Friday 23rd May 2014

Bridge talked about her visit to Chelsea Flower Show this week and to a talk given by Fergus Garret and Dan Pearson at the Royal Geographic Society which was arranged via Gardens Illustrated magazine – highly recommended. Dan Pearson talked about The Garden Bridge, an exciting new project which will span the Thames at Waterloo.

Plant identification:

Some of the plants this week were from photos that Bridge took at Chelsea. 

Tellima grandiflora

Libertia 'Goldfinger'

• Libertia ixoides ‘Taupe Sunset’ – a perennial with thin spiky leaves with unusual variegation: good for containers as fairly drought tolerant. At the Garden House we have Libertia ‘Goldfinger’ in clay urns. It is currently flowering - sparse small white flowers - but is essentially a foliage plant.
• Tellima grandiflora – hardy perennial, tiny creamy lemon flowers on long spikes, fresh green heuchera-like leaves. > 80 cm. Likes semi-shade; good for shady borders and wild gardens.
• Euphorbia oblongata – good acid greens/yellows for flower arranging. It is a short lived perrenial often grown as an annual. It grows > 1m and has loose flower heads. Sun. Euphorbias were popular at Chelsea e.g. Euphorbia palustris > 1 m., E. Cornigera   >75 cm leaves with pale midrib, and the smaller feathery-leaved.  E. Cyparrissus ‘Orange Man’. All euphorbias have milky sap which can irritate the skin on contact, especially in sunshine.
• Rosa ‘Warm Welcome’ – electric orange small blooms. Small climber. Scented.
• R. James Galway’ – Pale pink flowers with dark centre, shaped like a centifolia rose. Climber. Scented.
• R. ‘Dublin Bay’ – velvety dark red climber with hybrid tea shaped blooms, disappointingly no scent.
• R. ‘Cecile Brunner’ – small, abundant pink flowers, perfect buttonhole rose. Scented. Climber.

Rushfield Nurseries near Henfield are good for roses.

Peter Beales, Norfolk- based specialist rose nursery, on-line and always exhibiting at the big flower shows. Also David Austen Roses, their main rivals!

Activities in the garden this week:

•          Trialling tomato plants outdoors in various containers.
•          Creative planting of bedding in unusual containers
•          Seed sowing: more biennials and Painted Lady runner beans with pretty flowers
•          Clearing hostas etc from side passage and planting and clipping box in containers
•          Plant out annuals and fennel
•          Weeding large border

Thought you might enjoy this pic of Sue and Mandy on a shopping trip (only 2 of the tiny blue carrier bags were mine!). We had a fab visit to the open garden at Newtimber and managed to do just a little bit of plant swapping and shopping.