planting – Page 6 – Gardens. Travel. Life.

Posted on September 10, 2017September 10, 2017 by happyretiredblog · 3 Comments

Our Andalucían Garden – succulents & stephanotis

I can’t believe I’m sat in the garden, its still summer here in Spain. It’s 27 degrees on the terrace and I have a cold. Yes a summer cold. It can’t be because I’ve gone out without a vest. My mother always said that if you went out without a vest you’d catch a cold. I haven’t needed a vest and I haven’t worn one for over 40 years. So I’m just unlucky then.

I have managed to do a bit of gardening since we got back on Wednesday evening. The ground is still like iron where not even a pick axe will make a dent. We had some pretty spectacular rain and a storm before we left last week but it had little effect. I do think that the mountains driving up the wiggly road look a little greener though. In parts. Maybe that’s rose tinted glasses. Oh wouldn’t that be making it pink? The road is so wiggly I could be seeing things – I just stare at the road and hope for the best.

We are getting a second flush of Oleander, particularly the white one. It seems to come in stages, the double pink was out in August but has largely died back. And yes I know. It’s poisonous but it seems to me that most of these Mediterranean plants are

What I didn’t realise, but then why should I – its not like i have grown these plants before, is that there are some pretty spectacular seed heads too. Live and learn!

But there are pretty spectacular seeds heads on a lot of things, and I have posted some of the pictures previously. The jacaranda for one – its seed heads are amazing.

The seed heads of the Agapanthus are in mixed stages of drying and I am about to collect some of the seeds to sow on the bank behind the house. . There are a lot of them in the garden dotted around and I suspect a lot are self seeded, Again I am looking forward to next year when some of them may be mature enough and ready to flower. I am sure I will tell you when they do.

The garden has a lot of bird of paradise planted in the ground but the one doing the best at the moment is one in a large pot on the terrace, I suspect that the ones in the ground are younger and I haven’t seen them flower. But we have the second flower of the season on the potted one, its smaller than the one earlier in the season and there is flower no 3 coming quickly behind it.

There is no sign of the blue and white bird of paradise flowering again which is a shame as its pretty spectacular.I have just realised that we have a second plant next to the garage. I mistakenly thought it was a banana. As in plant. Not the fruit. Hopefully It will flower next year. I need to look up how to feed it. But that goes for most of the plants here. What and when to feed. In london I poo my plants. That is using Lou Archer Alpaca poo. Has worked wonders in london. Oh. And a picture of my agapanthus is on the agapanthus poo mix labels.

Unlike the tender plants in the London garden I won’t have to wrap any here. Last year I didn’t wrap anything in London. I didn’t put straw in the crowns of the tree ferns and they survived. But we are sheltered and the winter wasn’t harsh.

The pineapple guava has fruit on it which I understand is delicious but I am not sure that they will be big enough to eat this year. It’s been spectacularly hot and I am not sure that they have grown fat or big enough. The previous owners said last week that they are tasty. Oh well another for next year.

I have checked the Quince following a mention on twitter of the fruit. I have five on the tree – they aren’t pretty are they! Now I need to see if i have enough for Quince jelly.

I find it fascinating to watch the flowers. As we are here roughly every few weeks some are out as we leave and some as we arrive. This little purple/blue flower has been flowering all summer long and is really pretty. It looks as if the flowering period is coming to an end with this one too.

I’ve said it before but I haven’t really liked Lantana. But to be honest it is growing on me. It works hard and comes in some lovely colours. Even after the potted one is neglected it bounces back with colour.

We have a number of jasmine varieties in the garden, tracheospernum, azoricum, a what I call common jasmine and one unidentified. Oh and that stephanotis I keep bleating on about. After a slow start its been a corker. In a pot by the door the scent is delicious. Oh I’ve said that before. Move on.

What i didn’t know and I am sure i have witttered on about previously is that they can fruit in very hot summers. Well its been hot and there is a new fruit forming and one from last year that has ripened and opened. You can plant the seeds but as I am not here all the time that’s not for me.

I managed an afternoon tidying at the rear of the house where there is a gentle slope up to a steeper one. At the lower end are succulents and at the top some sad prickly pears and some pine which i have now found out are protected. No chopping these down but I wouldn’t want to anyway.

I have said that the plants here are new to me. I am used to either our London garden which is more of a yard with tree ferns, agapanthus some perennials and annuals. All in pots. Our Somerset garden which is a true cottage garden full of traditional and lovely perennials, Roses and a bit of lawn. succulents have never featured big but they do here as you would expect in a mediteranaean garden where water is at a premium and the heat is on.

I’m in love with the Agave. – the pearly agave or foxtail agave. It’s shape and form is gorgeous. I have two, one in a pot and one in the ground. One is upright the other is hanging over the pot. Both are fabulous. I like that word. Like the agaves A lot.

I need to name the rest of the succulents. Not with actual names that would be silly. Not Boris or Doris but identify their plant names. That’s for a cooler autumn day sat at the kitchen table. In spain or london.

To add to the Swiss cheese plant we have growing outdoors there’s another ‘indoor’ house plant from my youth doing really well outside. There are a number of them in the garden at various stages of growth – the money tree we called them as I was growing up.

Next on my list is to read up on pruning. I had a great day last year with. Sara Venn pruning our Somerset garden. We worked on the fruit trees and the roses and they have been great this year. I may be doing a light prune this Autum but the cottage is now on the market.

I will need to read up on the Jacaranda, the oleander the hedge with no name because I don’t know it. But it’s has been here and growing well for over 30 years. The pomegranate which has never fruited and which I have been told to go out with a paint brush when it flowers, the olive trees, the almonds and the citrus.

The citrus is flowering again, two lemons I thought were on their way out and a lime I had moved because it needed a second chance.

So I have plenty of reading ahead of me. Identifying. Pruning. Planning oh and planting. The tulips are ordered. I’ve said I want alliums. More agapanthus. But I have to wait for rain or hire a JCB to plant them!

I am sure you will hear all about it.

Posted on August 21, 2017August 22, 2018 by happyretiredblog · 1 Comment

Back to the new Mediterranean Garden

So I’m back in Spain. This time for three weeks. It should have been one but friends asked to come to stay so it was decided (yay) that I should stay on and be here when they arrived. Which meant staying three weeks in total. Oh. And I’m then home for 6 days to collect my bus pass and then back again for 12 days.

That’s not a bad thing as there is a lot to do. Blocked drain. One of the watering system pipes has detached itself. Neither of which I will do of course. But I’m here to sort out. And to do a bit of gardening whilst I’m at it. There is plenty of clearing up to do

I’ve said it before. But I’ll say it again. The ground is dry. Very dry. Too dry to plant anything. I have some plants still in their pots standing in a vat of water for whilst I’m away. Ready to plant when and if we get some rain. Two salvias. A jasmine Azoricum. A clivia.

Some plants like the Leonotis Leonurus – lions ear appear to have gone summer dormant as the weather has been so hot.

The clearing of the bank and what I call the roundabout are both done. I am now happy to go and look at the almonds and figs without fear of stepping on a snake. Or some other creepy crawly. The almonds are ready. My ‘book’ says check in August and September to see if the dupes are splitting. That’s a new word for my dictionary but not sure how often I can slip it into conversation. They are earlier than usual but the extreme heat has brought everything on earlier.

There are loads of them on just three trees and I am 3/4 of the way through picking them. Once picked and the outer shell taken off the almonds are then ready to dry. Please don’t ask me for how long. They are supposed to rattle when they are dry which some are doing. So I will pack them into air tight containers – Tupperware anyone. Some will be given away as presents.

I have laid them Out on trays and need to turn them regularly -like every time I pass!

I’ll leave picking the rest for another day there are loads left and I’m not going to waste them.

There is beginning to get some more colour back in the garden. It’s been so dry this summer. Much hotter than usual and some plants seem to have hibernated. A drop of water and there are blooms again. Except the Leonotis Leonurus – lions ear which appears to have gone summer dormant.

This Bougainvillia is a lovely colour. There aren’t too many flowers on there but they are pretty lovely. I must check on pruning for later in the season. I don’t want to prune next years potential flowers – puts pruning into google. There is also one random plant on the back slope which has appeared since the clearing.

I thought I’d seen the end of the stephanotis but no. There are still a number of buds. I lovethe waxy flowers – they look so lovely and smell delicious. Not enough for a bridal crown. Well not on my head anyway.

I love the colour orange in the garden. This has started to bloom again. Probably as I have been watering since I’ve been back. It just appeared overnight. That or I missed it as I walked past. But it’s a welcome sight in the corner.

Now I need to go and look at my book so that I can check what this is. ! . There are only two flowers left. But the seed heads are an interesting shape. .

Three months later I’m still learning what plants we have in the garden. Some are pretty unusual. What I didn’t expect was a swisss cheese plant outside. What next. A rubber plant! Our house plants from the 70″s. So my book says the Swiss cheese can flower. Cream in colour and edible fruits. Who knew. Not me. But I still don’t really like them. But let’s give it a chance. It may grow on me.

I loved and hated the jacaranda tree when it was in flower. The flowers were gorgeous. When they were on the tree. But they didn’t stay there. They fell – not a surprise – onto the path. Like a blue jewelled walkway. Staining the brick. Now it has seeded. Which are interesting. And they are not dropping . Looking like little bats hanging high up in the tree.

We have prickly pairs dotted around the garden – mainly on the back slope but one or two in the main area. The ones on the bank are looking sad. Last year they were all cut to the ground. Suffering from cochineal fly. I wasn’t here then but have been told like it was a crime scene as once cut they bleed. The cochineal flow are back.

Looks like we may need to cut back them again.

Baby prickly pairs popping up over the garden. They easily take root.

A white version of the mandevilla with a gorgeous yellow throat. We also have a pink which is flowering when and if it feels like it.

There’s a whole host of succulents dotted around and it’s great that they are drought tolerant as with this weather that’s a huge bonus.

As well as the main garden which sounds grander than it is we have a small piece of ground behind the house across the road. This hadn’t been touched or cleared for over 6 years and we decided that when we were having the slope behind us cleared we would have that done too. I call this the roundabout. Which it is not.

There is little on there. Two fig trees. A sickly almond. Some spikey succulents but we will need to think of some planting. To hold the soil. And to look good of course. The one fig tree is awash with black figs. Today’s picking I think and I will freeze some for jam.

Edit

It’s all a bit different to what I have been used to. Our garden in Somerset all cottage garden. Not a prickly pear in sight. Unless you consider the prickly pair of owners.

We also have trees – real trees.

So it’s been an interesting few days. I’m here alone. I have pottered in the Garden. Snipping here. Deadheading there. Taking photos. Making plans. Understanding why I didn’t attempt to strip the bank and the roundabout myself. Slipping over down the bank. Almost doing a triple toe loop and a couple of pas de deux as I hurtled to the floor almost falling flat on my face. Thankfully no one was around to see my inelegant moves. Or my embarrassment.

It hasn’t deterred me. There will be more gardening tomorrow after I have trained the welcome cactus to wave its arms for when the friends arrive with the 11 and 13 year old boys. Yes. It needs a sort te the pot. It’s on my ever increasing list. To add to the list that Ian has left me.

Posted on June 20, 2017 by happyretiredblog · 1 Comment

London Calling

So I said goodbye to sunny Spain. Sadly left the mew Mediterranean garden and the heat behind to catch the delayed flight to London. Down the long and winding road. Again. This time singing to myself. Ian flew back a few days ago.

Nothing better than sat waiting to board the plane whilst an irate passenger berates rather rudeley the girl at the gate. Who smiles sweetly and let’s him rant. Well done I think. Then says. In broken Spanish. Thank you sir. I am Ryan Air. You are travelling British Airways. Boom. A deflated and embarrassed angry man.

We eventually depart. A full flight. An announcement goes over the tannoy. ‘Today we have a passenger flying with us who has a severe nut allergy. We will not be serving nuts. We would also ask you to refrain from eating your own nuts. ‘

Childish I know. But I collapsed into a heap of giggling childish laughter.

Did I say escape the heat. Huh. It’s hot back in London. Without the air conditioning and everyone complains how hot it is. Even me.

There is another constant. My love for agapanthus! They have gone crazy whilst I’ve been away. Combination of the heat and the feeding of Lou’s pooh in the spring. We had great leaf growth and I had thought I had overfed. But the number of buds has been great. Agapanthus that struggled to flower last year are bursting.

I almost love the opening buds more than the full flowers. Or maybe the seed heads after flowering.

We bought two plants a good few years ago and put in a large pot in the centre of the front garden. Garden is an wxagatration. It’s an area at the front of the house. But this agapanthus never ceases to amaze me. There are loads of buds every year which virtually appear over night. Small light blue flowers. I keep thinking I ought to split them. Maybe next year. Maybe not.

The agapanthus by the front door were bought at Columbia Road flower market a few years ago. Cheap. Cheerful and have been great. This year they seem taller than usual so I will need to be careful that they do not snap off. Or get picked like they did a few years ago!

I know that this one will be the darkest of them all. The tell tale signs of the bud give it away. It’s a really dark colour – like a black almost.

But like Spain a lot will open whilst I’m away which happens every year! The good thing is that they have a good flowering period. Oh. I’ve just found a self seeded one about to flower in the orange tree pot.

The back garden is small and I mean small and has to incorporate everything. Like a washing line amongst the plants. All the plants without exception are in pots. The tree ferns.a couple of olives. An almond tree. Easy to move around. But a pain to water.

An empty chair. Usually occupied by one of the cats but it’s too hot for them. They are sprawled out behind s tree fern.

I have always had window boxes. I think it’s an inherited thing. My parents did hanging baskets. Hanging at their front door. A bit of a show off with next door as to how could have the best. . So I like to have the front looking good. I maybe have missed one or two years where I have had a break but this year I decided to go back to the good old geranium. They were great in the pots in Somerset last year and went on right into the autumn only being moved to make room for the tulip planting. Which I also did in the window boxes here for the spring.

This year for the first time I added some lavender to the boxes with the geraniums and it’s worked really well. Even if I say so myself. I also used good old lobelia for the side boxes something I haven’t planyed in years. My parents always grewv it along the front path accompanying allysum which I don’t think I’ve seen at a garden centre or nursery in a very long time. That and the good old Busy Lizzie! Their garden was a homage to the planting of the time. Lobelia. Allysim. Petunia. Tagetes. Godetia. All grown from seed.

I digress.

Gardening in London is a challenge. The garden is small. There’s lots I want to grow but can’t. Dahlias another of my loves are rubbish here. We get overrun with snails. Not slugs. I have one climbing rose. A lovely David Austin bought my a good friend of mine Emma. As a thank you for staying at the cottage.

But the upside is that we have a sheltered garden where most years we don’t have to cover the crowns of the tree ferns. Tracheospernum grows well. Jasmine grows like crazy up the drainpipe out of a ridicously small pot. A black bamboo whist scraggy is over 10 foot tall.

There have been disappointments. As the garden is small I like to have some scented plants. The jasmines flower at different times and the smell of both is very very different. So I bought a Philadelphus to add to the mix. A belle etoille which we have had in Somerset. Gorgeous smell. White flower with a purple throat. But it appears that it’s not what I got. Pretty. But plain white with little scent. Annoying. It will have to go. It’s not what I want and I don’t have room for mistakes!

The email has arrived from Peter Nussen re Speing bulbs! Oh. Lordy. I’ll have to make decisions for next year soon!

Right. I’m off to water. Yet again

Posted on June 15, 2017June 16, 2017 by happyretiredblog · 5 Comments

More garden adventures

So here we are. Back again. This is the time that we were expecting to collect the keys to Casa Verano Eterno. But the transaction was completed two weeks early. So we are back. Ian for a short visit. Me 10 days. Hurrah. Ian has reluctantly gone back to London – the joy of retirement means I can stay a little longer. Oh that hurrah wasn’t because Ian has gone back. But that we are here again. He has become the gardeners assistant.

The road to Competa gets no less windey each time we visit. Nor less beautiful. The sight of the mountains as we drive up is truly spectacular. I’d take a picture. But I am driving and as I have started I will finish. But I will take one. Eventually. Ian says look at that. Look at this. I see nothing but the long and windey road.

A week is a long time for a garden. I had worried that the timers wouldn’t have gone off. I knew that the pots had been watered as I was sent a pic of the estate agent and friend at the house. Watering the pots. They were fine. As was the watering system.

The garden has been largely planted for drought resistance plants so it doesn’t need much. I was greeted with one of my favourite plants bursting to flower. The garden has a lot of agapanthus. Some I suspect have seeded but I am not complaining. I love them so I am more than happy that they are here. Next year I will have to smuggle some poo in my bag.

The lavender path is holding up well. I have a tendency to overwater and I know i can’t do that with lavender. Nor should I.. especially as the cost of water here isn’t cheap.

The jacaranda tree is in full bloom and is best seen from a distance. Or looking at the floor as it is constantly dropping its flowers. Is it romantic to walk on a flower covered path, swathed in blue flowers. No its bloody well not. It stains the floor and i have been sweeping up on the hour.

Slight exaggeration there but I don’t need a workout. I’ll get a wash board stomach yet and get rid of the washing machine and tumbler drier one that Ihave now.

I was never a fan of succulents – ! but having a new Mediterranean garden i am going to have to get to like them. That and Cactus. There are a few prickly pears in the garden ( maybe Ian and I will. Be know as the prickly pair – we are grumpy enough).

There are some great big triffids on the bits of a hill that’s ours. Bit grand really but its across the access road and has a few fig trees on it and is basically scrub. It will stay that way too.

Ian also picked out some plants. I thought they were cactus. But they are euphorbia. Euphorbia candelabrum cactus . to be precise. News to me. I have potted them and they will probably stay at the front. Another with a poisonous sap.

The garden has a lot of interesting plants and its a huge learning curve. I’d only just got used to my cottage garden planting! I have arranged for someone to come in in Sept to talk plants. Pruning. Some new planting. I have also discussed spring bulbs – there are no flies on me – and my order has to be done before the end of July. They stocked some of my wish list last year and I have requested Brown Sugar to go on the list. Plus alliums. I need to check that they will grow. It’s odd. There are things growing I wouldn’t have thought. There is a great show of hollyhocks on the drive into the town. I have bought two to grow in for next year. Hopefully they will self seed

Twitter is a wonderful thing you know. As well as being pretty rubbish. But that and Instagram when you need a plant identified is awesome. Like the Daucus carrot. Thanks to Phillips Burrough, Sara Venn and Georgie Newberry. I know know what this plant is growing on the bank at the rear of the house.

There are other things I don’t know. Lots of them. But I will before the decade is out. But something else I don’t know What it is.

Rather stupidly last time I was here i went up onto the bank. In shorts.. never ever again.. My legs were as itchy as hell. Not only the moziies had attacked me but I had a reaction to the grasses that were there.

Unlike the man who was weeding the bit of ground outside his house as I drove past yesterday. He was in the shortest shorts that could almost have been budgie smugglers. . No shirt. Flip flops. His skin as red as the shorts he was wearing. Spraying weed killer. In the heat of the day. Weed killer obviously doesn’t affect beer bellies. It may even enhance them. I’m not about to find out.

But I had to stop the car as I was laughing so much. I didn’t dare take a snap. But the vision is in my head. Protective clothing. Never,, health and safety. Never. So I have safely arranged to have our bank strimmed by someone else. The weeds and grass are as dry as. I’m hoping to grow some wild flowers there. It’s not a meadow. It’s a slope. An incline. Dry. Rocky. So maybe poppies. And more cacti. More succulents. Some more almonds and olives. Sounds grand but there are three almond trees loaded with nuts. .

Things are dying back. Things are coming to life. I have had a mother moment and spent most of yesterday dead heading. A snip here. A snip there. Just like she used to do. I’ve said it before. In her own garden. And if she walked up your path she couldn’t resist deadheading a rose or two. Irritating that. The garden is not somewhere you can burn the cuttings. It’s too dry. So no bonfire here.

We collected Ian’s lime tree which is now potted up and ready for the watering to establish it. It will fruit this year but we will take them off and wait until next. Not so the manadarin which is going great guns so far as are the two established orange trees.

.Talking guns. I asked what the black and white sign was outside the gates. Apparently is a no hunting on this land sign. Great I can safely take my shirt off in my own garden without the threat of great white whale hunter appearing as I get in the pool,

Which I have done. As its now warmed up enough for me to get in. I am a bit of a big girls blouse with cold water to be honest.

I also went on a rescue mission. I rescued a lemon. Forget driving over lemons. Try crawling on your belly in the border under yuccas to retrieve the one and only lemon that you have in the garden. Which has dropped off the tree when you weren’t looking. But you were determined to retrieve it.

I was determined that it wasn’t going to waste so it will sit in my gin and tonic this evening. Not the whole lemon. I will remember to slice it. Or as I found an electric juicer in the cupboard I could juice it. But really? Gin sounds better.

We had a business day on Monday. Off to the bank in Nerja as they had cancelled my bank card. Here two weeks and it gets cancelled. Only because I hadn’t signed a form. But I emailed on Monday early and saw my personal account manager at 10am. Excellent service and I signed in about 46 places and got my card reactivated. Then onto the lawyer to sign the insurance papers. A two hour wait before I had to see the notary meant a little bit of a shopping. So. A bit of pool art in the name of Nemo. Placed at the pool side and looks great. Great colours but be careful. It’s tin and gets hot. Behind it on the rails is a lovely Jasmine. Jasmine Azoricum. The smell is just gorgeous.

A trip up to Frigiliana to see an artist that we had seen previously and two pictures later we were on our way to the notary, who this time hadn’t disappeared to Rome. A swift flick of a pen and my will was signed.

So surprise surprise I have been busy snapping away in the garden. Partly because I can but also so I have a record of what’s what. I am not here for a month and the garden changes so quickly.

I’m pretty miffed that I will miss some of the agapanthus at their best as well.

But the main thing is the stephanotis that is just about to burst next to the front door. I swear they weren’t there a week ago. I’m sure the smell will be fab and there are loads of separate buds. Ah well you can’t win them all.

I have deadheaded some little blue maugerite type plants which I think flower continuously so hopefully they woill be awash with colour when I am next here. I have admired the black or blue bird of paradise yet again. It’s a real bee magnet.

So I am in the square again. It’s Thursday and there will be no horsemen riding by. That’s a Sunday. Ive decided to have breakfast on the square. watching. Observing. Practicing my Spanish. Ian’s worried that I will repeat the phrase that came out wrong when I was doing my homework last week. Speaking into the iPhone app in my best accent it was translated back into English as long penis. Quite what I was asking for I don’t know as i collapsed into a quivering heap of laughter. So Far the only potential issue could have been when I was looking for Salvias and asked if they had hot lips. I kept a straight ( yea I can do it) face and carried on.. they didn’t by the way. so i bought two others. And yes they have been planted.

So. Off i go to the hardware place that is always full of builders and workmen. I must try not to embarrass myself as I’m only getting keys cut. Maybe.

Two More days and then back to my window boxes and tree ferns. Retirement is hard.

Posted on April 29, 2017April 30, 2017 by happyretiredblog

A day out- RHS Wisley

I love Twitter and Instagram for different reasons. Instagram for the pictures obviously and Twitter for information, top tips and a bit of banter. Often Twitter will remind you of things that you should do. Places to go. People to see. That’s how we ended up going to RHS Garden Wisley today. I love twitter for the gardening folk I follow and who are always there to point you in the right direction to a plant or a garden, help with some advice, identify an unknown plant that may have appeared in the garden and to generally talk plants.

So following a tweet from @jackwallington who had been to Wisley earlier in the week I decided that after a 25 year absence a visit was long overdue. Finding my membership card was an adventure but find it I did. I wont mention my RHS disasters this week in deleting my print at home Chelsea and Chatsworth tickets. Ill save that for another day.

Fighting the Bank Holiday traffic through South London reminded me why we generally don’t travel over a Bank Holiday weekend but I was determined. I had started so we wold finish.

Busy. Was the car park busy. So busy we were sent to the overflow car park but despite my grumbling i was rather glad.

The walk from the car park was simply gorgeous. Bluebells were out everywhere like a beautiful carpet of blue loveliness. We would have missed this bit of the garden had we parked close to the main entrance. So every cloud and all that.

Typically Ian was 30 paces ahead. You’d think that after all this time he wouldngave notnbeen so embarrassed to be out with me ! But i had to stop not just for the bluebells but for the other delights that were begging to be photographed. I hadn’t been here for over 25 years remember.

The garden was busy. We realised only after we arrived that there was a craft fair in the grounds. A pretty decent fair to be honest and full of some top quality stuff. I was swiftly moved on through the garden toward the glasshouse, after a sausage bap!

I love a good glass house. This one didn’t disappoint and was somewhere to get a little inspiration for our new mediterannean garden.

It’s great to see the unusual and interesting and there were definetly some of those here. The bird of Paradise plant so high it had a sign that said this is not a banana plant. The plant whose buds looked like a great big fat nose and opened into a simply gorgeous flower – solandra Maxima – a blue brugisima, a protea as big as a dinner plate. Orchids which remind me of orchids bought in Castle Cary from another Instagram friend @ridgewayfarm when she had then best gardening shop ever, oh and the clivias also reminded me of her too – she introduced me to them too and one sat in mine and my friend Janes office for years.

The big pots of Agapanthus were further on than mine but then again they are in a glasshouse. Mine are in pots in South London. So they would be wouldn’t they! I wonder how many bags of Lou’s Poo they would need here.

Outside the glass house is a Prairie garden. I’m spoilt in that we have the wonderful Piet Oudolf garden at Hauser and Wirth Somerset just down the road in Bruton but I love them. Not so much in Spring to be honest but later in the season. The planting I know at Bruton is stunning and there are glimpses here that show what it will be like later in the season.\

There is so much to see and not enough time in one visit to take it all in n The fruit garden is full of the most amazing espaliers of all fruit types, apples pears medlars. The rows of apples some still in bloom some with fruit setting are like great long avenues. The planting is amazing with long avenues of paths to walk through.

Great big beds of Rhubarb. They hold the National Plant collection – with enournmous leaves and pink fleshy stalks, some being forced. The produce bing used in the restaurant and in Jams to be sold at the shop. I sisnt look to see if any rhubarb was for sale. Would have been good to have tasted a variety that you don’t usually get at the greengrocer

To be honest you get lost in the size and scale and the beautiful way it is presented. I can’t remember much about my previous visit ‘ may be I wasn’t as interested in the planting and the plants themselves then. But we were both impressed.

The perennial beds [ mixed borders] on either side of the sweeping walk to the top of the hill look like they will be exceptional in the summer. The borders are springing to life with the alliums starting to pop into bloom in little drifts and singularly throughout the beds. Like tulips it looks like this year will be good for alliums too. The borders are massive – the website says ‘ a sweeping 420ft’ – imagine the plant buying for that. They leave the beds to their own devices. No watering – no good for me – i would have to be out there with the hose constantly.

Having recently stayed at Ard Daraich in Scotland I was keen to see the rhododendrons and the azaleas. The flowers were more advanced than Scotland and again the planting and the paths between them encouraged you to walk through. I still find the buds as fascinating as the flowers themselves and I was even more appreacitive of the guided tour of the Scottish garden given to me by Norrioe Maclaren when we were there.

Onto an area where I loved the colour palette of the planting. The last of the tulips- bright red with the start of the alliums. Simply lovely and a bed I would love to have.

This is a glorious view away from the house along the canal with the Henry Moore sculpture, King and Queen and the beds of lovely scented wallflowers. my window box of wallflowers has an abundance of leaves and only two flowers. Those two yellow flowers smell glorious. Busy i was expecting a bit more!

Neither of us had any knowledge of the history of RHS Wisley and its interesting to see that it was gifted to the RHS in 1903

Another cuppa tea. A scone and cream. Jam first of course. A wander to purchase some plants – only one today a philadelphus Belle Etoille which we had in the Somerset garden years ago. I even think Ian was impressed. One plant only. That’s progress. He doesn’t know about the ones I bought earlier in the week,

Was it worth the drive. The traffic. Running into ex colleagues. Definetly and thanks Jack!

Some more random photos.