Tag: Winter garden

Winter Containers

Categories annuals, Architectural Plants, Autumn garden, Bedding, Bulbs, conifers, container gardening, dark foliage plants, evergreen perennial, Evergreen shrubs, Fragrant plants, General comment, Grasses, Hellebore, herbaceous, November, Organic Gardening, Ornamental trees, Petersham Nurseries, Plants for a shady garden?, Seasonal colour, Seeds, shade, Shrubs, White Garden, Winter GardenLeave a Comment on Winter Containers

Stylish winter containers with ideas and examples from Petersham Nurseries; colour, texture, fragrance contrast and harmony for outdoor planting combinations

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire – summer, this time around

Categories Architectural Plants, Art in the landscape, Clematis, Climbing plants, conifers, Cottage Garden, Cutting Garden, Dahlias, Exotic, Fragrant plants, Fruit Trees, Garden Design, General comment, Grasses, herbaceous, Magnolia, Open to the public, Ornamental trees, Seasonal colour, Summer garden, Travel broadens the mind, WisteriaLeave a Comment on Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire – summer, this time around

The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, run extraordinarily well by Hampshire County Council, is an exceptionally varied, beautiful, diverse, botanically curated landscape with so much to recommend, at pretty much any time of year (their winter garden is a beauty and possibly the best in the UK). An extended stay at Mottisfont and then the charms…

Continue reading ➞ Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire – summer, this time around

Taking a peek inside the Alpine House at RHS Wisley – and a scented meander down through the Rock Garden into Seven Acre Wood ….

Categories Alpine, Architectural Plants, Bulbs, Fragrant plants, General comment, Hellebore, House plants, Iris, Orchids, Plants for a shady garden?, RHS WIsley, shade, Shrubs, Snowdrops (Galanthus), Winter Garden, Wisteria, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on Taking a peek inside the Alpine House at RHS Wisley – and a scented meander down through the Rock Garden into Seven Acre Wood ….

A little peak inside the Alpine House which sits atop the Rock Garden in the RHS gardens at Wisley (the rose garden is behind, an allée of Bonsai trees to one side and the vegetable garden too, if you need to get your bearings. This is a traditional glasshouse where the plants are mostly displayed…

Continue reading ➞ Taking a peek inside the Alpine House at RHS Wisley – and a scented meander down through the Rock Garden into Seven Acre Wood ….

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered – by these colourful, beguilingly fragrant Witch Hazels at RHS Wisley

Categories Abstract Photography, Architectural Plants, Fragrant plants, General comment, RHS WIsley, Trees for smaller gardens, Winter Garden, witch hazel, Woodland Garden1 Comment on Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered – by these colourful, beguilingly fragrant Witch Hazels at RHS Wisley

A fine day yesterday, after that miserably wet weekend but still, having a day off, a chance to head over to the RHS gardens at Wisley. My mission: to stop by the Alpine House, take in a few snowdrops, inhale my first fragrant dose of Daphne bholua, bag the first of the Hellebores and of…

Continue reading ➞ Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered – by these colourful, beguilingly fragrant Witch Hazels at RHS Wisley

Hellebored? Not me ….

Categories Architectural Plants, evergreen perennial, General comment, Hellebore, Winter GardenLeave a Comment on Hellebored? Not me ….

Flowers to brighten these chill darker days are an invaluable commodity in the garden, and few are more welcome nor so colourful as the Hellebore. There is the myriad variety of colours and flower forms of the Lenten Rose (Hellebore hybridus), bold architectural foliage and flower of the Corsican Hellebore (H. argutifolius), and Christmas rose hybrids…

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

Categories Architectural Plants, Bulbs, Cutting Garden, Evergreen shrubs, Fragrant plants, General comment, Hellebore, House plants, Indoor gardening, Petersham Nurseries, Plants for a shady garden?, Pruning, Seasonal colour, Snowdrops (Galanthus), spring flowering, Spring Garden, White Garden, Winter Garden, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on 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…

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

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

Categories Alpine, Architectural Plants, Dry Garden, Fragrant plants, Hellebore, Indoor gardening, Open to the public, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Snowdrops (Galanthus), Tropical, Winter Garden, Woodland GardenLeave a Comment on 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…

Continue reading ➞ Kew Gardens – Desert, Tropics, Mountains and Forest….

Technicolor Rainbows in the Alpine House at RHS Wisley

Categories Alpine, Auricula, Bulbs, colour, Dry Garden, General comment, Open to the public, RHS WIsleyLeave a Comment on Technicolor Rainbows in the Alpine House at RHS Wisley

Never disappointing, the Alpine House at RHS Wisley. Particularly colourful in these early months as you can see. Rhubarb-pinks, bright yellows, true blues, glaucous greens, cochineal reds, zebra-striped purples and arctic whites - and packing a punch for such diminutive little stars. And this only January 14th (they were photographed on my visit yesterday morning).…

Continue reading ➞ Technicolor Rainbows in the Alpine House at RHS Wisley

Hamamelis for a New Year

Categories Architectural Plants, Fragrant plants, RHS WIsley, Seasonal colour, Winter GardenLeave a Comment on Hamamelis for a New Year

A choice selection of Witch Hazels flowering at RHS Wisley just now - such delicate flowers seem impossibly impervious to the worst of the weather but untroubled they are. I would have found more on Battleston Hill but the weather forecast (chill but bright and sunny) gave way to a bitingly cold rain and so…

Continue reading ➞ Hamamelis for a New Year