Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Late February Colour in the Garden

Last week of February already, how fast does time fly? Mind you it also means spring is definitely just around the corner!

Most garden bloggers in the UK seems to have been keeping themselves busy and active plant wise with plenty of snowdrop activities. So far we haven't caught the fever yet although it is a nice preoccupation on an otherwise almost void period of a gardening year. We did catch a glimpse of the few snowdrops that we have in our garden last weekend and they are just about to bloom too. They seemed rather late but nevertheless a delight to see! As usual forgot to take photos of them though but hopefully they blooms are still around this coming weekend.

Anyway, here are a few random shots of our garden taken last weekend...



Tree fern fronds are mostly still green which means our lowest temperature this winter hasn't been below -6C...yet (we're not out of the woods and touch wood as I don't want to tempt fate). Based on our observations through the years the Dicksonia antarctica frond only go brown and crispy when temperatures go lower than that.



Our tallest Schefflera taiwaniana. So hard to photograph well without extra effort as it's taller than me (and that's a good thing).



This one, Schefflera kornasii not so difficult and only slightly taller than me. And it's also looking better than ever!



Orange can be present in an exotic garden too even in the depths of winter.



And speaking of orange....Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillonis'



Now that we're on to bamboos let me continue it a bit with one of my favourites, this Chilean beauty called Chusquea culeou. The culms are solid (character of the genus) unlike the hollow ones of most other bamboos.



And finally a very generous gift from our friend Don (check out his fab garden here), a New Zealand native lancewood, Pseudopanax crassifolius that is over seven feet tall and I can't help but admire everytime I pass by it. Although at that height it is definitely hard to ignore, plus it looks fabulously odd!

Now what will we get up to this weekend? Hmmmm....

Mark :-)

31 comments :

  1. Wow, your Chusquea culeou is big already! I also love chusqueas. There are two in my mother-in-law's garden near the Oregon border; they almost died in the deep freeze of December 2013 but are making a slow recovery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to hear that they sailed through Gerhard! Is that the one near Mt. Shasta? Have you got any in your garden? They ought to be more popular really, hardy and looks distinctive :)

      Delete
    2. Yes, in Mount Shasta. They had -5F in Dec. 2013. That top-killed them but they came back from the rhizomes. I don't have any because they can't take the dry summer heat we have.

      Delete
  2. Have you guys done a rundown of your bamboos recently? You must have at least four species, but maybe much more than that? It's so nice seeing gardens from milder climates at this time of year...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We possibly still have around 60 Alan, over four genus :) hope that cold spell in your area will end soon, cross fingers!

      Delete
  3. Oooo I like that Schefflera kornasii a lot. I've just been reading up an earlier post you did on Schefflera. I don't suppose they'd like my clay/chalk combo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They don't seem that demanding or fussy Sarah. Give them a try, perhaps with S. taiwaniana first and/or S. rhododendrifolia :)

      Delete
  4. I've got to get me one of those orange bamboos.. It's fabulous!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'll have to Jessica, some of them glow even on a dreary and dull day :)

      Delete
  5. Great color! The red stems of Schefflera kornasii are incredible! Haven't seen that one over here yet. Phyllostachys bambusoides 'Castillonis' is glorious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully there will be some on your area soon Peter. Worth checking Cistus as well :)

      Delete
  6. That orange bamboo is pretty cool. I enjoyed this quick look around your garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alison! That bamboo seems to flow even when it's dark already :)

      Delete
  7. Your garden sure looks lush for February..here in Norcal we have daylight savings time kicking in the first weekend in March, which means more daylight and gardening time after coming home from the office--love those red stems on S. kornasii !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have our BST end of March Kathy, so looking forward to that! As you've said more gardening time after work :)

      Delete
  8. Oh everything is looking just grand! Have you planted the Pseudopanax crassifolius in the ground or is it in a container?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not yet Loree. We only got it a month ago and still figuring out where to place it :)

      Delete
  9. Loooove your bamboos, and that pseudopanax is so cool!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is Amy :) any thoughts about putting Pseudopanax in your garden?

      Delete
  10. You've got a lot of great color in your garden despite your (still cold) temperatures. I love those bamboos!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The touches of red and orange are so dramatic! My pseudopanax came inside for the winter. It has a long ways to go the reach those proportions...maybe never, if it stays in a pot. I sure would hqte to lose it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They seem to do will even in small pots Ricki, in fact the one above grows in a very small pot that I have to put bricks on it to stop it falling over.

      Delete
  12. Is Pseudopanax crassifolius hardy enough for your garden? It looks awesome!!! everything does...the Scheffleras are beautiful, and the bamboos...and the tree fern...beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Lisa! And yes on more recent winters it has been hardy enough to sail through fine :)

      Delete
  13. Seems extraordinary that a sixth of the year is already passed. Your garden's looking great. I'm not a great snowdrop enthusiast either so don't get an early start to the year but it's definitely time to start to get out there and get going. The weeds are getting away from me already.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Helen! The gardening bug is slowly creeping in, and tempted to stay home all weekend and garden :)

      Delete
  14. I love that Pseudopanax. I don't know how nature managed to come up with so many fabulous combinations of shape and color.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here Heather, and big part of the allure of that Pseudopanax is how weird it looks :)

      Delete
  15. Wow, those two bamboos are gorgeous! I wish I had not been turned so off bamboos by the invasive creature that was planted behind our house long before we arrived. It is an excellent screen, but it also comes up in the parking area and the vegetable garden. We will never get rid of it. It wants to take over the place, and we battle it constantly. But yours are extraordinary, and I hope well-behaved!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some are more behaved than others Debs. The one above is a runner too but not vigorous in our location. Hopefully you'll consider trying some bamboos again :)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to reply to our post, we love reading comments and hearing your views.

Due to the increased level of spam, please note comments on older posts are moderated and only published after approval. All new comments are read and any spam is deleted.