early, short-ish tulip, in volcanic shades of scarlet, crimson, cerise and orange. Frilled, puckered and alternately silky-sheeny-shiny and matt, with yellow, green and black, for good measure. The carnival outfit for the outspoken plant in Little Shop of Horrors. An excellent variety for a container - these are in a quite shallow…

Rhododendron cinnabarinum at Emmetts Garden – pendant, deep, warm shades of orange

I saw this rhododendron right at the top of the bluebell wood in Emmetts Garden, a National Trust property just outside Sevenoaks in Kent and noted the pendant habit of the flowers and of course, the warm, deep shades of orange, both setting this apart as a rather special rhododendron. I suspected it was R.…

Wisteria billowing, Hawthorn blooming, Tulips flourishing – my day in seven photographs

Bluebell woods – and more – at Emmetts Garden in Kent

Bluebell Woods at Emmetts Garden in Kent There is always a frisson of excitement about a woodland floor, carpeted with a shimmer of bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) - areas of deeper or dappled shade intensifying the blue, brighter shafts of sunshine creating a lighter haze. Emmetts Gardens, a National Trust property close to Sevenoaks, sits a-top…

Ightham Mote – a perfect house in a beautiful setting

  My first visit to Ightham Mote this afternoon and I am utterly charmed by the medieval, moated house set in a secluded, wooded cleft of the Kent Weald. There is a lot to appreciate and admire in this gentle landscape, aside from the main building dating back almost 650 years and I will return…

More Wisteria, a Spring Garden and a Fragrant Cat –

I've recently found and photographed some rather grand properties, or at the very least, expensive ones - over which wisteria has been artfully draped. This mid-terrace by Teddington Lock is probably pricey, but it is not palatial. The wisteria however, is quite extravagant. The Cutting Garden at Petersham Nurseries this morning. You can almost hear…