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Posts Tagged ‘nature’

Apple tasting at the RHS Harvest Festival Show

Posted in Apples, Bare rooted plants, Chillies, Fruit, Plant and flower shows, Plant Nurseries, Vegetables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 20, 2012 | 14 Comments »

I must have known somewhere at the back of my mind that the RHS had sold off one of their two halls in London, and because of this, I have to admit to being a tad underwhelmed with their latest show in Victoria. Having marvelled at the size of the competition leeks, and gazed at perfectly formed raspberries, there were only a few stalls left to visit.

One of these was the wonderful Sea Spring Seeds, who did offer a marvellous display of Chillis with seeds to match, and I did buy a couple of garlic cloves from the Garlic Farm stall, so all was not lost. But I’d have been a bit miffed if I’d travelled for hours to arrive at this lightly populated show.

However, there was an apple tasting stand, packed full of apples from RHS Wisley, and this was the unexpected gem of the show for me. With the help of a very friendly RHS gardening team, I tasted a few of the most delicious apples I’ve ever come across.

Lord Lambourne, a variety dating back to 1907, had it all. Crispish texture, but with the sweetest of flavours and a beautiful warm russet-red, fading-into-yellow colouring, and a wonderfully fresh aroma (plus it’s a good storer).  I brought a few varieties of apples back for a client to taste, and we’re now planning on planting a few Lord Lambourne apple trees as cordons, which will look very decorative in her front garden. This variety, although never seen in the supermarkets, was easy to buy and I’ve plumped for an M26 semi-dwarfing rootstock which should keep the cordon small-ish, but have enough vigour to produce plenty of fruit.

Another supremely sweet apple was ‘Sharon’. However, this is predominantly an American cultivar, so not readily available in the UK. I did discuss with Rebecca Bevan (Fruit manager at RHS Wisley) the possibility of grafting a ‘Sharon’ from RHS stocks, and also started discussing the possibility of apple tree grafting courses at the RHS and creating ‘family’ trees with more than one variety on the same tree. Could I graft a Lord Lambourne, a Sharon,

and a Limelight (another favourite) onto the same tree? Intriguing, and something I’ll have to explore further.

I’m also wondering how a Lord Lambourne would fair trained as a Quincunx and where in the garden could I grow it!

So despite my initial disappointment, the show was an eye opener for me in terms of apples, but I’ll be more vigilant from now on as to the listings of the shows. Next week is the RHS London Shades of Autumn Show, with a big caption under the first image warning that it’ll be held in only one hall. However, offering 20 specialist nurseries this time round, I’ll be tempted once again to make the journey to Victoria.

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Hampton Court Flower Show 2012-it’s still huge!

Posted in Community growing, Edible Flowers, Herbs, Japanese wineberries, Perennials, Plant and flower shows, Plant combinations, Plant Nurseries, Plants for tree pits, Raspberries, Simple but briiiant, Vegetables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 3, 2012 | 18 Comments »

Hampton Court is huge and ever-changing and one new innovation that I really enjoyed was the creation of the ‘Low cost, high impact’ gardens. Just four of them this year, but definitely some of the best in show for me. And while I’m counting, it’s always good to get your bearings at the beginning of the show. Small gardens proliferated this year and I think I’ve calculated approximately 36 small plots to see  (as well as the 12 large show gardens) if you include the Edible Bust Stop (seemingly floating around on its own in the yellow ‘Park Area’), Chris Beardshaw’s ‘Urban Oasis’, divided up into 8 distinct areas, 15 ‘Summer’ gardens and 8 conceptual spaces too.

‘Our first home, our first garden’ (above), designed by Nilufer Danis and recipient of a Gold Medal, had the lowest fixed budget of the ‘Low cost’ gardens, set at £7,000, but the simplicity of using reclaimed scaffolding boards as the only material for hard landscaping was a real winner.

Treated tree posts were used to space the boards which gave them an airy feel (and also supplied ventilation to stop them rotting),

and the mini matching garden chair was a lovely perpendicular touch too.

And talking if chairs, this witty and practical design by Will Sandy on the Edible Bus Stop area was another highlight of the show.

Sandy is a landscape architect and through rejuvenating forgotten corners along the no. 322 bus route in South London, aims to create thriving gardens which will both bring the local communities together and green up the urban landscape. Successful meetings with Transport for London have resulted in their own liveried bus stops and livery on buses along their edible route too!

Edible landscapes were also very much part of Chris Beardshaw’s ‘Urban Oasis’ project, where 8 designed areas showcased again how ornamentals and edibles (often mixing the two together), could transform unpromising or abandoned urban areas to improve local communities.

They even had a derelict space to illustrate the point,

which reminded me that despite our best efforts to green up our own urban space in Finsbury park (through neighbours planting up tree pits and growing veg in front gardens), we also still have developers in our community who are happy to leave their projects in a half-finished state from one year to the next. (Note to self to contact local council and rally neighbours to take more action regarding this semi abandoned eyesore).

Back to flowers and loveliness, but also staying on the edible theme, I loved some of the Violas displayed by Victorian Violas of Lincoln in the floral marquee. And such a sweet delicate scent too. These unassuming flowers are fast becoming some of my favourite blooms in the garden, they’re a very decorative addition to a salad , and they grow well in pots too alongside lettuces and mustard leaves.

Slightly more attention grabbing were these stunning day lilies on the Brookfield Plants stand. Hemerocalis Ruby Spider could grace any garden or salad bowl,

and H. Red Twister looked rather delicious too. Mark Diacono in his ‘a taste of the unexpected’ book has intriguing recipes for both day lily fritters and hot and sour day lily soup. Just the time of year to experiment as mine are just about to come into flower. Paul Harris from Brookfield plants explained that day lilies probably grow best in the soil, forming large clumps, but will also do well in pots if fed in spring and kept well watered throughout the growing season.

And for the first time, Mark Diacono had his own stand at Hampton Court, displaying a tempting array of edible perennials, shrubs and trees from Otter Farm in the ‘Growing for Taste’ marquee.

I was rather taken by this Szechuan pepper tree with its light, open, spiky habit and edible fruit of course.  Although it can eventually grow up to 7m high (but will respond well to heavy pruning), Mark Diacono had a 5-year-old plant that was about 10 feet tall on his stand. A great size and habit for smaller gardens and it will grow happily in pots too. Definitely a purchase for the future.

In the same marquee, Blackmoor Nurseries had some great ideas for front garden fruit growing with step over apples and pears replacing fencing,

(more…)

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Inspiration at Lip na Cloiche

Posted in Apples, Bulbs, Gardens to visit, Gardens to visit in Scotland, Panters and pots, Perennials, Plant combinations, Plant Nurseries, Pots, Raspberries, Seaside, Simple but briiiant, Spring plants, Trees, Vegetables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2012 | 20 Comments »

This is the second time that I’ve visited Lucy Mackenzie’s Lip na Cloiche garden and nursery on Mull. I was originally wowed by this hillside haven and its phenomenal planting about a year ago, but since then, the island has been battered by the worst storms in 30 years, with salt-laden winds hitting the land at over 120 miles an hour.

Salt and wind burn are easily in evidence on some of the plants. However, ceaseless rain since last August, unlike our drought in the South, has also done for a fair amount of perennials too.

After a brief sunny spell, the rain was back in force on the day we visited, but had its compensations as it looked rather gorgeous captured on the hairy leaves of this Meconopsis.

Despite, or maybe because of some gaps left in the planting, there are some great sculptural developments in the garden. I love the fork heads climbing their way up the slope amongst the ‘London Pride’ (Saxifraga x urbium),

and the teapots filled with various bulbs are a fabulous quirky delight. Along with the stunning planting, Lucy Mackenzie’s outsider art credentials seem even stronger than before.

Found objects have been artfully recycled throughout the garden,

and beachcombed treasures displayed with panache.

Spade heads echo the fork head pilgrimage ,

and teapots are reprised as planters at other points in the garden.

Bedsteads define the border at the top of the garden at Lip na Cloiche,

whilst willow has been woven to mask off the compost area half way down.

There’s so much artistry to feast your eyes on, from Fritillarias in colanders,

to trees in trunks and much, much more,

that I know I’ll be drawn back to visit this spectacular garden again and again.

P.S.

Prompted by a comment by Jono at Real Men Sow (a fantastic veg growing blog), adding a couple of pics of Lucy’s gorgeously chunky raised vegetable beds. They’re tucked in, in front of the greenhouse area,

and nice and deep, allowing for plenty of veg planting choices. There are also some trained fruit trees and raspberry canes on the other side of the hedge, heading towards the shoreline. Heaven!

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