Author: Robyn DrinkwaterPage 27 of 35
After days of watching news bulletins showing snow covering many areas of Britain; finally last night the flakes started to fall. Silently 50mm of snow layered itself gently…
As blizzards of snow envelope Britain the “Winter Aconites”, Eranthis hyemalis, show through the white blanket that carpets the land. With a wide geographical spread from Europe to…
Braw; a late 16th century Scottish word, a variant of brave. Nowadays meaning fine, excellent, attractive. Words that describe the developing flower buds of Rhododendron lanigerum. At this…
As January fades the heavy scent from Sarcococca confusa intensifies. A dense growing evergreen preferring the woodland edge but happy in deep shade also. Listed as origin unknown,…
Now well established in the Copse is the evergreen Vinca difformis. Straggly bootlace shoots are sent out over ground at a rate of knots. Occasionally rooting down at…
At elongated bud stage the petals of Viburnum grandiflorum have the shape and intensity of colour of a red lipstick. Holding an exceptional heady fragrance the tubular corolla…
Providing flowers in a sheltered glasshouse border is an Unbearded Iris. Protruding from a mass of flattened evergreen sword shaped leaves are the delicate blue flowers of Iris…
If it is exercise you need after the festive fortnight then a walk around the Garden could be just the place to fulfil this desire. Visit the cool…
2008 was a year of desperate weather conditions. The wettest August was recorded with correspondingly low sunshine levels. Indeed on the 6th of the month the rain gauge…
Helleborus foetidus is an evergreen perennial ideally suited to semi shade and a deep moist soil where it will clump and colonise to flower impressively annually. Although the…
On a west-facing wall, the evergreen climber Holboellia grandiflora is fruiting. The intertwining mass of tangled growth shelters the lurid purple fruit which is unfortunate, as this is…
The mahonias are flowering – the shiny evergreen foliage is offset by terminal panicles of yellow flowers. Mahonia napaulensis grows within Quercus and Rhododendron forest at 2,780metres. Our…
An alternative title for today’s entry could be ‘time waits for no man’. My selection of seasonal plants of interest for these pages is rarely influenced by the…
The male cones of Cedrus deodara are shedding their pollen. The trees are wind pollinated and the prevailing westerly winds we experience send the pollen grains a great…
A good form of Cotoneaster horizontalis will present a main shoot from which a series of parallel lateral shoots branch from in herringbone fashion. At this time of…
A plant of 60’s suburbia. With the housing boom in the 1960’s the Pampas grass became a popular feature of British gardens. The images are of a compact…
Standing sentinel to the last days of autumn sunshine is Kniphofia linearifolia. This strong-growing member of the genus is native to southern and eastern Africa, where it has…
Eucryphia moorei produces attractive four-petalled white flowers. In the centre are a multitude of soft paintbrush bristle stamens. The flower is produced on the current season’s growth. From…
The true Acer palmatum is not often seen in gardens as there are a plethora of cultivars in the trade that are marketed well. Acer palmatum is native…
Phytolacca acinosa has thick, almost succulent stems. It grows strongly to 1.8 metres with lanceolate leaves. A mass of growth that wilts to mush when the frost arrives….