Gardener and Photographer with a love of Roses and a magpie-eye for all things Horticultural
Sarcocca confusa These small tassel-like flowers, on a glossily evergreen shrub, pump out a sweet perfume - over-rich when planted in quantity and to be used sparingly if brought into the home - an undemanding plant for a shady corner, in most soils (including the more difficult drier spots) and prepare to be caught by surprise…
Continue reading ➞ More fragrance in the winter garden…
(above) Daphne bholua (above) Daphne bholua Peter Smithers (more reliably evergreen than some, for example the more commonly available Jacqueline Postil which can drop many of its leaves after flowering) (above) Daphne odora Mae-Jima - with more gold than green (above) Daphne x hybrida Battleston Hill, a woodland garden of winding paths was rich…
Continue reading ➞ Daphne in the woodland gardens at RHS Wisley
Hamamelis x intermedia Orange Peel - a fine, deeply coloured witch hazel Hamamelis x intermedia Orange Peel (above and below) a fine specimen at the base of Battleston Hill at RHS Wisley. (below) Hamamelis x intermedia Pallida - lighting up the woodland slopes at Wisley (above) Hamamelis x intermedia Pallida is deservedly one of the…
Continue reading ➞ All about witch hazel – Hamamelis of every hue at RHS Wisley
Prunus himalaica, Battleston Hill, RHS Gardens Wisley Equally as stunning as Prunus serrula, (but with a darker, richer tea/walnut tone where the former is more shining copper), the rain-streaked bark of the Himalayan Cherry. A multi-stemmed example on the main flank of Battleston Hill (between two very fine peeling specimens of Acer griseum). I had…
Continue reading ➞ Prunus himalaica
A diversion this afternoon, after all my chores, to Battleston Hill - the enchanting woodland at the RHS Gardens, Wisley. Between rain showers and with a careful watch on the sodden earth, I found my first snowdrops. Galanthus elwesii is one of the first to flower, tall, with large flowers and distinctive blue-grey-green foliage, the…
Continue reading ➞ Galanthus elwesii – the first snowdrop of 2014
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…
Continue reading ➞ A Whiter Shade of….. Rowan (Sorbus glabrescens)
Narcissus romieuxii subsp. albidus A treat from the Alpine House at RHS Wisley, a tiny white narcissus - I thought I should continue with the pure white theme for a little while more, following on from the previous item on the Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger. Not one to be strewn across a grassy expanse, King…
Continue reading ➞ Narcissus romieuxii subsp. albidus – if you please….
Boxing Day and a brief hush before the next round of hospitality. The apples in the foreground, small brightly-red baubles, are Cocket's Red - windfalls from the orchards at RHS Wisley collected on Christmas Eve. Fragrant, crisp, lilac-scented fruits only a tad larger than a golf ball and rich ruby-red. The two named trees at…
Continue reading ➞ Boxing Day Greetings
Bright stems of dogwood, willow and ornamental blackberry by the lake in the RHS Gardens at Wisley There was a little doubt whether these gardens would be open today after the storms over night - many gardens have been forced to close today - but hard work on the part of the garden team made…
Continue reading ➞ Christmas Eve at RHS Wisley
The Teddington Gardener 