Category: garden photography

The ever changing colours of Liquidamber

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 13, 2013
6 Comments on The ever changing colours of Liquidamber

Liquidamber has to be one of the best trees for the small garden in autumn and winter.

It develops the usual colours associated with autumn but holds onto its leaves and the colours get more and more intense as the season progresses.

So for this post I shall regularly take pics of our Liquidamber to illustrate how they change.

The first three photos were taken in October, at which time greens were still bright and frequent amongst the yellows and oranges.

Early in December the colours are richer and not much evidence of green remains.

In mid-December a rim of frost decorated each leaf, emphasising their palmate shape and adding depth to the tints of fire.

By January the leaves are beginning to look dry with browns becoming the commonest colours.

Now in mid-March I would normally be able to enjoy the deepest of red leaves it is possible to imagine and they would be clinging onto their stems until new season leaves force them to release their grip and drop to the ground.

This year this eagerly anticipated redness has failed to appear and the remaining leaves are just crisp and dull brown. Half have already fallen and the others look as if they will soon give up their grip.

Once spring arrives and instigates budburst I shall start taking photos of our Liquidamber once again and follow the progress of its leaves throughout the year.

Tags autumn colours, foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, liquidamber, ornamental trees, trees, trees for a small garden, winter gardens

colours community gardening garden photography gardening ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs Winter Gardening winter gardens

Stems of dogwoods and willows at BAC

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 8, 2013
16 Comments on Stems of dogwoods and willows at BAC

Earlier in the winter I posted a blog about the value of coloured stems in our garden. We have lots more up in the community gardens on our allotment site, Bowbrook Allotment Community. Now we have a little sunshine brightening our days I thought it would be interesting to see the colours in Cornus (Dogwoods) and Salix (Willows) that we have accumulated in our 4 year development.

First though a look into my sketchpad.

We put together a collection of stems of all the different Cornus and Salix that we grow in the communal gardens and photographed them on a rare sunny day.

First the Dogwoods ….

….and then the Willows.

Tags coloured bark, coloured stems, community gardening, cornus, dogwoods, garden photography, gardening, salix, shrubs, trees, willow, willows, winter, winter gardens

allotments colours community gardening garden photography gardening meadows winter gardens

Lottie Bulbs

A mid-February walk around our lottie site on a dull grey day was much improved by the colour of the earliest bulbs. Each autumn we invite donations of bulbs from members and now we are seeing and appreciating the results of our members’ efforts.

We grow lots of these early bulbs as they provide very early pollen for any bees that come out on mild days. We need to look after our bee friends as they help pollinate our fruit, peas and beans and many more crops.

The gold of crocuses (or should that be croci or perhaps simply just crocus?) brightens the orchard meadow.

Snowdrops and Winter Aconites go together like chalk and cheese. Together they light up the Winter Garden.

Even in the Summer Garden spring bulbs have a place. These beautiful blue iris cheer everyone up as they pass by.

The tiniest and most delicate flowers of February are those of the cyclamen which mingle with the bark and fallen leaves in the Sensory Garden. The leaves have fallen from the nearby old Oak tree.

Accidental juxtaposition of plants often give the best combinations. These crocus surprised us when they chose to flower above the bronze leaves of a Saxifraga.

We now eagerly await the masses of Daffodils planted around the site and on the grass verges outside our gates. They will be closely followed by the Tulips in their myriad colours.

Tags allotments, community gardening, crocus, flowering bulbs, garden photography, gardening, iris, meadows, organic gardening, spring bulbs, winter, winter aconite, winter cyclamen, winter gardens

autumn autumn colours garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography

Looking Back Two – Trentham

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 2, 2013
4 Comments on Looking Back Two – Trentham

In this post in my series featuring looking back at gardens visited in 2012, I will share photographs of an autumn visit to the wonderful Trentham, one of our favourite places to visit.

We took friends Jean and Tony with their granddaughter Lucy to share our enjoyment of this latest of our regular visits to these wonderful gardens designed by favourites, Piet Oudolf and Tom Stuart-Smith.

Perhaps this sign in the first photo is inviting us to get lost in wonder.

The garden is still full of colourful flowers in October. Each flower colour is enhanced by the gentle neutral shades of the grasses.

Lucy needs regular re-fuelling! She also needs time to play and enjoy an occasional sit down.

Through windows and doors.

Trentham once again provided us a real treat. We’ll be back again soon.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, garden photography, gardening, new perennial gardening, Piet Oudolf, prairie planting, Staffordshire, Tom Stuart-Smith

colours garden design garden photography gardening grasses hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs Winter Gardening winter gardens

A February Bouquet

Nothing seems to have changed much in the garden since my “Bouquet for January” post. The ever-changing weather, moving from cold to very cold and back again appears to have stagnated growth. The first daffies have just opened and crocus in various colours are appearing around the borders.

There is a much wider range of Hellebores to enjoy though. I love having to bend down and lift their heads to find the secrets of their hidden beauty. Enjoy my Hellebore gallery.

The Prunus subhirtela autumnalis flowers have been browned by the weather and we have cut down many of the grasses and perennial seed heads. Now the garden is looking empty but as a result of our tidying up we can appreciate the importance and impact that foliage plays in the February garden. Grasses and Phormium join with shrubs such as Pittosporum to give interesting colours and leaf patterns.

One of my favourite garden plants is the simple and much-maligned Bergenia. At this time of year the leaves take on deep shades of green, red and purple and the first of their flowers start showing colour before being lifted up on strong stems later on.

Let us finish February off by wishing for signs of spring. Some sunshine perhaps? Blue sky? Just a few degrees more?

Tags bergenias, foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, grasses, hellebore, shrubs, spring bulbs, winter, winter gardens

colours garden photography indoor plants photography

Jude’s Orchids

Orchids are by far the Undergardener’s favourite indoor flowering plants. She always has several in flower in every month of the year including February when their wonderful, unusually coloured and uniquely shaped flowers are so welcome.

Photographing them was more of a challenge than I thought. I wanted to show their colours, patterns on their petals, their satin-like texture and above all that special presence they possess. So, please check out my orchid gallery and see what you think.

Tags flower photography, indoor flowering plants, indoor plants, orchids, photographing plants

garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public National Trust NGS photography Shropshire South Shropshire The National Gardening Scheme" The National Trust trees

Looking Back One – An Hour at Croft Castle

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 24, 2013
6 Comments on Looking Back One – An Hour at Croft Castle

This is the third in the series of posts looking back at garden visits we enjoyed last summer and autumn. Here we shall remember our autumn visit to the grounds of Croft Castle in South Shropshire.

Croft Castle is a favourite National Trust property. We often visit to enjoy a walk around the gardens and take tea in the teashop. On this autumn day we only had a short time but still managed to do both!

Croft is famous for its ancient avenue of Sweet Chestnut trees which are now sadly coming to the end of their lives. Their gnarled, pitted bark shows their great age and makes you imagine just what they would have seen going on under their boughs and all around them over the centuries. If only they could tell.

Autumn was descending on the walled gardens. SAMSUNG

Tags Croft Castle. Sweet Chestnuts, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, greenhouses, grown your own, National Trust, NGS, organic gardening, Shropshire Hills

arboreta birds fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society HPS meadows ornamental trees and shrubs Shropshire South Shropshire village gardens

Holly Cottage – another garden visit with the HPS

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 22, 2013
8 Comments on Holly Cottage – another garden visit with the HPS

June 16th and we are visiting two gardens with fellow members of the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society. In my previous post I shared our morning visit to “Fairview” and now we move on to Holly Cottage just a few miles away for the afternoon. To get to the cottage we had to drive over a few fields dodging sheep and when we parked up the heavens opened and the temperature plummeted. Bravely we donned waterproofs – it was well worth it. The garden at Holly Cottage ran downhill from the cottage and within its two and a half acres formal and informal plantings of herbaceous plants mingled with mature trees, meadows, a pond and even a small stream.

Just as we were impressed by the veggie patch at Fairview in the morning, the fruit and veg garden at Holly Cottage impressed too. This veggie patch practised organic principles to produce quality harvests.

Part of following organic principles is to encourage wildlife to garden with you and here there were nest boxes and bird feeders in evidence as well as a meadow, a small arboretum featuring mostly native and wildlife attracting trees and shrubs. A comfy rustic bench was also positioned where we could appreciate it all.

We like to find original new ideas or twists on old favourites during our garden visits. At Holly Cottage we came across this wonderful example of high-rise living for plants.

As with any garden the plants are the stars and on a dull, wet cold day such as this these stars are needed even more. Holly Cottage’s plants did not let us down. They lifted our spirits out of the gloom.

Tags fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grown your own, meadows, organic gardening, shrubs, trees, wildlife

fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials HPS ornamental trees and shrubs roses Shropshire South Shropshire village gardens

“Sheila’s Cafe” – The Garden of Two Hardy Planters’

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 20, 2013
6 Comments on “Sheila’s Cafe” – The Garden of Two Hardy Planters’

We spend many days visiting gardens all over the country, several of them large gardens run by the RHS or the NT, which we enjoy greatly. But we enjoy even more small gardens in our own county of Shropshire or in the neighbouring counties of ~Hereford, Staffordshire and Cheshire, many of them opening under the auspices of the National Garden Scheme. But most of all we enjoy our visits with the Shropshire Branch of the Hardy Plant Society, and in particular gardens tended by fellow members.

On a wet, dull, chilly mid-June day we visited just such a garden a few miles from our home in the Shropshire Hills.

Fairview is the garden of Geoff and Sheila Aston and although not a large garden it has a large heart. It welcomed us with such warmth.

It invited us to follow its paths and discover its secrets hidden behind hedges and around corners.

When we think back to this garden we think of Sheila’s Café and the tidiest garden shed in the world. I will admit to experiencing a bout of “shed envy” – just how does Geoff keep his work spaces so tidy and well organised? This shed envy was closely followed by “compost heap envy”!

Sheila had turned the garage into a café where we met for a coffee and cakes and a chat about the garden before we had a slow wander. Now that is what I call a welcome!

Time for a wander ………………..

Before finishing our tour we were to be impressed by the veggie patch.

Off to Holly Cottage now – just a short journey down a maze of Shropshire lanes. (see next post)

Tags foliage, fruit and veg, garden photography, gardening, Hardy Plant Society, HPS, Shropshire Hardy Plant Society, Shropshire Hills

climbing plants colours garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening hardy perennials Land Art natural pest control ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture shrubs village gardens wildlife

A Cottage in Leicestershire

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 16, 2013
15 Comments on A Cottage in Leicestershire

Our son, Jamie and his fiancee, Sam have just bought their first home together, an old cottage in a small Leicestershire village and so we were looking forward to visiting them and having a good nose around and of course to explore their garden to see what promises it had in store for the coming seasons.

The village seemed a perfect, idyllic place to live, with a pub, a village shop, a primary school and lots of friendly neighbours. Homes have been built here over the centuries giving a huge range of styles – a potted history of domestic architecture. Jamie and Sam’s cottage was built about 300 years ago, but I should really have said two cottages as originally these were two tiny workers cottages. From a quick look at old census returns for the village the cottages were likely to have been home to stocking knitters, lace workers or agricultural labourers. There could be many hours of internet searching of historical sources ahead to enjoy.

It is a very welcoming cottage with a beautiful porch with a feature stain glass window alongside it. The front garden consists of a triangle of land just big enough for a Lilac to grow with a few small shrubs at its feet. Sadly the day after I took this photo the lovely old Lilac blew down in strong winds.

J and S are excited by the thought of what treats might emerge from the cottage garden to the back of the cottage. A walk around revealed some lovely secrets awaiting their season. The garden is a long plot, well stocked with plants to attract wildlife.

From the plants we could identify it should reveal itself as a true cottage garden planned with wildlife in mind. A small pond, a wildlife friendly hedge and a couple of log piles have also been included. A beautiful dry-stone wall provides shelter for a variety of creatures. We took along a bird table and nestbox to add to these and these were soon in place.

The perennials present include Asters, Aquilegias, Foxgloves, Sedum, Iris, Crocosmias, Hemerocalis and Aconitum, so there is a promise of lots of colour and lots of butterflies, bees and beneficial insects.

Of particular interest were the many clumps of Arum Lilies, a family I know little about. We grow Arum italicum marmoratum which was present as several clumps, but I think there were others there with different foliage markings and colours. The main reason to grow these is for their marbled leaf markings.

One task J and S set us was to identify “the sticks”, their non-gardening word for shrubs and trees without leaves! The biggest and most impressive “stick” proved to be a very old apple tree over which scrambles an equally old rambling rose. These will both take a lot of remedial pruning but will prove to be wonderful features. A mature Buddleja, Spiraeas, Hydrangeas and a small cherry will provide colourful flowers in the future, and the Buddleja will bring in both scent and butterflies for their enjoyment.

The large terrace is separated from the garden itself by a low wall of mature bricks which proved to be a handy place to display interesting objects discovered as we cut down the old growth of perennials and tidied up the borders. The little sculpture of stacked sea-worm bricks is one I made years ago.

Three found items, a chair, a terra cotta bowl and a rusty pruning saw blade now adorn the shed.

Two days with J and S wandering around and discovering their new garden and hatching plans for the future, inspired ideas for a mini-meadow of wildflowers, a much bigger pond, a prairie garden and some trained fruit. They have years of fun to come!