Garden Miscellany

Looking through some of the garden photos we've taken recently, there are those odd photos that roused our interest but not so much to dedicate an entire post about them.

So it's best to combine then in one post instead. A few of our garden miscellany...

Not many gardeners nowadays would recommend or deliberately plant running bamboos near fences or in such a tight space (gardening shows here in the early noughties seemed to have the penchant for doing just that).

Well we have several of such and as part of our maintenance of these plants is to leave surrounding paving stones loose so they can be lifted every so often, to check on rhizomes bidding to escape. Any rhizomes that do just gets cut off then the stone put back into place, easy peasy!

As well as growing plants we also like growing koi from small fish and these lot were maturing inside our growing on pond all of last year right up until a few weeks ago when most were already big enough to be moved to the big pond. And with space created in the growing on pond....

We just had to buy new ones to grow on. Eat up and get big boys and girls!

The Schefflera rhododendrifolia we have on the first raised bed near the koi pond always does this every spring. Not all of the buds survive though but it's a fascinating phenomenon and keep the plant looking 'lush' rather than umbrella like.

And to finish this miscellany...

The first time flowering of this Yucca recurvifolia, fantastic isn't it?

Mark :-)

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Post Mortem Embrace

As I was tidying and removing some of the dead plants still dotted around the garden last weekend I noticed this in our utility area (i.e. where some dead plants are also stored to be sorted out later):

It's like the long dead Cyathea australis giving the newly dead Yucca thompsoniana a cuddle,  a post mortem embrace. Perhaps it is giving it commiseration or a welcome to plant hades.

The Yucca came to us many years ago bare root and needing TLC so it stayed in the greenhouse for quite some time. Not long after being repotted it flowered which took up a lot of energy from an already ailing plant. And instead of re-rooting, all pre existing roots that it had rotted away instead. It was a slow death for the poor plant as it lingered in the greenhouse for years, finally succumbing this spring despite being given special care all through those times. Nevermind. And so the remaining trunk is now stashed with other architectural lifeless plant bodies in the utility area.

And speaking of demise after flowering, one of my favourite bamboos in the garden, a very slow growing one yet so beautiful with its bright yellow culms with green stripe on its sulcus is flowering...

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Cut and Paste

One of the things we have resolved to do more this year is to use as much of the existing plants we have already for planting out rather than buy more. Easier said than done as resistance can be difficult when visiting nurseries. But doing so frees up storage space and efforts when preparing the garden for the winter months.

There are several areas in the garden that will need some replanting and plant editing, which includes the first raised bed in the koi pond area. In this bed was a rather sprawling Kniphofia caulescens. It's a good looking poker with blue leaves but they tend to only look good for a couple of months or so. The rest of the year it looks scruffy as it accumulates dead leaves which takes a long time to tidy up, plus the dead leaves seems to harbor aphids in our garden. With time being a premium enough as it is for us, it was time to let it go and be replaced with an equally good looking and much less maintenance plant. And that plant was going to be one of our existing potted Yucca rostrata.

I didn't get the chance to take a photo of the Kniphofia clump before I dug it up but to give you an idea on what it looked like pre-removal is this clump of the same plant on the third raised bed:

The plant that was dug up was a much bigger clump so took awhile to be removed, but finally after all that a suitable hole was prepared:

Ready to home this little beauty:

As it was going on a raised bed with good drainage already I didn't add extra grit on the planting hole. And based on our experience Yucca rostrata does very well on ordinary garden soil with no extra modification as long as the area doesn't get waterlogged. Also it's best not to tease out the roots when planting as they are brittle, breaking very easily if prodded too much which can set back the plant.

And voila!

A new Yucca for a predominantly blue leafed and yucca bed! A relatively quick cut and paste job.

Mark :-)

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Is it Safe to Say Spring is Here?

This time of the year everything is bursting back into life. Its been another slow year for Spring to arrive, looking back into the archives we have complained about late springs before, so maybe its not really late and we are just impatient!

Now we are a few weeks past the clocks going forward the evenings are also light and bright, and we can actually spend some time in the garden after work. Although usually tempted to find a job to do it is an enjoyable way to just wind down after three quarters of an hour on the train.

So whats looking good in the garden now...

Pieris japonica

The bright pink flush on this Pieris appears on a few other plants and to the casual observer looks like flowers. Almost like the flowers on this potted Rhododendron, (potted to give it the soil conditions it likes, our garden is just a little too alkaline for rhododendrons to do well).

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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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Seeds everywhere!

Last year must have been a good year for Trachycarpus as many of the palms in our garden are laden down with seeds.

 



Trachycarpus fortune seeds




Trachycarpus fortune seeds

We tend to ignore the palm seeds, usually cutting off any the birds, mice or squirrels haven't taken once we get round to tidying up palms later in spring. In the past few years this has meant a small number of seedlings appearing under the palms each year. However given the abundance of seeds on them this year I think we may end up with a whole forest of them.

Still that makes a change from weeding out sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) seedlings that turn up in their thousands every year!

Gaz

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The Garden in Early February

The UK has a bit of a cold spell at the moment, although fortunately not too cold - about 3C this morning. Despite the cold it was a bright day in the garden to I took advantage and went out with the camera.

Blue sky almost makes it feel like spring is here.

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Our Garden in Gardeners' World Magazine

Exotic Gardening takes centre stage in this months edition of Gardeners' World magazine, which includes a six page feature of our garden.

The article contains several garden photos and an interview with us by Annie Gatti. Preview of the article is seen above.

Cover of July 2017 edition

Together with our garden feature are other articles focusing on Exotic Gardening like Tough Tropicals amongst others.

Preview on the June 2017 edition

If you do get the chance grab a copy for a further insight into our garden. Gardeners World gives some tips and relevant advice on adding a touch of exotica into your garden, or perhaps turning your entire garden into one like we did!

Mark :-)

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Go Grow Glow!

The yuccas in the second raised bed are enjoying the summer and growing away nicely, except for one that is...

The Yucca rostrata right in the middle of this bed has sadly popped its head off a couple of weeks ago. It was already looking peaky by the end of winter however I was hoping it would pull through and grow robust once the weather warmed up. Alas that was not the case as when we had a very windy period a few weeks ago, with the gusts off came its head. It's a shame to lose this one as it was the first Yucca rostrata I had bought and from a nursery too that no longer exists but was ahead of its game then. This yucca has always had a slight gash near the crown which I presumed had fully healed as it seemed in the last few years but perhaps last winter it became a site for rot to develop and spread to eventually finish it off.

Shame it had to GO but it is a dead plant in a very prominent spot. I'm still considering what to replace it with, whether another Yucca rostrata or a large glazed urn, or perhaps a different plant altogether. Watch this space...

As for GROW, a few notable ones are:

Chamaerops humilis

This Chamaerops humilis growing in a pot which had strangely spear pulled last winter even though it was a relatively mild one. The good thing is it is clearly recovering but pushing out new growth. Oddly though, it has also pushed out an inflorescence albeit a small one at the same time. Silly palm, couldn't make up its mind.

Gunnera tinctoria

Near the palm above is our Gunnera tinctoria growing robustly and has already rooted over the pond coping stone to dip its feet directly on to the water, helping it grow even bigger and remain upright.

Schefflera rhododendrifolia

And back on to the second raised bed, the Schefflera rhododendrifolia is looking extra good with it's new growth and flush of leaves.

Trachycarpus princeps hybrid

And jumping on to the middle patio, I spotted this Trachycarpus princeps hybrid positively GLOWing as it catches the morning light. Lovely!

Mark :-)

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Tale of Two Agaves

Herein lies the tale of two agaves and how their different treatment through the years have made a difference on their growth rate. 

I bought two small Agave ovatifolias in 2013, grown from the same batch of seeds, they were exactly the same size when I acquired them. Repotted into identical pots, they both grew at exactly the same size until in 2015 when one of them was transferred on to a blue glazed pot and placed at the front of the house. Since the makeover all the plants there were given extra attention, to keep the front garden looking smart (prior to that the front of the house was genuinely neglected and often a dumping ground for building materials for the back garden). So plants were regularly watered, fed, and kept weed free.

The second one was placed by the edge of the koi pond in a plastic white pot. It was a prominent spot but not a conducive one for the health and growth of the agave. Under the eaves of a pergola, it remained dry whenever rain fell, and by being on the edge of a koi pond it was rarely watered to minimise the risk of soil (and more bacteria) running into the pond.

So the first one got watered regularly and was placed in a bigger pot, the second one kept on the dry side and remained in a small pot for years. The result is going to be obvious, two years on the former is more than double the size of the latter.

Feeling guilty that I have grossly neglected the latter, it was time to treat it right by giving it a much bigger pot. It has then been placed away from the shelter of the pergola  in the open to bask in the sun and get watered much more regularly. So two weeks ago it was given a new home.

Where it is now gets sun all year round, sheltered but will get rained on, and much more likely to get watered when we have the hosepipe out and the entire garden gets supplemental watering.

Hopefully it will catch up in size with its front garden brother relatively quickly. With both being in a pot neither of them are likely to attain the size they can potentially do when planted out. But they can still attain a very good size even in a pot if watered regularly during the summer and given a sufficient sized container.

Mark :-)

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Our Exotic Garden in Early June

Time flies so fast and it's the first week of June already! We just came back from a long weekend in Belfast and we'll be featuring snaps of the vibrant capital of Northern Ireland shortly.

Before we went there I had the chance to take a few random snaps of the garden...

Morning really is the best time to take photos of the garden, when the lighting is soft yet bright. The jungle area is looking verdant already and yet the summer growth is still looming.

I love the way the yellow culms of the bamboo catch the light and seeming help to illuminate this area

Phyllostachys vivax f. aureocaulis

Another view of the jungle...

It's been a good spring for the flowering of Trachycarpus fortunei wherein nearly all of our palms, big and small flowered this year. Will we get lots of seeds? We shall wait and see!

This sedum catching the morning light. 

One of Cotton's favourite sleeping spots

And this border on our top patio is looking verdant too. The Schefflera taiwaniana on the left will need staking as it's becoming top heavy.

Fortunately I managed to take these photos whilst the weather was fine as it was certainly not when we got back. Heavy rains and strong winds made spending time in the garden today very unappealing. Hopefully by next weekend the weather will be great again, and we'll be able to continue with our sprucing up!

Mark :-)

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Makeover Weekend

With last weekend being a three day one it was the perfect opportunity to get stuck in and start giving two areas of our garden a spruce up and a mini makeover. These two areas are the bottom patio (where the big goldfish pond is) and jungle veranda.

Despite being only classed as 'mini makeovers', they'll still take quite a bit of time to complete. So no finished product and after shots on this post, but rather just glimpses of what we have done so far, up to the point where we packed up on Monday evening.

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Plant Spotting in Venice

Venice was a beautiful dream, we really enjoyed our recent stay there. There was so much beauty in the place, and in almost every turn we made there was something noteworthy to behold.

More about this spectacular city on a separate post. For now I will focus on a few random plant vignettes that we've spotted on our walks in on the main island and a couple of nearby ones (Murano and Burano).

A rose garden on an exotic gardening blog? This will be a rarity for us but spotted this along the grand canal and couldn't help but note how quintessentially romantic the entire thing is: roses in full bloom, gently cascading on Italianate balustrades and statues, in a most desirable location of along the grand canal and surrounded by period buildings.

  
Ahh to be able to grow succulents like these on an outdoor windowsill! Not sure about an Opuntia though...

More likely Dasylirion longissimum (could be D. quadrangulatum) planted on urn. I understand the effect they wanted to achieve (i.e. fountains) but this is a harsh way of trimming these plants. They are best left with as much foliage as possible or just trimmed as 'half spheres' rather than just 'spurts'. Hope these still thrive well and for the long term.

Not sure about the identity of this climber, a Tetrastigma perhaps? The effect is beautiful.

Love this collection of plants in one of the many small squares within the main island. My eyes naturally zoomed in on the Aeonium perched on the slender shelf on the wall.

This Jasmine was everywhere and in full bloom, wafting a heady floral scent that makes strolling around extra pleasurable. Photo was taken in Murano.

Seen at the colourful island of Burano. Not many front gardens here but a few had a collection of potted plants at least. These ones were succulents.

And so was this one. Any ideas what those water bottles could be for?

More about Venice on a future post!

Mark :-)

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