Chock full of winter joy and surprises

I went on a fantastic road trip with my friend Naomi recently, where we found our mouthwatering itinerary was chock full of winter joy, sneak peeks and surprises...
A quick tour around Hortus Loc

First stop was Hortus Loci in Hampshire where we saw potting up was already in full swing to fill the huge polytunnels with the plants on order for Chelsea Flower Show. 

 This year they're growing for IKEA's Gardening Will Save the World, which will be the first show garden in the Great Pavilion judged for a medal. It'll be on 2 levels and include lots of edibles; our guide Danny Green (Show Plant manager) confirmed it should include lingonberries, a signature berry of IKEA's fare whenever I go there. The other main show garden they're growing for is Welcome to Yorkshire which the lovely Mark Gregory is designing again this year. It promises to have a working lock gate as its centre piece - I can't wait to see it in action.

The team are also growing for Malvern Spring Festival - it should be a great start to the show garden year and I look forward to catching up with them there. Are any other bloggers planning on going in May?

Outside in the nursery I loved the amazing espalier trained fruit trees which included figs and mulberries.  There was also fantastic food and wonderful cakes prepared for us by Sebastian at The Hobo.CO cafe. Hot water bottles and fleecy blankets kept us warm in the laid back cafe/lounge area whilst we discussed nursery matters with Mark Straver and Robin Wallis.
Gravetye Manor at dusk - the hotel glows its welcome; dusky photograph doesn't do the kitchen garden justice; William Robinson was here; and the garden commands fine views over the High Weald

 Then on to Gravetye Manor erstwhile home of gardening and garden writing pioneer William Robinson. If a garden could give you a hug, then this garden is it - even in winter. I was pleased to see how well the new contemporary dining room fits in with its much older surroundings. Old and new can mix well, even when the new is quite bold (see also the Holburne Museum in Bath).

 Head Gardener Tom Coward showed us round with pride and enthusiasm in spite of just finishing a busy day's filming for the Chelsea Flower Show coverage. The Manor is one of the inspirational places Sarah Eberle is using for her The Resilience Garden design for the Forestry Commission. This is one of the ways the Commission is celebrating its 100th birthday as well as highlighting the challenges facing our woodlands today. Until we visited I didn't know the Commission manages the wider estate at Gravetye and I look forward to following the show garden in more depth later.

One of my abiding memories of Tom's talk at Bath University Gardening club a couple of years ago is the jaw dropping oval shaped walled kitchen garden. It didn't disappoint even at dusk in January, though sadly my photo doesn't do it justice. Unlike many of its contemporaries, this example isn't sited well away from the main house, but instead is a short walk away poised in pride of place

At the end of our tour Tom kindly arranged tea for us in the Manor's drawing room and it was something else - a real 'pinch me I'm here' moment. We were there twixt afternoon tea and dinner and it felt like we had the place to ourselves with only the sound of the crackling log fire for company. Utter bliss.

Update: Take The Resilience Garden link and the film we saw in the making is now on the website. It gives a lovely view of the garden and forms a great introduction to William Robinson's work and the show garden planned for Chelsea.
A walk through Wakehurst's newly opened winter garden

 Next day saw us at Wakehurst in the morning for Kew's launch of their new winter garden, where the weather was obligingly freezing. What you can't see just out of shot by the bench is a huddle of people warming their hands on the firepit brought in specially for the occasion.

 It was great to meet Ed Ikin at last (I first came across him when I was at the National Trust's HQ and he was Head Gardener at Nymans) and share his enthusiasm for a completed project and the delight of further ones to come. We learned the team had had a major task in keeping the thousands of plants which make up the winter garden alive during last summer's heat and drought. They did a magnificent job and the garden is set to get even better now it's settled in.

Wakehurst isn't just about the Millennium Seed Bank, there are over 500 acres to explore in what Kew calls their 'wild botanic garden'. With further projects to come such as an American prairie garden grown from collected seed, I'm keen to have a much longer visit next time.

Winter delights at Wisley and a sneak peek at the new Welcome Centre

 Final stop was RHS Wisley - as you can see Naomi always looks elegant even when wearing a hi-viz jacket and hard hat, whilst I can't conceal my delight at two days of full-on garden visiting and access all areas.

We were there for a tour around the new Welcome Centre. It's a huge space which will transform the way visitors approach the garden. The building was at the fitting out stage and we had to use our imaginations to visualise how the mud outside will be transformed into Christopher Bradley-Hole's exciting landscape design. The new Centre is due to open in May and I look forward to seeing the transformation later this year, as well as finding out more about the (soon to follow) new science centre.

 We also had time for a quick tour around the rock garden, Alpine House and Glasshouse. I took a photo of the crevice gardens outside for comparison of those I'm due to see in Denver later this year (scroll down the link for another sneak peek) and we were surprised to find some of the 'special' snowdrops under lock and key in the Alpine House. Apparently there is a real problem with snowdrop theft at many gardens these days, and this is the RHS's solution to the issue. 

 We also had time to review the Thinking Outside the Box trial (note to self: must get an updated plant list for my original post) and see some of the larger LEGOⓇ creations being set up in the Glasshouse. Those of you expecting butterflies at half term this year are in for a surprise!
That's two days of winter inspiration, sneak peeks, surprises and gardens - there's nothing better to help chase away the winter blues. My thanks to Naomi for inviting me along for the ride and everyone at each place we visited who made us most welcome.

Comments

  1. Lisa Wagner7 February 2019 at 00:32

    This sounds like an absolutely perfect garden/behinds-the-scenes outing. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP7 February 2019 at 09:39

      Hi Lisa - it was wonderful. This was our second winter road trip and they're so worthwhile. Quite different to where you are in Quebec, though we did have a snow taster last weekend!

      Delete
  2. Anna10 February 2019 at 16:09

    That sounds a most interesting and informative trip. We hope to visit either Malvern or Chelsea. Himself has never been to the latter so that may turn out to be the deciding factor :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP11 February 2019 at 10:56

      I hope to go to both; it would be great to see you there :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more