Tag: Weekly HighlightsPage 3 of 32

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…

One bright, one white

Looking for a splash of colour in the border? Trollius chinensis ‘Gold Queen’ could be the plant you are looking for. An herbaceous perennial growing to a height…

Raspberry ripple

Weigela decora collected in Japan from an area of dense mixed forest containing Cryptomeria japonica and Stachyurus praecox, these were huge parent plants spreading and reaching 4m x…

Unintended consequences

You study diligently, you consult books, you visit other gardens for ideas on colour and combination then a rampaging Ranunculus invades your border and the most appealing floral…

A Rose by any other name

The Genus is just the start. As plants are collected in the field they arrive back at the Botanics with collectors notes; some detailed, some not so. These…

Perfect for a sun drenched corner

The sun filled days we have been experiencing have brought out the flowers on Helianthemum nummularium ssp. tomentosum to perfection. This subspecies is native to Italy, collected on…

Oversized hedgehog

Erinaceae anthyllis grows in mountainous regions of Europe and North Africa. A hugging evergreen with sharp spines to protect from grazing animals. The blue tinged purple flowers cover…

Azalea season

The Azalea collection is blooming. One of the best on the bank is Rhododendron luteum, reliable to flower, full of mid yellow blooms and the scent drifting through…

Malus in May

Growing in the nursery is a fine, sturdy young specimen of Malus sieversii. A native to Central Asia and known to be the wild apple that apple breeding…