Inflorescences from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from H. Kavanagh on 21 August 2013. |
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Plant Name |
Eragrostis curvula (Eragrostis aff. chloromelas) "The name Eragrostis has its roots in the Latin eros, meaning "love." from Hoffman Nursery - "This is a special section we’ve created for you—the home gardener. Hoffman Nursery is wholesale only, so we do not sell directly to the public. What we can do is share our passion for grasses. In this section, you will find information on selecting, growing, and caring for grasses. Search for plants and explore detailed plant profiles. Get inspired by our photo gallery. As you learn more, we think you’ll find grasses are not only beautiful, but also smart landscape choices." |
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Common Name |
Weeping love grass (South Africa, United States), African love grass (Australia), pasto llorón (Peru). |
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Soil |
Loam, Sand - "Grows in high rainfall areas on sandy or acid to loamy soils, often in disturbed, overgrazed or trampled grassland. Usually prefers open habitat and is found in a wide variety of vegetation types." |
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Sun Aspect |
Full Sun |
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Soil Moisture |
Moist and Well-drained - "It prefers sandy loams and well drained fertile soils, but will grow in a wide range of soils. It prefers a pH of 7.0-8.5 (Miller & Hafenrichter, 1958). It will not grow on wet, seepy soils and will not tolerate standing water." |
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Plant Type |
Deciduous Grass |
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Height x Spread in inches (cms) |
60 x 40 (150 x 100) |
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Foliage |
Dark Green |
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Flower Shape, Natural Arrangement, Number of Petals and Flower Colour in Month(s). Seed |
Panicles of Grey-Green spikelets fading to beige in August. "The inflorescence is a panicle with branches lined with centimeter-long spikelets. Each spikelet may contain up to 15 flowers. One panicle may produce 1000 seeds. Cultivated plants may produce two crops of seed per year. The plant self-fertilizes or undergoes apomixis, without fertilization." from Wikipedia. |
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Comment |
"Eragrostis can be annual or perennial grasses with linear leaves and dense branched flowering panicles in summer and autumn. E. curvula is a deciduous perennial grass forming a dense clump of rough, dark green, linear leaves, with large arching panicles of grey-green spikelets in summer." from RHS.
"There are approximately 350 species of Eragrostis worldwide. Although Eragrostis is cosmopolitan, most species occur in subtropical climates. Eragrostis curvula grows in southern Africa and northwards to east Africa, and introduced throughout the tropics mainly as a fodder. A wiry perennial grass that grows to a height of 1200 mm tall. The leaf blades are up to 500 mm long and 4 mm wide, rolled or flat, appearing setaceous. Culms are unbranched and not easily compressed, with glabrous nodes; basal sheaths densely hairy with long hairs. Spikelets are 4-10mm long and 1-1.5mm wide, linear-oblong, appressed to the branches. Inflorescence 100-300mm long, much branched, variable from open and spreading (throughout most of its distribution range) to contracted with branches appressed to the main axis (in the very southernmost parts of its distribution, the Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape of South Africa). Lowest branches whorled or not whorled. Plants are extremely variable in morphology and this may lead to further taxonomic divisions in time to come, furthermore there is sometimes little distinction between this and other species of Eragrostis such as E. chloromelos, E. lehmanniana and E. rigidior (Lyn Fish, National Herbarium, Pretoria, personal communication). It is best subjected to rotational grazing to maintain the stand at moderate grazing pressure. A very palatable grass that is a widely cultivated pasture, and makes good hay. Because it is so easy to establish and grows rapidly, it is one of the best grasses for erosion control (especially in rehabilitation of road verges and ground cover). It is widely used in Kenya, Sri Lanka and the United States for stabilization of terraces, water discharge areas and banks of earth tanks. In Japan it has helped stabilize mountain slopes for at least three years (Endo, 1978)." from Grassland Species Profiles of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - "Detailed descriptions of more than 600 grassland species and a linked picture gallery of photos."
"Superlative if given room to display its countless thin waving stems carrying masses of fine, almost smoke-like, purple-grey seed heads. SOWING ADVICE: SOW AT ANY TIME, IN A WELL-LIT POSITION, INTO A GOOD, SOIL-BASED COMPOST. COVER SEEDS THINLY AND KEEP MOIST AT AROUND 15 DEGREES C OR 60 DEGREES F. SOME NEW ZEALAND SPECIES CAN BE VERY SLOW INDEED AND MAY NEED COOLER TEMPERATURES BEFORE THEY WILL COME UP. GRASS SEEDLINGS SHOULD BE POTTED ON AND GROWN ON SINGLY, OR IN CLUMPS FOR MORE RAPID ESTABLISHMENT OF A LARGE SPECIMEN." from Plant World Seeds.
"It has also been included in the 'Jumping the Garden Fence' report, which examines the impact of invasive garden plants on Australian agricultural land and natural ecosystems." from Weed Identification by Australian Weeds Committee.
"In Lesotho, this grass is used to make baskets, brooms, hats, ropes, and candles, and it is used for food, as a charm, and in funeral rituals." from Wikipedia.
Seed available from
"GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. |
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Companions |
In the United States it is sown with Korean lespedeza for compatibility with other grasses and legumes |
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Inflorescences from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 29 August 2013. |
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Foliage from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 29 August 2013. |
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Winter Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from H. Kavanagh on 20 January 2013. |
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Early Spring Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 4 March 2013. |
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Late Spring Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 15 May 2013. |
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Late Summer Form from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 29 August 2013. |
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Late Spring Form next to path and from bed of grasses facing the main cafe at RHS Wisley. Photo from Chris Garnons-Williams on 15 May 2013. |
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Plant Label from Mixed Borders at RHS Wisley. Photo from H. Kavanagh on 21 August 2013. |
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Number of Flower Petals |
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Flower Shape - Simple |
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Flower Shape - Simple |
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Flower Shape - Elabor-ated |
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Flower Shape - Elabor-ated |
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Natural Arrange-ments |
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At the Commital for Marilyn Lewis 1954-April 2014 some of Marilyn's Recipes were published pre and post in the Order of Service provided for the attendees: This is her Cottage Cheese and Chive Pie for serving to 3-4 Vegetarians:- 4 Ounces Onion finely chopped, 1. Gently fry onion in margarine until tender. Cool. 2. Roll pastry to 8 inches x 9 inches (20 x 22.5 cms). 3. Beat egg in bowl, tip 2 tablespoons into cup and place aside. Add onion and all other ingredients to egg in bowl. Mix and season with Salt and Pepper. 4. Spread mix down centre of pastry. Seal edges. Place on baking sheet, sealed pastry edges underneath. Brush pastry with egg from cup and slit top. Place in oven at Gas Mark 7 (218 degrees Centigrade) for 20-25 minutes.
Unfortunately; we the generation who finished their education in Britain before AD 2000 still use ounces - International avoirdupois ounces - despite the following statement - "On January 1, 2000, it ceased to be a legal unit of measure within the United Kingdom for economic, health, safety or administrative purposes". Due to the British Government overspending for the last 4 years at a rate of £3805.18 a second, there are insufficient funds to educate our illiterate about that last statement concerning the legality of using the ounce.
10 years later - in April 2024 - from first publishing this page, UK National Debt was roughly £1,080,000,000,000 in 2009, then Conservatives came into government in 2010. £2,654,300,000,000 British 30 year Gilt is 4.379% annually on 12 March 2024. UK Goverment collected £788,600,000,000 in taxes in 2022 to 2023, an increase of 10.2% from the year before. "The Local Government Association recently reported that one in five councils could be in severe financial hardship within two years and a report from the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) this week reported that more than 50 per cent of councils are saying it is likely they would issue a Section 114 notice in the next five years. Medway has seen a sharp reduction in revenue support grant from government - £85million to around £7million since 2010 – despite a continuing increase in service demand and inflationary costs.
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MIXED BORDER DESIGN GALLERY PAGES
FLOWER COLOUR RANGE IN 71 PARTS OF MIXED BORDER DURING |
7 Flower Colours per Month in Colour Wheel below in the MIXED BORDERS DESIGN Gallery. Click on Black or White box in Colour of Month. |
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It is worth remembering that the links to external sites were valid on the day that I created that link, but may no longer be valid as Father Time moves on! |
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MIXED BORDER OTHER PLANTS GALLERY PAGES Site Map of pages with content (o) Introduction - |
Other Permanent Plants Height from Text Border for the |
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Blue = 0-24 inches |
Green = 24-72 inches |
Red = 72+ inches |
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Bedding Plants Soil Moisture from Text Background |
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Wet Soil |
Moist Soil |
Dry Soil |
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Click on thumbnail to add the Plant Description Page of the Bedding Plants named in the Text box below that photo. |
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MIXED BORDER OTHER PLANT INDEX |
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Other Plant Name with link to its Description Page |
Flower Colour with link to Design of East Border or |
Flowering Months with link to Mixed Borders Flower Colour per Month Pages |
Flower Thumbnail |
Height x Spread in inches (cms) |
Foliage Colour with link to Mixed Borders Foliage Colour Page |
Foliage Thumbnail |
Comment |
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Bamboo |
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Bulb |
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60 x 24 |
5 other Agapanthus in Herbaceous Perennial Gallery |
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24 x 8 |
74 other Allium in Allium and Anemone Gallery |
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Green, then Purple and ages Reddish-Purple |
24 x 3 |
Strap-like, Mid-Green |
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Red and green petals spotted with black |
Aug-Sep |
40 x 18 |
Light Green |
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Opening Orange fades to Pink |
August, September, October |
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35 x 23 |
Erect, narrow, sword-shaped and Dark Green |
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100 Crocosmia at Trecanna Nursery |
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36 x 18 |
Upright, pleated, wide, lance-shaped, mid Green leaves |
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should be named Ornithogalum candicans |
48 x 16 |
Strap-shaped and Mid-Green |
Other Southern African Orni-thogalum species that originate in southern Africa |
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Climber |
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Clematis See Description Page also in Clematis Climber Gallery |
120 x 72 |
Grey-Green |
See 70 other Clematis climbers in Clematis Climber Gallery and further data on Clematis |
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Clematis |
120-180 x 36 |
Dark Green |
321 Clematis at Haw-thornes Nursery |
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60 x 20 |
Dark Green |
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Blue, Violet, Lilac, Lavender |
100 x 40 |
Lance-shaped Dark Green |
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Clematis 'Elvan' |
"All Clematis fall into one of 3 distinct pruning groups: No Prune (Group 1), Light Prune (Group 2), and Hard Prune (Group 3). Group 1: Early Flowering. Typically blooming in winter and spring, these varieties flower on the previous year's growth only, so if you need to remove damaged stems or control the size of the plant, the best time would be as soon as they have finished flowering. Included in this group are Alpina, Macropetala, Montana, and Evergreen varieties. Group 2: Large Flowers. Typically larger flowers grow out on new shoots from last year's growth in late spring and summer. Some of these will occasionally display a second bloom at the tips of the current year's growth in late summer and autumn. These varieties should be pruned in spring, right back to where there are strong and healthy buds, before they start their active growth period. New flowering stems will be produced from this architecture of previous growth. Group 3: Late Flowering. Group 3 Clematis only flower on current year's growth. These blooms tend to display from summer through to late autumn. These varieties are arguably the easiest to prune, as you basically cut it right down to about 20cm (8ins) above ground level in spring before they begin their active growth period, removing all of the previous year's growth." from Primrose who have produced a new method of raising "Kids in our planters". |
If this climber flowered after May 2013, then I could not identify it or see its Plant Label. See Clematis 'Elvan' Des-cription Page in Clematis Climbers Gallery |
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Clematis |
If this climber flowered after April 2013, then I could not identify it or see its Plant Label. See Clematis 'Etoile Violette' Des-cription Page in Clematis Climbers Gallery |
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Purple fades to Blue |
60 x 60 |
Dark Green |
Where is the American Clematis Society? |
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See Description Page also in Clematis Climber Gallery |
168 x 36 |
Pale to Mid-Green |
Clem-atis.com focuses on Clematis varieties which are available and suitable for the North American garden including this variety |
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White with Pink tinge |
72 x 36 |
Dark Green |
British Clematis Society awarded 'Com-mended Certificate' to this Clematis |
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Clematis 'Kermesina' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 4 March 2013 |
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Clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon' See Description Page also in Clematis Climber Gallery |
96-120 x 36 |
Dark Green |
Sag-amihara Green Association for Clematis in Japan |
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Clematis 'Pink Ice' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013 |
Fact Sheet on Clematis from Gardening in Australia |
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Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 13 April 2013 Chelone glabra black plant label on left and Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' black plant label on right |
Clematis Nomen-clatural Standards List from the Inter-national Clematis Society |
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Clematis Rosemoor 'Evipo002' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 13 April 2013 Hemerocallis lilio-asphodelus black plant label on right and Clematis Rosemoor 'Evipo002' black plant label in middle |
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180 x 60 |
Mid-Green |
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Clematis 'Ruutel' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 4 March 2013. Since its Birch Branch Support structure has not been replaced, It may be that this climber position was not going to be there in 2013 summer season. |
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Violet Blue ages to Purple |
120 x 60 |
Dark Green |
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Clematis x aromatica |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013 |
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80 x 40 |
Pale Green |
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80 x 36 |
Grey-Green |
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Conifer |
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Dediduous Shrub |
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60 x 60 |
Grey-Green |
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Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013. |
The Trials Report of 2008-2010 on Buddleja davidii and its close hybrids of the RHS provides useful data including the require-ment for hard pruning. The Panel co-opted three genus special-ists, who are all national collection holders of Buddleja. They were; Peter Moore (Long-stock Gardens), Anita Allen (Shap-cott Barton Estate) and Andrew Bullock (The Lavender Garden). |
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Buddleja davidii 'Nanho White Monite' |
Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013. |
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Buddleja davidii 'Peacock' |
Pink to Purple-Pink |
60 x 60 |
Medium Green |
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120 x 120 |
Large crisp Golden-Yellow leaves in spring. |
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Cornus alba 'Elegantissima' |
Small, Creamy-White, in flat heads. Unable to see its flowers in May-June or even later in the year. The 3 cornus at the back of the bed are starting to create their spring foliage on 15 May 2013 |
Spring pruning at Beech-grove Garden helps you to create what you want to see from a plant. |
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The 3 cornus at the back of the bed are now over 6 feet high on 29 August 2013. The plants in front obstruct the view of the cornus behind and thus no photos of the flowers of this cornus were taken in 2013. As a backdrop of variegated green/yellow it may be fine, but in that case why not replace that section of hedge behind it instead. |
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200 x 200 |
Dark Red-Purple oval leaves and, when the temperature drops, the leaves develop a bright-pink margin before becoming scarlet. |
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Scarlet Sepals and Purple Petals |
44 x 44 |
Slender deep Green |
Hardy Fuchsia List for the Showbench from the Fuchsia Societies in the UK |
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Scarlet Sepals and Purple Petals |
80 x 120 |
Bronze-tinted Dark Green Spring Foliage becomes Dark Green Foliage in the Summer |
There is the American Fuchsia Society , the Australian Fuchsia Society Inc the National Fuchsia Society of New Zealand and there was the Greater Victoria Geranium and Fuchsia Society in Canada |
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White with Red base |
96 x 60 |
Lobed Dark Green |
Inter-national Hibiscus Society list of registered and non-registered cultivars |
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52 x 60 |
Dark Green |
American Hyd-rangea Society with the story of the big Hydrangea that wouldn't bloom. |
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200 x 100 |
Toothed Mid to Dark Green |
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Burgundy, Pink and White |
100 x 80 |
Dark Green |
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Without the 50 x optical zoom on my current camera, I was unable to take photos of the flowers which were on this shrub on 15 May 2013. This shrub is too far back to enjoy its flowers with the naked eye. |
The Peony Society has further details on peonies. |
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White often tinged with Pink |
60 x 60 |
Golden Yellow |
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96 x 96 |
Dark Purple ages to Green |
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Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla 'Guincho Purple' |
Pink and White The Plant Label in the middle of this photo of January 2013 is unreadable. The Plant Label has been expanded below. |
The photo taken on the bottom right on 15 May 2013 shows that the Sambucus plant label is facing the front. The Yellowish-Green juvenile foliage on the bottom right belongs to Cornus alba 'Aurea' - you can see from its page that it grows quite high and hides the side view of this Sam-bucus Plant Label when that plant is in flower. Since the plant label is difficult to read from the front lawn, this indicates no identity of this plant took place when it was in flower. |
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Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla 'Gerda' |
When you look at the panorama photos in East Border Part 19 you will note - by 19 September 2013 - that purple flowers could be seen on the Sambucus but its plant label could not, because of the yellow foliage of the Cornus in front of it. |
This photo taken on 15 May 2013 shows the plant label for this burgundy-leaved Sam-bucus in the middle and facing the lawn between the 2 Mixed Borders. The orange juvenile foliage on the left is from Cornus alba 'Aurea'. |
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Deciduous Tree |
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Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea' |
Since no flowers were seen, then no photos of its flowers could be taken in Wisley. |
This photo from Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden on 15 June shows no flower bud formation for flowering in July. |
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This photo on 21 August 2013 from East Border Part 25 shows no indication of flowers during July or August. The panorama photos in that page do not indicate any evidence of flowers during 2013 |
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Paulownia tomentosa |
Photo from 4 March 2013 followed by photo of 1 July 2013 with no flowers seen before or afterwards. |
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Evergreen Perennial |
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20 x 40 |
Narrow, upright Dark Green |
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Grape-Purple with Golden-Yellow throat |
30 x 24 |
Narrow, strap-like, Dark Green Evergreen Perennial |
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Unable to get clear photos of flowers in 2013 |
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18 x 12 |
Jet black-maroon Evergreen Perennial |
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Pale Pink Unable to get clear photos of flowers in 2013 |
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26 x 20 |
Marbled, Plum-Purple |
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Evergreen Shrub |
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White flushed mauve-pink |
120 x 300 |
Dark Green |
Semi-Evergreen Shrub |
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Artemesia See further details in East Border Part 14 about lack of record keeping leading to this plant being overgrown - linkstakes in front of the Pennisetum would have provided a temporary solution from May 2013 onwards. |
Yellow Although these plants were in front of the bed next to the path and in front of Pennisetum orientale 'Shogun'; the Pennisetum overgrew them. |
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Ligustrum quihoui This image is part of the unreduced original photo taken on 24 July 2013. These plants were at the back of a 240 inch (600 cms) deep bed and the flowers were too small. |
Without the 50 x optical zoom on my current camera, I was unable to take close-up photos of the flowers which were on these shrubs on 24 July 2013. These shrubs are too far back to enjoy their flowers with the naked eye. |
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108 x 108 |
During the growing season all new flushes of growth are brilliant red, turning to bronze by late spring then to Dark Green |
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Evergreen Tree |
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Fern |
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Grass |
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September |
Very rarely flowers in Britain |
240 x 160 |
Grey-Green |
See other Grass-Base - The Online World Grass Flora from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. |
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Silvery-grey with Pinkish-Purple tints becomes Golden-Brown |
60 x 36 |
Grey-Green |
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120 x 60 |
Deep Green with razor sharp edges and midrib |
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60 x 48 |
Dark Green with razor sharp edges and midrib |
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60 x 40 |
Dark Green |
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52 x 48 |
Dark Green with White stripe down the leaf centre |
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Pink ripens to Silver. |
August, September, October, November, December |
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100 x 60 |
Dark Green |
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Rosy-Pink |
July, August, September, October |
Note that the Pink Spikelets were visible on the panorama of West Border Part 68 of 19 Sep-tember but its label was hidden by the plants in front |
100 x 40 |
Dark Green with White Midribs |
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Grey/ Silver and Pale Pink |
September, October, November |
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40 x 36 |
Dark Green with White midribs and edges |
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Pink turning to pure White Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013 |
August, September |
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56 x 40 |
Dark green |
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Missed taking photos of its Pink Inflore-scences |
August, September |
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48 x 18 |
Horizontal Cream bands on Dark Green arching foliage |
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Pale Pink |
48 x 32 |
Flat, linear, Blue-Green leaves, turning Yellow-Brown in autumn |
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Pale Green ages to light buff |
30 x 18 |
Dark Green |
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Purple ripens to Gold |
100 x 48 |
Slender Grey-Green |
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Stipa gigantea Plant removed after 20 January 2013 |
Straw Yellow |
Photo taken on 20 January 2013 in West Border Part 63 |
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Hedge |
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Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam) |
Green as background hedge to all 71 Parts of Mixed Borders |
May |
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480 x 320 |
Mid-Green with Brown Autumn and Winter dead foliage |
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Herb |
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Odds and Sods |
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Biennial - Onopordum acanthium |
In the late 19th century, it was introduced to temperate regions of North America, South America, and Australia as an ornamental plant, and is now considered a major agricultural and wildland noxious weed. I would not recommend growing it in your garden, orchard or fields. |
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Sub-Shrub - Having such a small area of plant, I was unable to find its flowers from 29 August to 30 December 2013. |
September, October Photo taken by H. Kavanagh on 21 August 2013 with the Artemesia being the wide area of green foliage next to the path. |
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Rhododendron/ Azalea/ Camellia |
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Rose |
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Retail name in UK should be |
36 x 44 |
Glossy, Mid-Green |
See WISLEY WISLEY Rose Classification System Page for details on this Rosa Retail Name 'Trade Name' RHS naming system. |
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Rosa glauca 'Carmenetta' and Page in RHS Wisley Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden Roses |
78 x 78 |
Green with Grey reverse |
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Soft Fruit |
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Top Fruit |
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Vegetable |
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Wildflower |
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Pincushions - The pincushions of plants such as scabious (Scabiosa columbaria from BritishFlora) are in reality compound flowerheads, with a dome of central florets surrounded by larger florets. |
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Site design and content copyright ©January 2014. Added Camera Photos of Plant Supports Gallery Link June 2019. Chris Garnons-Williams. DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site. I am attempting the same free link to mail-order nurseries for the people of Europe, Latvia, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and China.
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Copied from Ivydene Gardens Mixed Border Other Permanent Plants Gallery: |
The Other Permanent Plants from the Mixed Borders in the Garden at RHS Wisley in this Gallery are neither their Bedding plants nor their Permanent Herbaceous Perennials. All the Permanent Plants in a bed are their to provide a structure where all of its plants when they are in flower can be seen and identified when in a garden that is displayed to the public. |
This Buddleja davidii nanhoensis 'Nanho Purple' plant is in the West Border Section 7 Part 57 and you can see it in flower in the photo below taken 19 September 2013. It has the purple flowers at the back of the border in the middle of this panaroma shot of that section. We will now expand this photo to find its plant label. Unfortunately we cannot see its label. The above photo was taken on 4 March 2013 and shows that the Miscanthus in front of it is still higher than the Black Plant label for this Buddleja. If that plant label was not elevated that could be the reason why no plant label for that buddleja was seen in September 2013. What is the point of having plants in a display garden, that visitors cannot identify when they are in flower. This buddleja had its crown reduced in height by the staff at RHS as shown by the following photo taken on 20 January 2013 and the following shows the right hand side:- If one leaves this amount of young branches in such a confined area then summer growth will become a congested mess.
The Pruning of trees, Shrubs and Conifers by George E. Brown published in 1977 in Faber Paperbacks - formerly Assistant Curator in Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew - was recommended as one of the books from Hadlow College where I took a course for a year from 1990-1991 to learn about horticulture. The following is what it states about pruning Buddleja daviddii :- "Those which flower terminally on the current season's wood. With these, the habit of growth and flowering is such that the late spring and early summer are devoted to the formation of shoots which are often 100 or 200 cms (40-80 inches) in length. These are eventually terminated by the inflorescence, which opens and sets seed all in the same season, as that in which the growth is made. Buddleja davidii Franch. and the various cultivars of this species all have this habit. Left unpruned, they develop into large spreading bushes full of dead wood and small branches which blossom poorly. Hard pruned annually in the spring, taking each shoot back to the lowest growths, the vigour is channelled into fewer shoots which as a result are strong with corresponding panicles of blossom. The pruning may either be carried down to ground level or to a main framework of a few branches about 90 -120 cms (36-48 inches) in height according to vigour. The need for a larger framework is indicated when the growths are excessively vigorous, especially at the top of the bush, and in order to achieve it, selected, well-positioned growths should only be pruned to half their length for the first 2 or 3 years after planting. All buddlejas are sun lovers. The soil should be well-drained but they are strong growers and require feeding and mulching. This is especially true of those which are pruned hard each year. They all respond well by growing from really old wood if the shrub is cut back hard."
In the start of winter, when the current season's growth has finished and the new growth has just started; then I would prune buddlejas down to a maximum of 24 inches (60 cms) high and reduce each branch to an outward facing new shoot. I would also remove a third of the oldest trunks to ground level, so that I would end up with 1 year, 2 year and 3 year old trunks. I then had buddlejas with their flowering height at about the height of client's eyes each year. |
The following shows the foliage of the Buddleja davidii nanhoensis 'Nanho Purple'on 15 May 2015:- but no further photos where this buddleja could be identified were taken after 15 May 2013. It does not seem to have been mulched to provide its nutrients and all its trunks are very mature; perhaps over 10-15 years old. |
The same pruning problems have occurred with the Buddleja daviidii nanhoensis 'Nanho Blue' (Photo taken on 15 May 2013) and the Buddleja daviidii nanhoensis 'Nanho White' (Photo taken on 15 May 2013) in these Mixed Borders
These Buddleja davidii 'Peacock' were blown out of the ground by the storm before 10 November 2013:- and then replanted as shown in the Lost Flowers Page. Since half its roots had been broken for it to be blown over and because of its age, this buddleja should have been replaced. I do realise that because the Royal Horticultural Society is suffering financially in these austere times (over £19,000,000 excess income over expenditure in 2012-2013) and lack of visitors to this garden (1,000,000 in 2012-2013), that donations should be sent to the RHS Garden, Wisley Lane, Wisley, Woking GU23 6QB:-
Including the banana and/or the Dog biscuits might get the RHS to take note. Photo taken on 24 March 2014 of existing path alongside current Tulip Trial. Above Photo of same path section taken on 15 June 2013. Safety issue?
Pavement repaired with sharp sand. Photo taken 10 November 2013. Photo taken 24 March 2014. The sand used between the slabs and their neighbours appears to have become soil. Photo taken on 24 March 2014 looking at temporary visitor viewing path to see part of Tulip Trial. I wonder what would happen when a wheelchair being pushed by its carer uses this - after it has rained. |
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Copied from Ivydene Gardens Mixed Borders in RHS Garden at Wisley Garden Design: |
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This section details what I consider as errors in design carried out by the staff at the RHS garden in Wisley:-
Mixing all the primary colours together for the flower colours used in many of the 71 parts of these Mixed Borders This mixture provides a foliage and flower foil against which these other permanent herbaceous perennials can provide new growth from the ground each year, with the different colours of foliage from juvenile to mature to dying off in the autumn and then an easy maintenance during the months of December-March for removing most of the growth above ground and replacing the plant supports to provide a neat bed in a series of large ground areas. The bedding plants - see Bedding Annual Plant Index and Un-labelled Bedding Annual Plant Index pages - provide the icing on the cake at different flowering time periods between May and November to enhance the overall flower colour scheme. The new bedding each year can provide opportunities to vary the look of these beds. It was disapointing that I did not see the flowers during 2013 of more than 25% of these Permanent Herbaceous Perennial Plants - possible reasons shown in Lost Flowers Page with 'Walkabout' Plants and 'Stateless' Plants Page. A table for each month - May, June, July, August, September, October, November - shows the flower photos for each of the 71 parts of the Mixed Borders split into Blue, Orange, Pink, Red, Unusual Colour, White, or Yellow for all the plants. Besides that, you can see from the table below that Red and Pink with Unusual Flower Colours seem to be predominant as flower colours and that these are spread throughout the beds.
I have added the BEDding (started January 2014 - completed March 2014) and then the OTHer Permanent Plants (started March 2014 - completed May 2014) to the table below to show the flower colour planting scheme of the Bedding and the Other Permanent Plants and then its combination.
If I had produced this planting design with its mixture of flower colours in almost every part - or maintained these beds in this way - in 2013, I would be deeply ashamed. As a nation of gardeners in Britain; the Royal Horticultural Society being at its pinnacle, with the tradition of excellence by our previous head gardeners and their staff during the Victorian era, I had thought that the staff at the RHS Garden at Wisley would not need a lecture.
Another Possible Solution for lack of coordinated Flower Colour Scheme If you want the garden to be restful to the eye, then you can provide a colour scheme using the harmony of adjacent colours. If you prefer to shock the visitor, then use the contrast of opposite colours, but I am not favourable of the above partial use of the harmony of triads as shown by the Colour Wheel Page of Garden Design.
Very Poor Plant Labelling After reviewing the situation that 102 plants were missing their identity when in flower in 2013 out of 348 (29.31% of the plants) in 768 square metres of Mixed Borders garden beds:-
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