Veg Plotting

Let the Flood Resilient Garden's build commence! My friend  Naomi and the rest of the team are on site at Chelsea today, so now all the dreams and plans are set to become reality. I'm getting really excited as I'm working on the build just before the show! Hopefully there will be time to snap a few quick pics when I'm there so you can see what's happening. In the meantime we'll have to make do with the sketched design - as you can see there's a lot crammed into a small space. FloodRe - the garden's sponsor - have an interactive version on their website which allows you to explore the garden's features thoroughly - both in terms of the various habitats and planting - which are also chosen carefully to help with flood resilience, as well as the more engineering aspects to the design. As a result I'm currently pondering whether we can have some extra wide guttering installed on our house as we have real problems with overflows on an increasingly r...

I've spotted primroses popping up in many places on my walks this week and it's a welcome sight to see them. I found the pictured ones in Old Hardenhuish Lane on my way to Lidl* yesterday. They're in a patch on the edge of damp woodland next to Hardenhuish Brook and I've also seen them close to the River Avon right in the middle of Chippenham. They're a timely sighting as I'm thrilled to be working with FloodRe's The Flood Resilience Garden team in a small way during the run up to Chelsea Flower Show. I'll provide the written content for their Plant of the Week spot on the garden's Instagram account over the next few months. It just so happens the primrose is my first entry this week - you'll find snowdrop, birch and dogwood there already, as provided by Naomi , the garden's designer. My primrose finds show they're an excellent fit with the show garden's ethos which is to demonstrate simple choices in design and planting can help a...

I bought this Camassia leichtlinii 'Sacajawea' five years ago at the Malvern Spring Show. How do I know that? It's because so far, the number of blooms I've had each year has followed the Fibonacci sequence i.e. 0 (when I didn't have it), 1 in year 1 when I bought it, then 1 in year 2, 2 in year 3, 3 in year 4, and as you can see 5 blooms this year. So what should I get in year 6? The answer is 8 (i.e. 3+5 from the 2 previous years), so we shall see... I've often seen the more common blue Camassias in lots of gardens I've visited in late spring, and very fine they are too...but plumped instead for its white cousin with variegated leaves for the top terrace bed here at VP Gardens . It's fully repaid my decision despite the slow increase in blooms as the leaves lengthen the season of interest and the rocket-like flowers really light up this part of the garden towards dusk. The garden's flowering much later this year, owing to one of the coolest and...

There's the most gorgeous scent chez VP Gardens for this month's Blooms Day because you've arrived here at the peak time for my mock orange, Philadelphus 'Virginal' . Most of the year she lurks at the back of the border because without flowers she's easy to overlook, but at this time of the year the flowers and scent are simply knockout. We've had a little bit of rain the past few days (welcome after 2 months of near drought) and the ensuing humidity has served to deepen the rich, citrusy scent even more. The buds are attractive too and soon the petals will fall from those blooms already open to spread themselves like confetti beneath the nearby apple tree. This is a fully hardy, easycare deciduous shrub suitable for the back of the border. It doesn't mind lime and clay, so it's ideal for the conditions here in Wiltshire. It's in a relatively shaded part of my garden, though it will stand well in sunshine too. I've neglected i...

Houseplants are trendy. Houseplants are cool. And who wouldn't be tempted by this spectacular  Alocasia x amazonica  (aka Amazonian elephant's ear) when it's going for a song at their local supermarket? Not I for one. Luckily I knew what I was getting as I lust after them whenever I see them at a show or in a heated glasshouse. Why lucky? Because there was no care label anywhere to be seen and most of the information out there rates these as Difficult. Later, I checked at several such outlets, then my local DIY store and found exactly the same situation: tons of attractive and tempting houseplants, succulents and cacti... all with zero information to tell the buyer what they are and what to do with them. In this instance the amazonica in the name is the clue. This is a plant that likes plenty of humidity and warmth. It needs rainwater instead of my limy tapwater and requires misting every day. It's currently around 10 inches in height, so I need to prepare my...

The frosts of a couple of weeks ago turned all but the hardiest of my summer flowers to a memory, and now it's the turn of the winter bloomers to take a star turn in VP Gardens . The earliest of these is Clematis 'Freckles'. The guidance says she blooms from November through to February; mine's been throwing out the odd bloom or three since July. This isn't a rare occurrence; it happens here most years and I know  Alan has had the same experience this year. I can thank NAH for this year's plentiful blooms. This is a pruning group 1 clematis, so I tend to neglect her dreadfully. NAH in Drastic Gardener mode cut her down to the ground last year when the huge tangle of stems invaded next door's garage. He left her for dead, but she's made of sterner stuff and has grown back more strongly than before. It was worth sacrificing last year's winter display ('Freckles' flowers on old wood) for what's there now. The guidance says growth...

Regular readers know I love clematis, but I wasn't sure about the Clematis heracleifolia I planted in VP Gardens a while ago. In fact, I'd mentally decided to replace it with something more garden worthy earlier this summer. Of course that meant it's since pulled out the stops and is flowering beautifully for my slightly later than usual Blooms Day this month. I guess like many of its clematis cousins it subscribes to the Sleep, Creep, Leap method of garden establishment. This clematis is herbaceous rather than the more familiar climber grown, and flowers late summer and into the autumn. The leaves are quite different too, and it's only when the individual flowers in each hyacinth-like cluster are examined more closely, that its clematis heritage is seen more clearly. The RHS describes it as a sub-shrub, and the true-blue flowers are borne in clusters on stems of around 3 to 4 feet in length. These are currently threading through and filling in the gaps in m...

Following last year's Windowsill makeover , I'm pleased to report my basket of plants has filled out nicely and continues to look good in the kitchen one year on. The Aloe vera  can be pressed into burns relief duties if needed, and the two Plectranthus on either side don't seem to mind being hacked back occasionally to keep them within bounds. For this month's Blooms Day it's the plant on the left which is of interest... ... fifteen months on from when Barbara gave me a cutting it has a few spikes of delicate white blooms. I thought they looked a little Salvia -like, so it's no surprise she says it's one of South Africa's indigenous sages, aka Plectranthus grandidentatus,  aka vicks plant*. As well as looking sage-like, I also think the flowers are sticking their tongues out. Barbara goes on to say: "... it was growing between the plum trees etc at a wonderful winery I visited in South Africa a few years back, Babylonstoren ." ...

Sunset edged irises at Chateau du Rivau It was bearded iris time on our recent trip to France ; also at last week's Chelsea Flower Show; and judging by my peeps into social media, it's currently iris time for many of you too. I must admit I'm late to warm to these flowers. The earlier blooming  Iris reticulata, then elegant  Iris sibirica are usually my species of choice, but seeing so many fine bearded irises whilst away along with the steady drip feed of your photos finally got me thinking differently. Then yesterday whilst sorting through my things, I found a leaflet from Cayeux nursery (which I picked up at Chelsea last week), which has answered all my doubts... I loved Cayeux's colour sectioned display at this year's Chelsea Flower Show. Guess which one is my favourite? Doubt #1: They don't bloom for very long Cayeux says: "If you select a mixture of small, intermediate and tall varieties you can have irises in flower from mid April...

I bought this clematis at my first visit to Malvern show (before I started blogging) for the princely sum of £2, because its extra-large blooms caught my eye - the diameter of each is about the size of my hand's span. It's one of the earliest clematis to flower, but until now it's been a little shy for me. This year is proving to be different, with many buds lined up below the three flowers you can see. It's reputed to have both double and single blooms, with the doubles appearing first followed by the singles later in summer. This is because it can flower on old and new wood, though mine has always been single flowered, even when I forget to prune it like I've done this year (it's pruning group 2 , in case you were wondering). It was bred by Charles Noble in 1882, possibly a cross between  C. lanuginosa  (discovered by Robert Fortune in China) and a seedling of 'Fortunei' ×  patens . It's long servitude  makes it a 'good doer' in my ...

April 10th saw the start of National Gardening Week here in the UK. It's great timing for this RHS-led initiative as Easter is the traditional time everyone spends more time in the garden. I had planned to spend all week in the garden and on the allotment to celebrate, but a severe cold with a high temperature saw me in bed feeling sorry for myself instead. I did manage to pop out for 5 minutes and take some photos of what's looking good and I've posted one each day on social media as my alternative celebration. Here's what I said for my Plant of the Day posts for #nationalgardeningweek, starting with the main photo and then working from top right down to bottom left. Perky scented 'Thalia' daffodils are my first Plant of the Day for National Gardening Week (Apr 10-16 2017). It has consistently met with approval by many gardeners on social media over the past few weeks. The alpine clematis 'Francis Rivis' has lots of luscious blooms with...

Thanks for all your comments on my Blossom Time post last week and my subsequent entry on the Garden Bloggers Facebook Group. Whilst it wasn't a formal poll of your favourites, I thought I'd share the results. Besides, it gives me the perfect excuse to share the elegant crab apple blossom I discovered in some new public planting  at Kingdom Street, Paddington Central last week. My long waiting times for the off-peak trains from the station need never be boring again. Your favourites broadly agreed with mine with ornamental cherry topping the poll, closely followed by magnolia, then a tie between apple and Amelanchier . Many of you said 'whatever is currently in flower' instead, which is a sentiment I heartily concur. Hawthorn, blackthorn, quince and pear all got a mention. You also added  Cornus mas , camellia, Paulownia and lilac to the list. You reminded me that many flowering shrubs add great blossom value to spring, with Edgeworthia and witch hazel getting...

My neighbour's magnolia tree leans happily over our fence - it's a  Magnolia x soulangeana of unknown variety The past week has seen a transformation here in Chippenham. Green fuzziness is busting out all over, and gorgeous blossom is everywhere. It means from now until May, the trees take centre stage and proclaim spring is truly here. I'm really lucky living where I am. As well as my neighbour's generosity with her magnolia, whoever chose the trees for our estate did a really good job. Most front gardens have a small tree with around a third of these currently sporting glorious blossom. They're mainly ornamental cherries of various white and pink hues. The planners also kept many of the old hedgerows threading through the estate, so whilst I probably wouldn't choose blackthorn as a garden tree, I'm more that happy to find it leaning over our other back garden fence. The blossom has a notorious warning - beware the blackthorn winter - but it ...

Galanthus plicatus 'Wendy's Gold' waves to the ivy.  I've resisted having a snowdrop collection for ages. I've been perfectly happy with my garden's masses of single and double forms of good old  Galanthus nivalis for many years. The slippery slope began when I bought two 'Winter Moonbeam' hellebores at an RHS show in 2011 which came with 2 free G . 'Augustus' . I resolved to have just one special snowdrop and no more. That soon changed of course, because I love snowdrops and snowdrop owners can be quite generous with their gifts when you show your enthusiasm. I still don't class myself as a galanthophile , nor even a collector as my ten or so cultivars are far too modest for that. Caught up in the euphoria of the garden bloggers meetup at Chelsea Physic Garden  recently, I plunged a little further down the slippery slope because G . 'Wendy's Gold' followed me home. I actually bought a promise, because she was just a ...

A host of golden daffodils: a chance sighting at St James's Park, London in March One of my first gardening activities when I moved to VP Gardens was to plant hundreds of daffodils on the bank at the side of the house. The effect in my mind's eye was similar to the one above and it was successful, until the trees and shrubs planted by the builders grew taller and shaded them out. Now there's the opportunity to try again as NAH - in Drastic Gardener guise again - has started to cut back some of the unwanted vegetation (mainly suckering blackthorn and bramble from the public land), thus letting more light onto our patch. The overgrown dogwood still needs taking in hand, but my mind is set on a host of dancing daffodils again. In the meantime, I've treated myself to some of the daintier ones to cheer next spring. These are mainly in pots, so I can admire them from the patio. I tried this a few years ago and was surprised one evening to find the most amazing scent ...