Logan gardens

[Lvandelft]

That's a very beautiful mature Magnolia, Tom. Thanks for the pictures!

then I spotted the little red tractor! OOH, Want one!

And where are you parking it Maggi? Between the Rhodohypoxis maybe?         

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Luit, you have spotted the flaw in my desire

 I have always wanted a little tractor... and an  earth moving machine... there was a lovely small digger machine working in a garden down the road the other day...


 it was all I could do not to sneak down and steal it while the driver had his lunch break!

[johnw]

Tom - Old age here too. Meant to say Fireball not Klondyke and missed the date.

That Lanarth is quite something. Wish we could grow it but it's far too tender.

johnw

[TC]

Maggi,  Unlike you, I wanted an Euclid  earth mover, with 8 foot diameter tyres and higher than a double decker bus.  I had a go at one of these when I used to visit their factory at Tannochside.  The sense of power was amazing.   I used to have fantasies of driving it down Argyle Street in Glasgow and watching all the other road users fleeing in panic.  Then it was back to my little Ford Anglia and being bullied by Rover and Sunbeam drivers.

[mark smyth]

Fermi you get about! Are you coming to the UK?

The pine is available at my local garden centre for £100 each. They must have 100 and as far as I can tell none have sold

[mark smyth]

opps this is an old post and Fermi is at home LOLLOL

[Susan]

Yes Maggi, after shoes and chocolate, a little red digger is just what every girl needs.  

I actually managed to borrow one a couple of years ago (except it was blue) and what fun my son and husband had with it. How I would have loved to have kept it.  What a lot of work you can accomplish as long as you can keep the drivers under control.

Thank you Tom for the photos, I especially love the foliage of R kyawii.

Susan

[TC]

We took a chance on Sunday to visit Logan gardens to catch up on the rhododendrons.  Due to possible fuel problems, I had to moderate my speed and actually enjoyed the scenery on a warmish, sunny day.  The scented rhododendrons were coming into flower and we sniffed our way round.  For our antipodean forumnists, some of the plants will be quite familier.  They seem to be turning Logan into a mini Tasmania.  Our local group of the SRGC had a talk from one of the gardeners from the RBGE on a seed collecting trip in Tasmania, New Zealand and Australia last year.  The results of this will be seen at Logan and Benmore in future years.
I believe that he will be working at Dunedin Botanical Gardens for 6 months next year.  He was especially taken with Tasmania.  He said that they were given every possible facility by the Park Authorities there but in N.Z. they were not allowed to collect any seed in the National Parks and had to rely on private landowners for their goodwill and help - which was given freely.

  Tasmanian planting 1.
 TASMANIAN PLANTING 2
  rhathi.
  Rh,. johnstoneanum
 Gardens Rh. scopulorum
 Rh. johnstoneanum flowers
hedge of rhododendrons
Rh. Harry Tag
  Rh. burmanicum 2
 Pittasporum tenuifolius

[TC]

One more

[David Nicholson]

Looks to have been a nice day Tom. Petrol supplies here don't seem to be a problem at the moment but prices creeping up-I paid £1.09.99 per litre yeterday at Tesco.

[Brian Ellis]

Just to clarify this Tom, whereabouts was the planting?  Was it on the left as you entered the grounds on the hillside?

[Joakim B]

Thanks for the Visit Tom
Nice to see that You follow up Your visits in the gardens Year by Year.
Really lovely with magnolias and rhods.
Magnolias are common in Portugal but not so much good rhododendrons so it is nice to see it here.
Thanks for sharing
Joakim

[TC]

Just to clarify this Tom, whereabouts was the planting?  Was it on the left as you entered the grounds on the hillside?

As you enter the gardens, it is on the hillside to your left.  There is a large wooden viewing platform, overlooking the plantings.

[TC]

Looks to have been a nice day Tom. Petrol supplies here don't seem to be a problem at the moment but prices creeping up-I paid £1.09.99 per litre yeterday at Tesco.

My problem was that I had a 160 mile round trip with the possibility of not being able to replace the used fuel, due to the Grangemouth strike.  As I have a few more trips to make to look at Benmore 3 weeks after my last visit, a visit to Dawyck and some more of the west coast gardens and a visit to the SRGC show in Glasgow, I have to keep an eye on my fuel gauge and where I can get fuel in the country areas.
On a different note, we went to Brodick two weeks ago and it was a bit of a shock.  Winter gales had brought down some of the larger trees which sheltered the large-leaved varieties of rhododendron and with the discovery of "sudden oak death fungus", this whole area was sealed off.  With the season being about 3 weeks later than last year, there was not much in flower apart from the Magnolias
The prevailing memory was the sound of chainsaws and the smell of burning timber

[Brian Ellis]

There is a large wooden viewing platform

Thanks Tom, it's good to place it in the mind's eye.  Presumably this viewing platform is new too, I don't remember it from last year.  By the time we come again goodness knows what will have changed!