RHS Wisley – blue skies and sunshine illuminate this beautiful late-November landscape

Such a beautiful day, yesterday, 24th November, under a bright blue clear sky and welcome sunshine. Chill but quite beautiful. I'd never seen the car parks so full - in fact I was directed over a mile down the lane towards the village before heading cross-country into previously unseen fields before making the trek back…

A peek at the Grass Borders in Kew – a study in gold ….

Just the pictures this time around - it is for the overall impact of these borders that I took the time to visit, rather than a label-by-label guide to naming of individual plants. I'm quite sure I've done that before and a quick search in these pages may provide some further elucidation. In the meantime,…

Autumn Magic – Dahlias

Dahlias have rather been enjoying these warm, wet weeks and have continued to perform extravagantly in the Cutting Garden at Petersham Nurseries. A rich soil and the care and attention of Rosie Bines and her team have obviously been key - plus they have been regularly harvested so that new blooms just keep coming. Here…

Catching up on an end-of-October, very autumnal excursion through the gardens at RHS Wisley – Wild Woods and still Waters, Glasshouse Borders, Arboretum & Orchards

Well this is all very well and good but where are the words? the captions? the bon-mots and folderols? Adopting a habit of many fellow horticultural bloggers, this is Wordless Wednesday - that mid-week point when there is still so much to do and less time than you thought you had, so pictures and just…

A Kew Gardens Miscellany – Alpines, Trees and Random Autumn Stuff

Nerine flexuosa in the Davies Alpine House at Kew. Scilla maderense (below) This clam shell construction lies at the head of the Rock Garden, next to the Princess of Wales' Conservatory and the Grass Borders. Actually there wasn't a great deal to see in the Alpine House this time - a few cyclamen, Paperwhite narcissus…

The Savill Garden in November (well Autumn last year but I must return there soon…!)

I'm reprising these photos, taken almost exactly a year ago, in The Savill Garden, part of Windsor Great Park, cosseted by Virginia Water. I must return there soon, before the strengthening winds strip the trees bare. I hope these pictures might convince you to put on your wellies and get out there too - or…

Ruby and Gold – but which maple is it?

I have a feeling this was the coral bark maple, Acer Sanko-Kaku - but then it is a quite mature shrub and not more than 4'tall, so that might rule it out. 'Corralinum' has the right stem, but the first flush of leaves are shrimp pink... I'll be looking out my copy of Vertrees 'Japanese…

A Whiter Shade of….. Rowan (Sorbus glabrescens)

Sorbus glabrescens in the arboretum at RHS Wisley The arboretum at RHS Wisley in Surrey is a useful place to see many varieties of tree in a relatively small area - in particular it is possible to compare many different types of Silver Birch, or Rowan (Sorbus) or  Crab Apples (Malus) although the specimens planted…