Monday, November 30, 2009

Daffodils poem wordsworth






Lupine at Quail Hollow Ranch, CA USA

When I was a child I had no interest in gardening - it was an activity that kept my parents away from me for hours on end and so I resented it. I was amazed recently talking to two horticulturist friends of mine when they agreed that, as boys, the highlight of their week was watching Gardeners' World! It also seemed the influence of their grandparents was the important thing. I hear that my fellow blogger, Sam Youd, Head Gardener at Tatton Park has seven grandchildren under the age of six, I wonder how many of them will catch the bug?

If I were a child today, it would be a different story. I'd be counting the days til my day out at this year's Tatton Park show.

Children are admitted free and the RHS have made sure there are plenty of stimulating and fun ways to introduce them to the world of horticulture.

If your children are very young and you don't want to spend the day buying and then mopping up, ice cream, there's lots of hands-on playing activities to amuse them. They can make animals out of vegetables, do floor puzzles and have fun getting dirty messing about with earth, plus a few worms if they're lucky. Arts About Manchester are planning a circus style tent plus a balloon garden and will be showing a screening of Bee Movie, which might be a welcome chance for a sit down (and a snooze) for tired parents.

One of the show gardens, Edible Trends is giving away pumpkin plants to the first 100 children to visit the garden, so that they can grow them for Halloween. If you miss that and you're feeling peckish, try the Waitrose outdoor kitchen, where your budding Jamie Oliver can have a go at creating a salad lunch.

For teenagers, the floristry tent might offer some unexpected inspiration. The floral jewellery workshops might offer something for even the most disaffected youth - and if you remember the spectacular hats at Chelsea, the results could be amazing.

Artistic teenagers might also be inspired by Jack Dunckley, the 16-year-old, medal-winning, garden designer (silver medal at Hampton Court this year). Take them to have a look at the gardens in the Young Designer of the Year category, you never know, they might want to have a go.



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White flower garden nursery





beetography
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forsynthia-DSC_1613.jpg


Another yellow flower

Another yellow flower


Yellow  flowers

Yellow flowers


atheana

atheana's photo



Dove... flying around. This tiny flower, with mostly with white colour, plus a little spot of yellow. The formation of dove.



Robert Nyman
Like, flowers

Like, flowers


Yellow  flowers

Yellow flowers


atheana

atheana's photo



Asim Shah posted a photo:

the basket


Asim Shah posted a photo:

bee


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flower - cherry-blossom-flower.jpg


Asim Shah posted a photo:

yellow


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Flower - flowerdress.jpg

Flower



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Flowers


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Flowers - Flowers02072802.jpg

Flowers




A large field of planted water spinach - water morning glory. Actually completely obsolete such farming as water spinach grows in abundance wild in sufficient quantities for any commercial use.
A simple farmers rule is to never plant on agriculture fields if you can have the same variety in wild from nature. Just care more and better for nature and you get all water spinach from nature, leaving the use of such rare fields to those plants that may need care to grown. Water spinach is completely maintenance free!
The water spinach here blossoms in both colors, plain white blossoms and also with lilac water spinach blossoms.
In album Nature pictures

Tiny beautiful macro world of the lily ponds of Cambodia.

For macro photo of these smallest white water lilies, see my earlier picture from dwarf lotus.
In album Lotus flowers


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the Violet Flower - thViolet_Flower.jpg



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Asim Shah posted a photo:

pretty


Robert Nyman
Like, flowers

Like, flowers


flower66.jpg
FLOWER - flower66.jpg



Flower of the Lotus Heart

A few years ago if someone had mentioned gabions I wouldn't have known what they were talking about. They were something that was used in civil engineering, large scale industrial landscaping - a million miles away from domestic gardens. Now it seems they are becoming the cool thing to have.

edible_trends.jpgAt Tatton there are gabions in the show gardens, in the back to backs and on the trade stands - people are taking home DIY versions!

Basically a gabion is a metal - usually steel, cage filled with stones/rocks or various heavy materials. They are usually used to retain soil in banks and terraces or as barriers. I've seen taller, slim ones used as a wall and smaller, cubed ones made into seats - the permutations are endless, as demonstrated by the two young designers of the Visionary garden, Cubed3, at this year's Tatton.

gabions_on_a_place_for_wast.jpgThis gold medal winning design is a modular scheme, gabions are linked together like building blocks and used in different ways - some are filled with rocks as foundations, some are filled with soil and planted and some are placed in the pond, allowing you to walk over the water's surface. Larger cages have been left empty and plants are able to grow up through them - it's very effective.

On the Edible Trends garden the Reaseheath College team have filled their gabions with carefully placed layers of stones and wood in decreasing sizes, creating a very pleasing pattern and a haven for wildlife. Apparently it took them ages to do but it looks fantastic.

A very 'green' way to fill your gabions is with odd bits of bricks, slates and tiles left over from building jobs, plus any empty bottles you may have accumulated. This is what they have used on A Place for Waste, another gold medal winning garden.

As you look around the show you will see all sorts of shapes and fillings and gabions used in many ways. I am feeling quite inspired and am planning to try something with sempervivums and I rather like the idea of turf cubes.


Info from:

Cherry hill garden centre teeside





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FLOWER - flower-vines-tattoo.jpg


Crazy looking flower

Crazy looking flower


Yellow  flowers

Yellow flowers



Thousands of blue water flowers and lilies - wallpaper 1600x1200px with blue lotus - Nymphaea Caerulea (blue water lilies) in a large rice field. Siem Reap near Tonle Sap.
In album Lotus flowers

Gerti's garten

Gerti's garten



Winter Berries


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Wild In Washington

Asim Shah posted a photo:

pretty


plates_fruit.jpgEntering the RHS summer fruit and vegetable competition marquee is like walking into a village show. It's modest in size and the exhibits are displayed on white plates arranged on wooden tables. As in most village shows, the same names dominate the winners cards. I was surprised to see that a lot of them were from as far away as Plymouth and Essex, but this is a national competition and rather early in the season for northern growers.

Alongside the plates of beetroots and carrots are handy tips for the aspiring exhibitor. Advice like '..to get good colour in your beetroots, water the row with a solution of 10ml of salt in a gallon of water 2 weeks before harvest' or 'after washing your carrots, wrap them in damp kitchen paper and keep them cool - good colour is worth 3 or 4 points', could make all the difference.

flat_peaches.jpgThe fruit exhibits impressed me most - it was painful looking at huge, luscious black cherries 'Summer Sun' and not being able to taste them. I've never tried the strange looking 'doughnut' peaches, but was assured they are very sweet, have white flesh and a very small stone, 'Saturn' was the variety on show. One allotment society from Yealmhampton near Plymouth had a fantastic display that included a pineapple!

Very helpful fruit enthusiasts from the Northern Fruit Group (www.northernfruitgroup.com ) are on hand to give advice and answer questions. I found out how to prune a reluctant gooseberry and Clifford from Fruitscape told me there was no excuse for not growing lots of fruit in my small London garden.


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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Makin garden designs





The Notes of Music

atheana

atheana's photo



This species of water lilies are used as vegetable in Cambodia. The stem of the lily flower, peeled - without the lily blossom itself is commonly harvested and used as veget able in Khmer cuisine.
In album Lotus flowers

pollen-flowers posted a photo

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pollen-flowers posted a photo

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One of the things I love about the Tatton show is the way the RHS are so encouraging to young designers. Many young hopefuls have started here with a small back to back garden and have then gone on to bigger and better things, a successful career being one of them.

This year, for the first time, there was a special competition for young designers under 25 from the north-west region. Two finalists were selected and invited to build gardens that were to be judged alongside the other show gardens and awarded RHS medals. Next year the Young Designer of the Year competition goes national and there will be three lucky garden-builders having a go.

Lee Belgrau is a student at Reaseheath College and his design, 'Red Rhythm', was one of the two chosen this year.

I think it's stunning - one of the most accomplished here. Lee says that his inspiration came from the shiny red posts that are the first thing you notice, rising up out of a beautiful raised bed. The five verticals are continued horizontally across a broad path of rough cut blocks of slate - creating a satisfying contrast of textures.

He has carried the red into the planting. It's vibrant and sophisticated; Crocosmia 'Lucifer', Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff' and dark Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty' lead the way. On the shadier side of the path, large specimens of Photinia 'Red Robin' and Astilbe 'Burgundy Red' continue the theme. I like the way that Lee has designed the garden with young clients in mind, it's ideal for a smaller, urban space, perfect for socialising.

Lee got a well-deserved Gold medal, a fantastic achievement for his first show garden. He has demonstrated that good design is about scale, function, harmony and, of course, rhythm. I shall be looking out for his name at future shows and I'm also quite tempted to look out for some shiny red posts...


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