The Walled Garden
Summer 2007
The summer of 2007 will go down in history as the wettest on record for the UK. Whilst this made for exceptional growth on some plants, others decided to die of root rots. Overall, however, the garden filled out nicely and weeds generously filled the gaps, due to my now persistent lack of attention.
Yucca glauca flowering for the first time with me. The seed for this plant was collected wild in the Mid-West USA, has particularly broad leaves, and rather sumptuous flowers compared to cultivated stock I have seen.
Aloe aristata, most usually seen as a house plant, grows outside permanently on the rock bed.
Eryngium venustum is a handsome, though rarely seen NE Mexican species.
Kniphofia northiae, from high in the summer wet Drakensberg Mts. of South Africa, is one of the earliest of the genus to flower, in early summer. It is a distinct, trunk forming, giant plant and one of the hardiest.
The flowers are very densely packed into great club heads.
Zantedeschia 'Green Goddess'
The Azorean Euphorbia stygiana with Glaucium corniculatum behind.
Aloe striatula. One of the hardiest of all Aloe and usually easy outside given correct conditions. Spires of old Echium inflorescences behind.
Giant Sempervivum and Agave bracteosa are added to the rock bed, where Yucca whipplei is finding its feet.
Kniphofia 'Tawny King'.
Glaucium corniculatum and Agave americana.
Achillea 'Marmalade' and Carex testacea.
Hesperaloe parviflora, an Agave relative from N Mexico and W Texas makes a hardy and exceptionally long flowering plant for sunny places with unimpeded drainage.
When planted this Agave salmiana had rather puny, slim leaves after being starved in a pot for too long. It has filled out well and now pushes out considerably fatter foliage.
This form of Eragrostis curvula, going under the collection number S&SH 10, is exceptionally soft and fine.
Agapanthus 'Buckingham Palace' is tall, dark and handsome, in fact darker than these photos would have you believe. It is one of the original true Headbourne hybrids and is only propagated by division.
Seseli gummiferum, exceptionally happy on the pure limestone rock bed.
Lobelia tupa, flowers with me from August until November.
Rudbeckia maxima flowers hover above the bleached seed heads of Jarava ichu.
The darkest of all forms of Eryngium pandanifolium, though by no means the tallest.
This large form of Eryngium horridum can have inflorescences to about 2.5m tall.
Pennisetum macrourum. Months of late season interest.
Cobaea pringlei, from NE Mexico is proving itself as a good perennial in a handful of UK gardens. It flowers for months and covers a good 10m of wooden screen here every season.
Common as muck, but who could tire of such a supremely fine plant as Verbena bonariensis?
My rather happy and vigorous Firmiana simplex has turned out to be a rather exceptional form. It is head and shoulders above the one or two other specimens in the UK, such as at Ventnor or Kew, in that the foliage is much larger and considerably more deeply lobed. Not only that, during 2006 it put on shoots about 1m long.
Hydrangea aspera Kawakamii Group is one of the last of all Hydrangea to flower and can make a sizable shrub
This nice compact Melianthus major is far less coarse than another I grow.
Pteris wallichiana. This fabulous Himalayan fern has beautifully divided fronds up to about 1.5m high.
Thalictrum uchiyamai can reach to over 2m tall, with a cloud of violet flowers.
Posted on November 04, 2007 at 01:11 PM
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