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…

Getting Horticultural for the month ahead … and a little tour of Petersham Nurseries

I wrote this (longer) piece for the Petersham Nurseries blog (abridged) and it would be a shame not to recycle it here! "You know that we are passionate about horticulture here at Petersham Nurseries, with new plants coming in every week now and plenty of activity in the gardens and glasshouses. Here are just a…

Kew Gardens – Desert, Tropics, Mountains and Forest….

Through the gates on a bright, chill afternoon a couple of days ago and herewith a tour of the Princess of Wales Conservatory and Davies Alpine House by way of the Rock Garden and Woodland beneath the Temple of Aeolus. First stop, the Princess of Wales Conservatory and the Arid/Desert environments - There was a…

Two Glasshouses at RHS Wisley – one large & tropical; one small, for all things alpine

The Glasshouse at RHS Wisley I think in blogging circles, this day of the week is known as Wordless Wednesday. Well, so much for that! By way of the briefest explanations, the galleries, above and below, are filled with images from my visit last week to RHS Wisley - but since the weather then and…

Follow me as I tour the gardens at RHS Wisley – grasses and bananas, the Glasshouse (tropics and desert) and dry borders, fruit fields and a fragrant rose garden …

You've walked with me from the entrance at RHS Wisley through to the grass borders, across to the tropical border with towering bananas and cannas and past the dogwood collection (with willows and rubus) which are green green green at the moment but in winter are a forest of ruby, gold, scarlet, black and bone…

Flights of Fancy – Hippeastrums on trial at RHS Wisley

The Glasshouse at RHS Wisley is host to a trial of Hippeastrums (though you might say Amaryllis) and a fine show they make, with such a wide variety of form and colour, with giant trumpets and spidery filamentous-ness side by side, gentle pastels against the brassiest and brightest, velvet against satin against crystal. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/plants-blogs/plant-trials/february-2015/hippeastrum-on-trial Amaryllis…

RHS Wisley this time around, Alpine treasures and Butterflies in the Glasshouse

Butterflies in the Glasshouse at RHS Wisley and moving into the Alpine House next - Plenty of treaures in the Alpine House, Fritillaries especially on this visit Butterflies, first, in the Glasshouse at RHS Wisley - happily I timed my visit on one of the last days of this event (I feared I'd missed it)…

My first look at RHS Wisley (this year) – Colourful winter stems, Alpine and Glasshouse finery and more…

I'm fortunate that the vast array of garden landscapes at RHS Wisley in Surrey are a short drive from Teddington HQ and that I can be as frequent a visitor as I am, without ever, ever being bored - there is always something, whatever the season, to delight and inspire. This unseasonably mild weather (about…