White Papaver somniferum |
Saturday 31 December 2011
Plant of the Year 2011
I grow thousands of different plants in this garden, so choosing one as plant of the year is quite invidious. However, looking back through the year's images there was one clear winner - the pure white Papaver somniferum. For impact and beauty it was outstanding, with its big white blooms floating above the new growth in the new border - elegant and refined yet absolutely simple. The seed came from Sibylle Kreutzberger, who told me the story of its origin earlier this year. When she and Pam Schwerdt were at Sissinghurst they wanted a white poppy for the White Garden, but could not locate any through the normal horticultural sources. They had seen pictures of fields of white poppies in Afghanistan, so knew they existed, but how to get seed? Eventually they obtained seed from the local baker, who would otherwise have sprinkled bread with it, and from it grew perfect white poppies, of which these are direct descendants.
Friday 30 December 2011
Reminiscences of 2011: the cottage garden
Jogoo and the crocus lawn |
Viola, unnamed cultivar from Broughton, Peeblesshire |
Ferula sp. from Turkey: an introduction made by Jim Archibald, perhaps the most interesting 'new' plant to flower in the garden this year. |
Geranium 'Nimbus' |
Geranium 'Nimbus', Euphorbia 'Excalibur' and Buphthalmum 'Dora' |
Allium sphaerocephalum, Hyssopus officinalis, Sedum 'Red Cauli' |
Begonia 'Ember Glow' with Solenostemon latifolius, Oxalis, etc, in pots by the door. |
Up the garden path, October |
Philip, the free-living Lady Amherst's Pheasant |
Reminiscences of 2011: Colesbourne Park
Wednesday 28 December 2011
Garden people 2011
Galanthophile: Tomoko Miyashita and Buzz (Colesbourne Park, February). |
Dendrologist: Jan De Langhe (Chevithorne Barton, June) |
President and Chairman: Elizabeth Banks and Raymond Evison (Savill Garden, July) |
Garden designer: Guy Jones (Colesbourne Park, January) |
Photographer: Andrew Lawson. (Colesbourne Park, February) |
Commemorated: Celia Sawyer with Galanthus 'Celia Sawyer' (RHS Show, February) |
Plantsman: Eric Hsu (Pennsylvania) |
Blogger: Matt Mattus (Massachusetts) |
Intern: Josh with the poison ivy tattoo (JC Raulston Arboretum) |
Sunday 25 December 2011
Merry Christmas
Cornus alba 'Sibirica', Abies cephalonica, Taiwania cryptomerioides, Thuja plicata 'Semperaurescens', Cotoneaster 'Cornubia', Quercus rysophylla 'Maya' |
Galanthus plicatus ‘Three Ships’,‘Colossus’
G. elwesii var. elwesii
G. elwesii var. monostictus: numerous clones, of which ‘Mrs Macnamara’ and ‘J. Haydn’ are most conspicuous.
‘Galatea’
‘Faringdon Double’
‘Rosie’
Muscari armeniacum cv, M. aucheri ‘Christmas Beauty’
Cyclamen coum, C. pseudibericum
Helleborus argutifolius, H. foetidus, H. x hybridus
Prunus mume ‘Beni-chidori’
Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis Rosea’
Lonicera ‘Winter Beauty’
Viburnum farreri and x bodnantense – all clones, V. tinus
Daphne mezereum ‘Album’
Mahonia japonica
Hedera helix
Vinca minor
Antirrhinum majus
Scabiosa ochroleuca
Digitalis purpurea
Achillea 'Terracotta', A. filipendulina
Primula vulgaris, P. vulgaris subsp. sibthorpii, 'Gigha White'
May your festivities also be fun and floriferous!
Galanthus plicatus 'Colossus' |
Saturday 24 December 2011
Friday 23 December 2011
Two gardens in New Jersey
Superb placement: Bismarckia nobilis |
Strong structure in shades of green: Silas Mountsier's garden, Nutley, New Jersey |
The garden houses a large collection of sculptures and other artworks, carefully placed in the landscape - or the landscaping is carefully placed around them. |
A broad bank planted entirely in clones of Hakonechloa macra, subtly different in both summer and when sere in winter. It is strimmed off in late winter before daffodils emerge from below it. |
Dramatic foliage in Graham Hardie's garden. |
Remarkably, however, the Mountsier garden is one of a pair. His partner, Graham Hardie, has his own house across the street, and here he and Richard Hartlage have created another remarkable and beautiful space. In this case, however, the planting is in vibrant colours and textures from flowers and foliage - though all combined with remarkable touch. Lushness there is, but it's not overwhelming and although bright it's not gaudy: the planting is controlled by strong lines and structural shapes that prevent it from becoming just a jungle. Though very different, the two gardens, like their owners, complement each other and make a great couple. I thank Silas and Graham for a lovely afternoon.
Contrasts in form, texture and colour in the Hardie garden: lush but controlled. |
Roadside planting in Graham Hardie's garden: the standards are Euonymus. |
Tuesday 20 December 2011
Kim Blaxland 1941-2011
Viola pedata, Carol Lim's garden, Pennsylvania, April 2009 |
Kim Blaxland (img. C. Blaxland) |
We met up once again, in Pennsylvania, where she lived with her husband Chris, a vet, having emigrated from Australia (Eucalyptus blaxlandii is named for a connection of the family) - they remained very much Aussies at heart, with their family living there. Sadly she developed pancreatic cancer and fought it for several years but lost the battle about ten days ago. She was one of those people I should have loved to have known better and seen more of, and regret that that opportunity has now passed.
Viola riviniana, Colesbourne, April 2011 |
Saturday 17 December 2011
Christmas chutney
'in the cauldron boil and bubble' |
A lachrymosity of onions |
2 parts tomatoes (green and red)
1 part chopped cooking apple
1 part diced onion
0.5 part sultanas (didn't have any today, so I used chopped-up dates and dried figs)
1 part soft brown sugar
sufficient vinegar to boil it all in
a teaspooon or two of chili flakes
2 big garlic cloves
a lump of root ginger, grated
2 tablespoons of mustard seed
salt
Tonight I used, by mistake, equal parts of tomato, onion and a mix of rhubarb and apple - luckily the proportions are not really crucial. The pan needs a lot of stirring, and I hasten the reduction process by scooping out excess liquid from the surface with a gravy ladle - this liquor is also bottled and makes a tasty ketchup. The result is perhaps a tad too sweet, but it's very tasty and will be great with a strong cheddar or well-flavoured ham.
Just-filled jars |
Tuesday 13 December 2011
The most high and palmy state of Rome
Washingtonia robusta at the Spanish steps |
Phoenix canariensis |
When we were in Rome in August I thought that an interesting theme would be to photograph palms - Roman pines being somewhat overdone - and to see what species were grown outdoors there. The selection proved in fact to be quite limited, and no more than might have been tried by adventurous British gardeners in the early and mid 2000s (we didn't visit any botanical gardens, where there might have been a wider diversity). The difference is, however, that all these species were thriving rather than lingering, and in the hot sun and around fine buildings they are seen to their best advantage: a Phoenix shivering by the Thames does not have the same presence as one by the Tiber. Here are a selection of pictures, hopefully conveying something of this.
A fine old Chamaerops humilis on the Capitoline Hill. |
Trachycarpus fortunei by the Villa Medici |
Chamaerops seedling in the Forum |
The title of this post is a quotation from Hamlet, and as I learnt from A.N. Wilson's engaging book, The Elizabethans (2011), it is an example of hendiadys, the coupling together of two words to make one sense. It was a usage that took root and flourished in 16th Century England, with Cranmer's prayer book ('erred and strayed', 'devices and desires', 'to have and to hold') and Shakespeare's plays ('slings and arrows', 'lean and hungry', 'wasteful and ridiculous') being particularly rich in hendiadys: they make for euphonious reading and the English language is greatly enriched by them. Hendiadys - when one looks for it - is everywhere. I see that, unconsciously, one has crept into the first paragraph ('wet and windy') and, more appositely, Kipling's 'dominion over palm and pine' is another.
Butia capitata, by the bus stop, Tivoli |
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