NEW FOREST, WISLEY & FURZEY

[ranunculus]

Final batch from the Hillier Gardens.

Wisley Gardens to follow when time and tide allow ...


THE SIR HAROLD HILLIER GARDENS

[Paddy Tobin]

Hi Cliff,

Great set again.

Re "Hillier 22", I am surprised to see Itea illicifolia so far advanced. The tassels are not nearly as long here.

From your photographs it is obvious that you are more interested in plants/flowers than in trees!

Paddy

[ranunculus]

I do tend to look down rather than up Paddy ... so I really appreciate all the dwarf willows!   

I do love trees but know little about them ... they make ideal photographic subjects when there are few plants about!   

[Stephenb]

What lucky students indeed.

 I do hope those students have some inkling as to the stature of their guide...... Roy has such incredible knowledge and infectious enthusiasm for the wirld of plants. He is surely one of the best horticultural broadcasters we have ever had and it pains me that he is so seldom seen on screen these days. Anyone who has heard his talks will know that he is eqaully inspiring "in the flesh", too.

The icing on Roy's cake, as far as I am concerned, is that he is also such a charming fellow- approachable, charming ,friendly and eager to share his skills.
 Pity there are not more like him!

Thanks for the great pictures from Hilliers!

I can add a little story of my own from Hilliers and Roy Lancaster. As I mentioned above, this was my local garden when I lived in the area many years ago. I've known also that Roy Lancaster lived nearby but never found out exactly where.  Well, last time I was at Hilliers (with my Mum), we were studying some Hostas, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar figure striding towards us - Roy Lancaster - together with a group of other people. I leaned over to my Mum and whispered - look it's Roy Lancaster (I wouldn’t have dared to say hello…). A few seconds later, he'd actually stopped to ask if we'd seen anything interesting - we ended up chatting for 20 minutes or so, amongst other things about Northern Norway (where he'd been, of course - where hasn't he been), Hostas, an unusual edible Chrysanthemum in Japan (he also mentioned this plant in an article in the Garden) etc. etc.  Couldn't believe it! Hadn't imagined anyone of that stature being so down-to-earth. Couldn't put it better than Maggi: "A charming fellow- approachable, friendly and eager to share his skills". I forgot in my excitement to get a picture, but did capture him disappearing up the path (you can just about see him in the photo below). Sadly I've never seen him lecture or even seen him on TV, but I have a couple of his books...

[Ragged Robin]

Wonderful shots of all sorts from your visit to Hilliers, Cliff, great planting combinations and drifts and light falling on flowers and butterflies. What  a special bonus to be CU with Roy Lancaster, a hero of mine too, as Maggi says he is always so enthusiastic to share his huge knowledge with everyone.  A great story teller and natural communicator 

[David Nicholson]

......... who ought to be on television far more often than he is, a real plantsman and a real gardener.

[Paddy Tobin]

For goodness sake, David, you should know by now that television and gardening do not go together - well, certainly not in the past few years. Gardening programmes on television are simply atrocious, not worth watching.

There was a time when the likes of Roy Lancaster was given television time and we were thrilled and delighted to see him but now he would be considered too intellectually demanding for today's viewers who have an estimated attention span of under five seconds.

Paddy

[David Nicholson]

Fully agree Paddy. Garden programmes over here (well in England anyway) seem sadly mixed up with the "cult" of celebrity. A "cult" eminently suitable for those with a limited attention span and brain to match.

[ranunculus]

Well, let's start a petition ...

"WE WANT WOY"   "WE WANT WOY"    "WE WANT WOY"

Along with many members of the East Lancashire Group of the AGS we were fortunate enough to witness a Roy Lancaster lecture in Bolton a number of years ago ... a very special event.

[Paddy Tobin]

Cliff and David,

The unfortunate and terribly frustrating thing about it is that there are hordes of outstanding gardeners and lecturers who could grace our television screens and give us programmes of the hightest quality and entertainment but policy seems to aim at hitting the interest level of the lowest level of expertise and knowledge. It would be unthinkable, it would seem, to air a programme with a reasonable level of expertise, knowledge and appeal to those who can do more than barely distinguish an onion from a cabbage.

A member of the committee of our local gardening club was in our garden yesterday and Mary picked him a selection of vegetables - potatoes, courgettes, french and runner beans. The potatoes were fine but he asked what he should do with the others, how to cook them. Christ above in heaven I know I have told my sons that there will always be work for them as teachers as the level of general ignorance in the world is beyond reckoning but who could imagine someone who could not cook a few beans? Television presenters and policy makers are of the same ilk as our visitor. 

Paddy

[Ragged Robin]

...and they will all be has-beans soon 

[ranunculus]

Before we roam around Wisley Gardens, a couple of postings from the English countryside in late summer ... all taken during the past week in Hampshire.

BARTON-ON-SEA CLIFF TOPS
ARMERIA ON CLIFF TOPS
ARUM BERRIES
CAMPANULA ROTUNDIFOLIA

[ranunculus]

Next posting from rustic Hampshire ...

Campanula rotundifolia
Fungi

[ranunculus]

Final images before we pass through the entrance to Wisley Gardens ...


LILY LAKE AT LARGE HAMPSHIRE HOTEL
BOATS AT CHRISTCHURCH

[Ragged Robin]

The Barton cliff top walk looks wonderful Cliff with little coves and sandy beaches....isn't it amazing how Campanula make every type of terrain their home with their gorgeous blue bells in the sunlight?

Your photo of Arum berries leaves me with mixed feelings - Tanya, aged 2, picked some in the garden and I rushed her to Swindon old PMH thinking she might have eaten some and poisoned herself - no support just: 'here make her sick with this medicine' - ghastly experience