Archive | photos and garden photography

Some of our favourite plant and garden photographs not featuring in other gardeners tips. tips for your own garden photography.

Round Tuits

By hortoris on February 12, 2020 in About Trees, photos and garden photography

When I was younger owned a disc of wood taken from the thick branch of an old tree. It was engraved ‘Round Tuit’. It was designed to prevent procrastination and putting off the evil day. Creative avoidance is still a part of my routine and even today I find myself saying ‘I will do it when I get round to it!’.

The title is just an excuse to show a couple of tree photographs that have made me smile in the past. These pleached hornbeams at Harewood House need someone to regularly get round to trimming and pruning to keep them in good order.

The multi stems on this conifer could have made a large number of ’round tuits’ if they were sliced but I hope no one in this generation will feel the need to chop down this magnificent specimen.

A reminder to get on with some gardening but I will do it after a sit on this adult version or grown up ‘Round Tuit’.

Greening Public Spaces Peel Park Bradford

By hortoris on February 7, 2020 in photos and garden photography

Early crocus amongst leaf litter, the only good litter feeding the soil

Wet weather reflects on the tree roots
There is still colour to be found not least on these Rowan berries Sorbus hupehensis

Listers Mill in the afternoon light with a ring of trees on the horizon and in the foreground.

I believe the willow is beginning to show the first sign of colour so spring will soon be on us.Christmas is long gone but only 311 days to go before the next

Long and Short Gardens

By hortoris on August 28, 2019 in photos and garden photography

Begonias look best in groups or where they are given the opportunity to demonstrate their colourful dexterity. (Most of my photos are produced uncropped but in this case I done some editing).

Honeysuckle tends to ramble upward and is not easy to do it justice with a photograph. Here are two attempts.

Long vistas benefit from repetition of planting. These dwarf rhododendrons and primula denticula make the point

Public Green Spaces in Britain’s Floral Resort

By hortoris on August 4, 2019 in photos and garden photography

As befits a town with the sobriquet ‘Britain’s Floral Resort’ Harrogate is again a picture of vibrant colour in most of its green public spaces. Despite the crown (hotel and garden bed above ) it can not be called Royal Harrogate nor can it usurp Britain’s Floral Resort for it’s exclusive use.

Blood red features strongly at the beginning of August in the Brexit era of 2019. Back in the day 2003/4 Harrogate won a gold medal in the Flowery Alliance of Europe horticultural competition for excellence in horticultural display. I wonder if that was a bloodless coup?

Continue Reading →

Bee Waspish – July Flies By

By hortoris on August 3, 2019 in photos and garden photography

Carnations defy the single flower rule attracting as many insects as the dahlias, poppies and blackberries

Flower Loving Insects – Insect Loving Flowers

By hortoris on July 26, 2019 in photos and garden photography

Garden snaps in Yorkshire 2019

Looking for the Unusual

By hortoris on July 19, 2019 in photos and garden photography

Visual nature can be found all around in your garden, local park or field. Keep a look out for interesting or unusual shapes, patterns and textures and take a camera around with you. I like the contorted Hazel branches that weave their own pattern.

This log in parkland had an amazing pattern created by the symmetry of the old bark. The teeth shapes remind me of cogs on a rustic wheel. Continue Reading →

Delphiniums Plural

By hortoris on July 18, 2019 in Flowers and Plants, photos and garden photography

Stately and statuesque, the blue Delphinium is one of the best tall features in a herbaceous border. I questioned my English teacher whether they should be called Delphinii as there always seemed to be several upright stalks like the chunky dark blue examples above. As regular readers will know spelling is not one of my greatest strengths.(nor is grammar).

The keen eyed will spot one of the secret ways of helping these 6 feet high giants stay upright. At Newby Hall garden a great deal of time and effort is expended on good quality staking and support and delphiniums are no exception. There is 3″ square mesh of fine filament placed at about 3′ high and the flower stems allowed to grom through. There is no need to support individual blooms.

There are many shades of blue from the dark almost purple to powder blue and even white.

Slightly gone over these flowers were displayed in a white border. Delphiniums have been a minor success in my flower vases this year and I will try again next year after feeding and water the plants extra sustinence.

Varieties courtesy of Old Farmers Almanac

Belladonna Group: Upright, loose and branching perennials with single flowers that grow 3 to 4 feet tall. ‘Blue Bees’ is a Belladonna producing clear blue flowers with white centers.
Elatum Group: These are the tallest spiked hybrids growing to 6 feet or more. ‘Blue Nile’ is a medium plant bearing semi-double, bright, and mid-blue flowers with white centers (called bees). ‘Bruce’ is a tall Elatum bearing semi-double, violet-purple flowers, paler towards the center, with brown bees.
Pacific Hybrids: Similar to Elatum Group, although not as tall, this hybrid is short-lived and often grown as annuals or biennials. ‘King Arthur’ bears plum flowers with white bees with 5- to 6-foot tall flower spikes.
According to the RHS Delphinium x ruysii ‘Pink Sensation’ is a short-lived perennial with deeply divided leaves and slender spikes.

Happy Smiling Viola Faces

By hortoris on July 16, 2019 in photos and garden photography

Ten images of different coloured Viola plants from our local nursery. Anyone with the patience to count the number of flowers is welcome to try. When planted out these small plants should romp away and each will produce loads more smiling faces.