Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Wisley Alpine Log – Feedback Forum => Topic started by: Graham Catlow on January 08, 2012, 08:41:31 AM
-
Hi, I visited Wisley a couple of days ago. The weather was bright and clear. Wrong time of year for most of the garden but the Alpine house and the main glasshouse were worth a visit. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy.
1&2 Just inside the entrance is this bed of Heleborus 'Walbertons Rosemary'. I have never seen a mass planting of one variety of Heleborus before and thought this was quite stunning.
3. The bog garden. Some of the pitchers were browned but others still looked good.
4. Sarracenia x farnhamii.
5. Unknown.
6. Prunus incisa 'Praecox'
7. Daphne bholua 'Limpsfield' The scent from this was amazing.
8. Daphne 'Spring Herald'
More to follow
-
Second batch.
1. Alpine House Southern side
2. Alpine House Northern side
3. Arum creticum
4. Asarum subglobosum
5. Crocus korolkowii 'Kiss of Spring'
6. Crocus - I couldnt see the name and didn't want to touch the flowers just to get it.
7. Cyclamen coum
8. Daubenya marginata
9. Fritillaria striata
More.....
-
Third set
1. Lachenalia bulbifera
2. Narcissus bulbocodium subsp. praecox var. paucinervis
3. Narcissus cantabricus subsp. cantabricus
4. Narcissus romieuxii 'Trebel Chance'
5. Narcissus (couldn't see the name)
6. Oxalis luteola 'Glauca'
7. Oxalis versicolor
8. Sempervivum arachnoideum subs. tomentosum var. glabrescens
9. Whiteheadia bifolia
10. Narcissus papyraceus - outside on the south facing side.
-
The glasshouse.
1. Cymbidium 1
2. Cymbidium 2
3. Cymbidium 3
4. Cymbidium 4
5. Orchid 1
6. Orchid 2
7. Orchid 3
8. Orchid 4
More....
-
Final few.
1. Enchephalartos villosus
2. Plectranthus 'Cape Angels pink'
3&4. Hippeastrum 'Grand Diva'
5. Echeveria
6. The crevice bed - I can't make up my mind if I like these constructions. I haven't seen a mature one (other than in photos), so I will remain undecided until I have. The construction is really impressive. There are a lot of plants in the crevices and whilst they must be named it is, at this point, with immature plants rather overpowering with both the permenent black labels and the temporary white labels being very obvious.
-
Thanks for posting Graham, always something to see at Wisley no matter what time of year.
-
I wonder what visitors to Wisley reckon to the new crevice garden? Those of us hooked on alpines will know the great success this has in growing all sorts of choice plants but I imagine many gardeners may look at it askance and can't think of having such a 'garden' in their garden. As the plants grow and become more dominant it may begin to impress more what a clever way of growing plants this is, even on a much smaller scale, as in troughs. Another subject for those TV programmes we all hope for, perhaps showing some of those amazing gardens in the Czech Republic and in North America...
-
Thanks for posting Graham, always something to see at Wisley no matter what time of year.
Yep Wisley always has something worth seeing. Lovely pictures Graham, would have been funny if we had bumped into each other. Was at Harrogate yesterday ( Harlow Carr ) on my way home now. Hope everything in the garden hasn't blown away.
Angie :)
-
Graham, you have provided a super mid-winter treat - thank you so much. What a great range of plants for us to enjoy, courtesy of the Wisley gardeners and your efforts 8)
-
Given that most British crevice beds are newly constructed, has anyone worked out how to remove the long taproots of Dandelion (Taraxacum) plants once they become established? They will inevitably enjoy these conditions.
I find that seedlings are quite difficult to remove from crevices in my miniature fishbox crevice gardens without damange to the structure. Any suggestions other than weedkiller when they grow in the middle of prized saxifrage clumps?
-
has anyone worked out how to remove the long taproots of Dandelion (Taraxacum) plants once they become established? I find that seedlings are quite difficult to remove from crevices in my miniature fishbox crevice gardens without damange to the structure.
Tumble Weed Gel works well for me
-
Enjoyed those pics.
-
I'm pleased you are enjoying the colour from Wisley.
Maggi I see you have added a link in the Wisley feedback thread.
Angie - we would only have met up if you were on a train from London on Friday night. One that was nearly an hour delayed due to faulty signals at Petrerborough. Didn't get home until 1.30am on the Saturday mornng.
-
has anyone worked out how to remove the long taproots of Dandelion (Taraxacum) plants once they become established? I find that seedlings are quite difficult to remove from crevices in my miniature fishbox crevice gardens without damange to the structure.
Tumble Weed Gel works well for me
I believe, for those who have a source and are carefull enough with chemicals, sulfuric acid touched on the broken top of the root will kill Taraxacum completley, without harming the choice cusion plants they so like to grow in.
-
Graham, thanks for magnificent photos!
And at all of us in snow...
-
You are right Graham about how good the mass planting is of a single form of Hellobore. The brick walls don't do anything to harm the effect either. :)
I've had a plant of that filthy little (native) cress which I believe is a plague in the UK now. Mine came from the nursery the sax came from. I've had to lift the sax from its crevice (with some dismantling) and break it into 4 pieces to be sure of getting the whole plant of the cress (bittercress?), a really beastly weed which has a new set of seed capsules literally every day, the flowers so small they are barely seen and the foliage miniscule, unable to be held but breaking off if you do manage to get a hold of it.
The Whiteheadia is an amazing plant isn't it?
-
I was just thinking it's a shame we haven't all got a raised bed like that to bring the hellebores up to viewing level :D
The colour does go rather well with the brickwork.
I agree the Whiteheadia is a strange thing.
I'd vote for the Asarum subglobosum as my favourite little oddity.... I do like strange little green plants!
-
The Hellebore's were for sale in the Wisley plant centre but they didn't look as good on their own. I suspect they will sell a lot from the show they give all together. They aren't even a colour that I would normally be attracted to but the effect was really good.
The Whiteheadia and the Asarum were two of the plants I was drawn to also, along with the Daubenia.
Lesley
Bittercress is the worst weed in my garden. I seem to have two variations one that has been in the garden since I arrived which gets quite tall, and in the last couple of years one which lies flat to the ground which is much more difficult to deal with.
-
Really sorry about your bittercress Graham. I feel guilty about it every time it is mentioned since it's apparently one of ours, even though I swear I had nothing to do with its introduction to the UK. I have quite a lot now and it spreads every year or even all through the year. I'm meticulous in keeping it out of nursery pots though and prefer to unpot completely and remove any root rather than risk passing it along to anyone else. But we all have it now. So many nurseries just nip or break off the top and cover with a little grit or bark, a criminal practice to my mind.
-
The UK has its own bitter cresses which can be quite tall, but the NZ one is tiny and seems to adapt the colour of its foliage to its background making it invisible, or am I paranoid? Didn't know the sulphuric acid trick. Dandelions don't get a chance here as I have a tortoise, so they get pulled as soon as they are bite size. ;D
-
I shall remember the weedkiller gel trick against dandelions as I do not have any spare sulphuric acid without depleting the battery in my mower.
Anthony, you must have a very well-trained tortoise. I do have hens that wander the garden until spring and help to clear up unwanted invertebrates, but I would not trust them to discriminate between dandelion and more valuable rock plants. It is a pity they do not recognised bittercress either.
-
The tortoise has trained me Richard. ;D
-
Graham,
thanks for your pics.
Having seen the crevice garden last April we look forward to seeing it develop - via the Forum!
cheers
fermi