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Category: Garden Visits

Looking at other gardens. Suggestions of gardens to visit.

Alpine Vista Mista

Alpine Vista Mista

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Missing posts on this site can be put down to my Alpine holiday in Austria. Mist on the hills was a small problem for my photography but it meant there were fewer walkers around to disturb me and the cattle on the Alpine pastures.

The surprise for me was the volume of Rhododendrons clinging to the mountain side at over 6000 feet. No soil to speak of, so that is one reason Rhododendrons and Azaleas are comparatively shallow rooted I suppose. They also like to get a fair share of water in spring and summer to help next years bud formation, no problem on these hills, (Get out the rainproofs again).
Nature usually has a reason for plants developing the way they have.

In Austria the seasons seem to be compacted together and at the end of June there was a festival of colour in the villages and hillsides to say nothing of the mountain tops.

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Flowers are used extensively in the neat well kept grave yards. However this shrine shown above was on one of the walking routes and the red rose seemed very apposite.

Dream of Spring Flowers

Dream of Spring Flowers

Spring Flowers

As it comes up towards Christmas there is less you can do in the garden. Perhaps it is time for gardeners tips to help you dream of your perfect spring garden.

The mix of plants  varies according to location and a gardeners peccadilloes. Bulbs are a firm favourite from Africa to Zetland. The range and selection is enormous and you are seldom disappointed for the first season at least.

Snowdrops followed by Aconites and Daffodils start the spring show. A bold splash of colour from Primroses, Primulas and Tulips above will kick start your garden patch.
Rockeries look a picture in spring as the smaller plants get to bloom their socks off.
My personal favourite is the Rhododendrons and Azalea bed below.

Rhodo blossom

Alternative Spring In Madeira

Inverewe Garden and Rhododendrons

Inverewe Garden and Rhododendrons

Rhododendron

Interesting Facts about Inverewe Garden

  • A National Trust for Scotland garden famed for its exotic plants despite being further north than Moscow and St Petersburg.
  • 100 acres of garden created by Sir Osgood Mackenzie and Lady Mackenzie in the 19th century.
  • The north of the garden around the shores of Loch Thurnaig have been occupied since the Iron Age.
  • The warm currents of the Gulf Stream help to create a micro climate that produces an oasis of colour and fertility where exotic plants from many countries flourish.
  • Himalayan rhododendrons, Tasmanian eucalypts and many Chilean and South African plants are featured, together with a large collection of New Zealand plants including the National Collection of the genus Olearia.
  • An area named the Bambooselem was planted in the 1880’s. Many of the Bamboos have since flowered and died but the name deserves to live on.

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Lily Photos for All Seasons

Lily Photos for All Seasons

Spring, summer or autumn there are Lilies for all occasions, even hatches, matches and dispatches.
Asian lily

Beware garish garden centres selling plants that defy belief or at least defy the seasons. I have just returned from a weekend break and can contrast a plant nursery that I visited with a so called garden centre. The later was selling these lilies in full April flower.
These colours are not those you expect or associate with spring flowers! I am all for ‘shock and awe in the garden but you would want plants that last longer than a couple of days and look more natural than these Lily photos.

Asian lily
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Royal Wedding Garden Party

Royal Wedding Garden Party

Dahlia

If there is no street party near you when William & Kate get hitched why not invite some friends around for a drink and look at your garden.

You could always create a quiz based on what your visitors may spot as they walk around. Judging by the couple of photos I have selected it would be a quiz to find a seedy looking flower.

Homemade wine would be a great accompaniment. Elderberries, rhubarb, loganberries, blackberries, plums, rosehips, sloes and so on remain staple ingredients of home-made wine according to Homewine making .com

Old Anemone

Pick a few flowers from your own garden to make an indoor floral display.
If the weather is bad you can ask people to name a flower beginning with a letter of the alphabet.
You could also select plants that would be appropriate for William & Catherine eg Sweet Williams, Lilies or wildflowers such as violets.