Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Brian Ellis on February 11, 2009, 06:21:02 PM
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Well, the sun might shine on the righteous but it didn't for us, however it did stay dry for our daytrip to Anglesey Abbey and Cambridge Botanic Garden.
Anglesey Abbey was the home of the Lord Fairhaven from 1926 until it passed into the hands of the National Trust in 1966 at his death, for those who don't know, it is famous for its snowdrops and The Winter Walk which was planted to celebrate the Centenary of the Birth of the First Baron in 1996.
We were on an organised coachtrip and had a tour of the Winter Walk and snowdrops led by undergardener David Jordan. The Winter Walk is a joy at this time of the year when it seems the only thing to cheer us up is snowdrops ;) It extends for about 600 metres as a serpentine path with planting on either side. Of course at this time of the year scent is very important and the main provider is sarcococca although there are also plantings of Wintersweet -Chimonanthus praecox towards the centre of the walk. The planting is very clever and I think the only place I have been to surpass it has been the Winter Garden at the Hiller Arboretum where Daphne bholua gave us an absolutely unforgettable visit.
Here are some of the snaps I took, there may be close ups to come from David who is a much better photographer!
There were two forms of Sarcococca at least, the most attractive being the pink flowered form.
One of the first assaults on the visual senses is the planting of Cornus and Rubus, shining out against the background of the hedges.
I liked the contrast of variegated Euphorbia (Silver Swan?), cornus and galanthus...
...and this underplanting of Ypsilandra thibetica?
Even more striking was this Hamemellis with Euphorbia and Bergenia.
Still more striking dogwoods
and newly split galanthus which will be a joy next spring!
Here it is underplanted with galanthus
Next looking back on the walk at the halfway point
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Brian, you're fibbing..... there was some sun.... there are shadows in the last two pix!
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The half-way point is marked by this statue to the memory of Huttlestone Broughton First Baron Fairhaven surrounded by an eleagnus hedge.
There were quite a few Hamamellis in flower...
...and I liked the underplanting here of ophiopogon again.
The serpentine walk sweeps round with no sign of what you might see next...
and in this case it was underplanting of cyclamen
At the far end is this Silver Birch Grove, the underplanting here has changed over the years and this year there are pink tulips beginning to come through on the right, this should look good in a few weeks time.
Leaving the Winter Walk there are areas of newly planted galanthus.
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There may have been occasional sun Maggi but it was definitely not warm!
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At last we get to the reason for the visit ;D
The Snowdrop ditch, brought to light by the devestation caused by Dutch Elm disease as was the Galanthus 'Anglesey Abbey' seen at top right of the second picture.
The snowdrops are numbered well, 16 is Galanthus 'Ophelia'
A lovely drift of Galanthus 'Galatea'
Number 33 - the name escapes me!
74 named after the present Lord Fairhaven - Galanthus 'Ailwyn'
Believe it or not there was one I did not like! Galanthus Moses Basket has outer tepals that are incurved like a parrots beak - very ungainly!
200 is named after the Lord Fairhavens present home, Galanthus 'Kirtling Tower'
If only there had been some good sunshine to open them up
Leaving the ditch we came across this Parrotia persica just in flower, and all around the bases of trees were planted with snowdrops - delightful :)
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Lots to cheer the soul in a lovely garden though, Brian. The white birch planting is terribly smart..... but I wouldn't like to have to scrub all of those twice a year!
Makes a great foil for those white things you get so excited about!
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Nice pictures Brian. I always admire those people who make such planting,
which are even attractive in winter.
The white birch planting is terribly smart..... but I wouldn't like to have to scrub all of those twice a year!
Seeing the picture of the birches, I was just thinking of the one in Maggi's Garden ;D ;D
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Having warmed ourselves up in the new restauraunt we left for Cambridge Botanic Garden. We headed for the glasshouses as we were still cold. Here there were a few more things that are of interest to the alpinist.
It was a treat to see them at eye level!
Adonis amurensis
Galanthus lagodechianus (well what else do you expect from me!)
Iris reticulata 'Cantab' and Iris histriodes 'George' group
Iris reticulata 'Cantab'
A view of the plunge with Narcissi and galanthus at the far end.
Iris bakeriana
Gmnospermium altaicum
A tower of sedums - nice idea
Corydalis henrikii
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The last few are from the tropical house and guaranteed to brighten your day!
Calliandra haematocephala from Bolivia
Some of the many orchids
The star of the show, Strongylodon macrobotrys - the Jade Vine, stunning in bud and even more so in flower
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Maggi, they now do it with a pressure washer!
Luit, I am continually delighted with the imaginitive planting I see in other peoples gardens :-\
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Many thanks for these pics Brian, allowing us all to look over your shoulder 8)
Interesting that the Cambridge Iris bakeriana differs markedly from others shown here on the Forum - rather like 'Cantab' in fact :-\
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Interesting set of pics Brian, I enjoyed them. Nice to see the glasshouses open again at the Botanical Garden most of them were closed for refurbishment when I went last May.
Yes, Ashley I agree, I'm just going to look at the iris pages again now.
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Visited Anglesey Abbey today 11 Feb 09 10:15 - 12:30
Weather was good. Snowdrops in the garden were looking beautiful.
In the Entrance hall, they had a really excellent display in pots.
Stunning - particularly some lovely tall G. Rev. Hailstone.
Some photos below;
G. Reverend Hailstone
G. Kite & G.Mrs W M George
G. Ginns Imperiati
G. Gerard Parker
G. Brenda Troyle
G. Ailwyn
A visit to Anglesey Abbey is highly recommended
John
edit by M: John's photos are added in the next post by Mark
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Here are John Lloyds photos from Angelsey Abbey
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It was good to see Mike Broadhurst standing behind the pots of Snowdrops explaining the differences and helping the general public with their enquiries when we were there. Reverend Hailstone was the previous owner of the Abbey and Thomas Hobson (Hobson's Choice) was a previous owner.
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Do we really need another Brenda Troyle, S Arnott, ........ lookalike - Mrs EM George?
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John, after all this moving of posts etc, I should pause to say... welcome!!
The Reverend Hailstone ( wonderful name!!) is afine upstanding chap....you were not kidding when you said he was tall!
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I said I was finished by Galanthus for the season. God help me if I see 'Ailwyn' in the UK. What a beauty!
johnw
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I said I was finished by Galanthus for the season. God help me if I see 'Ailwyn' in the UK.
;D ::) ;D
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Isn't that a pot of 'Magnet' in pic no. 3, labelled 'Ginn's Imerati ?'
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John it will be at the Galanthus Gala for £25. I can email a seller and reserve you a bulb. It is, to my eyes, the best snowdrop since sliced bread! With age it gets taller and the green marks on the inside of the inners line up perfectly towards the centre.
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Terrific pictures Brian, thanks for brightening up a dull day.
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...and this underplanting of Ypsilandra thibetica?
The thing in flower, so the underplanting should look quite nice :), and smell good too cos it has a lovely scent . It gets caught by late frost in my garden :(
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John it will be at the Galanthus Gala for £25. I can email a seller and reserve you a bulb. It is, to my eyes, the best snowdrop since sliced bread! With age it gets taller and the green marks on the inside of the inners line up perfectly towards the centre.
Thanks for the offer Mark but I think I may have one lined up for the future.
johnw
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I do not want an Ailwyn I do not want an AilwynI do not want an AilwynI do not want an AilwynI do not want an Ailwyn......... oh crikey, it must be all this snow, I'm feeling weak! :o
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Interesting that the Cambridge Iris bakeriana differs markedly from others shown here on the Forum - rather like 'Cantab' in fact :-\
Ashley I was most careful to take pictures of the labels as well as the Iris because of that, unfortunately it does not say anything about the acquisition on the label.
Hmmm - does anyone have a digipic of Cantab? This one does not look like my slide from 15 years ago. The two shown look very similar (look at the falls) and it may be that neither is correctly labelled :-\
edit by M: some related posts have been moved to the Iris Reticulata pages : http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2862.165
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I do not want an Ailwyn I do not want an AilwynI do not want an AilwynI do not want an AilwynI do not want an Ailwyn......... oh crikey, it must be all this snow, I'm feeling weak! :o
Look at the 'Ailwyn', Maggi...Looooook at the 'Ailwyn'...you know you want it. When I snap my fingers you will awake and there will be a credit card in your hand.
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I noticed it also, Martin, when I was editing the images. Could a customer have swapped labels?
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I do not want an Ailwyn I do not want an AilwynI do not want an AilwynI do not want an AilwynI do not want an Ailwyn......... oh crikey, it must be all this snow, I'm feeling weak! :o
Look at the 'Ailwyn', Maggi...Looooook at the 'Ailwyn'...you know you want it. When I snap my fingers you will awake and there will be a credit card in your hand.
flippin' 'eck! The end must be nigh.... I Do want an Ailwyn! For goodness sake, NOBODY telll the BD! This is no weather for a middle-aged woman to find herself homeless :o ::)
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Maggi, before you are swept into that white-and-green vortex kindly tell me whether it’s possible to hyperlink words rather than use messy URLs?
Dunno, Ashley, that's a bit too high-tech for me! Sorry! :-[
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No problem Maggi; me too. Next time I see someone do it on the Forum I'll PM for help.
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I can do it 8)
Ian’s bulb log (http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=bulb/)
Is that what you mean?
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Share the secret please Diane ;D
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ok, the code is:
'['url=http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=bulb/] Ian’s bulb log [/url']'
miss out all the 's (I don't know how to show it without it decoding it)
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Fantastic (http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/diaries/Midland/) Diane. Many thanks 8)
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Fantastic (http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/diaries/Midland/) Diane. Many thanks 8)
Well done Ashley!
Funny you should do that link, I'm literally in the process of a new entry.
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Oh, Diane, you're such a cleverclogs (http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/diaries/Midland/+February+/173/) ::) :-*
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Oh, Diane, you're such a cleverclogs (http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/diaries/Midland//) ::) :-*
Blimey, you might all wait until I've finished the next entry ;D
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Just getting in some practise now, Diane, I can go back and edit for the correct blog in time!!! Hee Hee!
(Diane's Blog is now on!)
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Thanks to Mark for sorting out my photos.
There seems to be a good number of people
viewing them.
I really do recommend a visit to Anglesey Abbey.
I think at the moment there is no snow on the ground, so
it is a good time to go.
If you think you may not see many different snowdrops,
the National Trust say there are now 227 different
snowdrop varieties growing there, which must make it
one of the largest collections of snowdrops in the world
and the labelled displays in the entrance hall are usually very good.
John
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Where ?
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I shouldnt advertise them too much but one is in UK and one is in Ireland
Mark, please do not disclose private collection holders in the Forum.
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Re: Martin's comment about Pic 3
in the Anglesey Abbey display photos
I notice there is a question mark after the name on the label.
So, whoever wrote the label out must have been unsure of
the variety ( possibly the label was written out well before flowering ).
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Isn't that a pot of 'Magnet' in pic no. 3, labelled 'Ginn's Imerati ?'
The question mark would indicate there was doubt in the label so perhaps not a label transposition?