Tag: jillraggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day
Thursday 11 October 2018

Making a show at the front of the herbaceous border Anagallis monellii ‘Sky Lover’ (blue pimpernel, poor man’s weather glass) is a low, compact, trailing plant. This tender perennial is usually grown as an annual which blooms from mid summer until the frost. The flowers close at sunset or during cloudy weather.

Jill Raggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day
Wednesday 10 October 2018

A wide range of Cydonia oblonga (quince) cultivars were fruiting in the orchards at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Wisley, Surrey, UK. This fruit tree produces a broad-crowned deciduous shrub, or small tree, which develops a wonderful mottled bark. The leaves are hairy beneath and turn gold in the autumn, while in the spring there are pink-tinged flowers.

Jill Raggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day
Sunday 7 October 2018

The tall herbaceous perennial Silphium terebinthinaceum (prairie burdock, prairie dock) can reach up to 4m high. It has a basal rosette of large, paddle-shaped leaves with erect stems covered with yellow, daisy-like flowers. This striking plant forms an eye catcher in the Sky Meadow at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Hyde Hall, Essex, UK.

Jill Raggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day
Thursday 4 October 2018

Showing over the roofline of shops and offices in the high street of Chelmsford, Essex, is a wonderful specimen tree Quercus robur (Fastigiata Group) ‘Koster’ (fastigiate oak, columnar oak, cypress oak). This fastigiate form has upright branches which spread with age, though these trees are often seed-raised and so can be variable. This plant is growing in the grounds of Chelmsford Cathedral and provides shelter for wildlife, including a local pigeon.

Jill Raggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day

Sunday 30 September 2018

Covering this gabion wall is Clematis rehderiana (cowslip clematis, nodding virgin’s bower) at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Hyde Hall, Essex, UK. This vigorous, deciduous climber has mauvish-brown older stems which contrast with the scented, bell-shaped yellow flowers produced in late summer and early autumn. 

Jill Raggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day
Thursday 27 September 2018

The autumn-flowering Colchicum autumnale ‘Album’ produces several white flowers per bulb, whilst the large leaves follow the flowers in spring and will remain until early summer. This cultivar was part of the Colchicum trial at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Hyde Hall, Essex, UK.

Jill Raggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day

Wednesday 19 September 2018

The tropical annual Gomphrena globosa (globe amaranth) has unusual spherical heads of flowers. The plant blooms continuously throughout summer to early autumn and is heat tolerant and fairly drought resistant growing best in full sun. The flowers can be purple, red, pink, orange and white in colour. It is a native of Central America. 

Jill Raggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day
Saturday 22 September 2018

Like a sea of pink cauliflowers, the large flat terminal clusters of the starry flowers of Hylotelephium ‘Herbstfreude’ (ice plant, stonecrop, sedum) create an autumnal display. This herbaceous perennial forms a clump of fleshy stems with glaucous green leaves.

Jill Raggett

jillraggett:

Plant of the Day
Friday 7 September 2018

The beginning of some autumn colour with this
Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis ‘Maxima’ (American elderberry). In spring this cultivar flowers on young wood producing dramatic plates, larger than the species, of creamy blossom which can be followed by black berries.

Best wishes and congratulations to all the Writtle University College students who receive their undergraduate or postgraduate degrees today in landscape architecture, garden design or horticulture. The World needs those who value the green environment – enjoy the future bring together plants, people and places.

Jill Raggett