A little early May tour around RHS Wisley – Rockery, Woodland and Rockery again…

A tour through the Surrey gardens of RHS at Wisley, taking us from the entrance (and before we even get going we have to stop and gawk at the Clianthus Kaka King!) before skirting along above the water lily pond to see the Wisteria and Roses enjoying the warmth of a long brick wall -…

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…

and the final few from an April afternoon at RHS Wisley…

Violas and wallflowers in a very successful partnership. The viola is Etain, a particularly hardworking plant that will be in flower from spring through to autumn, needing little care other than regular watering and clipping back if it gets too leggy. I shall be copying this next year. Meanwhile, some flamingo pink in the gardens…

If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise – top marks for RHS Wisley

In the Wild Garden - woodland glades at RHS Wisley in Surrey- meandering paths betwixt the Rock Garden, the Alpine Meadow and Seven Acres. Plenty to delight with bluebells, rhododendrons, camellias, tree paeonies, Chinese dogwoods, Ekianthus campanulatus, Fritillaria Imperialis, Bergenias, Dipelta, Acers, the Judas Tree - Cercis siliquastrum and probably every colour in the rainbow.…

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…

Spring delights in the The Savill Garden

  A pageant of colour - rhododendrons and camellias, hellebores and pulmonarias, cherry blossom, crocus, narcissus, daphne and more - but which group of plants is missing from this gallery. It's a biggie?! Links http://www.theroyallandscape.co.uk/gardens-and-landscape/the-savill-garden http://www.theroyallandscape.co.uk/seasonal-highlights/the-savill-garden/march-and-april/ http://www.theroyallandscape.co.uk/visitor-information/the-savill-building/

Rhododendron nobleanum album – an early flowering beauty

Rhododendron nobleanum album - at least two specimens on Battleston Hill at RHS Wisley were in flower when I last visited a couple of weeks ago - this old variety will flower anytime between January and March and perhaps even later, after the last frosts. Mid-January, it was the first of the rhododendrons I saw…

Orange/Totally Awesome

The name tag for this gorgeous and beautifully impressive specimen is lost somewhere in the neon skirts of this rhododendron/evergreen azalea (I forget, is it that 'all azaleas are rhododendrons, but not all rhododendrons are azaleas?). A meandering walk through the pathways of Battleston Hill at RHS Wisley and some real treats along the way.…