A Sense of Place

Photo by Michel Lefebvre taken in Quebec City

The mild weather continues, allowing the Sedum to keep on producing these lovely rosettes of colour. Sedum spurium 'Tricolor' Secdum spurium 'Dragon's Blood'

I haven't participated in Blooms Day very much in the past, but after an illustrated talk by Dan Benarcik last week at the Toronto Botanical Garden, I'm inspired to copy an idea that is used by Chanticleer Garden to show what's currently in bloom. So here's my effort, just as they do at Chanticleer Garden, current blooms are floated on a black bowl of water and photographed from the top. In this picture I've got Hellebrus niger 'Praecox' and some little roses. I've filled the display out with some foliage, giving me ideas for a Foliage Day display. Maybe tomorrow?

Over the course of this Summer and Fall, I have collected seed from many plants that have taken my fancy. I am particularly fond of the family Geraniaceae ( have I mentioned this before?) and since I've come across a number of interesting species Pelargoniums, these have, so far, been my main preoccupation. They are the first seed I sowed this year and they are very rewarding as they give instant gratification, germinating in a matter of days. Clearing away the casing of this Pelargonium species resulting in... ...seven plump seeds. A few days later, species Pelargonium breaking the surface of the growing medium. Pelargonium seedling showing the start of secondary leaves. Geranium sanguineum seedling germinating in about the same amount of time.

The unusually mild weather has continued in this part of the world and this has meant plants like Salvia leucantha have continued to bloom and grow into November. However it has finally wilted under the weight of last weeks brief snowstorm, and it's leaves blackened by by several nights of light frost. Now that it is going into decline, I plan to pot it up and over winter it in my greenhouse. This unidentified Salvia I saw growing in a garden in my neighbourhood, I was impressed by its intense blue and the contrast with the faded red of the fence. This was taken hours before the snowstorm, so I will be interested to see how it survived. My interest in Salvias started after seeing this incredible Salvia border at Kew in October 2009. Although they are not hardy here, they are well worth the trouble of wintering over to add interest to the garden in late Summer and Fall.

Shortly after my post on Aberglasney on November 16, Frank Cabot died at his home in Malbaie, Quebec. He was 86. Link to the tribute on the Aberglasney web page.

In 2005 David Leeman purchased some Cyclamen seed from the British Cyclamen Society and together we germinated the seed and grew them on to maturity. The result has been dozens of plants that are now happily colonizing areas of my garden as well as in those of friends and neighbours. But also from this pool I have been able to select specimen plants to grow in the greenhouse, these have been mostly C. hederifolium, C. coum and C. mirabile . They have all been rewarding plants and spectacular in flower and foliage, however I had overlooked two 2" pots of Cyclamen graecum that had not been divided and were struggling for space. It was not until 2009 that I gave them their own pots, and finally last year I selected four plants with particularly finely marked leaves and moved them on to larger clay pots. C. graecum in 2" pots in 2010. A selection of the same plants grown on in 4" clay pots. They have beautifully marked leaves that are typical of C. graecum. There is endles...

NatBot is what my friend in Wales called the National Botanic Garden of Wales, and so it was for us too for the remainder of the trip. Our little group are all lovers of the Mediterranean flora and so, the Great Glasshouse was a treat with its collection of plants from those wonderful climatic regions. The Glasshouse is divided into mediterranean climates around the world including those of Europe, South Africa, Australia, Chile, and Pacific North West America. Here are some of my pictures which I'll try to identify if possible. Haemanthus albiflos. Pelargonium acetosum. Acacia pravissima Gazania. Dryandra sp. Anigozanthos sp. Fascicularia pitcairnifolia Alyogyne huegelii. Helichrysum were great favourites of butterflies and bees.

I have a lot of pictures of the National Botanic Garden, so I'm dividing it into several post starting with this one on the buildings and layout. The National Botanic Garden is a millennium project for Wales and was opened in 2000. It is set in a National nature reserve of 500 acres which includes the lands of the historical Middleton Estate and utilizes many of its surviving building structures. The most exciting of these is the double walled kitchen garden which has been restored and now contains a vast collection of plant families. The other outstanding feature is the great dome designed by Sir Norman Foster to be the largest single span glasshouse in the world. Link to more complete history. David and John are following the source of the rill that runs from the top of a hill to the entrance and leads visitors to the Walled Garden and the Great Glasshouse. Looking up the hill at the rill with the Glasshouse on the right and the Walled Garden to the left. This complex of building...

This has been an unusually mild month, it has felt more like October, but with the shorter days and dramatic sunsets I associate with November. Looking out the window I noticed that Clematis rehderiana was still very green and still in flower, this inspired me to see what else there was in bloom in the garden. Here are my finds: Clematis rehderiana , still in bloom with a few older flowers damaged by light frosts. Geranium 'Rozanne' , the blooming machine is still cranking out flowers that have turned bluer by the colder weather. Salvia leucantha still happily blooming and so far unaffected by frost and cold nights. Helleborus niger 'Praecox ' this reliable late bloomer is just reaching its prime.

On my last visit to Wales my friends Graham and Denise took me and their neighbour Margeret to Dyffryn Gardens. It was a great visit and was preceded with an unscheduled visit to the Cowbridge Physic Garden. And like many unexpected detours, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. This is a fairly new garden and has been made in an old walled garden in the middle of the little town of Cowbridge. There appeared to be a lot of community input and seemed to be maintained mostly by volunteers. The sign in Welsh on one side of the entrance. The main entrance with bilingual signs. It was a warm day in September and there were many people taking advantage of the sunshine. Some nice ornament that suited the formal design. The layout of the garden was formal and organized in groups of plants with similar healing properties.

Whether from benign neglect or respect for the past, many gardens in Wales have survived time and changes in fashion. As can be seen in my earlier post, Powys Castle has retained its Italianate terraces and the house and farm at Llanerchaeron remain intact. The most recent story of survival is the rediscovery of Aberglasney House and Gardens, which although neglected for decades was rescued in the late 1990's and has seen a miraculous recovery. I have been lucky to have witnessed the transformation from a muddy archeological dig in 2000 to a fully realized renewal of the Cloister Garden, which is now confirmed to be from the late Tudor and early Stewart era. And, in fact, seeing the remaking of the entire garden and restoration of the house has been an ongoing pleasure for the last 12 years. Aberglasney House. The Cloister Garden which until recently was buried under metres of soil and covered in lawn. The house and gardens are under the care of the Aberglasney Restoration Trust a...