In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Australia, on the trail of the lonesome pine…. To the North Western edge of Sydney there is a bluish haze, one million hectares of forest that makes up Wollemi National Park. In September 1994 park ranger David Noble was out ranging, for want of a better word, and he came across a tree he had never seen before. He took a sample and waved it at anyone who was prepared to be waved at. Nothing. It accidentally got waved at a paleobotanist who pronounced it The Pinosaur, believed to date back to the Triassic/Jurassic Period some 200-280 million years ago, considered to have become extinct some 2 million years ago. So began one of the most interesting and important conservation projects ever. Continue reading Wollemia nobilis
Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’
Municipal planting, an idea dreamt up, as far as I can tell, by Winston Churchill in post war Britain. Pre-fabricated houses were all the rage, 500,000 of them went up when the bombs stopped raining down. Continue reading Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’
Solanum lycopersicum – Tumbler F1 Tomatoes
Yesterday I read on the internet that bananas are technically berries and that almonds are nuts. More surprisingly I discovered that avocados are mammals, most cucumbers are haunted and that potatoes are not real. So maybe you shouldn’t believe everything that you read on the internet. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t truth out there however. Today I am going to share the biggest bang you can get for your vegetable buck – Tomatoes. Continue reading Solanum lycopersicum – Tumbler F1 Tomatoes
Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora “Montbretia”
Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora is a classically beautiful garden hybrid of C aurea and C postii, first bred by Victor Lemoine in 1880. It is one of many Crocosmia plants known as “montbretia.” Crocosmia are cormous perennials with erect, sword-shaped leaves and branched lance like sprays of dramatic funnel-shaped flowers. Continue reading Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora “Montbretia”
Mespilus germanica ‘medlar’
Can a humble fruit tree cause the decline of something as mighty a the Roman Empire? Probably not, but the Medlar was a very important fruit for a bunch of Italians so far from their cosy Mediterranean homeland. Continue reading Mespilus germanica ‘medlar’
Gertrude Jekyll & No Busy Lizzies
I celebrated the dawn this morning, if Marvin the Paranoid Android was around he may well have observed that the dew clearly fell with a particularly sickening thud. This all happened at 5:11am, the joys of a Northern latitude. Continue reading Gertrude Jekyll & No Busy Lizzies
Clematis montana rubens
What a spectacle! This is one of the reasons for my unending gladness of living in Exeter, it simply oozes history. I finished my pint of cider today, enjoyed in the Ship Inn in St Martin’s Lane, previous customers include Sir Francis Drake – it dates back to the time of Elizabeth I. Think oak beams, uneven floors… Elizabethan houses were built to last, unlike the crap being erected since world war II. “Little boxes made of ticky tacky, little boxes all the same”. Why do we put up with this crap?
Hosta crispula
I love hostas, they are excellent ground cover, easy peasy to propagate and generally look after themselves. Slugs and snails also love hostas however, for totally different reasons. One day of rain and an unprotected hosta, freshly renewed after it’s winter rest, can be reduced to a stalk by the morning. Continue reading Hosta crispula
Wisteria sinensis or floribunda?
Or Put another way, Chinese or Japanese? Before you buy an expensive plant like a Wisteria you would be wise to know the difference between Chinese & Japanese varieties (species). I didn’t, I bought the first one I tripped over at the garden centre. I got lucky, picked the right one by accident… Both varieties take patience, mine was 7 years old before it flowered for the first time, and this is not uncommon. Continue reading Wisteria sinensis or floribunda?
Nemesia wisley vanilla
I was wandering around my local garden centre, looking for a member of staff to ask a pertinent question, (it has been my local nursery for 29 years so I’m allowed to ask stupid questions). “Do you still do plants?” I normally ask this after becoming entangled in the scented candle area, or the middle class clothing spotty welly area, or the outdoor furniture area which is indoors. Continue reading Nemesia wisley vanilla