Mutterings in the Shrubbery

The Botanic Garden was full of Masked Tyrants

2012-01-18T06:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Reader,

January seems to be the time when a lot of lazy bloggers re-visit their dusty old pages. I suppose it's similar to the gyms being packed full for the first month of the year.

Whilst I am writing my come-back blog, I will not be heading to the gym this month. I am on holiday. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this blog is coming to you from the city of Buenos Aires!

You may be wondering why I'm writing a blog whilst on holiday. I wanted to see if I could (iPad does let me, but photos are a bit trickier, so sadly these shall be omitted from this post).

Also the heat has meant that the day only really starts at 5pm. The sun sets at about 8.30pm, so there is still plenty of time for seeing the sights at dusk. So I have a half day of relaxing in my apartment today.

I really love it here, and have so far visited various landmarks, the colourful museum of Latin-American art, the botanic garden (a Masked Tyrant is a type of bird, common to this part of the world).

This time last year I was having my toes nibbled by some wriggly little fish off Khao San Road in Bangkok. I visited an amazing koi-infested Japanese garden a few days ago, where I was give my pedicure by a wheezy and pecky Muscovy duck named Alfonso. I don't rate Alfonso's foot treatment very highly.

I have tried the local drink, Maté, which is very much like extremely strong green tea, which is drunk through a metal straw. Being a fan of green tea, I really enjoyed this drink.

I really like the old-world and European feel to this city. The heat is usually offset by a nice breeze, the people are really friendly. The architecture is fantastic. I hope to have a lot more to report (maybe some photos too) in my next post.

Adios!

**Date for the diary**
I hope to encourage lots of tweeters and bloggers to an Extra-Special Re-Launch Tweet-up Party at:

The Garden Sage
48 Durham Road, London SW20 0TW

SUNDAY 18th of MARCH 2012
From 11am till 5.30pm

We have been redecorating and renovating (it will look VERY different to before), and wanted to celebrate the fact that we are going into our 3rd year. There will be refreshments on offer and an extra special generous 30% off everything!

More to be announced!

Travel Plans

2010-12-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

Before long this blog is going to turn into a travel blog!

Having had a really busy year in 2010, I had earmarked January 2011 as a month to take a few weeks holiday. I am up for adventure.

I recently spoke to some friends who are going to Thailand (again) for the new year. I have become quite spontaneous with my holidays abroad, booking flights and throwing things into my suitcase at the last minute. I feel this will be one of those spontaneous moments.

How could one fail to be impressed?

I am keen to hear from any bloggers that have travelled around Thailand, places to see and go, how to get around, where to stay, where to avoid, where to stay longer etc..

I've found to my delight, that it's now the cool season, so a perfect time to visit! Whilst the UK freezes, meaning the airports are at a standstill, I am risking getting swept up in the chaos.

Any info/advice/recommendations gratefully received!

End of year review 2010

2010-12-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

Dear reader,

This year has been quite an amazing year, and I am sorry to both you and for myself that I wasn't able to blog about it along the way. A blog needs regular tending to provide reward, and much like a neglected garden, this one needs a bit of attention. So here I am, ready to take it on, shears in gloved hands and secateurs in my holster. Of course I shall have to toss these aside if I'm to get any typing done.

I hope the (ir)regular readers of my blog remember that my year up to July was fairly eventful? You should as it was my last post, which was also an event in itself.

Since July, things slowed a little, and I was able to take some gulps of air. My trip to Belgium and Holland was great fun as always. It was a little hectic at a time I could have done with a three week beach holiday sipping Pina Coladas. The trip was much like a cocktail in fact; cacti, nurseries, ham and cheese sandwiches, Dutch people and tea all shoved in a shaker and spilled out over four days.

There was one brief moment where summer had a full-on fling with autumn, and this moment fell on the day of the Highgrove bloggers meet, superbly co-ordinated by Helen Johnstone and Roland. Apart from making sure everyone was there at the right time and right place, Helen also managed to organise a perfect late summer day to be led around the gardens. I could go on, but in short, it was a sublime day in which I met my heroes Ann-Marie Powell and Cleve West who were even nicer in real life than on screen. It was a perfect opportunity to meet loads of brilliant people. I also won a prize of Duchy hand cream for my Tillandsia buttonhole - to which Ann-Marie added, "You can rub that all over!".

So to October, and the highlight of the year at the shop... The talk by Matthew Wilson aka 'Landscape Man'! It was covered by Arabella Sock here. I should add that Matthew gave a fantastic talk - far better than I was expecting (though, to be honest I didn't know what to expect). Many thanks to Matthew for being such a top-drawer Horticulturist - I hope we see him again on our screens before long. Belated thanks also to those that were in attendance.

The local magazine used the bad photo - I was smiley in the other one!

With a hop, skip and a jump, I move on to another of the year's big events, the Garden Media Guild awards. Extra special congratulations to those I know that won awards, Mark 'Dashing' Diacono for his amazing column, Lia 'Lush' Leendertz for best blog, Dawntastic Isaac for new talent, Matthew 'Train Club' Wilson and his team for best programme 'Landscape Man' and Anne Wareham for best website. I am particularly proud of Victoria Summerley for winning Journalist of The Year, possibly because I know her and she lives in my 'hood, but more likely because she is a fantastic writer and really deserves this accolade.

Although I wasn't at the GMG awards, I was made very welcome at the pub after-party. I met loads more people and it was great to put more faces to names. In a strange twist of fate I ended up staying late with Dawn and Lia, drinking too much and eating biscuits (of which many were scoffed by a biscuit fiend who shall remain nameless - I'll just say that his name rhymes with Stephen Macey). We headed over to a nearby bar/restaurant and had a bite to eat with a tipsy Andy Sturgeon (another hero of mine) and the absolute hoot that is photographer Rachel Warne and her photographer friend Paul. An axe was taken out of one of the GMG award goody bags and played around with by an unnamed member of our party, much to the worry of the waiter. I would suggest that axes and goody bags are not good combinations, for whoever thought this idea up.

Last week I went to a recording of Gardener's Question Time. More on this on my next post. Monty Don is returning to Gardener's World, and Toby Buckland and Alys Fowler have been made to leave. More on this on my next post also, as I shall be putting down my thoughts about gardening TV and radio. Brace yourselves.

In the meantime, have a read of JOTY Victoria Summerley's article, Helen's post and for something a bit more lighthearted Arabella Sock's recent posts.

Peace and love,

Rob

I don't care what you do to them, just be good to me.

2010-07-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

Dear lovely reader, thanks for clicking on the link!

So, as promised last week* I have set aside some time to catch-up on my 'catch-up' blog post. Although I'd much prefer to be out watering the garden, my neighbours are having a particularly smokey barbecue. I suspect most of Merton Borough have been confined to their homes to avoid asphyxiation. Merton's loss, however, is your gain.

Should I start at the beginning? Starting a business has been very draining. Horticulture more than other businesses sees us working every hour of daylight, and darkness brings forth a need to complete paperwork and The Books.

There we have it - garden shop in 4 easy-to-follow steps!

For those of you that were able to make it to the Grand Opening, many belated thanks. There was a dearheart that asked for directions to the nearest curtain shop, which I found rather confusing, until she revealed her identity. The weather was perfect, and the booze most plentiful. If you didn't make it, I hope to welcome you soon.

Although I concentrated my efforts on setting up the shop this spring, leaving my business partner Liam to run the gardening aspect of the business, I am now rather keen to get my teeth into some garden projects.

I was in attendance at The Malvern Meet, which was fantastic and superbly co-ordinated by Helen and Michelle. A perfect opportunity to meet many of you bloggers. There were a few people that I didn't get to chat with much, but no doubt our flower-lined (or indeed veg-lined) paths shall cross again. I was most impressed with Dawn Isaac's alcohol-drinking abilities, and intrigued by the bizarre Mad Hatter's biscuit tasting party at The Lighthouse where some of the girls were staying.

Chelsea week saw a brilliant lock-in party at my shop, attended by Victoria, Helen, Michelle, Julia, The Sock, Ms B, and a few other non-bloggers. There was cake and Pimms and laughs and Alan Titchmarsh presenting the Chelsea Flower Show in the corner. The weather was spectacularly fine, and a good time had by all. Reviewed here.

I did attend Chelsea on the Thursday, but it was so long ago now, I've been warned that I'm not allowed to discuss or review it. I'm risking a prison sentence just mentioning it now.

Little Parrotlet came into my life, dubbed 'Rio' (mainly after the song, and due to his species' origins in South America, also Rio is the Portuguese for river). He is a very docile and happy bird, and keeps me company in the shop.

The other highlight for me over the past few months was escaping to Martyn Cox's Open Garden. It's easy enough to get to, only having never been to the East of London, I got quite disorientated. Martyn's garden however, was a joy to behold and a true oasis in the city.

Morbid black Petunias - a preview plant that Martyn got somewhere. Probably a Goth Petunia-lover, in return for his soul.

A "thriving" kiwi vine.

The most sublime Aeonium collection, plenty of fruit and veg, a Japanese film crew and some fellow bloggers to boot. The sun's rays were unwieldy, and an outtake of me may make it onto the Japanese youtube equivalent as 'Incredible Sweaty Face Man'. Reviewed here.

I was so impressed with Martyn's Aeoniums, it prompted me to attend to my succulent collection. I aim to re-pot a number of them into terracotta pots, but for this year, they will be left on the bench to enjoy the sun.

All in all, I've been a bit busy to attend to my garden. I've kept it alive, and have made a few purchases (pictures to follow).

It's good to be blogging again, hopefully I'll manage to keep it up. I'm looking forward to visiting the succulent nurseries on holiday in Dutchland in a couple of weeks' time.

Congratulations to my friend Paul for his Gold Medal at Hampton Court on The Palm Centre stand, and my friend Alex who won a Silver Gilt for her prehistoric carnivorous plant display (complete with T-Rex!).

The picture at the top of the page is of Gladiolus 'Impressive', a supposedly hardy variety. The petals look as though they've been given a sloppy lipstick kiss by a particularly tarty pixie. It's planted on a roof terrace, which I am really chuffed about. Here's a pic;

Over and out.

*time flies.....

....when you're having fun.

Next week.

2010-06-12T14:23:00.001-07:00

Next week I'm going to write a blog post about procrastination.

Love to all!

Rob

Dear reader...

2010-06-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

Those that know me will understand why I haven't been able to post here for some time. Somehow this blog has scooped up a few more followers. Rather than making a full post now, there will at least be a promise of a new one in the next few days.

It has been a very interesting time, since my last post.

To be included in my upcoming posting;

My new gardening business and garden shop (this has soaked up a lot of my time).
Progress in the garden.
Meetings with other strange, but lovely garden bloggers at Malvern.
Chelsea Flower Show coverage. Better late than never.
My new pet.
Guerilla gardening update, and review.
New plant acquisitions.
Future plans, thoughts, trips and visits.

So you see, I have a lot to catch up on!

Milton Keynes is about two and half miles away, as the quetzal flies.

2010-02-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

Evergreen conifers. No, wait - come back! These are pretty interesting ones. These are species that were around at the dawn on time. Ones that dinosaurs would graze on, before getting stomach ache, presumably.

Winter is a pretty boring time in most people's gardens. All the Delphiniums and Dahlias that looked so nice in the summer, have shrivelled to a rotting mess. This is the reason why I've concentrated my efforts on plants that look good all-year-round.

I started off with palms and yuccas, then succulents and ferns. The list goes on. I suppose I first became interested in these ancient conifers after having see huge Monkey Puzzle trees growing in public and private gardens. Those weird sort of plants appeal to me.

I bought my Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana pictured above) several years ago. It's actually grown quite a bit since I bought it. The little plant in the same pot is Ruscus aculeatus 'John Redmond', which holds on to red berries through the winter.

The tall conifer in the picture is the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis), rediscovered in the 1990's in Australia after having been thought to be extinct for millions of years. I have been reading the progress of Julia's Wollemi Pine on her great blog We're Going to Need a Bigger Pot. In a similar manner to Julia, I am naming my plant, Wollemina.

Another ancient Australian conifer is Araucaria bidwillii. This is my one below. The last two winters have been hard on it, but has so far survived happily outdoors. A friend bought it back from Australia in 2003, and it has been outside ever since. The native Australians used to eat the 'Bunya Pine' seeds as they fell. The cone bearing the seeds is especially large, and people are advised against walking under these trees in years of heavy coning.

The problem with these amazing trees, is that they grow up into very big plants. Oh well, I hope to have a bigger garden to accomodate them!

Now for something completely different, Pseudowintera colorata;

One must defeat the evil gnomes in order to save the golden duckling.

2010-02-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

Firstly, apologies to any gnomes reading. I realise there are both good and bad gnomes. This is Cyclamen coum, which has just started flowering under my apple tree.

Several weeks ago, I was reading the blog of the lovely Di. Here's the post on comment moderation. You might have a blog that doesn't have any comment moderation set up. I would urge you to follow the instructions on Di's blog post.
My spammers seem particularly keen on this post; Giant Redwood for whatever reason. I found the comments quite amusing.

Have a row of shots ready, and when you read 'Harare'... DRINK!

"Focusing your interest for viewing this beautiful and interesting place and to give you proper guidance and information we have launched different discount services and offers which can be availed anytime on cheap Harare *DRINK!* flight. With Harare *DRINK!* flight you can visit this beautiful place located in the heart Harare *DRINK!* on cheap flights to Harare *DRINK!* as well as Harare *DRINK!* flight deals are also available, we also provide you the facility to bargain trips on Harare *DRINK!* flight and any available last minute Harare *DRINK!* flight, you can however get great deals on all the economy Harare *DRINK!* flight, business Harare *DRINK!* flight, direct Harare *DRINK!* flight, cheap Harare *DRINK!* flight, last minute Harare *DRINK!* flight and as well on the group traveling on Harare *DRINK!* flight. At Harare *DRINK!* flight we will definitely meet or beat any price on the cheap flights to Harare *DRINK!* what you have to do is give us a try and the results will be in front of you shortly. We the Harare *DRINK!* flight provide you complete support as far as you transportation needs are concerned on very cheap and economical prices and you can easily serve beautiful moments of your life with your loved ones living at Harare *DRINK!* or any part of Africa by reaching them on cheap Harare flight. At Harare *DRINK!* flight we specialize in the Economy, Business, and Direct Harare *DRINK!* flight deals we guarantee that we will meet or beat any price on the cheap flights to Harare. *DRINK!* Give us a try!" For further information please log in to their website.

I shall be disappointed if any of my readers are still standing after my drinking game.

After installing comment moderation, and my reason for looking back at my Redwood post, I recently had another suspicious comment.

"Let me assure you this is a beautiful picture but Africa is full of lot more beauty than shown in this picture. However, seeing is believing is definitely not wrong. I have been to Africa in my child hood. I have witnessed the precise craftsmanship of God. Words can't describe what god has done on the land of Africa. Just look for cheap flights to lagos and/or other cities of Africa and witness the endless series of miracles with your own eyes."

Amen to that, brother! I bear the same sentiments, see.

I hope this will encourage everyone to moderate their comments.
As a footnote, please visit the blog of the inimitable, mysterious and utterly lazy Ms B, at Lack-A-Daisy. Percy needs a good home in Ms B's garden.

Please mind the gap between the train and the cosmic recesses of outer space.

2010-01-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

Today I was doing a spot of digging in an area of the garden I've never dug. As gardeners, I'm sure we all find interesting bits and pieces. I regularly find old medicine bottles, as a previous owner was involved with pharmacy. I've also found thin, sealed-glass straws, containing various plant names on small slithers of paper.

This is probably one of the most intriguing items I've discovered. The actual piece is a few centimetres thick, and would happily fit in the palm of your hand. The image has been applied in a thin glaze.

It's not from a vase, as it is completely flat. The glaze undulates slightly, in a solid, non-moving kind of way.

Unfortunately the light bulbs don't do it any justice (the table is pure white). The background is a deep, navy blue. At first I thought the subject was a woman, but I think I may have got that wrong. The animal looks like a rabbit, I reckon.

We aren't far away from the Mediaeval Merton Priory. I wonder...

Another archaeological find is my angry African. He's a bit bigger, and is carved from stone. He is likely to be a lot younger than the first piece. I found him when I was walking through a busy shopping area in Harare. I looked down, and there he was, staring angrily up through the blades of grass. A bit of digging resulted in a rather special holiday memento.

Being left buried like that, I suppose I'd be angry too.

Please insert interesting blog title.

2010-01-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

Two ingredients for a rather dull blog post.

1) I'm bored with trying to think of interesting blog titles.

I was going to use the following title for this post; "The Days Are Getting Longer", but realise most readers would probably fall asleep, in the time it took to follow the link to the post. I may go down the road of Mr J.A-S and just use faintly ridiculous titles. I think it's a good idea, so I'm going to go with the surrealist titles from now on. Be warned.

2) I started this post without having much of an idea of what I was going to write about. Let us see what this evolves into.

The days are getting longer. It's still cold. The birds are making the sounds they make in spring. Talking of birds - I was amazed by the numbers that descended on our bird feeders when we had the snow. Fieldfares, redwings, jays, parakeets, spotted woodpecker, three robins at one time, coal tits, long-tailed tits, blue and great. Then there were the regulars too feral and wood pigeons, starlings, blackbirds and sparrows. People concerned about sparrows in gardens really shouldn't be. Nowadays gardens offer a great deal to a far more diverse range of bird species.

This time of year is a time when the gardener psyches him or herself up for the season ahead. Last minute shrub transplanting. Winter pruning. Seed ordering. What really gets me, is the heady excitement of having the new season creeping up on us. Last night I was thinking about my garden plans/business plans/ life in general from about 10.30pm to around 2am.

This is what happens to me at this time of year. It's not good because I just end up wandering around in a zombie-like trance for most of the following day. I wonder if other gardeners are like this, or is it just me?

I am seriously considering meeting the other UK garden bloggers at The Malvern Show. Looks like fun, and it would be great to meet some of the people I've commented to, or messaged.

The weather has been rather dull and grey, but it really is an important time of year to get planning and thinking ahead. The dullness now, also makes spring a lot more appealing.

Erm, I think that might be it. If you've read this far, you should be knighted.

Here are some pictures of January in my 'hood.

A few weeks ago in the snow. That's the tower at Crystal Palace in the distance.

The sunset this evening. Bit of a stunner.

Oh.

2010-01-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

What's occurin'?

So a belated Happy New Year to my blog followers and anyone that happens to pop by here. I hope everyone had a good Christmas/festive season.

I had a nice Christmas. It already seems so long ago! You may have seen my post on wild mushroom picking. If not, here it is. For the main Polish Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve, we make little dumplings ('Uszka' which literally translates as ears) filled with the wild mushrooms and served in homemade beetroot soup. It's yummy.

I always feel there should be more photos of soup on garden blogs.

Just after Christmas I went to see Avatar at the iMax in Waterloo. It was in 3D. It was the most amazing (a word I feel can never be over-used) film and cinematic experience I think I've had. It was all rather exhilerating.

Of course I shall have to link this post to plants in some way. I'm a big fan of computer-graphic jungles, and there were many an intriguing alien plant in Avatar. If you haven't seen it, you must go. There are some underlying messages about having a deep respect for nature and the appreciation and conservation it deserves from us. As gardeners we know this already, being sons and daughters of the soil.

Unfortunately I think I caught the flu at the cinema. Not just any flu either. It was the Swine Flu. I started feeling peaky around New Year (and was fast asleep when Big Ben sounded at midnight). My condition deteriorated a couple of days into January, and I was knocked for six.

Fortunately the gardeners on Twitter kept me amused when I was feeling really rough and ratty. Thank you. You know who you are..

I'm feeling great now, though it took a while to recover fully. What with the snow and all, it was a while before I could get back to work. Before you say anything, it is rather difficult to tidy gardens when the snow is heavy on the ground.

Moving on. I think regular readers might have noticed that this post has been somewhat wordy, and devoid, thus far, of a photo of some botanic subject. This is due to a blip with my Macbook. All fixed now, but my photos are all on CDs, and I'm planning to round off my Africa blog series in a simple link to a photo-sharing website. Just waiting for a chance to upload them all, I'm sure it's quite a slow process. Watch this space. It'll be good.

Okay, I've had a quick look and found some poor-quality iPhone photos of some beautiful effects the cold weather had on some rather normal plants.

Ivycicles

Winter chard

Mutare - Eastern Zimbabwe

2009-12-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

A garden full of the most weird and wonderful plants. Prehistoric-looking cycads and Araucaria greeted us at this garden near Mutare. Conveniently the father of my friend runs it, and so we had a good nose around. The grounds are fairly extensive, and hold a huge selection of subtropical plants.

Once again, I have so many pictures, it's a shame I can't bore you with all of them. The atmosphere in these gardens was quite tranquil, and other-worldly.

A reminder of how the downfall in the Zimbabwean economy affects the smallest things. This garden had one of the nicest collections of cycads I saw in Zimbabwe. Most cycads in public gardens are dug up and sold to collectors. Below is a rare cycad which is native to the region. There used to be many wild specimens, but the native people of Zimbabwe and bordering Mozambique have been so short of food at times, that these have been harvested. The centre of the stems can be dried and made into a rough flour. When the plant has been growing for 50-100+ years, it is a shame for them to end up this way.

A very photogenic Frangipani, blooming its' head off.

An amazing selection of moisture-loving tropicals in one of the shade houses. The atmosphere here was amazing, with a beautiful selection of plants.

If I'm going to get through blogging all of this trip I'm going to have to skip some great stuff. Mutare is set at some altitude, in a valley surrounded by mountains. Having seen some heavy rains a few weeks prior to my visit, the land was green and lush.

We went for sun-downers (alcohol and sunset are a good combination), at a local look out. The skies gradually cleared.

To reveal a most picturesque landscape. Below a setting suns' rays shine through the foliage of a Protea sp.

Mutare has to be one of my favourite places in Zimbabwe. The landscape after the rains is not too different to England on a summers day. I would love to go back one day.

A storm cloud bubbles up behind us, in the light of a full moon.

Darkness falls across the town of Mutare.

1st anniversary.

2009-12-13T06:42:00.000-08:00

I hope the new layout of the blog meets people's approval. I will probably get bored again, and change it, but it'll have to do for now.

It's the first anniversary of my holiday to Southern Africa. I have held back from writing about my holiday before, as this is a garden blog. However, over the course of the year, I've come to realise that garden bloggers appear to discuss most other things, and rarely mention gardens..

Looking back on the pictures, I am quite sad that I can't be there now. Some of you, such as Mr.Colborn, have visited this magical and awe-inspiring part of the world several times. And talk at length about it.

So that's what I'm going to do, to escape the joys of Christmas. Due to work commitments and various other things, I will be unable to revisit Africa for a while. I will be writing a series of posts on my four week holiday, in a bid to try and re-live the time I had there.

In short the itinerary was as follows;
Drive to London Heathrow.
Fly to Johannesburg Airport.
Take connecting flight to Harare, Zimbabwe. Stay overnight.
Drive to Mutare, Zimbabwe. Stay overnight.
Drive to Rio Savane, Mozambique. Have a rest over ten days, and see in the New Year (2009).
Drive back to Mutare.
Drive to Gweru, Zimbabwe. Stay a couple of nights.
Drive to Harare, our base. Stay overnight.
Drive to Chirundu on the Zimbabwean side of the Zambezi river, the border with Zambia. Stay a few nights.
Drive back to Harare, stay a bit, then fly back to snowy London.

What carbon footprint?

Here are some pictures of the first few days in Mozambique.

Our car tyre went on the main road from Mutare to Beira, so we were forced to stop in a small village. The adults watched us change the tyre from the other side of the road, while the kids came for a closer look. These were the first few kids that arrived at the scene. Being situated on the main road, these Portuguese speakers were more than happy to pose when I asked them for a photo.

By the time we were ready to continue on our journey, there was a group of about thirty five children helping and then waving us off!

Taking a sharp turn left, off the main road, we made our way through a market and village. We did have to drive around some rather large, water-filled potholes.

As we drove on through swampy coastal land, the main dirt track was the causeway for the local bus.

After unpacking our camping gear onto a boat, we crossed the river to the main camp at Rio Savane. We dragged our things through the camp.

The camp was beautiful. It was based in a grove of mature coconut trees, on a spit of land surrounded by the river and the Mozambique Channel of the Indian Ocean.

The sun quickly went down, and we had a much-needed swim in the warm sea, under the stars.

Rice to see you, to see you...

2009-11-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

This...

...plus lots of work equals this...
From above...
I just got these in an email, and I thought it was brilliant! The 'agri-art' is created by farmers in Inakadate in Japan. From what I can see they just use a few varieties, golden, variegated, purple and the plain green leaved (Tsugaru Roman variety).

Apparently the tradition began in 1993, where a simple design of Mount Iwaki was installed every year for 9 years. Then the ideas grew more complicated.

The art covers 15000 square metres of paddy fields.

Another famous rice paddy is in the town of Yonezawa. This year the design shows the fictional 16th century warrior Naoe Kanetsugu, and his wife Osen.

More than 150,000 visitors trek to these agricultural landmarks every summer, where they can be viewed from a mock castle tower!

Funghi, Mushrooms, Toadstools and Lichen.

2009-10-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Autumn is the time of year for mushroom picking in our family. I think it's more of a continental thing, a number of traditional Polish dishes include wild mushrooms. The tastiest are Boletus edulis (you may have heard of the Italian 'Porcini'), but we usually scrape a few others together too.

We always used to pop down the A3 and go to the woods not far from Wisley. Over the past few years they have gradually been taking back the forestry pines and giving it over to heathland. Which is a shame as it means less mushrooms.

These ones (Amanita muscaria) are probably best left alone...

It was a lovely clear day and the Pinus sylvestris here were very photogenic!

These are coral fungus, Calocera cornea.

A plantation of lichens.

Another mushroom (Avantaclewia damdifino)

This is one of my favourite woodland photos. I took it myself and it's covered by copyright.

Oh well, no edible mushrooms this time, but a nice day out nevertheless.

******UPDATE November 21st******

Success! The bumper crop of mushrooms was probably bought about by the unseasonably mild autumn we've had. These will be delicious (once de-magotted).

Tree of the Day - Giant Redwood

2009-10-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

The Welsh Dog has drawn my attention to this National Geographic link. The image taken below is a first, I believe, and is 84 photos seamlessly linked together.

Don't be scared, click on the image...

Amazing! I'd love to visit a forest like this one day.

Great Great Dixter Day Trip

2009-10-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

I seem to have been particularly fortunate, in that on every garden I've visited this year, I've been blessed with beautiful weather *.

Last Sunday was just perfect. The air was cool and sweet as we arrived at around 11.30am, and was gradually being warmed by the early October sun. I'd not been to Great Dixter before, and I had been wanting to go for years. In-between writing (frankly ridiculous) blogs about biscuits, I thought I'd try and make it down there. It's a beautiful place, and very quirky with a garden divided up into various sections. The Old Rose Garden is quite startling with the exotic planting and bold, yet clever, use of colour.

I really enjoyed the dry, upper garden. There's something about the light at this time of year that really turns the dry teasel and grass heads into something magical.

Vanessa reclining lazily on a dark-leaved Dahlia.

I think I may have overdone the exotic stuff on this blog recently, so for balance I'm just posting a couple of very 'Sussexy' garden scenes.

There was a large shrub in the long border that I couldn't quite place. I decided it must be some sort of olive tree. Yesterday evening I was going through some of my Zimbabwe holiday photos and came across pictures of something that looked very much like it. After a little research, it appears to be Olea capensis. It would be very interesting to get to the bottom of this mystery, as I for one would be interested to know of an other plants native to Muturoshanga that could grow in East Sussex!

* Although it's been nice when visiting other gardens this year, it was pouring when Victoria came to visit. I just wanted to add here that her Blotanical Award is really well deserved. Victoria has been through some difficult times, and has been a real inspiration to the blogging community. Congratulations!

I'd also like to congratulate Meems at Hoe and Shovel, who won the Best Florida Blog. This is probably my favourite of the non-UK blogs, and enjoy following her gardens progress.

Norwich Day Trip Part 2c.

2009-10-01T13:32:00.001-07:00

Continuing from Part 2b...

Just look at the view...

View down to the pond from the upper terrace.

We sat on bean bags and a beautiful stone bench built by Keith and Melissa, and chatted until the sun went down.

As dusk descended I took this picture of this wonderful Phormium. I don't have the name, but it's one of the giant forms.

Just to show that exotic plants aren't entirely bad for wildlife, the ladybirds seemed to be attracted to the cacti for some reason.

Weird!

An amazing day. I'm afraid I've run out of steam, but will add more comments later. Just wanted to get this out the way before I go to Great Dixter on Sunday!

Norwich Day Trip Part 2b

2009-10-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

Continuing from Part 2a...

I did take rather a lot more photos in the afternoon for some reason. I wish I had taken more photos at Will's garden, but I think I was just too entranced by it all!

Melissa and Keith are very fortunate to live in a rural area (if not rural, it certainly felt like it). It was very peaceful as we wondered around the garden. Going from jungle at the top of the garden, nothing prepares you for what lies just over the edge of the terrace.

Agave franzosinii.

The most beautiful Yucca carnerosana. These plants really love the dry conditions in this part of the UK.

Keith chatting, while Paul looks at the Yucca carnerosana with envy! The other plant is a huge Nolina nelsonii.

The wonderful varied forms of Yucca.

This Yucca linearis is a real knock-out. Supremely elegant with a perfect sphere of foliage.

Yucca filifera.

One of the best bits of xeriscaping in the UK, I would say. It's a shame more people don't garden like this. This sort of garden is all too often considered eccentric. Maybe that's just why it appeals to me?

There are a few lovely plants that are due to go in. This is a Dasylirion longissimum ready to go in once the arid borders are continued across the garden.

Norwich Day Trip Part 2a

2009-10-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

So after a spot of lunch, we continued on to Keith and Melissa's garden, just a few miles from Norwich town centre. To give an idea of the climate in this part of England, a number of established shrubs had completely wilted. Even a couple of tree ferns had leaves that just collapsed due to drought stress.

The first clue to discovering what lay in wait to the rear of the house. This is the giant black tree fern, Cyathea medullaris. Curiously this plant has developed side branches, so it will be interesting to see how it develops!

We were greeted by the Dalmatians.

I think this one wanted its teeth checked!

A super collection of Echeveria (which are also a favourite of mine) and other succulents. Look at the wall too - this was built by Keith and Melissa. Their attention to detail is amazing!

Below, a Nolina that I forget the name of. I find these a bit too similar to Cordyline australis, myself, but it should look very different as it develops.

A Canna, called 'Cleopatra', I think. Interesting foliage.

A very tropical jumble of foliage.

More Ensete 'Montbeillardii' (is that too many vowels?).

I'm not sure if Keith and Melissa took as much care as Will Giles in placing their plants together, but the effect was still totally tropical! I think this picture illustrates how you don't have to have flowers to make a garden colourful.

A fine stand of Tetrapanax papyrifera 'Rex'. Probably one of the best in the country?

WARNING EXOTIC IMAGES MAY HARM YOUR COMPUTER

2009-09-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

I visited the garden of Will Giles on September the 19th. It was an early start, of around 6am, but I'm not entirely sure. I was a little dazed at the time, and probably shouldn't have got behind the wheel of the car....

After meeting Paul Spracklin at his place on the Essex Riviera, we journeyed North-East, Norwich-bound. After many years of solely focusing on growing exotic plants, I knew I had to visit Will. My copy of The Exotic Garden is very well-thumbed, and although my focus had shifted slowly away from exotics in recent years, my day trip to Norwich completely blew me away.

Norwich is a long way from Wimbledon. I think it was about 11am that we arrived. Also touring Will's garden were Melissa and Keith, whose garden we also visited later on that day.

The weather was on our side. Nothing prepares you for when you first enter the garden. Spot the tree house...

Sorry, it's a bit of a blurry shot. This first bit reminds me of one of the Florida gardens. The exuberance and lushness of foliage would be on par with some of the planting at Fairchild Botanic Garden.

I like this bit, with the rubber plant and swiss cheese plant used to superb effect.

Will is very good at blending foliage colours together...

I think Will's new kitten was on the happy pills - it was into everything, and followed us all around the garden. Here he had clambered up the stem of a Musa basjoo, and on discovering he couldn't climb up any further, started meowing plaintively.

I don't know what sort of cat this is below, but it has to be the sleekest, most elegant cat I've ever seen. That colour and shine is just like a chestnut with the spiny casing freshly removed.

Will's bromeliad collection was the envy of our group. The Neoregelia at the front of the display was probably large enough to hold some 2-3 litres of water! Above right is an Alcanterea and the green spiky plant is a Doryanthes.

One of the many beautiful, slightly more elegant, species Canna.

Our little friend again.

The Parthenocissus was trained brilliantly into hanging lianas (if that's how you spell it), between the house and the tree house.

The new bit up the top. The work that had gone into the stonework was amazing. This area is at the top of some steps, and evoked a strong Mediterranean feel. I think below is a hardy Trichocereus and my favourite Agave, A.franzosinii.

Just amazing! The silvery leaved thing on the wall is a potted Encephalartos lehmanni, which has apparently overwintered in that position for a couple of winters! The latest set of fronds were just beginning to harden.

We went up to the magical tree house, with superb views down the hill and across Norwich. It was quite surreal sitting on sofas around the bough of a huge Oak tree. Of course our little friend had to come up there with us. The eyes and ears really are that big!

So that was the morning, pretty much. We stopped for lunch, then headed on to Keith and Melissa's garden in the afternoon. Stay tuned for Part 2...

2009-09-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

After receiving a tag from Rothschild Orchid, I have been forced into typing this Meme for the next few hours.

To participate in the Meme Award, you need to:

*Link back to the person who gave you the award;

*Reveal seven things about yourself;

*Choose seven other blogs to nominate and post a link to them;

*Let each of your choices know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog;

*And finally let the tagger know when your post is up.

Nelson's Column Number 1.

I first visited the World Trade Centre in New York in August 2001. It also proved to be the last time I visited.

Doctor Who Number 2

I rode an African Elephant into a lake (purposely!), in Gweru, Zimbabwe. Have you?

Debbie McGee Number 3

I'm not a numerologist, but I have strong feelings about the number '3'. I like to plant in threes too, though I can't say I invented that.

Knock at the Door Number 4

I've held a young alligator in the Everglades. I've also held a hatchling crocodile in Chirundu, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. I love the sound the hatchlings make - it's actually quite similar to a Jackdaw. I had the sound as a text alert for some time.

Gordon's Alive Number 5

I've always had a love for tortoises. I don't know why. A few years ago I bought a little one which died due to poor instruction. I'd love another tortoise one day, and would like to breed tortoises one day (as added funds to my pension).

Chopsticks Number 6

I didn't mention it before, but I'm a multi-Trillionaire.

Lucky 7

I've been going to our little holiday cottage in North Wales since about the age of 7, usually several times a year. The air is fresh and sweet. The tap water tastes better than anything from a bottle. It is a very special place, and there will always be a bit of my heart devoted to it (to paraphrase Blur's 'Parklife'!). It is the most likely cause of my all-encompassing passion and interest in plants, animals and nature.

My oh my, I'm not sure if there are many people that haven't already done a Meme. So, I'm going to be lazy and not chase people up. If you don't like it, please call my lawyer.

London Open Gardens

2009-08-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

I visited Victoria's backyard on Monday, and what a huge surprise it was! As with many London gardens, there is an issue with light, what with buildings, fences and large trees. However, this garden is beautifully put together, which doesn't come across in any photos.

The planting is very well thought out, with an unique and well though out colour scheme which really lifts the entire scheme. That Phormium really is massive! You must see it all for yourself. Victoria's garden is open on Sunday 30th of August for the National Garden Scheme (details here).

Another private London garden (with yet another owner that has a penchant for the exotic..), flings its doors open on Sunday the 6th of September. It's not letting me direct link, so enter "Ferndown" into the garden name search on the link. Dave's garden is located in Northwood Hills (near Ruislip), and as a New Zealander, has created a little exotic paradise. I first visited a few years ago, these photos are from last year.

The main view as you walk into the garden.

A bit further into the garden...

Dave stands in to give a sense of scale for the hardy Colocasia.

The platform houses a number of palms and bromeliads. The hanging baskets are well-appointed, carved tree fern logs!

The arid bed is a jungley confection of palms, yuccas, cacti, succulents and other oddities.

The planting is quite dense!

The garden is planted using a shoehorn, every nook and crevice is planted with great attention. The shady bit under the palms and bananas contains a super collection of lush foliage plants, both hardy and tender.

I know that the Open Gardens involve a great deal of work, time and effort by their owners. Please visit, and enjoy, knowing that you are helping a good cause.

Bromeliads

2009-07-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

I seem to have amassed a confection of bromeliads over the past few years. They're just a bit collectable! They are extremely adaptable plants, and range from moss-looking plants (Tillandsias uesnoides in Sarasota) to gigantic triffids (Puya raimondii).I've found a few to be fairly tough, but not fully cold hardy in a London winter.

This one is a hybrid called 'Sueños'. It is thought that the parents are Aechmea recurvata and Aechmea gamosepala. It's a real gem of a plant, and had survived a number of years outdoors, until the winter before last when I nearly lost it completely. Fortunately I managed to salvage a couple of offsets and restart it. From now on it will be my pet, cosied away in the garage over winter. You may not be able to tell from the pic, the plant is about 15cm tall.

This is Aechmea gamosepala, one of the commonest bromeliads in subtropical climates. It's fairly tough here too, but a heavy frost will usually bleach the ends of the leaves. I love the flowers on this one.

This is a Tillandsia aeranthos (stapled to an apple tree), which decided to flower recently, despite having been through -9C unprotected last winter.

These two Tillandsia bergeri have been outdoors for years, gradually offsetting/branching and a few flowers this year. I believe one to be a larger form, bought from Croston Cactus. The smaller is what I believe to be the typical form. Who knows? You can also see a Billbergia nutans flower, originating from a plant living in the hollow of the apple tree.

A typical winter scene!

Even out of flower they look cool!

The name's Pond....

2009-07-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post, and the next couple of blogs are likely to be the last for a bit longer. What can I say? Time is fleeting.

I managed to get my pond installed just before I went on my mad holiday trip (see earlier post). Here it is today, several weeks after having been installed;

I dug down a bit and the pond is three sleepers high, so the water is pretty deep. Thanks to Owen (a.k.a. Mad Chicken Man!) for advice on the sleepers, the information was very useful and much appreciated. The water seems to be nice and clear, and the lilies are flourishing in their new home.

I wonder if anyone knows why the Albizia 'Summer Chocolate' fades to that coppery colour during the summer? Do others do that? I rather like the purple leaves as they emerge.

I make no apologies for posting even more waterlily pictures...

Mesembryanthemum of the day

2009-07-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Livingstone Daisy is a family favourite. There are family photos from way back which featured these in the background. In hot weather like this they look superb.

Just to add - it's worth opening in a bigger window if you're on a fast connection.

Sorry if it burnt your retinas.

Open Gardens

2009-07-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

It seems the quintessential English garden never really died (perhaps I was going to the wrong gardens?). These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago, when I went on a dash around eight gardens over the course of a Saturday and Sunday. This involved driving up to North London and down to the New Forest area down in Hampshire. They are in no order, and will remain un-credited, unless anyone particularly wants to know where these gardens are.

Starting the tradition of a Cream Tea and a slice of cake...

A traditional English cup of tea.
This garden was no-where near the seaside!
The first evening opening I have been too. A great time of day to see a garden.

After much cake eating over the open garden weekend, I've just sent off for a pilchard-based diet scheme. I'll let you know how I get on...

Back from my holiday(s) and new pond.

2009-06-22T12:55:00.001-07:00

After a little break, I'm back to blog another day. My holiday started off in North Wales a couple of weeks ago. We had some beautiful weather, and I was away from the Monday to the Friday. The next day I was due to go on a cactus and succulent tour of the Netherlands with Jan Kolendo and Paul Spracklin. So after a bit of a dash around, we returned back on the Sunday with plants in tow.

The very next day (Monday), I flew off to New York, and stayed with a friend in the Upper East Side. Had an amazing time, and I have to say, it has been the most amazing two weeks I can remember. I returned back to London on Friday, and spent the weekend visiting friends and open gardens. It's a hard life!

Today I spent a bit of time on my new pond. My new Lemon Goldfish were released into water, and it looks like they love it. The waterlilies were placed at the bottom, and several new marginal plants were set in place. I had been planning to put my Zantedeschia 'White Giant' (picture below) in also, but it would have meant planting into a much larger pot. So I made the decision to just plant a couple of cormlets from the main plant.

A bit more on this one, as it has to be my plant of the year. I had always loved Zantedeschia aethiopica, but could never really keep it happy. It always seemed to go into decline after I had managed to get it to any decent size.

A gardening chum of mine, Mark Everson, has been growing this form of Zantedeschia for several years, and always held it in high regard. After seeing his plant, I knew I had to have it. The flowers were fully 6' tall, and the entire clump almost the same across (leaf tip to leaf tip).

When it became available at Pan Global Plants, I snapped one up. The plant was about a foot tall in July/August last year. With good watering and regular potting, nearly a year later, I have a plant that is several feet tall, and currently onto its third flower.

I can see the plant being a big hit in the next few years. I didn't mention the nicely spotted leaves, and its hardiness to -8C, did I...?

I'm going to let the pond settle down for a few weeks, but sure as Federer will win Wimbledon, photos will be posted.

So much to blog, and so little time...

2009-06-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

Time for a mid-year sabbatical.

Today saw the installation of my new pond. It all actually happened very fast, but I'm so pleased with it - it's pretty big!

Tomorrow I'm off on a jaunt up to North Wales, with plenty of nurseries and gardens to see, indubitably.

Then it's Belgium and Holland for an intensive cactus/succulent/garden/nursery/plant collection visit over Saturday and Sunday.

Who knows where I'll be next Monday, but I'll be sure to have my camera to hand.

Over and out, for now.

It's all me, me, me, me, me...

2009-05-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

I might stop posting about my own garden soon...

Quite by chance I found some old pictures on a CD marked 2004. As you can see, I've made some changes in the last five years.

1) The Pinus sylvestris and Chamaecyparis has gone to the great wood chip pile in the sky, and the Musella lasiocarpa has gone to the gooey mush pile in the sky.

2) The grass looks even worse now.

3) It used to be much more jungley. Since then I've become more of a conformist, or have I?

My plot

2009-05-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Whenever I take pictures of my garden, it tends to just be parts of it, or plant combinations. I decided to just take a picture of my entire garden.

For the first time, I've been able to take a picture from the dizzying heights of our new loft.

I rather like trying new combinations of plants and materials, so the garden ends up being a rather eclectic mix of styles. I liked the orange succulent bed to begin with, but am thinking of repainting it. Not sure what colour yet - maybe black?

A few of my favourite things...

2009-05-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Syringa protolaciniata is a plant I bought on impulse. It was a big plant, trained as a standard, but it was definitely worth it. The flowers are a lot less blowsy than the S.vulgaris hybrids, and the colour is great - a bit like those yucky Parma Violet sweets, and the scent is superb. This is definitely a plant that should be better known. You can't really see the leaves in this picture, but they are quite finely dissected and remain a fresh apple-green through the summer.

Schefflera taiwaniana showing new growth several weeks ago. The mature leaves are stunning, but the new growth is the best feature. They remind me of umbrellas for some reason. The aphids usually love the new growth, but they didn't seem to become a problem this year.

A strange mix of Yucca rostrata, Y.elephantipes, Y.rigida, Chamaerops humilis, Cerinthe major, Puya caerulea and a bearded Iris. There's a clump of Tillandsia aeranthos on the Cedar trunk too, just to add to the weirdness!

Another interesting combination. I can't remember the name of this Astelia, but it's rather large, and very red. Probably my favourite of the Astelia. The Echeveria is 'Mauna Loa', with a Pelargonium tucked under a Brahea armata leaf.

Tree fern of the day - Heligan eat your heart out!

2009-05-18T02:12:00.000-07:00

Cyathea medullaris has to be one of the most spectacular New Zealand ferns. I'm pleased to have permission to use the photos here. The following photos are relevant, as this plant is growing in a private garden the UK! Granted it is in a micro-climate and sheltered woodland, but exciting nevertheless.

Spot the man standing at the base of the fern...

The crown.

The fallen stipes give some idea of scale.

Wish my plant could grow this big. That is if it isn't the closely related Cyathea cooperi.

The Allotment.

2009-05-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

It had to happen sooner or later...access to an allotment! This one didn't come through being on a waiting list though, I am looking after it with a friend for a sick lady. She is unable to work on it this year, but she doesn't want to lose her allotment, so we can do what we like!

Installation of raised beds is the first job...

No-one told Liam that you don't have to wear a flat cap on the allotment! We spent all of Friday evening out there, drilling planks and moving soil. Have to organise some veggie plants now, as it's getting a little late to plant some things.

By the end of the evening we were lucky enough to enjoy a braai (vegetarians look away!). The boerewors was quite splendid, and was a good way to end a long week.

Hopefully by the end of the summer we'll be able to enjoy a gem squash or two with our braai - I have seedlings coming up now. They are from seeds I brought back from Zimababwe, and will be grown down on the allotment.

Alpines at Wisley.

2009-05-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Last time I headed to Wisley, I omitted the Alpine house from my route. Probably a big mistake. Nevertheless, I made a point of heading over on my next visit. What a great display! The Alpine house is fairly well hidden, and probably deserves a more prominent position.

Amazing! A lot of alpine plants put on really spectacular shows, like the Lewisia below - where are the leaves?

I forget the name of this succulent plant growing outside the house. Nice, whatever it is.

Back inside again, a Lachenalia.

Primula auricula.

2009-05-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

After not posting for a long time, I thought I would make a few postings. As a gardener it is difficult to find time in Spring to sit at the computer after a busy day, yet here I am.

A few weeks ago we had some beautiful warm (maybe even hot?) weather, and I was fortunate enough to have the day off work. Here is the flowering cherry outside my house;

Nice isn't it? Very blowsy, but quite spectacular.

This particular day I was lucky enough to visit the garden of a Lady. It was arranged via a friend, who maintains her garden. She is quite elderly, but is very passionate about her old garden. I think I chose one of the nicest times of year to go and have a look around.

Down the garden path.

The garden is fairly expansive, maybe an acre? I don't know my measures. It is set out out on a slope, with a large lawn on the middle 'terrace'.

I like this combination of Euphorbia and Brunnera at the upper end of the garden.

A garden doesn't have to be full of rare and unusual plants to capture the imagination. I was rather taken by the orchard at the lower end of the garden, and the greenhouse...

They don't make them like that anymore! The old pots behind the greenhouse, all oldy-worldy.

I hope to pop back at some point, I liked it there. Ienjoyed the peace and quiet, despite the A3 being located less than five minutes away!

Palm of the day

2009-04-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Palm of the day prize goes to the Fulham Phoenix, which has been growing away happily outside a block of flats next to Fulham FC for maybe 20 years or so? Good stuff.

The Minimalist Plantsman's Garden?

2009-04-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I hope the blog can cope with all these pictures. It's all getting rather photo-intensive here.

I'm very pleased to be able to share these pictures on here. I visited the new garden of Peter Reid for the first time last summer. Peter's garden is based very close to the sea in Lymington, Hampshire. It also holds a very fine selection of rather unusual plants.

It is first and foremost a private garden, but also a show garden for high quality garden lighting.

As you walk in, you are immediately greeted with a very light coloured courtyard. Notable plants in the picture below include; Curculigo, Yucca rostrata, Schefflera macrophylla and Xanthorrhoea glauca (Australian grass tree).

Looking back through the side passage, you can see there are Aspidistra and plain green Ophiopogon planiscapus planted in small 'borders'. The Zantedeschia is a giant form 'White Giant' (more on this one later), in a planting pocket by a circular seating area.

In the other corner, a rare South African tree fern - Blechnum tabulare. This is underplanted with various Aspidistra and Pulmonaria.
The planting is meticulous in this sunny corner, dubbed 'the cycaderry'. The main plant is Cycas panzhihuaensis. Note the ultra-sleek uplighter in the foreground!
I like the combination of Albizia 'Summer Chocolate' with Yucca rostrata and Tulbaghia in this other sunny corner.
I don't think I've been to a garden with this much attention to detail before. Below is a tool store/bench/sundeck. There is enough room to lay down here - I tried it myself, I'm 6'4" and there was room to spare.
An interactive feature has just been added on the website which is quite fun. It features an image of the garden at night with three switches so you can turn on the downlighting, the uplighting or the pathlighting - or any combination of all three - to see what they look like.

It's at:
http://www.engineeringwithlight.com/

Hanging Gardens of Wimbledon

2009-04-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, not quite hanging, but some of the gardens near Wimbledon tennis have some sharp slopes to contend with. I'm doing the photos a bit bigger, as I don't know whether it's possible for the smaller ones open up into a bigger frame.

This is a stunner of a private garden (and house) which I was fortunate enough to have a look around. It was about this time last year, and they're having lots of work done to the garden, so it's probably looking a lot better now.

The front garden.
The back of the house with a view up through the different levels.

A different front garden which I took photos of through the railings. Lots of green courtesy of the tree ferns. Some exotic Bali sculptures and lots of black Ophiopogon is joined by plum-flowered annuals during summer. A smart, simple combination, which also ties in with the tennis!

This ultra-contemporary house has some interesting planting. Mass planted Stipa gigantea, joined by red tulips in spring. Later in summer they used Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' en masse, to good effect.

I'm not sure about this last garden. I would go for structural, silver/blue-leaved evergreens to tie in more with the building. Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca', mass planted Lavandula 'Munstead' and Alliums with a pale coloured gravel would have been my choice....

Cotswold day trip

2009-04-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

I couldn't think of a pun for my post title. Drats! Fret not, I'm sure I'll have some excellent puns in the near future.

I was on business a couple of weekends ago, not too far from Cotswold Garden Flowers. CGF, as it is affectionately known, has to be one of the best nurseries in the land. Unusual plants, that should be better known, at very reasonable prices. Always well-grown too. My only fault with them is that I'm not on commission for incessantly singing their praises!

An overall shot of the nursery, the stock beds are full of tempting goodies.

The range of Heuchera in the polytunnel was mouthwatering, with some equally

mouthwatering names; H. 'Tiramisu', H. 'Caramel', H. 'Obsidian'....

Here are a couple of plants that had already made their way into my garden, originally fro

m CGF. Astelia 'Red Devil' and a Heuchera I've forgotten the name of... 'Marmalade' I think.I was a little restrained when it came to the plants. Apart from this gloriously scented Muscari...
... I bought a pink Muscari, and also a particularly electric blue form of M.armeniacum. Echeveria 'Mauna Loa' will also grace my garden this year...

I also bought a small Phormium called 'Back in Black', which caught my eye. In the picture it is the one in the middle/foreground.

This picture will be credited to Neil Alcock. As a disclaimer, whoever offers proof that they own copyright to the Echeveria and Muscari photos, please contact me and I'll take the pictures down! Back to 'Back in Black', it actually features in a Telegraph article.

Whizzed over to Wisley

2009-04-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so perhaps not the most original title for a blog about Wisley. It is most apt, however. I went yesterday morning, lovely weather for it I thought. When I got there, I suppose I could say I was a bit overcome.If gardening is a drug, I had an overdose. It was sensory overload. The place was looking amazing!

So I whizzed around, and took a few snaps. The fact that it was the beginning of the Easter holidays, and every pram, child and young mother from miles around were there did not deter me. No siree. I'd prefer to say it was all the Alliums and masses of Muscari... I made my escape within the hour.I liked these Daffs below with white coronas and yellow petals;

The glasshouse was utterly stunning, as per usual. The succulent areas in particular hold a lot of appeal to me.

Some excellent Kalanchoe in their temporary display benches;

Meandering through the relative peace of the woodland garden, I stumbled across this large Anemone, with the palest blue flowers. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know!

More Anemone en masse, in perfect harmony with a Narcissus of some sort.

An old blossoming cherry, looking very cool with an underplanting of Muscari. I think Muscari is my bulb of 2009.

The Herb Garden

2009-03-28T05:38:00.000-07:00

I have recollections of a Magic Roundabout - type animation of characters in a herb garden. I mentioned it to some friends once, and they looked at me as though I was on drugs. It turns out that it does exist. I was catching re-runs of it as a child, I hasten to add! I'll wager that the producers were on the happy stuff rather than I....

My project was completed last week, and here it is;

I've had the Rosemary standard for a while now, and thought a herb garden would be a nice way of displaying it. I've collected a few of the herbs I like; salad rocket, parsley, oregano, sorrel and thyme. I've left space for them to fill out, and will add basil as the weather warms up, and some nasturtiums for some colour.

In the foreground are some Senetti/Pericallis/Senecio. To the right of the wooden planter are a couple of hardy palms - a Jubaea chilensis and bonsai Chamaerops cerifera.

The parrots are getting closer...

2009-03-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

I have tentatively been calling it spring, as we always seem to have a wintery throw-back this time of year. We're having a slice of winter right now. I'll probably keep seeing the signs of spring until it's summer good and proper.

The local bird life is fully active now. Yes indeed. One day this week I woke up to what sounded like a plaintive kitten stuck up a tree. A swoop of pigeons and a shadowy brown silhouette indicated the presence of a kestrel, obviously hawking the local feral pigeons.

The next morning, some colourful guests to my bird feeder, two jays and several of the parakeets. Although there have been parakeets visiting the gardens around here starting around 1996, this is the first time I've seen them in my garden. The feeder is close to the house so I had a really close encounter.

Photo courtesy of the BBC News website.

Enough about birds. Here are even more signs of spring;

Primula vulgaris is in full bloom at the moment. One of my favourite spring flowers. It self-seeds quite readily here. I am a little cross that some of the newer seedlings appear to be crosses with some garden centre monstrosities from neighbouring gardens.

Muscari latifolium is in flower now. Very exotic, jewel-like flowers. I have a few Muscari, and have space for more - they're brilliant plants.

From time to time you find a front garden where a certain plant has just taken over. More often than not, it's brambles or Japanese Knotweed. In this case, the owner of the house has no need to fret, the garden is over-run with Chiondoxa forbesii.

More impressive in real life, I assure you. It has even seeded itself between the gaps in the pavement outside!

Hybrid Waterlilies

2009-03-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Spare time is difficult to find at the moment, and that's what led me to undertake some essential garden jobs before heading in to work this morning.

First job on the list was to move some large plastic buckets off the patio. One has been home to my original pond, sadly missed. The second bucket home to a trio of very special water lilies.

I have to say, it does turn the stomach somewhat, dealing with pond sludge at that hour of the day. Ah well. I'm hoping to squeeze in a raised pond somewhere in the garden this year, so I'm hoping for a lot more of this;

and this...

The above are utterly awesome new exotic hybrids, brought to us by James Knock at Wayside Aquatics. A visit to James in mid-summer, is to fall in love with water gardening. The selection is mouthwatering.

An account of the Kirk Strawn Waterlily hybrids by James Knock can be found here.

Below is my original dwarf lily - still very pretty.

Certainly worth rummaging around in the mud for!

I just can't get enough.

2009-03-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, a bit of a tenuous link coming up.

The funky 80's band, Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't Get Enough', has just been released as a cover by The Saturdays for Comic Relief.

What has this got to do with plants? Album covers. On one, Depeche Mode have featured a rose flower, and another featuring an Agave. It looks like Agave attenuata to me (a stunning but cold tender succulent).

Fear not, should I find any other album covers featuring exotic plants, it will be posted on here!

Setcreasea

2009-03-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

From time to time arises a 'must-have plant'. Fortunately here in the UK we are really lucky to be able to get hold of quite a lot. Juania australis, Guihaia argyrata, Shefflera macrophylla.... our nurseries are amazing at sourcing plants for us UK gardeners.

Here is what I want, recently available in the US;

Setcreasea pallida 'Variegata'. It's a bit psychedelic isn't it? Groovy. I am quite keen on this Tradescantia relative (some would argue it was a Tradescantia). I have grown S. pallida 'Kartuz Giant' for several years, and although it survived one winter outdoors, I've yet to see if it survived this last icy winter.

Here is S.pallida 'Kartuz Giant' in my foliage border last summer - the purple thing;

S.pallida 'Kartuz Giant' is one of my favourite herbaceous plants, unfortunately it's a fave of the slugs and snails too.

So I hope to get my hot little hands on one of those variegated plants sometime soon!

To be or not to be, in this case, it 'Mite B'.

2009-03-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Well, it was nice to potter around the garden the other day. I finally managed to get a few things planted that I had bought at the RHS Spring Show.

This is my favourite - a plant that surely has a lot of promise for the horticulture industry;

It is a hybrid/sport of Narcissus 'Mite', supplied by Avon Bulbs. www.avonbulbs.co.uk

They are tentatively calling it 'Mite B' which rather tickled me. What a gorgeous, gorgeous (I said it twice, must be good) plant. Sheer class.

I appear to have calmed down my colour palette these days, because another pale spring-flowering plant made its' way into my RHS printed paper bag...

Picture courtesy The Alpine Garden Society (of the plant at the RHS show!)

Also from Avon Bulbs, a stunning new Winter Aconite - Eranthis hyemalis 'Schwefelglanz'. Would look amazing growing en masse (which I hope to achieve one day!).

Lastly a Hellebore. Although as a rule, I don't go for Hellebores, I couldn't resist this one;

This is H. 'Silver Dollar', of which I have now planted a group beneath my Albizia. I love the maroon blush around the serrated edges of the leaves. Ties in nicely with my Brahea armata trio, and various New Zealand plants.

Ciao for now!

Snow joke.

2009-03-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the inexcusable pun. This year saw the heaviest snowfall in London for some 18 years. I had just got back from Zimbabwe, it was all quite bizarre.

Anyway, some of my plants didn't mind the snow at all. Agave americana 'Marginata', Puya caerulea, Chamaerops cerifera and Yucca rostrata.

One or two didn't cope at all well. This is Brahea edulis - a pretty fast grower, so hopefully it will recover.

A few weeks after the snow, and a few plants look surprisingly happy.

Chamaedorea radicalis below.

Schefflera macrophylla - a very handsome plant. I was half expecting this to shrivel up at the first sign of frost, but it seems not!

The biggest surprise is Rhapis multifida. Fingers crossed it doesn't suddenly do a U-turn, it looks happy enough.

Spring is here, so it seems.

2009-03-08T17:00:00.000-07:00

Wandering around my local park the other day, revealed that spring was on its way.

Whether the weather, whatever the weather. Whatever.

2009-03-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

So the light of 2009 has dawned upon us, as has the new light of hope for some warm weather, after a couple of years wait! The weather can not be any worse this year.

So last summer was a washout. I finally took my 4 week holiday after Christmas, travelling (as crazy non-Zimbabweans do) to a country in political turmoil. Ah well, I've had a good life, I thought as I ambled onto the plane.

This was my first time to Africa. I just fell in love with the place. Plants and animals, animals and plants. It was the greenest place I've ever been (even greener than those rolling hills of Devon on a May day). The climate was a tonic. As well as visiting Zimbabwe, I was fortunate enough to visit Mozambique also.

Mozambique is not a place I would choose to go myself, but tagging along with my Zim buddies, I would heartily recommend it.

I wondered why I struggle so hard to grow palms in the UK.

A Mozambican Hyphaene species, growing in the dunes on a spit of sand between a river and the sea.

Here is probably one of many highlights of my visit to Zimbabwe. Walking with the lions.

An awesome way to spend January!

Feed Me Seymour!

2008-04-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure whether carnivorous plants are popular these days, but with a name like Little Shop of Horrors , I don't see how this retailer can fail!

One of the few films that centres on a horticultural subject, the 1986 'Little Shop of Horrors', is a real favourite of mine.

If any of you reading this are scared of the dentist (and lets face it, aren't we all..?), have a peek at this link to the dental surgery scene from the film. Bill Murray and Steve Martin (when he was funny) at their comic best!

Here it is... Yes Doctor!

It's Pining for the Fjords!

2008-04-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Although I shot these two (with my camera), from my bathroom window, these parakeets are more likely to be pining for the mountains of Northern India, rather than the fjords of Norway.

If you haven't seen or heard the thriving population of these exotic birds flying and squawking all over South London, you must have been hiding under a rock.

It is still a mystery as to how they got here. There is a story about Jimi Hendrix releasing a pair into one of the London parks. Another story tells of some being released at the Pinewood Studios in Teddington to give an exotic feel for the filming of "The African Queen". I believe they made their way through a portal, but that's just my opinion.

What's that coming over the hill, is it a Monstera?

2008-04-14T00:43:00.000-07:00

Popular in the seventies, the Swiss Cheese Plant (Monstera deliciosa) appears to be back in fashion. You heard it here first!

Here is a link to one half of 'The Mighty Boosh' comedy duo, Noel Fielding. It's a few years old, but his ramblings are entirely relevant to this day. Never pick a fight with a cheese plant!

Noel on Youtube

Original picture courtesy canvasrus.

Our story begins....

2008-04-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

So. Welcome to the world of tomorrow.

For any gardeners out there that were born before the 80's happened, this is a unique insight into how the next generation of gardeners roll*.

What to expect from this blog? Just a random assortment of garden-related issues. Anything from the hatred of bedding plants at DIY sheds, to socio-political affairs affecting the world of contemporary gardening.

Throw down those aphid puffers, and join me in my crazy little world of modern gardening.

Rob

*That's slang, rather than the age-old practice of rolling the lawn to get rid of ghastly bumps and hollows.

Images courtesy of oldgardentools