Tag: RBGEPage 11 of 18

Fermenting apples

Sorbus harrowiana is not the best specimen for displaying ornamental fruit but it does have a related back story. It is native to SW China where, as can…

Last vestige of autumn colour

Wrap up warmly and take the opportunity to appreciate the remainder of the autumn colour on the deciduous trees. The colder nights see the leaves dropping as the…

Styrax fruits

One of the Styrax officinalis plants growing at the west gate has produced several fruits. These hang elegantly from the previous season’s growth. The fruits resemble a grey…

Out of season Daphne

Daphne gemmata, is compact, with an inflorescence of clear yellow flowers. This species, a native to SW China where it is found growing in sun, well drained, stony…

Growing on the tufa scree with roots into a well-drained substrate is Chaenorhinum origanifolium. This perennial from Southern Europe is flowering well into autumn from a summer start….

Clematis

The Clematis akebioides growing at the east gate lodge is covered in flower. The buds are held on long stalks setting the flower out from the straggly stems….

Triangular Tricyrtis

This week sees a second member of the genus Tricyrtis in flower. T. formosana, this species standing tall and making a show in the peat walls. A profusion…

Pendulous Tricyrtis

Tricyrtis macrantha has the largest flowers of the genus; pendulous yellow tepals are stunning when shown well against the foliage. It is the inner corolla that adds interest,…

Bright and Berberis

This mottled pink foliage version of Berberis thunbergii is a cultivar known as ‘Pink Queen’. A vigorous thorn laden deciduous shrub that provides a mass of colour in…

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…

Mortar magic

Fuchsia magellanica produces sweet, juicy fruits containing multiple seed. These are often dispersed by birds that are partial to the fruit. From subsequent droppings chance seedlings are occasionally…

Mirror quality gloss

Trochodendron aralioides is an evergreen tree with branches in a layered structure. The leaves are highly glabrous and with the summer sun high in the sky are reflecting…

An ornamental Onion

The good sized stems on this Allium wallichianum make it a worthwhile addition to the late summer border. At this time of year foliage has reached maximum height…

Heads up for Hydrangeas

Producing flower heads of dinner plate size in the copse is a young specimen of Hydrangea sargentiana. Stout stems bear the terminal corymb, flat at first and then…

Summers end

A show of delicate white, in a south facing bed of the rock garden, is a planting of Leucojum autumnale var. oporanthum. These tiny bulbs send up a…

Elegance

Baking in the heat on a raised terrace with flower spikes hitting two plus metres in height this Watsonia x longifolia is an elegant sight. It can be…

Sun lover

Helichrysum aucheri is in flower on the scree. Papery flower heads on 150mm stems. Collected in Turkey but native to greater Arabia. Grown in well drained soil and…

Set in soil at your own risk

A collection from China is growing opposite the pond lawn. Cacalia aff. delphiniifolia (aff. means ‘akin to’ used in plant nomenclature) loves an area of bare soil within…