Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
I wanted to title my post the botanical name for this spectacular plant, which is widely grown locally, but have abandoned my efforts after some research. An explanation would run into several hundred words, would clarify little to nothing and be tedious, so I’ve spared you that. The folk name, tree mallow, is used for several species too. Continue reading “Pink Hollyhock-style Flowers on a Shrubby Plant”
Floriade is an international horticulture exhibition / garden festival held in a different part of The Netherlands every ten years. While it attracts garden-loving members of the public, its aims go beyond that. Continue reading “Review of Floriade Expo 2022 in Almere, NL”
I’ve been looking through my pictures from Floriade Expo 2022 and whittling them down to just the decent ones. It’s not something I enjoy, particularly at the start. The trouble is, I tend to be a bit excitable when faced with gardens and lots of flowers, and to take more pictures than is convenient afterwards. Continue reading “Bad Hair Day in the Garden”
Amsterdam’s tightly packed streets and waterways don’t leave much room for conventional gardens, but its gardeners don’t let their lack of land hold them back. I’m always struck by the number of hollyhocks that grow semi-wild there, any crack along the street providing anchorage.
Some hollyhocks lean so far over they flower barely ankle high, others wave flower-topped towers well over my head. Continue reading “Amsterdam: Street Flowers and More”
Harlow Carr is no longer the Royal Horticulture Society’s only northern garden, and not the biggest, but has the benefit of an extra 70 years or so of continuous cultivation. Highlights for me include wonderful collections of primula and meconopsis, typically in flower around mid June to early July. The collections mingle in naturalistic drifts, their bold colours sparkling like jewels in their stream-side setting. Continue reading “RHS Harlow Carr: Candelabra Primulas, Blue Poppies And Other Treasures”
Some plants are more fun to photograph than others. Need I say more?
Susan Rushton 