April in the Garden

Well Spring seems to have finally turned up after what seems like a much longer break so last weekend we finally got some time in the garden. I can't just blame the weather as we have been away quite a lot recently too, but it has felt too miserable to do much even when we were at home.

 

The patio area almost looks like summer is here, most of the plants have done ok this winter, although the agave in the bottom right hand corner is showing some damage. Hopefully it will just be marked rather than anything more serious.

Feeling like summer on the top patio

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Reach Out and Touch

I especially love seeing Scheffleras flush out new leaves, like a bunch of hands and arms reaching out, trying to touch the sky...

Okay, okay, it's not a Schefflera but what the heck!

The Scheffleras in our garden are just starting to flush and the ones above are among the earliest ones. More to follow in the next few weeks!

Mark :-)

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Chop Chop Time!

Chopping action continues in the garden now that spring is just around the corner! The weather was sunny and bright during the weekend, very spring like and perfect for gardening. But we still  have to keep in mind that it's only early March and we're not out of the woods yet.

What we can certainly do though is to start getting into full swing trimming and chopping back plants as part of spring tidy up and preparation.

As I walked out in the garden first thing in the morning I spotted clumps of Crocus already in bloom. The one above were fighting its way amongst the overgrown toppled leaves of the Kniphofia thomsonii var. thomsonii, reminding me that we ought to get cutting back as lots of plants are due them.

Which includes the plant below. A bit scary to do but it needs to be done...

Yikes!

And another one!

Done!

Schefflera rhododendrifolia

We very rarely chop back Scheffleras but this one needs to kept in shape. Looks like a drastic cut but it should look even better much later on.

Hope you had a productive weekend!

Mark :-)

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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 :-)

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Scheffleras in The Garden

We grow several Scheffleras in the garden and feature them quite regularly but not always as a group. I was meaning to feature them collectively as they were all flushing away in the spring (which can be very eye catching) but never managed to do so (one did get extra attention though!), mainly because I didn't get the chance to photograph them all during that period. Quite a lot of them too have attained significant heights since they were planted which makes it extra tricky to take photos of their new flush without getting the ladders out.

Anyway, here are some of the Scheffleras growing in our garden and how they are looking at the moment:

Schefflera kornasii with Fatsia japonica and Schefflera rhododendrifolia in the foreground

Schefflera aff. myriocarpa

Schefflera aff. chapana

Schefflera aff. chapana (same specimen as above)

Schefflera rhododendrifolia (Tregrehan) in the first raised bed

Schefflera rhododendrifolia (Garden House)

The two Schefflera rhododendrifolia above, as the name says are supposed to be the same, with the former from a rooted cutting of a plant growing at Tregrehan while the latter grown from seed from the specimen at the Garden House. I know that juvenile and mature leaves can differ but what puzzles me is that, if they are indeed the same plants then why are the colour of the new flush of leaves different? Hmmm...

Schefflera taiwaniana in the third raised bed

Schefflera delavayi on third raised bed

Remember the Schefflera delavayi above? It featured a few weeks ago due to the gradient of the new flush of leaves, which most of them have achieved their final size for the season. Still looks good though I think and the leaves are certainly not dainty nor delicate.

Schefflera rhododendrifolia on the middle patio

Schefflera alpina (large leaf form)

The one above is newly planted, as well as the one below:

Schefflera pauciflora

The Schefflera above is a new one from Crug Farm which we brought back from the Grow London garden show last week. What I did forget to ask them though is if this is actually the same as the one just above this (which we acquired last year) as both species are supposed to be closely related. Same or not I don't mind as I like them both individually.

Schefflera taiwaniana

This is our tallest Schefflera and the hardest to photograph due to its size and aspect. The top part of this specimen goes well beyond the top part of the pergola.

Taking these photos I also remembered that there were two species that we used to have growing in our garden but are no longer with us: S. multinervia and S. brevipedicellata. I didn't lose them due to cold winter temperatures  but rather both just seemed to have faded away for some unknown reasons. I'll reacquire them again at some point and plant again in the garden, to join these ones that seems very happy in their abode.

Mark :-)

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Miss Photogenic

So many plants are looking very beautiful in our garden at the moment, with it being early summer and all. One in particular has been especially catching my eye over the past few weeks. And with it catching my eye it has also been inevitably getting lots of attention from our camera too.

Just like in a beauty pageant, every candidate may be beautiful but only one will be deemed as the most loved by photographers and their camera - Miss Photogenic.

If I'm going to give that accolade to a plant over the past few weeks then it will have to be this particular Schefflera delavayi growing in the third raised bed in the new koi pond area.

Schefflera delavayi

It caught my eye at this stage and when I started taking photos of it

Schefflera delavayi

I've featured this plant several times already on our Facebook page and Twitter account so if you follow us there you would have seen some of these photos of the same plant already. At the risk of being over repetitive I'm featuring it again as a stand alone blog post.

It is currently looking like this

But I can't help it, I think it's just so photogenic! Currently my 'Miss Photogenic' of a plant!

Mark :-)

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Greenhouse Preparation

With winter fast approaching we needed to get the new greenhouse ready for its winter inhabitants. Normally we have prepared the garden for winter prior to now, but this year with builders, and our attention focussing on the house we had out it off until the last minute. 

As it was this morning

This Cycas revoluta spent the summer in the greenhouse, we actually thought it was dead earlier in the year, but
 it flushed late on in summer. Many of the new leaves were fused at the tips. I don't know the cause of this, we
will have to see if it does it next year.

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Cornwall Up North

A couple of weekends ago we paid our good friend a long overdue visit to spend some time and see his garden. We've always had hints that he has a beautiful garden but he has been elusive in sharing photos of them before. Despite knowing him for several years now and having been visiting some nurseries and plant fairs together, we were none the wiser on how his garden actually looked so our visit was that extra exciting as we'll finally get to see what his garden looked like in the flesh.

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A Season of Scheffleras

All the Scheffleras in our garden are busy flushing and putting out new growth at the moment. Like with many plants this year the burst of new growth has been delayed, much later than usual and the Scheffleras were no exception. But their current, almost simultaneous flushing are quite a sight to behold whenever we catch glimpse of them as we walk around the garden. A delight to see and never fails to bring a smile especially to Schefflera lovers like us. You can see just how many of these have grown by looking back at this post about our Scheffleras from a couple of years ago.

Schefflera taiwaniana

As they currently flush and grow away, here's my personal celebration and a glimpse of just some of this wonderful group of plants growing in our garden.

Schefflera digitata

Schefflera aff. chapana

Schefflera aff. myriocarpa

Schefflera rhododendrifolia (syn. impressa, Needham/Kew Form)

Each species behaves differently when it  comes to flushing, branching, and generally putting out new growth. On years when the growing season is relatively long (but not necessarily that warm, it rarely gets sultry warm here anyway) some of the Scheffleras put out several flushes from spring till early autumn, up to four flushes on such rare years. Whilst some only flush once and that's it for the year, concentrating its energy afterwards into flowering and later on producing seed.

Schefflera macrophylla

Schefflera alpina - this one has been kept in the pot it came in originally for over a year now and has grown since to a current height of 10' 
tall. Fortunately it is still thriving despite being on the neglected side. Must find it a permanent home soon.

Schefflera kornasii

Schefflera rhodendrifolia (syn. impressa, Garden House form)

Schefflera fantsipanensis

A resilient Schefflera taiwaniana - as we cut off large branches off the big tree near it a few months ago one of them fell directly on top of 
it, severely bending the main growing point. Fortunately we didn't cut it off as much to our surprise it just carried on growing from it, 
bendy at first but later straightening itself out.

Schefflera taiwaniana - from our biggest specimen

Schefflera delavayi

The growing season is still early, the season is still young. With its late appearance I am confused myself whether it is still spring or it is summer already. Whatever it may be, for me it is currently a season of Scheffleras.

Mark :-)

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