Tag: Weekly HighlightsPage 1 of 3

Ten years of seasonal plants of interest – 12 that flower or colour reliably year on year.

A lot of plants have caught my eye during the past decade while compiling a weekly profile on a seasonal plant of interest. Below are the consistently reliable…

Prune it

During the first growing season a newly planted shrub will establish; needing light, water and nutrient. Subsequent seasons will see good growth and the plant thriving. This newly…

Two blue Salvias

Two South American Labiates that are set to brighten the borders for autumn are the sturdy and felty Salvia corrugata and the more spindly S. meyeri. Both with…

A tall growing succulent

Impatiens tinctoria; from tropical east Africa to the glasshouse border and growing a stately three metres tall. The tall succulent or watery stems are sent up annually from…

Boundary best

With the sun shining on the canopy of Acer saccharum we are reminded that the autumn equinox passed and the day length is now shorter than the hours…

Chard

A nutritious and versatile vegetable, also well suited to the decorative border. From a packet of seed and an April sowing the seedlings of Chard ‘Bright Lights’ have…

A bigeneric hybrid

X Amarygia parkeri is a bigeneric hybrid of garden origin. The result of a cross between two South African genera; Amaryllis belladonna x Brunsvigia josephinae. The flower stem…

High chaparral

In flower just now is a plant of the Californian chaparral; a shrub land plant community evolving through mild wet winters and hot dry summers. These areas are…

Selected for autumn colour

Vaccinium arctostaphylos, a deciduous shrub showing full autumn colour. All foliage shines with the vibrancy of this single deep red colour that is attracting so much attention. Amongst…

Watched over by scavenging vultures

                  Even on holiday many RBGE staff are on the lookout for interesting plants. On a trip to Cyprus one…

A swathe of pink in the copse

The vigorous cross, Anemone x hybrida makes a dash of colour in the copse here at the garden. This shaded area with moist soil proving a perfect home…

Poppies at the RBGE

Chalice flower

Blooms resembling a chalice are opening on the vigorous growth of Solandra grandiflora covering the railing of the elevated walkway in the temperate house. Planted in the border…

The Fig harvest

Relegated to the back of our memories during the past dismal summers and severe winters, a Fig tree has cropped well this year. A handsome specimen, Ficus carica,…

A late Lilium

Lilium leichtlinii var. maximowiczii; tall growing and bright of flower. A welcome splash of colour in the woodland area at the start of autumn. At a height touching…

Colour combo in the potager

Plants raised from seed in March, grown on under cover until the cold spring ended and planted out during May to form this year’s successful potager. In the…

“The Apprentices Potager”

Designed, planned and planted by the three Horticulture Apprentices the potager is a collection of vegetables and flowers; in effect a flowering vegetable garden with origins in France….

Passion

Passiflora vitifolia a native to Central America. A sturdy and vigorous plant that soon covers a sizeable section of the Orchid and Cycad glasshouse it is growing in….

Brightness to end a poor summer

Despite the wet overcast summer the spikes of bloom on Watsonia pillansii are magnificent. Distinct in the south facing border of the Front Range this native to Eastern…

Large Ligustrum; yet compactum

There is a huge specimen of Ligustrum compactum on the hillside, striving upwards to maximise exposure to the light. It is presently covered in terminal panicles of white…