Life After Fire

With just over a week after the fire some of the plants that were severely burnt are already showing signs of life and start of their recovery.... Agapanthus sp. Amicia zygomeris Trachycarpus fortunei pushing out new spear Dryopteris sp. As it is still summer and an active growing season this is a big influence as to why  some of the affected plants have pushed out new growth...

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A Fiery Twist

Our garden blog has just taken a very unexpected twist.... Last Friday at around 2pm I received a phone call saying that the fire brigade are in our garden putting out a fire that started in one of our neighbours garden. Rushing back home, what I found, of what were once very lush and leafy parts of our garden, with a well built outbuilding and a jungle veranda, were these.... The fire started...

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The Other Blue Yucca

Whenever you mention the words 'Blue Yucca' within the exotic gardening circle, everyone immediately thinks about Yucca rostrata. Rightfully so, it is a very blue leafed yucca and a specimen grown well is a spectacular sight to behold with its inherently architectural habit and form. Most especially once it has developed a perfectly spherical head, with leaves gracefully billowing with even the...

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Exotic Hampton Court

Hampton Court Flower Show certainly lives up to its name with the majority of the plants on display very much of the flowering variety. However that doesn't mean there is limited choice for those with more of an interest in exotics or foliage. In many ways we were spoilt this year with show gardens and nursery displays catering for the tropical look. Of the show gardens  A Valley Garden was...

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RHS Hampton Court 2013 - The Floral Marquee

It's not all outdoor attractions at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, there are of course the marquees with individual themes like Plant Heritage, Rose and Floristry, Growing for Taste, and several others. Then there's the main one called the Floral Marquee wherein the display stands (that are up for judging and medals) and plant sales stalls of participating specialist nurseries can be found.  As...

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RHS Hampton Court 2013 - The Show Gardens

What a fabulous day it was at the RHS Hampton Court Flower! The sun was shining, it was warm, the atmosphere was superb, grand setting, it was perfect! Glorious setting (and was tempting to dip in!) And as a taster to the show that is about to open to the public tomorrow, here are photos of the show gardens at this years show.....

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The Summer Sun

The summer sun, finally it has descended upon us as we just had the first weekend here that actually felt...well summery! It is July after all and it is supposed to feel summery but as most of you know that's not always the case in the UK (remember the washout that was July last year?). Fortunately it's looking like July is set to be a sunny and warm one, just for a change, and this weekend was a...

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Will it, or Won't it...

There is something of a suggestion from the met office that we may be about to get a longer warm spell, the BBC weather forecast for the next couple of weeks looks promising, with sunshine and warm temperatures predicted. There's no guarantee of course and we have had false hope before, I remember a couple of years back when the met office promised a BBQ summer and then we got a wash out. Although...

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Empty and Temporary

Well almost anyway, considering what was there before.... y last Saturday (the first few were taken last week as Gaz had previously blogged about), as well as a few not so hardy palms and other bits and bobs and I'm currently relishing the openness of the top patio as a result of it. First one in... Going... Going (you can squeeze them all in).... Gone (and all in)! Ready to be taken...

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