Category: hardy perennials

A hillside garden near Welshpool

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 25, 2013
4 Comments on A hillside garden near Welshpool

In my last post I invited you to join us on our journeys through two tiny town gardens in Welshpool and promised s different visit to a garden nearby. We found this garden by following narrow single track lanes with passing points and we drove higher and higher above the town of Welshpool and way out into the countryside. Jude the Undergardener’s little car finally turned into the lane leading up to the garden. This lane was so steep the car struggled so we were relieved to finally get parked up alongside other Hardy Planters cars on the little grass verge car park.

Getting out of the car we were met with the most amazing views over farmland and what seemed like a huge sky.

We had to admire anyone who could garden against such odds. An average garden would have been quite an achievement but we were treated to a brilliant garden. The borders were rich with planting with variety in colour and texture.

As with any Hardy Planter’s garden there were some beautiful specimen plants that stopped you in your tracks demanding a closer look. They deserved appreciation.

In the lower section of the garden below the house a poly tunnel housed impressive crops, potatoes, tomatoes and even peaches. It was amazing to see the Runner Beans in flower so early in the year.

I shall finish with a few more shots of this wonderful garden created in such a difficult environment.

climbing plants colours garden design garden photography gardening half-hardy perennials hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society HPS ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography Powis roses shrubs town gardens trees

Two Welshpool Town Gardens

June’s Hardy Plant Society garden visit took us to two little town gardens. The first garden was truly tiny and the second slightly less tiny. They were perfect if very different examples of what it is possible to achieve in such small spaces. The secret to them both was wriggly paths leading the eyes and feet around to discover hidden secrets.

The tiniest of the two had planting at all levels from tiny specimens right by your toes to trees above your head and the borders were full of unusual plants. Little surprises.

The gardeners here even found room for an alpine house, a fruit cage and a couple of little water features.

Humour is essential in any garden however small.

Humour reigned supreme in the second garden we visited that morning. There were interesting arches, grottoes, seating areas all surrounded in lush planting.

Hidden throughout this little patch were containers planted up skilfully to give surprises wherever we turned.

Deep in the heart of this little paradise we came across a cool enclosed garden where we found ourselves in for a real treat – a little glimpse of the Far East.

This garden was tightly fitted within a group of houses close by the town’s main church and occasionally we caught glimpses of these other buildings through the foliage.

Atop one of the many little outbuildings lived a very healthy and happy green roof.

This was a very special garden – a place to relax and become engulfed in plants. In the afternoon we met again as a group to enjoy a very different garden in a very different setting. We found ourselves out in the open high up on a hillside with big skies above a wide view. This garden features in my next post.

Tags clematis, foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, greenhouse gardening, greenhouses, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, Powis, Powys, roses, shrubs, town gardens, Welshpool

colours garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials meadows spring gardening

Aquilegias in June

As spring-flowering bulbs fade hope relies on the Aquilegias for the next big colour burst. In our garden we have many selections of self-seeded natives and several species from elsewhere. They are grown for their unusual bonnet-shaped flowers, which come in a huge range of colours and shapes but are best recognised by the spurs that fly from the back of the blooms. Some have virtually no spurs at all but others can have spurs several inches long. They are traditional cottage garden plants but in the wild grow in a range of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and can be found in meadows, woodlands and higher up mountain sides.

One of their strengths is their hardiness, defying whatever the weather may throw at them but also shrugging off pests and diseases. We have never had a problem on any of our hundreds of plants, so they are excellent plants for the organic gardener.

Please enjoy a walk around our garden looking for our aquilegias. Just click on any shot and follow the arrow.

Tags aquilegias, garden photography, gardening, meadows, organic gardening

garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials Shropshire village gardens

A Perfect Iris Day

We deserved a morning out of the garden so set off just a few miles up the road to visit a garden which we had previously visited late last summer. It is open under the auspices of Plant Heritage and it holds two national collections, Roscoea and Cautleya. But of course neither of these are at an interesting stage at the moment.

After our compulsory start for any garden visit – coffee and cake – we wandered off to discover that the dominant plants of the day were irises. The irises were mostly of the bearded type but a few sibiricas were showing early promise.

First though a look at a few plants of interest other than the iris.

And now for the iris! The glamour plants of the June garden.

When we returned home we had a look around our own patch to see how our own iris compared. The bearded iris were looking impressive but the sibiricas were still in bud.

I delayed writing this post for a couple of days as my favourite bearded irises always come out last. They were definitely worth waiting for as I am glad I can include the final two to burst into bloom, these dark gingery brown flowers with buds that appear almost black.

Tags bearded iris, garden photography, gardening, iris, iris sibirica, irises, June, Plant Heritage, Shropshire Hills

garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society HPS National Garden Scheme NGS ornamental trees and shrubs Shropshire village gardens

The Hardy Planters at Lower Hall

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date June 10, 2013
4 Comments on The Hardy Planters at Lower Hall

Our first visit to a local garden with the Shropshire branch of the Hardy Plant Society this year took us to Lower Hall in the picturesque village of Worfield.

The River Worfe which gives the village its name meanders aimlessly through the garden and as we wandered along its paths we kept coming across bridges to take us over its flooded waters. The header picture shows the flower head of Dalmera peltata which grows in the boggy patches along the Worfe. The globe of flowers sits atop a tall thin stem rising straight from the soil before there is any sign of any leaves.

The garden has many different elements to it, a walled garden, a stream, a woodland area and various borders so there is a richness of plants to enjoy.

As always the Hardy Planters of Shropshire stand and admire!

Tags foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, Hardy Plant Society, NGS, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, sculpture, Shropshire Hardy Plant Society, shrubs

colours flowering bulbs fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening grow your own hardy perennials outdoor sculpture Shropshire shrubs spring bulbs

A Bouquet for May

May has been overall cooler than we expected and wished for and it has been far wetter than we had hoped for and wanted but the garden has loved it, revelling in the dampness and the special quality of the light that late spring/early summer delivers. This light makes the gardener feel happier too. Neither Jude the Undergardener nor I can cope with dull weather very well.

Bluebells and Bowles Golden Sedge sit on the shower room window sill, whilst in the lounge fireplace Aquilegias, Red Campion, Cow Parsley, Bistort and Wallflowers add life to the slate fireplace. These bouquets illustrate how we balance cultivated plants with our own natives.

Growth is lush – greens are rich. Flowers burst with bright colours and are generous with their exuberance. Enjoy my May gallery. Just click on any shot and follow the arrows.

Tags foliage, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, grown your own, May, outdoor sculpture, shrubs, spring bulbs

colours garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs Yorkshire

Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens – a very special place.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 26, 2013
5 Comments on Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens – a very special place.

While in Yorkshire last summer we visited a small and very special garden, full of ideas to be taken home. Ideas on planting and design. This is a garden of many “rooms” each with its own character and atmosphere. Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens, just 6 miles south of the city of York, has been described by Alys Fowler as “One of the country’s finest cottage gardens.”

It is a garden where the plantsmanship and passion of the owner is felt and can be touched. She works closely with nature and understands how caring for a garden and caring for wildlife should go hand-in-hand.

Look carefully at the picture below and see if you can spot a delicate iris.

We were particularly taken with the meadows as they included some interesting additions beyond native species. At the time of our visit the last few flowers were left on the top of the flower stalks of Camassias in whites, creams and blues. We were interested to see that Rosa rugosa were planted in the meadows. When we spoke to the gardener she informed us that they were simply strimmed down along with the grasses and herbaceous materials and they re-grew each spring, flowering successfully every year.

Of all the many garden rooms we discovered we particularly liked the yellow/golden garden full of bright foliage and yellow flowers. The overall feel was of being inside a chartreuse world glowing and warm.

Other areas were more formal with cut box edging, neat lawns and rills. There was a veritable feast of seats of all descriptions on which to rest and absorb all the different atmospheres in these rooms. In complete contrast to the formal gardens were the informal pond and wildlife meadows.

As usual a particular favourite sitting place was the tea shop! Situated in a secluded courtyard with gentle sculptures and calming borders the teashop lived in a beautiful old outbuilding. To illustrate what a friendly place Stillingfleet Lodge is we only have to go into the teashop. Here there is all you need to make tea or coffee and plates of fresh, home baked cakes and biscuits and an honesty box with a price list alongside. True faith in the honest character of the visiting gardeners. Work by local crafts people was also beautifully displayed here.

Tags foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, organic gardening, shrubs, Vale of York, Yorkshire

colours garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials spring gardening

Primroses – more unsung heroes of the spring garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 15, 2013
7 Comments on Primroses – more unsung heroes of the spring garden

Following on from my posts about celandines and pulmonarias I am now urging us all to take more notice of primroses and all their spring-flowering cousins with which we can grace our spring borders.

The most beautiful of all are our natives, the Wild Primrose, the Oxlip and the Cowslip. Plant these in your garden and if they like you they will gently spread and wherever they ends up they will never look out-of-place. The primrose will flower earliest of the pair but the cowslips and oxlips will not be far behind. We have clumps of our natives throughout our garden and look forward with great expectations each spring.

There are so many cultivated relatives of these natives and relatives of plants from around the world that you can have so many different forms and colours. If you are lucky you will find that some cross with the natives and produce new colour strains.

On a recent visit to the RHS garden up in Yorkshire, Harlow Car, we found many different ones and were amazed in particular by the miniature jewels in the alpine house and in the alpine features around it. My next post will feature these.

Tags cpwslips, garden photography, gardening, oxlips, primroses, spring, spring garden

colours garden design garden photography gardening hardy perennials spring gardening

Pulmonarias – unsung heroes of the spring garden.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 11, 2013
15 Comments on Pulmonarias – unsung heroes of the spring garden.

Some plants become taken for granted and fail to be fully appreciated. I recently posted about celandines and got lots of favourable comments, so today I shall feature the wonderful pulmonarias with their subtle flowers and unusual foliage.

Here is the classic pulmonaria seen in so many British gardens with flowers in both pink and blue on the same plant and bristled leaves splodged with silver. We grow them in almost every border in our patch but they really prefer a little shade.

The best way to sing the praises of pulmonarias and hopefully encourage a few more gardeners to go out and get some for their own gardens is to put together a little gallery of photos of our plants to show their subtle beauty.

Just click on a photo and follow the journey to see if you are convinced.

Tags foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, pulmonarias, spring, spring flowers, spring garden

colours flowering bulbs fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grasses hardy perennials Land Art ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography Shropshire shrubs spring bulbs spring gardening wildlife

A Bouquet for April

At last spring has arrived in the garden and taken it by storm. Buds are bursting, birds are nesting and bees buzzing searching the blooms.

Any bouquet for April will have to embrace flowering bulbs.

And how about adding a few bursting buds of trees and shrubs? Our miniature chestnut, the sweetly scented daphne flowers and the froth of snow-white amelanchier flowers.

All around the garden fresh fruit blossom promise beautifully scented and delicious, delicate flavours. The pinks of apple blossom and whites of plums. Oh so tasty!

The insects are appreciating these new signs of life too, in particular the bees and butterflies. This little bee knows that there is something good awaiting him inside the tulip once it opens. He is just a centimetre or so long and coloured a rich gingery orange.