In Growth

Oh dear, I can’t believe I didn’t write anything for a whole growing season! I’m here to say that I am alive and the blog lives on, but I am hesitant to promise a more regular posting since I’ve made that promise a few times before without the best follow through.

One of my favorite little woodland plants, Maianthemum stellatum, looking fresh before the drought took its toll.

Between the budding projects and responsibilities at work and the longest, hottest, and driest summer in Seattle history, there wasn’t much time left to write. (I really don’t know how other bloggers do it.)

Spring came incredibly early this year, so the Long Bed erupted into growth with amazing vigor.

My own garden suffered quite a bit, but this was the perfect year to leave the garden to edit itself. Anything what wasn’t well established or sited well would wither away allowing space for the more suited plantings to spread. Of course being a bit soft hearted I saved and doted upon a few select plants, but over all everyone had to make it through by their own devices.

Spring

Even before the normally reliable rains petered out the alternation of warm sunny days and mild rainy ones kept everyone looking quite good. Nearly everything bloomed all at once, so it was very difficult to photograph everything.

One of my favorite sights this spring was seeing the icy teal blue spruce and soft pink plumes of cherry blossoms against the wonderfully blue sky.

The (late) potted tulips sailed through the mild winter and began blooming a month early with a riot of color.

As usual the Bletilla orchids put on a great show though this year the chartreuse blooms of Euphorbia characias and ruddy flowers of Rosa ‘Mutabilis’ added to the effect.

I received this Ranunculus ficaria ‘Flore Pleno’ from a friend in early spring…hopefully it doesn’t have plants of garden domination.

I love the sweet smelling double flowers of Primula veris ‘Katy Mcsparron’ and despite the heavy blossoms the heads look up.

The Long Bed always looks so verdant in spring, but if the lady ferns aren’t well watered in the summer they crisp and brown terribly. I dig them out in late summer and planted other perennials in their place.

I find that the brooding blossoms on Geranium phaeum ‘Variegatum’ helps ground the splashy nature of its cream variegation.

I love the long dangling pedicels of Mertensia bella – a lovely Pacific Northwest native.

The only well-drained area in my garden is this long narrow bed about a foot wide. Everything Mediterranean lives here along with this lovely Iris ‘Cloud Ballet’.

After removing the Siberian irises back in February, I was happy to see that the fragrant Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus would bloom along side sweet Tellima grandiflora.

Summer

This summer was quite the blur. I seemed like everything needed my attention, so I didn’t get many chances to photograph what was blooming. Plus most of the plants were stressed and ragged from the drought, so I spared them from the camera’s unflinching view.

I’ve been impressed with how hardy Osteospermum jucundum has been in my garden. I has survived at least four winters now, but unfortunately hasn’t produced any viable seed while I’ve grown it.

This is Taraxacum pseudoroseum, a pink flowered species of dandelion that I grew from seed and of course I was delighted by its first bloom this year. (Yes, I know I am a bit of a nut.)

This is one of the flowers from an heirloom seed strain of carnations I started earlier in the year. Dianthus ‘Enfant de Nice’ is an old French strain with spicy clove scented flowers of mixed shades of red, pink, white, and purple.

I started a bunch of dahilas from seed this year, but this seedling had the richest ox-blood red flowers which I can’t capture on camera very well.

Without a hard freeze over the winter Fuchsia magellanica ‘Aurea’ was quick to bloom this year.

It was my first year growing this black tomato (Indigo Rose), but the marauding deer didn’t leave a single ripe one for me to try.

Rosa ‘Julia Child’ really need a rejuvenating prune this year, so after a hard hack and feeding in early summer it grew back and bloomed all the way through frost.

Pelargonium ‘Attar of Roses’ grew magnificently in the summer heat. It was a joy pruning back the rich rose-scented sprawling stems.

Autumn

Autumn came late this year, but when it did arrive it was a drastic and noticeable switch. It was still quite mild and the sunny days were beautiful, but the cooler and damper weather gave many plants much needed relief from the straining summer.

Oddly the Rhododendron occidentale decided to blossom again in September. Maybe it was rejoicing the autumn rains.

Another rebloomer was Veronica gentianoides ‘Pallida’. I love the china blue veins on its porcelain white petals.

As soon as Tricyrtis formosana ‘Blu-shing Toad’ started to bloom I knew it was the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

Thanks to the late mild autumn, Chrysanthemum ‘Apricot’ had a beautiful long display. The shimmering peach color brighten grey days.

Here is Chrysanthemum ‘Matchsticks’ – a new acquisition – in a blaze of scarlet and gold.

Apparently a few of my pollination attempts took on my Helwingia chinensis. How odd seeing little berries growing on a leaf.

The over growth of the Long Bed wasn’t looking too rough despite the drought this summer.

I could never grow tired of smelling the sweet, yet fresh apricot scent of Osmanthus fragrans. It lives in a pot by the doorway where its wafting fragrance can be enjoyed.

In early November I took a weeklong trip to LA to visit a friend. While I was there we stopped by the Huntington Botanical Gardens for a look around.

The gardens were amazing, but I wish they were open longer. Four and a half hours was not enough to see the entire place!

The Pollination Garden

One of the many exciting projects I got to take on this summer was creating “The Pollination Garden” out in front of the University of Washington Botany Greenhouse. The container garden was designed to be a fun display for visitors where they are invited to enjoyed the flowers as they learn how to infer what pollinators each species of flower was trying to attract by looking at form, color, and scent. The garden doubled as a urban oasis for pollinators passing through both animal and human.

The garden was mostly a mixture of tropical plants and the majority of them were of straight species.

Here is a view of the main border.

A close-up of a portion of the main border.

Here is the main border but looking towards the gate on a warm afternoon.

That’s all for today. Hopefully I be back around soon, but until then wishing you well and if you are in Puget Sound stay warm out there!

Emerging

Oh my god, my last update was in August! Sorry I haven’t written anything for a few months, but I hadn’t quite settled in at home until recently. I returned from my year abroad in November and now I have a new job at the University of Washington Botany Greenhouse. (During my undergrad I regularly volunteered at the greenhouse, but I wouldn’t have thought I would return as an employee in the future!) I’ve been caring for the research and collection plants, and since the the greenhouse will be demolished by the next year, I have been also helping with fundraising and preparing the collection plants for their big move. Dr. John Grimshaw has written a wonderful post about the greenhouse and the collection on his blog: johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.com. Besides the greenhouse post, the blog is full of plant musings and wonderful pictures – it deserves a follow!

This will be the final year this plum tree blooms, and it will be removed the next few weeks. I will miss it.

Now that I’m settled, of course I took a busman’s holiday and spent my entire weekend in the garden doing damage control. Nothing has been done to it for over a year and it’s been interesting seeing what has survived and what has bit the dust. Most of the garden has survived, but there were a few plants that had disappeared while some had begun to take over the beds.

Magnolia ashei is still alive, which I am excited about.

I’ve decided that anything that hasn’t been preforming well in the garden will be lifted and given away to a new home or tossed if it is beyond saving. The first on my list were the Siberian Irises. Though beautiful in spring, the flowers and shoots are a favorite among slugs, and without full sun the leaves flop onto neighboring plants and look quite messy. Yesterday morning they all came out. (But not without a fight!) Once they were all dug up it was a wonderful feeling knowing that I will not have to fight them next year. Now that the irises are gone, I shuffled in some plants that would appreciate the room and extra sunlight.

These are all going to a new home where they will be able to spread and bask in full sun.

Aside from two cold snaps, this year El Niño has graced Seattle with a mild winter and as a result many plants are blooming ahead of schedule. Almost everything is a month ahead, but since my garden is about 600 feet above sea level the effect is slightly less dramatic. (I am high up enough that when there is a threat of frost in Seattle my garden will freeze, so compared to sea level my flowers have been kept back.) While the snowdrops and hellebores have been blooming for a couple of weeks now, the daffodils and ranunculus have just started to bloom this week.

The snowdrops have bulked up a little, but I just wish the sweet flowers weren’t so appealing to slugs.

Looking towards the hellebore bed, the ever cheerful tête-à-tête daffodils have started to bloom.

Here the ranunculus have started to bloom and even the Primula veris.

When the hellebores first started to bloom a couple of weeks ago, I noticed there were many white ones blooming. I found it strange since I only had one white flowered plant. It turns out all the extra white ones were self-sown seedlings that have finally reached blooming size! (Without feeding they took a while to reach flowering maturity.)

The hellebores are looking presentable after their leaves were clipped and the their bed raked of excessive pine needles.

Here’s a bowl of the hellebore varieties I have in the garden. The white flower in the 3 o’clock position is the original plant, and other two at 10 and 2 o’clock are its children.

After some more clearing the other beds around the garden are starting to look better as well. The Long Plot is beginning to look a bit more defined than its early stages and it is exciting to see most of the plants are taking well to the clay soil.

Here’s the Long Plot now after a thorough clearing.

Though the front garden is starting to come to life, the Rosa ‘Mutabilis’ practically hasn’t stopped growing all winter (it didn’t even drop a single leaf).  Even though I just pruned it, it is still twice the size of when I left it and there isn’t any signs of slowing. I can’t complain since a bigger plant means many more flowers this summer!

I love the burgundy tint of the new foliage of Rosa ‘Mutabilis’ against the acid green flowers of Euphorbia wulfenii.

By the front door the potted plant collection is starting to grow as well. Many of the them will be planted in the grown once they are done or given away, but the plan is to eventually have just annuals in pots. That way I can easily moved them into the garden when color is needed and when the growing season is over I can compost them without any guilt. Knowing me, it probably won’t go to according to plan, especially if I attend any plant sales…

I love potted plants, but I am trying to keep them to a minimum this year, or it will be a busy summer of watering.

Just a short update for now, but now that I am home and settled I will be writing more often. See you later!

 

 

The Scent of Grasse

Oh gosh, has it almost been two months since I last wrote?! In my defense, I haven’t had a moment of down time until today. (But you may have noticed a pattern of forgetfulness emerging…) During my last post I was on Tresco Island on my last leg of my fellowship working in Tresco Abbey Garden. On July 11th, I finished my final day of the fellowship and savoured my last weekend in the Isles of Scilly before packing up and heading back up to Wisley. Since then I traveled back up to Edinburgh and made my way back down to London while stopping by York, Sheffield, and Wyken Hall.

On my final day on Tresco I went on a long walk around the island with a friend that lived in the same accommodation block.

I can’t find the right words to describe how amazing my year in the UK has been. I learned so much and still can’t believe all the places I’ve been. I have to thank the Garden Club of America for selecting me as the 2013-14 Royal Horticultural Society/Garden Club of America Interchange Fellow, who sent me on the most wonderful adventure in the UK, and the the RHS for arranging such a spectacular program and for supporting me during my travels from garden to garden. But of course my time in the UK would not have been the same if it wasn’t for all the new friends and great people that I met – thanks for such an amazing year! You’ve made many dreams come true and opened doors to places were beyond my wildest dreams. It’s a bit bittersweet now that it is all over, but there is a part of me that feels this isn’t goodbye for good.

This is around the same time when I first saw the Herbaceous Boarder at Wisley last year.

So what am I doing now? Well…through the fellowship I met a lady who turned me onto this garden internship in Grasse – a small town the south of France. The garden is called La Mouissone – which is the name of a fig variety – and I’ve arrived a little over two weeks ago right upon the heels of my UK Visa expiring. The six month internship provides hands on experience gardening in a Mediterranean climate and with it the joys and challenges. Along with the usual upkeep and maintenance, the internship also involves collaborative development of new areas in garden.

This is looking down the main lawn with the beautiful olive trees at La Mouissone.

Grasse is perched on the side of a large hill near Cannes and Nice. Though considered to be the perfume capital of the world, Grasse is the center of the French perfume industry. Due to it’s sheltered location many flowers – such as jasmine, roses, lavender, and violets – were grown and harvested here for their essences, but due to chemical synthesis advancements and outsourcing abroad, it’s a fraction of what it used to be. Though I haven’t been to the flower plantains, wonderful scents abound. Fig trees and cypresses loom over the road into town, so lately I’ve been greeted  by the mingled perfumes of ripening figs and piney cypresses on my way to the grocery store. In the garden wild rosemary lives up in the semi-wooded cliffs, but the wild thyme has seeded itself down in the garden, so I get kissed by its scent whenever I am weeding in the Garrigue garden.

I love the surprise fragrance when I accidentally brush past a wild thyme plant in the garden.

I know that was a short post, but I’ll be back with more soon. Also, when I get the chance on down days I’ll revisit the UK and write a few posts. Anyway, have a great day and I will see you soon!

Island Life

This is my first week at Tresco Abbey done and I am really liking this island life (especially when it is sunny). Between working in the garden, I’ve been strolling along beaches and biking to the far corners of the island (it’s only 2.2 miles long so a perfect size for exploring and still making it back home in time for dinner).

When I biked down this path Sunday morning I had to stop and admire the large Brugmansia sanguinea freely blossoming overhead (upper left).

The flowers maybe smaller than the more common hybrids, but the rich colors really pack a punch and it likes cooler conditions – perfect for temperate regions!

The island vegetation ranges from woodland, to grassland, sand dunes, and heathland. Within minutes I can bike from one environment to the next peppered within these areas escapees from the garden, such as Agapanthus and Echium, have self sown themselves around.

Here’s one of the grassy areas with the escaped Agapanthus beginning to bloom.

Isn’t that amazing? That’s all Bracken Fern as far as the eye can see!

Here is a closeup of the heathland. Everything is low to the ground and full of heathers.

The island was leased to Augustus Smith from the Duchy of Cornwall in 1834. Augustus built his home along side the ruins of the old abbey (1200’s) and started building his ‘exotic’ garden. The waters around the island is warmed by the Gulf Stream and this is why many of the tender plants (USDA Zone 9 and even 10) thrive here. Successive generations have added many more plants from the far corners of the world, as specimens from expeditions and passing voyages, and as the spoils of war and imperialism. Today the Dorrien-Smith Family – decedents of Augustus – still own the island and live in the large estate by the ruins of the old Abbey.

Gosh, what a home and a view.

Aside from the Dorrien-Smith Family, the majority of the inhabitants are temporary workers under contract and a few permanent staff that live on the island. Since the student housing was all booked up I live on the other side of the island with the seasonal staff. It’s not too far away and it’s lovely biking to work in the morning when few people are awake. Plus my neighbors are quite friendly and everyone is rich with life stories.

Two of the cleaners were so kind and shared their homemade pizza with me. The store on the island didn’t have the right ingredients for dough so they improvised with slices of bread and a few beaten eggs. I’m calling it ‘Romanian Pizza’. (And it was good!)

Back in the garden, the task of the moment is – surprise – weeding, weeding, weeding! We’ve been tackling the problem areas that have been left for a while and it’s need to ‘free’ the beds a little and let them breathe. Aside from weeding, it’s the usual of watering potted plants and clearing up the leaves on the garden paths. Usually it’s raking oak and beech leaves, but here on Tresco we are clearing up leaves of palm fronds, Metrosideros, and Cordyline. Every Monday morning and after a storm, we go along the paths collecting Cordyline leaves and tie them into bundles. Apparently, they are slow to decay and they clog up the mowers, so they are collected and burned.

To some this task maybe tedious, but I find quietly walking the garden picking up leaves is meditative and a gentle way to start the working week.

The lovely red pompom flowers of Metrosideros excelsa was swarming with bumblebees. You can hear their low ‘Ooomm’ down the garden path.

We finished the week working up in the Upper Terrace. The hot, dry, and poor soils are the ideal conditions for all sorts of plants in the Protaeceae family. Here Leucospermum and Protea cynaroides are blooming away.

Here’s a close up of Protea cynaroides. Isn’t it mesmerizing?

Today the Tresco hosted a triathlon to benefit Cancer Research UK. I wish I didn’t go to bed so late, because I missed actress Dame Judi Dench opening the event. (However she is still on the island, so maybe I can catch a glimpse of this rare bird?) Though I did manage to walk past, British comedian, James Corden while I was out today.

Yup, definitely woke up too late.

The triathlon started with swim in the sea, a bike ride through the hilly (and bumpy) grass and woodland, and – in good British fashion – the run around the island finished at the pub. There was music and a barbecue in honor of the athletes and it looked like everyone was having a good time.

Here’s the finish line alive with cheering and clapping. (PS, the pub is behind me.)

Even this old hen was enjoying herself!

Anyway, I am going to run out and enjoy the sun before it slips away for the day. I can’t believe I have only two more weeks left, but I’ll be visiting the other islands in the next two weeks. Check back for those posts. Talk to you soon!

A mini-quiz bouquet from one of the days. From left to right: Digitalis canariensis, Anthropodium cirratum, Tagetes lemmonii, Hymenolepis parviflora, and Wingandia caracasana.

Nothing Silly about Scilly

Once again I packed up my entire life again to move to  my next placement, but this time this will be the final garden I will get the opportunity to work in. Early Saturday morning I caught the train down to Penzance to catch the only ferry of the day. I made my way down the narrow street to the ferry station and boarded the Scillonian III. I’ve had many people tell me horror stories of choppy waves, spilt food, and vomit, but lucky that day the sea was quite calm and we had a beautiful passage to the Isles of Scilly. About two hours later we docked in the harbor of the Island of St. Mary and there I was to catch a smaller commuter ferry to the Island of Tresco.

The large ship on the right is the ferry: Scillonian III. Though I’m sure there was a good reason, but I do worry if the first two Scillonians had some issues…

Once I made it to Tresco I was picked up by the curator Mike Nelhams and off we went to my accommodations and to the garden. I could not believe my eyes. Plants such as Sparmannia africana, Puya, Echium, and Osteospermum freely seed around. For the past day and a half I’ve just been muttering ‘Wow’.

Through out the island the rock walls were smothered with plants like Aeoniums, Mesembryanthemums, Echiums, and Gazanias.

This is the back garden of the apartment I am staying in.

After lazy start to the morning I got on my bike and road over to the famous Abbey Garden. I could not believe my eyes. Walking through the garden was like making my way through a botanical wonderland. Most of the plants were ones that back on mainland UK (and in Seattle) would need to brought in or protected during winter.

The view on my way to the garden. The blue of the sea and sky are such a rich blue!

Garden of Eden? More like Garden of Envy! I was writhing at every turn!

The plants here are just ginormous! I’m (carefully) standing next to an Agave and a few in the garden were blooming with 40ft flower stalks!

I have three weeks here in paradise and tomorrow will be day one of working. I can’t believe I am almost to the end of my fellowship. I love where it has taken me and all the great people I have met – leaving will definitely be a little bittersweet. Since I don’t have internet in my apartment I’ve been borrowing internet from the pub for the past three hours, so I gotta run now. Have a nice day and I will post soon!

City Streets to Country Lanes

Oh gosh, has another month passed again?! I can’t believe it is already June! If there are any regular readers out there, I am sorry I haven’t been updating more regularly! I’ve had a bit of horticultural whiplash lately, and though I know I made it sound really unpleasant, in actuality I’ve been having a fun time zooming from one garden to the next.

The last time I updated I was in the Tropical Nursery at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Since then I’ve been in the Arboretum Nursery potting up nursery stock and all sorts of shenanigans in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

Don’t mind me, just admiring the world’s smallest waterlily species (Nymphaea thermarum) that also happens to be extinct in the wild…

Since the Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) was in bloom, a soon-to-be diploma student and I pollinated every flower in hopes of getting some seed.

I was at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew until the second week of May and the next week I scooted off to Winfield House, which is the US Ambassador’s home in Regents Park. (No, unfortunately I wasn’t staying there, just helping out in the garden.) Though I have a few photos of Winfield House, I’m not allowed to post any of them in a public space. However, during my week there the Head Gardener – Stephen Crisp – arranged some gardens for me to visit: Great Dixter, Sissinghurst Castle, The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, Lambeth Palace, The Royal College of Physicians, and Buckingham Palace. I know, isn’t that quite the line up?

This was my second time visiting Great Dixter, but it was great to see the garden in a different season and I got to meet head gardener (Fergus Garrett), some of the staff, and students. It is amazing how full and lush everything was, I did not find a single gap in any of the gardens there!

Great Dixter is much softer in the spring, but with the same free spirit!

After visiting Great Dixter Sissinghurst Castle was a little bit of a let down. (Not that it wasn’t beautiful, it just wasn’t as full compared to Great Dixter.) Though in their defense, they just brought in a new head gardener in the autumn and it was a week or two before the garden was at its height. Still lovely nonetheless.

The hot colors in these beds at Sissinghurst Castle made it feel warmer that day.

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is in the heart of London and you wouldn’t know it just by visiting it. Just walking through it there are many little passages, courtyards, and gardens, and with all the buildings arranged like a village they seem to cancel out the noise from the busy streets. (Oh by the way, The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is where most of all the high-profile barristers work in London.)

A wonderful spring display in the herbaceous border. Does it remind you of Great Dixter? Well it turns out the head gardener used to be a student there.

Lambeth Palace is also in the heart of London with the Garden History Museum located off to its side. This is where the Archbishop of Canterbury’s lives in London. The gardens are English in style, but each one has it’s own signature and feel, ranging from formal to naturalistic. The idea is to create a tranquil space for everyone – from the visitors to the bishops – to unwind and reflect. (Just by change I met the Archbishop of Canterbury that day!)

This herb garden was one of my favorite sections and though the chefs may come out to pick some for cooking, it’s really there for people to enjoy the fragrance when wandering by or finding a sunny place to sit.

Being on the outer edge of Regents Park, the Royal College of Physicians are tighter on space. Though the gardens are smaller they are quite wonderful and packed full of plants familiar and new. Generally, the plantings are inspired by plants that have or were once used for medicinal purposes by doctors and apothecaries. Though the plant palette it may suggest a very botanical garden style design, the plants are combined and used in a free manner. The gardens softened the buildings and created a fresh atmosphere.

This block of buildings has one long garden in the front where an 18th Century list of approved plants for apothecaries to sell/use are brought to life. I love it!

My final visit was the gardens around Buckingham Palace and it was quite a treat! When I was there a small crew of people were setting up marques for her summer garden parties, but luckily the Queen was staying at another palace that day and I was able to see her massive long herbaceous border. (Her window overlooks that section of the grounds and if she were home we wouldn’t be allowed to be on that side.) Also like the Winfield House, I wasn’t allowed to take photos. Sorry to disappoint!

This was the final day of build-up in front of the to-be Best of Show garden. The garden designer/builders’ stress levels were through the roof!

Next phase of the horticultural whiplash: a week at the Chelsea Flower Show! It was truly astonishing, since I have never seen anything like it. It was like London through a giant garden party and everyone from the rich and famous to the average gardener could attend – that is if they can get their hands on a ticket fast enough. My position was the Volunteer Support support. All joking aside, I was there to help both the volunteer coordinators and the volunteers, so if they needed anything I was their go-for.

The Great Pavilion was filled with all sorts of flowers at peak perfection.

It was also amazing to witness the ‘Chelsea Sell Off’ at the end of the show. At 4:30pm on the final day of the show, a bell is rung then everyone – even the most genteel of people – get worked up into a frenzy and descend upon the gardens and flower stands and buys up anything with chlorophyll in sight. It was amazing what people were trying to take home on the Tube. Though I can’t lie it was wonderful to see giant plants and flowers bobbing up and down through the crowds, decorating the London streets for an evening.

The chaos!

And the brave! (Or crazed?)

Next a caught the train and made my way down to RHS Garden Rosemoor for a week. It is a beautiful garden, very peaceful and intimate.  I think it may be my favorite out of the RHS gardens. (Shh…don’t tell Wisley.)

The lake water was so sill that day it was like a giant mirror reflecting everything so beautifully.

After my short stint at RHS Garden Rosemoor I slipped down to the Eden Project and I’ve been here for two weeks now. So far I have worked in the Mediterranean Biome, the Tropical Biome, the Outdoor Biome, and the Nursery. Next week I will be with the ‘Narrators’ (kind of like docents), Pathology, and Plant Records. It’s an amazing place and a different take on botanic/ornamental garden. When I will write a more detailed post when I next have access to more reliable internet access. This is my last week at the Eden Project and on Saturday I am off to Tresco Abbey out in the Scilly Isles! Gosh time flies!

Here is one of the paths curving through the olive grove in the Mediterranean Biome.

Though many would find it too hot, I actually enjoyed the heat and humidity in the Tropical Biome.

I’ve headed out for the day to enjoy the the glorious warm and sunny weather in St. Ives. Anyway, that’s just a quick update for now. (I’ve been sitting in the Tate Gallery Cafe using their wifi for the past two hours and I think they are ready for me to leave.) See you all soon!

I haven’t seen the sea in months and I couldn’t have asked for better weather!

Curiouser and Curiouser

Has it really been almost a month since I last wrote? My goodness! Well, since my last post I’ve been working in the Tropical Nursery for three weeks. Each week was with a different section starting with Arid, then Temperate, and my final week with the Orchids. (There is also Moist and Bromeliads, but I was unable to work in those zone.)

The mist that shrouded RBG, Kew this morning was particularly ominous.

Each section is further divided up into zones where the whole range of zones can accommodate plant species from cooler regions all the way to the most tropical. Working in the Tropical Nursery was like slipping through the looking glass and into Wonderland – everything from the rarest plants on earth to the wackiest ones that only nature could have dreamt lived in these glasshouses.

This is one part of the aloe collection.

My tasks mainly included repotting, grooming, and watering the collections, but whenever I had the chance I relished exploring the different zones and finding gems from the sublime to the ridiculous.

This is the most tropical zone in the Tropical Nursery and sometimes when I poke around in here I almost forget I am in England.

Though I wish I could share all the wonderful plants here, there is really too many to be able to include in one single post. So there will be a smattering of botanically delectable morsels.

These young Passiflora cuttings are putting on lush growth and soon will be moved to their more permanent places.

First let’s start with Pelargonium appendiculatum. I spied this little cutie on the heated bench amongst the aloe collection. I love the pale yellow flowers, fuzzy, carrot-leaves, and tuberous rootstock. Who said pelargoiums are only for grandmas?

I wouldn’t mind having this one on a sunny windowsill.

Let’s head to the temperate section next. When I first walked into this zone I first noticed the blindly bright orange flowers of Gerbera jamesonii from South Africa. This is what a wild gerber daisy looks like and this one is one of the grandparents that gave rise to the many hybrid you see in florist shops today.

Wow, good morning to you too!

After admiring the Gerbera I immediately gravitated towards the Trochetiopsis ebenus plants. This species is endemic to the island of Saint Helena (the same island Parma-violet-crazed Napoleon was exiled to) and from the introduction of goats the entire population was reduced to just two plants clinging on a steep sea cliff. Though it nearly went completely extinct like its cousin Trochetiopsis melanoxylon, luckily conservation efforts are being made a RBG, Kew to protect and replant this species on the island.

In addition to the most amazingly crisp white flowers, the rusty-felt lining the stems and veins on the undersides of the leaves are very appealing.

Living just two rows down is Impatiens teitensis. The delicate petals fluttered in the breeze from the glass house and giving the illusion of a swarm of white moths.

The red markings on the white flowers remind me a little of Impatiens tinctoria.

One day as I made my way down the benches picking up fallen leaves in the temperate zone I saw this weeping plant. The somber, but beautiful blue-gray flowers hung delicately amongst the narrow leaves. I didn’t think much of it as first, but then I accidentally brushed on the flowers something dripped onto my hand.

Quite innocent and demure…

At first I thought I was bleeding, but the odd orange color helped me realize it was the nectar from the flower. This is Nesocodon mauritianus, the first ever plant to be discovered to produce red colored nectar. To make things odder it grows on the cliff edges of a waterfall in Mauritius and, though is said to be bird pollinated, it is now thought that it may be gecko pollinated. I guess never judge a book – or in this case a flower – by its cover!

Despite the Dayquil-color, the nectar was pleasantly sweet.

On a different afternoon, but still in the temperate zone, I was chatting with Carlos Magdalena and we wandered around as we showed a few of his plants. We stopped upon his young Puya raimondii plants– a wicked plant that is endemic to the high Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia.

The spines on this pineapple relative is quite vicious – once snagged, it is a rather tender ordeal trying to free yourself.

Being the largest Bromeliad in the world it grows to 6 feet tall and when it is mature (about 40 years) it sends up a flower stalk 3o feet tall covered with thousands of white flowers. Once it blooms and sets millions of seeds, the whole monolithic plant withers away and dies. Crazy – I know.

I find it amazing that this tiny baby Puya raimondii may one day be 36 feet tall.

During another afternoon, Carlos called me over and presented me this plant. Once look and I could hardly believe my eyes, it was Amborella trichopoda! I agree that these are flowers a only a botanist would love, but this is the great, great, great, great, great…great, great, great grandmother of all flowers – the oldest flowering plant that exists on earth today! That is, this plant is one of the surviving relics of the first flowers millions and millions of year ago.

Those tiny things are flowers and they are female.

Amborella is a bit of a unassuming sprawling shrub, but they can only be found in New Caledonia. New Caledonia was far enough from the ravaging poles during the Ice Age that Amborella was untouched by frost and could continue growing. Though this plant is dioecious, oddly they can switch sexes – a ‘male’ plant can produce female flowers and visa versa. Odd, but wonderful!

Like a school dance, the boys and girls are paired off.

In the warmer temperate zone Pavonia bahamensis is blooming. Though the color might not suggest it, but the tubular and nectar rich flowers are made for bird pollinators.

Not as showy as its hibiscus cousins, but it’s packed full of nectar.

Just a few benches over this wonderfully quirky flower belongs to Turraea sericea. The little petaloid ring carrying the anthers reminds me of an Elizabethan neck ruff.

The flower looks very Dr. Seussian.

Just down the corridor in the one of the zones containing Nepenthes lives this almost unbelievable carnivorous plant. Utricularia are carnivorous plants that usually live in ponds and waterways trapping small aquatic arthropods with their bladder-like traps. However this one – Utricularia nelumbifolia – lives in the tanks of bromeliads high up in the jungle canopy of Brazil! I can’t begin to imagine how it evolved this adaptation – just amazing!

If there is a niche, it will be filled.

Passing through the hallway it was hard not to be drawn in by these flashy Pinguicula laueana in flower. This Mexican species of butterwort is pollinated by hummingbirds, hence the bright red flowers.

In person the flowers ranged from shocking red to nearly ultra-violet carmine.

Across the from the temperate carnivorous room is the truly moist tropical zone. This room is quite pleasant with the sultry warmth and humidity enveloping everything. I caught a little glimpse of this Passiflora jussieui beginning to bloom. Though many passion flowers have a nice fragrance, when I bend down for a sniff this one turned out to be quite musky kind of wild-animal-like.

Brown is an unusual color for a passion flower, but I really like it.

In this same room lives the another famous plant: café marron. Ramosmania rodriguesi is a coffee relative native to the island of Rodrigues. This plant was thought to be long extinct, but in 1980 a schoolboy stumbled upon the only plant in existence and cuttings were sent to RBG, Kew.

Here they are enjoying the mist and the early morning sun.

The cuttings were slow to root, but soon they began to grow and eventually reached flowering size. Despite this success the staff ran into one problem: this species was not self-compatible, that is it needed another genetically different individual for successful pollination and all they had were clones.

Though the flowers look like they would be scented, but disappointingly no fragrance to be had.

Long trials of many different methods were tired, but it was finally discovered that hotter temperatures encouraged some female flowers and even though the plants were identical this somehow allowed a loophole for pollination. Though this technique worked it wasn’t a run away success, since the plants were still shy to produce many fruits. Over time the staff kept at pollinating and now they have quite a few plants even enough for the beginnings of reintroductions on the island.

Here’s a female flower – notice the style protruding out of the flower.

Here’s a male flower.

Ramosmania rodriguesi also has a curious adaptation of looking like a completely different plant during its juvenile stage. The leaves start out long and glossy with a pretty pinkish-white midrib that runs down the entire leaf.

Yes, that is still Ramosmania rodriguesi.

Once the plant as reached flowering age it switches from the long, glossy leaves to branches with small oval leaves. If you catch the plant in mid transition, it looks as if to plants were spliced into one.

This juvenile has just reached flowering size and the growth has switched to smaller round leaves.

My final week was a day shorter due to the Easter holiday, but it was packed full of luscious orchids. Are you ready? Here we go!

Labeled as Phalaenopsis schilleriana – which I don’t think it is – isn’t your typical moth orchid.

For some reason the flowers of Renanthera monachica remind me of 80’s parachute pants.

This Chysis bractescens looks like it can bite back. On a side note it faintly smells of jasmine and mothballs.

This Polystachya galeata smelt exactly like a Calvin Klein perfume that a friend always wore during high school.

Lycaste aromatica smells amazingly like the fiery cinnamon candy Red Hots.

I love the little head of light green flowers on Dendrobium capituliflorum.

The flowers on Trichoglottis smithii looked like exotic sea stars and it gave off a strong sweet and spicy fragrance.

Here is another Polystachya, specifically Polystachya pubescens. It’s orangey yellow flowers smelt softly of hyacinth and narcissus.

This Oncidium baueri had three flowers spikes that were at least 6 feet long!

The goofy technicolor flowers on Epidendrum pseudepidendrum just screams 80’s.

The flowers on this Epidendrum criniferum reminds me of a giraffe.

These regal purple flowers belong to Dendrobium victoriae-reginae named after Queen Victoria.

An unknown Dendrobium, but the color of a good fried egg.

This little cutie is a Phalaenopsis! Phalaenopsis parishii to be exact.

The springy colors of Dendrobium amabile was perfect for Easter.

The fragrance of Caularthron bicornutum was wonderfully soft and floral, kind of like baby powder with a touch of musk.

This is the wonderfully strange flowers of giant Vandopsis gigantea. I love how the purply-brown buds open to a lovely butter yellow speckled with toffee.

The scent of bumblebee-colored flowers of Dendrobium fimbriatum ranged from just honey with cinnamon to honey with cinnamon and plastic.

I love the earthy spotting on the Ansellia africana flowers.

I love the contrast between the black hairy stem/ovary and the blonde flowers on Paphiopedilum philippinense.

This impressive sight is a bench full of Dendrobium kingianum all blooming together.

This unknown Dendrobium was confiscated at the boarder, masqueraded under the label ‘hybrid’. It’s actually a species and extremely rare and immediately whisked away by one of the botanists for more study.

This Vanda tricolor is apparently the original one from which the species was first described and brought into cultivation – amazing!

On my final day with the Tropical Nursery, I helped the Orchid Department with their display in the Princess of Wales Conservatory. The best orchids in bloom were rounded up and gently carted off to the the glasshouse on the other side of the garden for an Easter display.

Here are the first batch of orchids waiting to be placed behind glass and out in the beds.

However there was one very special orchid that was to take center stage in the glass cases: Angraeum sesquipedale or Darwin’s Orchid.

It was a special occasion so a photographer came out to take photos for publicity.

A slow growing orchid from Madagascar, this individual decided to throw out four flowering spikes. It was a sight to behold – literally!

Not gonna lie, I wanted to run out the door with it…

Angraecum sesquipedale was discovered in Madagascar in the late 1700’s by a French botanist. Later a flower was sent to Darwin to look at. The white color, fragrance at night, and long nectar rich spur on the back of each flower, Darwin surmised that a moth with a proboscis exactly the length of the spur would be its pollinator. Unfortunately he would not live to see his prediction verified, but 21 years after his death a moth with a proboscis exactly the length of the spur was seen pollinating the orchid.

Being a brittle plant, I was able to exhale once it was placed securely in the glass case.

After the star of the show was safe behind glass, I helped arranged the glass case display in the cool orchid zone.

It was a tight squeeze back there, so I was balancing on my knees most of the time.

Phew! What a long post this time! I started at the Princess of Wales Conservatory today and I will write a post on that towards the end of the week. Until then here are a few photos of the waterlilies in the aquatics zone.

This egg-like blossom was so small and precious.

My camera couldn’t capture the color quite right, but this one was a glowing pink.

There is something so magical about waterlilies rising from the murky depths.

I love how it looks as if each petal was lovingly steeped in blue ink.

This waterlily just took my breath away. I revisited this one many times.

Oh wait! I almost forgot to add earlier that I had the good fortune to meet the world’s smallest waterlily that Carlos famously saved from extinction: Nymphaea thermarum. This waterlily was endemic only to the outflow of a single hot spring in Rwanda, but because the spring was diverted for municipal use it is now extinct in the wild. (The waterlily now only exists at RBG, Kew, except for one that was stolen in January.)

Absolutely adorable!

Okay, that’s it for now. I’ll post post soon!

Nice to Meet Kew

Has it really been a month since I last updated?! (No, I know – I’m such a bad blogger.) Time is really starting to fly by, so much as happened since then! This will be another short post, but I will be trying to make an effort to post more frequently. Okay let’s recap from my last post about moving back down to London from Edinburgh.

Here is the scene from the morning the day I left.

Once again, I packed up my entire life and headed out to Waverley Station and caught the next train to London. After a five and a half hour ride through the British countryside and an hour commute across London, I made it to my accommodation in Isleworth where I will be living for the next two months while I do my placement at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

With my first day at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew I was greeted by huge swatches of fresh daffodils cheerfully popping up in the lawns.

When I made it to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on my first day the flowers were at least two weeks of Edinburgh: the snowdrops were basically finished and daffodils and camellias were beginning to put on a show. While life was starting to stir again outside, I slipped into the the Princess of Wales Conservatory was transported into a lush tropical paradise. I just made it for the the tail end of the Orchids 2014 show and the main tropical room was awash with vibrant colors and alluring scents.

A part of the displays at the Orchids 2014 show at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The Alpine House also had many bulbs coming into bloom as well, so I just had to pop in for a quick look. Much like the Princess of Wales Conservatory the Alpine House was also popping with color and delicious fragrances abound.

The Alpine House may look a bit odd, but its modern design helps provide the alpine plants with the right temperatures and light levels.

I love delicate and wonderfully scented Narcissus jonquilla, and luckily they were dotted about and in full bloom.

This froth of pale-blue stars belongs to Scilla messeniana.

For the entire month of March I was placed with the Arboretum Department where I was helping with preparing the different sections of the Arboretum for spring and summer. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos, but I will include some later. Currently I am working in Tropical Nursery and for the final week in April I will have a week in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

The magnolias were at there prime for the past couple of weeks, but unluckily there was a light frost and the blossoms on many trees got singed.

A friend from Seattle visited me in mid-March and on one of our days out we stopped by the Columbia Road Flower Market to see what it was all about. The flower market is only opened on Sundays and little did we know how packed it would be. It’s amazing to see a flower market crammed with so many people! (Plus I think the sunny weather also played a big hand in that.) It was amazing surrounded by so many plants and cut flowers, and all around the voices of flower merchants shouting out hourly deals filled the already humming atmosphere.

I’ve never seen a flower market so packed!

I know that wasn’t very substantial, I will be back with a post on the Tropical Nursery. Happy Spring and talk to you all soon!

 

 

Over Due

Hello everyone! I know I’ve been neglecting this poor blog, but I’m here to say I am still alive and well! I just left Edinburgh this morning and now I am settling into London and I start my first day at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew tomorrow. It has always been a childhood dream of mine to live in London and work at Kew, and now it is finally happening!

I really should be getting ready for tomorrow, so this won’t be a substantial post in the way of words. It hope a parade of pretty pictures will satisfy most of you. These photos are all from around Scotland (RBGE = Royal Botanic Garden Edinbrugh, GBG = Glasgow Botanic Gardens).

The pleasingly prehistoric Ferns & Fossils House. RBGE

Another view of the Fern & Fossils House. RBGE

There is desert fern Notholaena standleyi in the Arid Lands House. RBGE

Here is tropical Rhododendron (Vireya) Rhododendron christi in the Montane Tropical House. RBGE

Here is Primulina tamiana in the Montane Tropical House. RBGE

Here is another Rhododendron christi, but this time growing out of a bed of feathery Selaginella. RBGE

The frothy flowers of Begonia angularis in the Temperate Lands House. RBGE

The icy-white flowers of Vinca difformis glow in the soft light by the John Hope Gateway. RBGE

Here is Helleborus cyclophyllus braving the biting cold in the Woodland Garden. RBGE

Also braving the cold is Primula sibthorpii. RBGE

There is a bench full of Begonia socotrana grown from wild collected seed from a collecting trip during the 1990’s. RBGE

Here is the extremely rare Pelargonium insularis from the island of Socotra. RBGE

An aroid blooming in one of the backup glasshouses. RBGE

What looks like a mass of little aliens is a Gymnospermium albertii waking up for the year. RBGE

Primula allionii beginning to flower in the backup alpine houses. RBGE

This Dionysia afghanica is only 1.5″ wide and 11 years ago it was as big as a pinky fingernail – cute! RBGE

Here is another Primula allionii. It’s so tiny! RBGE

This is Agapetes variegata var macrantha and I’ve never seen such big flowers on this genus before! RBGE

Now this little lovely is another tropical Rhododendron:  Rhododendron himantodes. RBGE

This is hybrid Pterostylis ‘Nodding Grace’. The flowers remind me of a thirsty goblin. RBGE

A tiny Narcissus, possibly Narcissus assoanus. RBGE

This teeny weeny orchid might be an Appendicula sp. (Thanks Marc for the partial ID.) RBGE

I found his beautiful arrangement of orchids in the back up greenhouses. The large orchid with the black throat is a Dendrobium nobile type, while I can’t remember the name of the lovely white one. RBGE

This tranquil scene is a moss sanctuary at RBGE Benmore.

This recently refurbished Victorian fern house is also at RBGE Benmore.

Here are some young Araucaria trees in the Chilean Garden at RBGE Benmore.

Here is a shot of one of the gardens at RBGE Logan.

This quaint bed of snowdrops had my swooning all day. RBGE Logan

This is Sparmannia africana and when my mentor for the week flicked the flower I watched with amazement as the anthers in the flower quickly spread out. RBGE Logan

The flowers of Calliandra haematocephala are wonderfully soft and I like the very cheery red. GBG

Not a flower, but a seed pod of Glottiphyllum angustum. GBG

This lovely thing is hybrid orchid Coelogyne ‘Unchained Melody’. GBG

This beardy orchid is Coelogyne barbata. GBG

These are tender Primula malacoidea – type hybrids. GBG

I love the orange bell flowers of this Kalanchoe. Looks like a species, but it may be a hybrid. GBG

These trusses of tiny flowers belong to Dendrochilum tenellum. Fragrant too! GBG

I think this is Blechnum orientale, but whatever it is the new fronds are glorious! GBG

This little orchid is Scaphosepalum verrucosum. The flowers look like little vipers to me. GBG

This amazing room is the Filmy Fern Room at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens.

The Clivias in the living room continue to bloom and bloom!

Something you wouldn’t find in the US – a castle in the middle of town!

Is it just me or is there a skull in this Eucalyptus tree? RBGE

I had such a wonderful time in Edinburgh that leaving was a little bittersweet. However, I have a feeling that this isn’t goodbye for good. I know that was really short, but I’ll be back with more posts soon – I promise. Talk to you all soon!

Neighborhood (Plant) Watch

Like Seattle, people in the UK can talk about the weather for hours, which is a handy thing if you are trying to make small talk and don’t know what to talk about. People have been telling me this year’s winter has been milder than it has been in a couple of years, which I really appreciate. Though since we just started winter last month we still have January and February to see if Mother Nature decides to change her mind. It’s been quite windy lately and sheets of rain whipping through Edinburgh, but between all of that we’ve had a few calm sunny days.

The Viburnum x bodnantense across the road can be smelt throwing out its soft perfume on (relatively) warm days.

I love that Edinburgh is a walkable city. On my way to the grocery store, museums, and parks, I like to take different streets to see the more intimate parts of town. Plus I like to see what people have growing in front of their apartments. Some homes were very fortunate to have little garden spaces in the front (and some in the back), but most places were paved over. So potted plants and containers of all sizes are a common sight.

Most apartment gardeners have myriad of pots.

The neighbors in the basement level to the left have a wonderful collection of plants. All the potted plants are lovingly arranged and organized. I can imagine it filled with annual flowers and riots of color in the warmer months.

The neighbor’s plants down below.

The neighbors in the basement level to the right are a little bit more eclectic. On the staircase going down, you are immediately greeted by a terrarium. I wonder what secret plantiness is hiding in there.

An outdoor terrarium? It almost looks like there is a Lycopodium living in it!

On the other side of their patio you see this:

Putting a (hopefully) decommissioned toilet to good use!

The apartment down from the one above has a nice collection of containers in front. The plant choices of Fremontodendron and olive hint at the types of plants laying down below in the basement level.

I love the cobalt blue containers plus extra points for the Fremontodendron (behind the olive, against the wall on the left).

Unfortunately, my camera died the way back home, so I could only get a shot of one side of the patio. The patio is dotted with tropical plants including passion flowers and an Abutilon (which is looking quite alive and good for January).

I bet it’s a nice grotto of tropical flowers in the summer.

It seemed that anywhere I looked pelargoniums (aka zonal geraniums) were still growing and blooming, which really shows how mild it’s been. For the longest time I didn’t like zonal geraniums. I think it was the association with cheesy bedding schemes and their weird smelling leaves, but since then I have learned that pelargoniums are quite tough and deserve a second chance with jaded gardeners/plant snobs – you know who you are!

Still blooming and a nice bright pink, I might add.

This apartment really took on the idea of container gardening. It looks like a full on garden. The mature potted trees give lovely height and structure and the seasonal annuals really create a cohesiveness between the containers and bring in much needed color to combat the dreary winter weather. I like the addition of the palm and Phormium, a nice strong evergreen contrast to the deciduous trees and soft leafy bedding annuals.

Look at the range of plants!

As I walked past I was taken away by the weeping cherry tree in the back. I think young weeping cherry trees are a little awkward in a garden – unless trained up to appropriate height – since the branches tend to drape much to early when young resulting with flowers buried in the dirt. Cleverly here, the tree can weep as freely as it likes without the earth below to spoil its graceful posture.

I bet it looks so lovely in spring with a cascade of pink/white.

Further down the block I saw this entrance and thought it was cute, but then the trough on the right made me do a double take.

Oh I love the pansies – wait…what’s that on the right?

I leaned in for a closer look and I thought it was a Haworthia! (Haworthia is a genus of succulent plants originating from Africa and are not cold hardy.) It’s growing in a container in an exposed site and what puzzled me most was that very evidently it has been growing undisturbed here for a few years. I took to Facebook that night and it turns out it is Haworthia look-alike Aloe aristata. This Aloe is from the winter rainy high elevations of South Africa and lends itself to growing well outside in the UK.

Are my eyes deceiving me? Is that a hardy Haworthia?!

As I looked back (and below) I realized whoever lives here has a taste for tropical/succulenty plants.

Looking back up the street. (The lady on the left jokingly asked if she could be in one of my photos.)

In addition to tall beautiful specimens of Trachycarpus fortunei and Cordyline australis  emerging from the depths, there is a yucca at the foot of the palm and potted plants including an Agave, an Aloe vera and some Sempervivum.

A statuesque Trachycarpus fortunei with lovely frayed older leaves – much like a botanical illustration.

A mature Cordyline australis with faded inflorescences.

Oh I bet that Aloe vera is feeling a bit chilly…

The next apartment, which I think is actually an office for a business, had a nice healthy Fastia in bloom.

Nothing like a healthy Fatsia for a softening touch of the tropics.

Another block down another planty person must live here. There was a range of plants with wonderfully different shapes, textures, and colors. Though it seems like the focus was on evergreen foliage, some of them, such as the Choisya, Osmanthus and Sarcococca, would also provide some flowers and sweet fragrance.

Very foliaceous and a nice touch with the Eucalyptus.

More foliage…

and more foliage!

Around another block there is this wonderful secluded basement patio (except for the fact that nosey people like me enjoy peeking in).

I love the bench for relaxing – a walled garden in the city.

This it on a quiet street next to a church. I know some may find it bleak, but I like it. I love seeing an effort to green up a space and there is nothing more encouraging to see. Plus it’s fun seeing the Pyracantha and bulbs busting out of the pot (literally).

I like the shiny leaves and golden berries against the slate-grey walls.

Across the street there is a small tree hole erupting with growth! If the birch tree wasn’t enough, there is a giant rose climbing up and arching over into the sidewalk, and a large Brachyglottis greyi ballooning out through the “cage”.

This tree hole(?) is stuffed!

It’s nice to see green and life thriving in a place surrounded by stone and concrete. Again, very encouraging! (Plus there is something poetic about seeing plants escaping and busting out of their confines.)

Evidence of someone trying to keep the overflowing planting in check.

On the same street there is this apartment with more evergreen goodness. The Pieris and camellias must be lovely in the spring.

I love seeing people’s personal collection of pots and plants.

Back at the apartment, the landlady has a wonderful collection of houseplants. In my last post I mentioned that the houseplants in the entrance really excited me, but little did I know what treasures the living room would hold. The night I arrived, I was invited to have some drinks with the landlady, her daughter, and friends (it was the daughter’s birthday) in the living room and to my delight I saw more thriving houseplants!

The plants growing and blooming in the living room are a wonderful sight!

I loved the range of plants in there, but what I was most impressed with was the not just growing, but a thriving and blooming florist azalea! Normally these azaleas are doomed to die when they enter any home, but this one was doing very well. (The landlady said she is just as surprised as I am, but I think she is just being modest.)

Seriously this is beyond words – an amazing feat!

It might be the combination of large, bright windows and cool temperatures in the living room that is allowing this florist azalea to flourish. Either way, I’m entranced!

Those flowers just glow with the promise of spring.

Sitting next to the florist azalea is her collection of blooming clivias. Clivias are as tough as nails: they can take dim, dry, and drafty situations and plus they grace us with flowers during the winter when color is most appreciated.

One of the toughest houseplants around.

I love the much needed fiery flowers of Clivia during the winter.

Such a welcoming sight. Almost all of the landlady’s houseplants are Victorian classics, but the one, and only one, in the TV room is the poster child for Victorian houseplants.

This perfect specimen of Aspidistra rightly deserves center stage in the window.

Yes, it is an Aspidistra! Also known as “cast iron plant”. They were very popular then, because, like their common name suggests, they could survive Victorian parlor rooms. These rooms were drafty, dry, dim, and smokey – a death sentence for most houseplants. Despite all of these things aspidistras would stay alive and look quite good (though,  understandably, they didn’t grow much). There are many Aspidistra species and they are naturally found growing in the dim and often dry-ish forest floors throughout east Asia. The species Aspidistra elatior is most commonly grown as a houseplant (which is the species of this one), it is hardy enough to grow outside in USDA zone 6. If you have dry shade and nothing seems to grow there, an Aspidistra is a good candidate.

I love the deep green and glossiness.

Every morning and evening I am greeted by her pelargoniums in the kitchen window. She also keeps those live herbs that you can buy at the grocery store there too. I love that she has plants that are well suited to the conditions of the apartment and they carry on with their planty lives without taking over her’s.

The landlady just picked the basil leaves (two pots on the left) the night before.

Here’s my temporary “houseplant” while I am staying here. Yup, another Primula! Though this one doesn’t really have a scent, it’s quite cheerful and it reminds me of home and when I have to sadly leave Edinburgh I can guerrilla plant it somewhere in the city. Anyway, I gotta run again, but I will write to you soon!

So sweet and cheerful.