Tag: DecemberPage 3 of 4
The year opened with snow on the ground and saw a continuation of the longest unbroken freezing spell for several decades. The snow just continued to fall, blowing…
The shortest day dawns and we can hope the weather improves with increased day length. The country proverb that when the Holly is prolific with berries we will…
With the snow still blanketing the land this is an ideal time to appreciate the silhouette of deciduous trees. At maturity the grandeur of forest trees dominates the…
A week of heavy snow and no real thaw has resulted in a build up of snow on foliage through the garden. Keep an eye on evergreens where…
Solandra grandiflora has risen from ground level of the temperate lands house to adorn the railings of the warm weather walkway. This tropical liana is covered in tubular…
A year of snowfall; snow fell of a quality not seen in Edinburgh for several years. On the 9th February; we even resorted to attaching the snow plough…
A fine specimen of pendulous form. This is one way of describing the mature specimen of Juniperus recurva var. coxii growing in the copse.A native of Myanmar, China…
The planting of Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ near Inverleith House is a significant splash of black. Look closely and the few strands of reversion to green foliage show up….
Sorbus commixta has the brightest berries of the genus; bright red in colour with a lustrous sheen. It does increase their appeal when the sun shines on them…
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…
Grass cutting commenced on 1st February after a very mild, wet winter. Irrigation was much needed for the Rhododendron collection as growth flushed in the spring and flowering…
Mistletoe, (Viscum album), has a place in British social history. The custom of kissing beneath the Mistletoe dates from a long forgotten fertility rite, possibly linked to the…
A plant of seasonal interest, Ilex aquifolium has a wide geographical distribution ranging through South West Europe, North Africa, to South West Asia. Cultivated in Britain for centuries….
Awarded a preliminary commendation from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1957, followed by an Award of Garden Merit and a First Class Certificate, Mahonia x media ‘Charity’ is…
As part of the first year of the HND Plantsmanship course the students are given a plot to cultivate; to sow and grow through 2010, producing a selection…
Look at the seed of Euptelia polyandra, the distinctive hook in the samara gives it the appearance of a bottle opener. A native to Japan, growing in the…