Hi Verdun. Forgot to mention I have found my plant lists which go back to 1957 though not up to date with later plants here which hopefully I can remember. I say this because I wondered if it would be of interest to have a natter about some of our past favourites as well as present ones.
Re. your earlier post today - a very early one, you obviously go to bed late... well, it was a very nice photo you posted...I've not grown Fennel nor Astrantia's... Curry plants are quite popular aren't they...? for me, as long as they are in other people's gardens.. that's fine...
...it's not a smell I care for too much...
I've looked up Scopolia... not heard of these before.. quite a nice little plant for Spring it seems... not one you see everywhere..
Carex pendula is one grass that I do not like... I find it coarse and weedy looking... Hypericum Hidcote I used to grow... it's still very popular.. my neighbour has one so I see it every day...
I take no notice of Ants nests... let them get on with it... I rarely find they trouble me at all out of doors... indoors that's another matter... I saddens me in a way when I see people throwing ant powder over the nests... especially on their driveways.. but none of my business...
..nice plants in the shingle.. the pink and saxifrage... I like rounded little plants like this, I grow the same sorts of things in mine...I'm very fond of shingle beds actually...
..perhaps I should look out for Glow Worms too...I can't say that I've ever seen any, knowingly...
I only started gardening in the mid 1980's... I think my first inspiration was the little rose book by Dr Hessayon.. he wrote lots of these on various types of plants...I got interested in so many roses mentioned... but they were modern hybrid teas or floribundas... I rarely grow these now... but they still have a place, and I hold one or two affectionately... but we tend to move on as our interests change...my favourites then were Korresia , Silver Jubilee and Frensham [a gorgeous dark red]... still available, and still good...
then I went to Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire, a National Trust garden, full of old roses and species, and my taste changed overnight...
hi Verdun, thanks for your reply... I've looked at that Koeleria.. quite a nice looking plant isn't it?, but I don't think it's the same as mine...
what I have found on a couple of sites are photos almost exactly like my plant, and labelled Festuca ovina var. Glauca [Sheep's fescue]... but these are most likely seed raised and not the cultivar known as Elijah blue...
I think I have been sold a seed raised Festuca ovina.... well. I'm going to keep it as I like it very much...so I'm not disappointed... providing it doesn't seed itself about, that's what I don't want... we shall see... I've not had it that long... thanks again for your time...
Hi Salino - Verdun. I know very little of Grasses but referring to Salinos pic I did have a couple of plants bought as Festuca ovina glauca and they were more as Verdun described it - quite blue foliage and uprigh buff flrs - that might help.
Hi Salino - Verdun - all. Ref that raised bed it is quite fiercely drained having a goodly amount of small (limefree) gravel in it and in the planting holes/soil - the surface layer is (presumably) going to prevent "collar rot" in winter etc - I may well devise some cover or other to further protect from this damp. Ref looking back to plants once grown I will if OK comment on a few at a time here and there. Please remember these are years old memories and as I found them - others experiences with them if grown may well have been different - from there comes conversation and interest - by telling of it. Great favourites of mine were the tall Thalictrums - dipterocarpum and its var Hewetts Double. Extremely slender plants with fine foliage thin stems with the most dainty violet and cream flrs with as I recall a ring of petals and a tuft of stamens (?) in the centre - that was dipterocarpum - Hewetts double had fully double flowers mostly mauve I think. The whole plants very graceful but needed to be planted in a windfree spot since being so slender they could easily be blown into a tangle which spoilt them. Next a little gem and not easy to come by then, do not know the situation now. Called Arnebia echioides - The Prophets Flower. Cannot remember too much about it except that again dainty with yellow 5 petalled flowers, each petal with a black spot at its base which soon faded one flowers unfurled. Called The Prophets Flower due to it having been touched by one of the Prophets - theres more to that story but memory fails me - look it up perhaps. The Japanese anemones pink and white I loved and allowed them to wander in the borders where planted - the single white was my favourite - I was still growing these in my last garden nr Colchester - could be tricky to get started since roots were pencil like with few fibrous ones but once established you had them for ever all things being equal etc. When I spoke of that raised bed under the South wall in which the Ostrowskia was attempted I also had a go at Sternbergias - I found these a bit difficult with mixed result - seem to remember the foliage appeared in Spring and the flowers in Autumn. Not sure now but I believe I read that the "standard" ones were rated more difficult than another ( again the name fails me) variety which flowered more readily. The right of that raised area in level ground I planted a Crinum and had years of pleasure from it. A large brandy bottle shaped bulb as I recall which over years steadily got bigger and bigger. Needed winter protection but remember this was under a South wall - in late Autumn I folded its stout foliage back over it, put a cover of plastic round its front and filled this with straw/whatever. Enough for now but again please remember that these are "off the top of the head" recollections from a now elderly person so forgive please any errors - intended for interest and conversation. Any of the plants can be read of fully in the books written by the experts if further info is wanted should you think you also may like them. Regards.
Hi all. Just a pic. I always allow a few of these self sown Poppies to stay. Last year they were the mauve coloured doubles/semi doubles. Red singles so far this year. Spotted this Wasp of some kind and thought it would make a nice pic.
...I think the best poppies are those I see in meadows and fields.. when in Sussex there were acres of them on the south downs and nearby... I used to love walking around there just to see them in late June...however, that's a lovely shot too..
Thalictrums... don't see these everywhere... I tried to get to like them once and failed... the late Christopher Lloyd in one of his books I have.. describes Hewitt's Double as neat, with small fluffy double flowers... he seemed to like them well enough..
...there is also a photo in this book 'Garden Flowers'.. of an Agastache 'Firebird' which to me looks fiery orange but he describes as 'salmon'... and as tender perennials...I think I wouldn't mind that one but there are so many choices these days... and despite all the wonderful flower combinations we see in these books, I sometimes think that I shouldn't recommend a particular plant as it's such a personal choice.. rather like advising another lady which dress to buy in Marks's... so we have to make our own way with this and team things up as we see fit.. and learn and experiment from that...I hope you agree...
...my favourite photo in his book is after page 32, plate 4, with the Phormium 'Sundowner' in centre shot.. this scene is packed full of wonderful colours and foliage, there's even a small Eucalyptus getting in on the act... sometimes I think I couldn't ever garden like that... my imagination doesn't stretch that far...or perhaps it would, if there was the space... it always comes down to land for me... struggling with small gardens, and feeling that you are reasonably successful after many attempts, is an achievement in itself I think... anyone who does that should feel proud of their efforts.. although I'm not sure we are ever really satisfied...
..I wonder if anyone else has this book of Mr Lloyd's... apart from the wonderful photos, I did find his prose a little flat.. perhaps age was getting to him.. but I thought it lacked enthusiasm and he was not his usual self...
..Japanese Anemone's... I love these but no longer plant them as I fear the consequences too much and happy to see them in others... Mr Lloyd states that 'Honorine Jobert' is by far and away the best white... I wonder if he was alive now he might change his mind as I think a couple of others are on the market that he might also prefer... ''Whirlwind'' is a double which I'm not so keen on personally, but my preference is for 'Andrea Atkinson'... this is just sensational planted en masse as I saw it at the Alnwick Castle gardens a few years ago... and would be my first choice in this colour... the pink 'September Charm' I grew in Sussex and found it lived up to it's name... charming..
Posts
Hi Verdun. Forgot to mention I have found my plant lists which go back to 1957 though not up to date with later plants here which hopefully I can remember. I say this because I wondered if it would be of interest to have a natter about some of our past favourites as well as present ones.
Hello Keen,
Re. your earlier post today - a very early one, you obviously go to bed late... well, it was a very nice photo you posted...I've not grown Fennel nor Astrantia's... Curry plants are quite popular aren't they...? for me, as long as they are in other people's gardens.. that's fine...
...it's not a smell I care for too much...
I've looked up Scopolia... not heard of these before.. quite a nice little plant for Spring it seems... not one you see everywhere..
Carex pendula is one grass that I do not like... I find it coarse and weedy looking... Hypericum Hidcote I used to grow... it's still very popular.. my neighbour has one so I see it every day...
I take no notice of Ants nests... let them get on with it... I rarely find they trouble me at all out of doors... indoors that's another matter... I saddens me in a way when I see people throwing ant powder over the nests... especially on their driveways.. but none of my business...
..nice plants in the shingle.. the pink and saxifrage... I like rounded little plants like this, I grow the same sorts of things in mine...I'm very fond of shingle beds actually...
..perhaps I should look out for Glow Worms too...I can't say that I've ever seen any, knowingly...
I only started gardening in the mid 1980's... I think my first inspiration was the little rose book by Dr Hessayon.. he wrote lots of these on various types of plants...I got interested in so many roses mentioned... but they were modern hybrid teas or floribundas... I rarely grow these now... but they still have a place, and I hold one or two affectionately... but we tend to move on as our interests change...my favourites then were Korresia , Silver Jubilee and Frensham [a gorgeous dark red]... still available, and still good...
then I went to Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire, a National Trust garden, full of old roses and species, and my taste changed overnight...
bi for now,..
...Verdun,... here are two images of the grass I mentioned earlier... I do think it's Festuca but surely not Elijah Blue...
close up of the flower heads..
..I love it's graceful nature.... any ideas...?
hi Verdun, thanks for your reply... I've looked at that Koeleria.. quite a nice looking plant isn't it?, but I don't think it's the same as mine...
what I have found on a couple of sites are photos almost exactly like my plant, and labelled Festuca ovina var. Glauca [Sheep's fescue]... but these are most likely seed raised and not the cultivar known as Elijah blue...
I think I have been sold a seed raised Festuca ovina.... well. I'm going to keep it as I like it very much...so I'm not disappointed... providing it doesn't seed itself about, that's what I don't want... we shall see... I've not had it that long... thanks again for your time...
Hi Salino - Verdun. I know very little of Grasses but referring to Salinos pic I did have a couple of plants bought as Festuca ovina glauca and they were more as Verdun described it - quite blue foliage and uprigh buff flrs - that might help.
Hi Salino - Verdun - all. Ref that raised bed it is quite fiercely drained having a goodly amount of small (limefree) gravel in it and in the planting holes/soil - the surface layer is (presumably) going to prevent "collar rot" in winter etc - I may well devise some cover or other to further protect from this damp. Ref looking back to plants once grown I will if OK comment on a few at a time here and there. Please remember these are years old memories and as I found them - others experiences with them if grown may well have been different - from there comes conversation and interest - by telling of it. Great favourites of mine were the tall Thalictrums - dipterocarpum and its var Hewetts Double. Extremely slender plants with fine foliage thin stems with the most dainty violet and cream flrs with as I recall a ring of petals and a tuft of stamens (?) in the centre - that was dipterocarpum - Hewetts double had fully double flowers mostly mauve I think. The whole plants very graceful but needed to be planted in a windfree spot since being so slender they could easily be blown into a tangle which spoilt them. Next a little gem and not easy to come by then, do not know the situation now. Called Arnebia echioides - The Prophets Flower. Cannot remember too much about it except that again dainty with yellow 5 petalled flowers, each petal with a black spot at its base which soon faded one flowers unfurled. Called The Prophets Flower due to it having been touched by one of the Prophets - theres more to that story but memory fails me - look it up perhaps. The Japanese anemones pink and white I loved and allowed them to wander in the borders where planted - the single white was my favourite - I was still growing these in my last garden nr Colchester - could be tricky to get started since roots were pencil like with few fibrous ones but once established you had them for ever all things being equal etc. When I spoke of that raised bed under the South wall in which the Ostrowskia was attempted I also had a go at Sternbergias - I found these a bit difficult with mixed result - seem to remember the foliage appeared in Spring and the flowers in Autumn. Not sure now but I believe I read that the "standard" ones were rated more difficult than another ( again the name fails me) variety which flowered more readily. The right of that raised area in level ground I planted a Crinum and had years of pleasure from it. A large brandy bottle shaped bulb as I recall which over years steadily got bigger and bigger. Needed winter protection but remember this was under a South wall - in late Autumn I folded its stout foliage back over it, put a cover of plastic round its front and filled this with straw/whatever. Enough for now but again please remember that these are "off the top of the head" recollections from a now elderly person so forgive please any errors - intended for interest and conversation. Any of the plants can be read of fully in the books written by the experts if further info is wanted should you think you also may like them. Regards.
Hi all. Just a pic. I always allow a few of these self sown Poppies to stay. Last year they were the mauve coloured doubles/semi doubles. Red singles so far this year. Spotted this Wasp of some kind and thought it would make a nice pic.
...I think the best poppies are those I see in meadows and fields.. when in Sussex there were acres of them on the south downs and nearby... I used to love walking around there just to see them in late June...however, that's a lovely shot too..
Thalictrums... don't see these everywhere... I tried to get to like them once and failed... the late Christopher Lloyd in one of his books I have.. describes Hewitt's Double as neat, with small fluffy double flowers... he seemed to like them well enough..
...there is also a photo in this book 'Garden Flowers'.. of an Agastache 'Firebird' which to me looks fiery orange but he describes as 'salmon'... and as tender perennials...I think I wouldn't mind that one but there are so many choices these days... and despite all the wonderful flower combinations we see in these books, I sometimes think that I shouldn't recommend a particular plant as it's such a personal choice.. rather like advising another lady which dress to buy in Marks's... so we have to make our own way with this and team things up as we see fit.. and learn and experiment from that...I hope you agree...
...my favourite photo in his book is after page 32, plate 4, with the Phormium 'Sundowner' in centre shot.. this scene is packed full of wonderful colours and foliage, there's even a small Eucalyptus getting in on the act... sometimes I think I couldn't ever garden like that... my imagination doesn't stretch that far...or perhaps it would, if there was the space... it always comes down to land for me... struggling with small gardens, and feeling that you are reasonably successful after many attempts, is an achievement in itself I think... anyone who does that should feel proud of their efforts.. although I'm not sure we are ever really satisfied...
..I wonder if anyone else has this book of Mr Lloyd's... apart from the wonderful photos, I did find his prose a little flat.. perhaps age was getting to him.. but I thought it lacked enthusiasm and he was not his usual self...
..Japanese Anemone's... I love these but no longer plant them as I fear the consequences too much and happy to see them in others... Mr Lloyd states that 'Honorine Jobert' is by far and away the best white... I wonder if he was alive now he might change his mind as I think a couple of others are on the market that he might also prefer... ''Whirlwind'' is a double which I'm not so keen on personally, but my preference is for 'Andrea Atkinson'... this is just sensational planted en masse as I saw it at the Alnwick Castle gardens a few years ago... and would be my first choice in this colour... the pink 'September Charm' I grew in Sussex and found it lived up to it's name... charming..