Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ [gallery]
Black Eyed Susan – I grow these reliable autumn daisies in a pot at the front of my house. They hate getting dry, flopping at the first sign of drought and turning brown and crispy if they are not watered …
Plant Profiles
Clematis alpina Alba – trained on wires
Virgin’s bowerClematis alpina AlbaSyn. C. Sibirica 8 ft (2.4 m) 3.5 ft (1 m) white Apr/May (Aug/Sep) full sun, part shade free-drained soil I planted this white form of the alpine clematis in a shady corner against a fence a …
Black and White Flower Photography
Here are a few subjects from my garden that I thought made good black and white photographs. [click any image to view in full-screen gallery]
Tree Lily Miss Feya – photo study
I grew this Tree Lily in a pot in the greenhouse. Bulbs I purchased in spring came to fruition: 5 strong 4ft tall stems each carrying a half-dozen huge oriental-type lilies in mid August. Each flower is at least 6 …
Plant communities on my green roof
The green roof is ten years old, and the planting has matured into a fascinating naturalistic plant community. Any garden, as it matures, contains a community of plants: a dynamic mix of species of different ages. Some short-term residents come …
Myrtle spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites)
throughout the year
In this post I look at the amazing design potential of this wonderful perennial which has a very long season of interest from January until December… Some plants have the ability to just keep giving throughout the season with never …
Read moreMyrtle spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites)
throughout the year
Four Artemisia varieties for Silver planting schemes
Artemisia abrotanum (top-left) Artemisia alba ‘Canescens’ (top-right) Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (bottom-left) Artemisia schmidtiana ‘Silver Mound’ (bottom-right) The Wormwood family (Artemisia species) include some very garden-worthy plants which provide some of the best silver and grey foliage for the garden. These …
Read moreFour Artemisia varieties for Silver planting schemes
Fairy Thimble Bellflower
This pretty little alpine plant is Campanula cochlearifolia ‘Elizabeth Oliver’ also known as Fairy thimble bellflower, which is at its peak right now in my garden in late July. I planted two little pots of it in the spring in …
White Lavandin Lavandula × intermedia ‘Edelweiss’
White Lavandin ‘Edelweiss’ is a beautiful summer flowering shrub that provides a long season of fragrant blooms later in the year than most lavenders. Lavandin is a cross between English lavender (L. anguvstifolia) and Portugese lavender (L. latifolia) leading to …
Macro Flower Photography
During lockdown, I’ve been learning how to use my camera (a Nikon D3300) to improve my garden photography, particularly how to use aperture priority to get better macro (close-up) shots. The idea of a good macro-shot is to capture some …