Hellebores for a New Year

  A picture gallery - well there are going to be a few of them, cataloguing my visit to the gardens at RHS Wisley yesterday morning. Proof, if it were needed, that these are not the dullest, least colourful or interesting times in the garden. In fact I couldn't say when those times might actually…

A banquet-kaleidoscope-smorgasbord-gallimaufry of early Spring colour and scent … (or Where’s Thug?)

Ah, well, you've got me - one huge gallery of images and barely a note to cover the 'who, what, why, where and when' of it all - The 'where'will be at Kew and Wisley and a few points in between, including those deliciously cool crocus on my own front step, delicately rain-dropped and rather…

Hellebore Appreciation Society – at Ashwood Nurseries Open Day

Ashwood Nurseries are world-famous for their Hellebores and the range of hybrids they create is quite remarkable for their breadth and beauty. My timing for this visit was perfect as I was travelling down from Manchester to London, and this was an excellent stopover, just to the west of Wolverhampton (for them, close to a…

Walk with me through the woodland landscapes at RHS Wisley – a fragrant, colourful tour for these unexpectedly mild days …

I had the time to visit the gardens at RHS Wisley on Wednesday this week, the sunniest of days and quiet too (everybody else was at the work, or the supermarket, or on the M25... ) The colour and fragrance on offer was unexpectedly generous, with Camellias and Rhododendrons, Witch Hazel, Chimonathus and Edgworthia, Hellebores…

The best of the rest from RHS Wisley; a grand Stachyurus, a great Edgworthia chrysantha Grandiflora and a huge Fuji Cherry, Corylopsis (2), many Corydalis and Camellias and other Woodland Stars plus the Plant Centre (see the Fritillaria meleagris & persica Ivory Bells) …! @RHSWisley #Wisley #SpringAtWisley

Stachyurus chinensis, a beautiful golden rain next to the House at RHS Wisley, looking across to the Lily Pond, past the King and Queen.. An exceptional specimen this, spicily fragrant and with larger flowers than the common-or-garden variety - there is one Ordinary specimen next to the Stachyurus pictured above that is going over now,…

The Savill Garden, fragrant, fizzing with colour and all set for Spring

Rhododendrons like this amazing Choremia Tower Court, blazing in the sunshine this afternoon in The Savill Garden within the greater Windsor Great Park - made this a fine choice for a walk, through these extensive gardens before exploring further into The Royal Landscape to search out the Jubilee Horse and the Copper Horse, with views…

If you go down to the woods today (Part 2) – Hellebores, Camellias and more at RHS Wisley

Hellebores running wild in the woods of Battleston Hill at RHS Wisley. I have an inkling that these are just a little wild, I have never seen any them labelled (and pretty much everything else thereabouts is name-plated). There will be more of them in due course, these are the vanguard of a great swathe…

A Touch of Frost

A touch on the chill side this morning, with pretty much everything rimed with frost until the sun was able to warm things up just a little, though I think a repeat is due tomorrow morning. These hellebores were unfazed by the deep freeze though not everything will be as forgiving, so a roll of…

Spotlight on Harvington Rebekah and Walberton’s Rosemary – and nigh on 50 more Hellebores…

Hellebore Harvington Hybrid Rebekah at the Plant Centre, RHS Wisley, today. and another variety also looking rather superb today on my travels, Walberton's Rosemary But let's not rest on our laurels - there are rather more than two hellebores to tempt, delight and enrapture.... Here's a complete catalogue of the Hellebores on sale at RHS…