Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
Mike Powell (whose blog features wonderful pictures of insects) recently asked if ‘common’ is appropriate in a name. I know what he means. And even though these are our most common orchid, growing wild in deserted quarries, woodland, meadows, hedgerows and along footpaths, I caught myself hesitating before tagging them ‘wildflowers’. Continue reading “Dactylorhiza fuchsii | Common Spotted Orchid”
Continue reading “Gallery Of Orchids From RHS Wisley’s Glasshouse”
RHS Garden Wisley has a wonderful collection of deciduous Calanthe orchids in flower now in the Glasshouse. This plant was labelled Calanthe William Murray gx. Its upper petals are white with pink bottom lips and a central section shaped like a nose.
There are two subgenera of Calanthe. Preptanthe ones like this are winter-deciduous orchids that die back to peculiar structures called pseudobulbs. Hairy flowering stems appear from near their base and bear a cascade of flowers that weigh the stems down into a graceful arc. Continue reading “Flowering Orchid: Calanthe William Murray gx”
This is my last week to share square pictures of pink roses and, to celebrate, this week’s roses come with extras for those who were part of the challenge, or kindly indulged my weakness, even though they are not quite as keen on roses. First, a pink rose named for a lovely lady. It ticks the strongly fragrant box and though I don’t know this variety quite as well as some of the others, with further acquaintance, I suspect it would be one of my favourites. Though I can’t claim this is a bud, it is only partly open and will eventually become a rosette.
This celebration of a flower is for Becky, for hosting the challenge so gracefully, and for all those who took part, many of them sharing a square cropped picture with varying amounts of pink in it for the whole month. Well done! I’ve loved seeing them all appear in The Reader.
For orchid lovers, here’s a collection of them, In The Pink, and artfully arranged with moss, slate and logs. Continue reading “Square In September: Last Hurrah”
2. Bees for Manchester
3. The Young Designer Competition
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the competition, five finalists have been invited to create gardens rather than the usual three. This is always one of my favourite parts of RHS Tatton Park Flower Show.
Continue reading “My Top Twelve Picks from the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show”
Spare a thought for Britain’s specialist plant nurseries and garden designers who will spend this weekend agonizing over their displays for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Driven by a love of plants, they also know that a Gold Medal or Best In Show will enhance their professional reputation. So a lot is at stake: the boundary between success and failure can be difficult to tread when you’re working with a finite supply of live plant material and trying to second guess the judges. Continue reading “Jubilant”
