1. This isn’t one of the more commonly grown dwarf winter irises, possibly Iris reticulata ‘Fabiola’, but I stand to be corrected. The dark blue and white falls have a flash of yellow.
2. The winter garden. The green blue foliage of Cupressus arizonica var. glabra ‘Blue Ice’ made a great contrast with the yellow of Erica arborea var. alpina f. aureifolia ‘Albert’s Gold’. In the background, deciduous plants with winter interest included Prunus serrula (Tibetan cherry) with its reddish bark; orange flowered Hamamelis (witch hazel); and various kinds of Cornus (dogwood). Flowering heathers were added for ground cover.
3. A double, pale pink hellebore hybrid. If you prefer singles, I recently shared a gallery of spotted hellebores here.
4. I’m not a fan of Begonia, (although I am fond of Strawberry Begonia (Saxifraga stolonifera) which doesn’t sound like a real Begonia) but their boldly patterned foliage really caught my eye in the Glasshouse. This one was labelled ‘Begonia from Java’. While I was admiring the begonias, some ladies to the right of me were whispering about how much they disliked their garish colours. Seeing plants in a semi-tropical landscape last year has made me think of them differently. In Britain, ground cover plants don’t need to try too hard to stand out. In Key West, they don’t stand out, no matter how bold they might be.
5. The Giant Houseplant Takeover prompted our visit.
6. I was disappointed that the flowering hepaticas in the Alpine House were encased in glass, looking outwards to the sun. I took shots through the window of this lovely little semi-double plant and the double below. I rarely get a chance to see hepaticas in flower and they fascinate me.
I’m sharing this as part of The Propagator’s Six On Saturday. The people who take part are knowledgeable, enthusiastic real-life gardeners who share seasonal plants from their own gardens, although six from a recent visit to a garden are also welcomed.
Susan Rushton 
A lovely six Susan. The hellebore is a beauty and I also like the hepatica. I planted a couple of the blue ones in a border last year, it’ll be interesting to see if they return.
I hope they will.
How are the gardens at Wisley doing? It was a garden I enjoyed visiting on a few occasions but a recently appointed director of Wisley gave a talk here in Ireland and it was so much about management, marketing and how to part people from their money with gardening and plants relegated very much to the position of bait to bring in the cash. It was not the RHS I had known.
They were looking good and I imagine would do at any time of the year. Perhaps the director’s job was connected to sales or marketing. That would explain the thrust of the talk.
Perhaps, so!
Oh hooray for garish colour! I think the shades of pink with the white and deep-green margins are lovely. Thank goodness the whisperers don’t rule the world! The iris is like a brilliant watercolour in real life, what a beauty. Thanks for the lovely photos 🙂
Thank goodness! I could reply on you to appreciate a little extra colour. The iris was a darker shade than some of the others I’ve seen.
The hepaticas are gorgeous and the hellebore just makes me want to fill my garden with them! How lovely! 🙂
Hellebores seem to be underrated don’t they? I saw a wonderful clump in flower in a churchyard today but it was blowing a gale so I had no chance to take a picture.
Is Arizona cypress popular there?! It seems like an odd choice. It is not popular here, even though the climate is sort of what they prefer. I have a few small canned specimens out there, but they are not ‘Blue Ice’. They were grown from seed.
I wouldn’t say it is popular, but winter gardens typically will take any colour they can get from sticks and foliage as well as flowers.
It can certainly be a strikingly harsh gray. I know it looks pretty sharp against a backdrop of dark green Monterey cypress, Monterey pine or redwood. I is more adaptable to the climate here than blue spruce.
Another beautifully photographed selection
I could have spent a lot longer in the garden centre, but we hadn’t allowed enough time for that.
So beautiful!!
It was a treat to get down there. 🙂
I can see why you are fascinated by hepaticas. They are new to me so I needed to do a bit of research. What sweet flowers they are! I particularly like your photo of the semi double one with its stamens like kewpie doll eyelashes. This plant would most certainly be unhappy in my garden!
Lots of forms are available, though the fancy ones tend to be on the pricey side if you can find them for sale.
A splendid selection.
Thanks, Louis.
Those Iris reticulata look like a painting by Monet. I need some!
Luckily, they don’t have the same price tag. 🙂