Tree Appreciation Tuesday - The Winchester Ash Tree that dares to soften the harsh landscaping

 I could have chosen so many other Ash Trees.  The Mendips are or were covered with some fine specimens.  The tell tale sound of chain saws has been reverberating over many acres, as diseased trees are felled, and many that did not appear to be suffering too. Maybe it is just cheaper to cut the whole lot down rather than examine individual trees and spare the ones that appear robust.  That is a shame. The Somerset landscape is changing very quickly.

Time seems to be running out for Ash Trees, and seeing such a beautiful and healthy specimen for a while filled me with hope. Yes there is hope as far as Ash Trees are concerned with small populations of trees that seem to be able to resist Ash die back, I hope this tree is one of those.

We were in Winchester for a few days, and although there were many fine trees in the area and along the River Itchen, this Ash Tree really had an impact on me.  As we were walking towards The Great Hall of the Castle built when Winchester was the capital of England, I couldn't help but notice and appreciate this beautiful Ash Tree.

Fraxinus excelsior adding a splash of green within a hard landscape

Poised on the wall, almost enveloped by the tree this young person was immersed in their phone.  This Ash Tree, with its roots probably seeking long buried nutrients from the tower garderobe, added a splash of green, a living element to the otherwise stark hard landscaping of the area around the law courts leading up to the Great Hall, where the round table is housed.

From the walk way you can look down to see where the tree emerges.  Was it a seedling that just got too large before it was noticed, or was the tree planted there on purpose?  

As I looked at this fine tree, I speculated about this, and also wondered how old it was. I don't think it is even 'mature' yet, and pray that it will survive.  Who can tell?  It was also very easy to peer up the branches almost as if walking along one of those high walkways put up in forests for tourists to become immersed in the trees.

The young branches were still relatively smooth yet were further softened by the colony of lichens and mosses that had found a foot hold.

Long may this beautiful tree last, and hopefully I am not the only person to appreciate it.

Ash tree growing in the Great dry moat of the old Winchester Castle

This is #4 in the Tree Appreciation Tuesday series, do view the previous ones, and you are very welcome to comment or join in.  The link leads you to them and also guidelines for joining in. 

In a Vase on Monday - A little late season Purple

 The clocks have just changed and the quality of light has become more winter like.  However without frosts the garden is still yielding a few flowers. Just after breakfast I popped into the garden, still in my exercise clothes, and picked a few blooms for today's In a Vase on Monday.  This weekly IVOM was created by Cathy who posts on 'Rambling in the Garden'.

Fuchsia Upright Delta's Sarah has maintained the purply blue tones and with those tones in mind, I looked around for something to go with it.  Nearby the nasturtiums are in flower but their bright oranges tones would be too clashing however their bluey green leaves were just perfect.  A leaf of Arum Italicum and a few stems of self seeded Purple flowered Verbena bonariensis complete the arrangement.

Yesterday our WI book club attended an event at the Wells Literary Festival to listen to the author Donal Ryan regarding The Queen of Dirt Island. I can't understand or maybe don't get what other readers on 'Good Reads' get.  The author has an accent which I found tricky and spoke far too quickly, I nodded off on occasion! On the plus side at least I lent it to another member to read before the talk, and since the book is in the window at our Waterstone's, when I take it to the Charity Shop later, they ought to be able to sell it on quickly! 

The best part of the talk, was meeting afterwards at The Bishop's  Eye, for cake, herb tea for me and even wine for some!

Bicton Park Botanical Gardens - an Autumn Visit

 We were staying down at Budleigh Salterton for a few days, and on one of the drier afternoons we visit Bicton Park. Very much inspired by reading about the great plant hunters in the book 'Flower Hunters' by Mary Gribbin and John Gribbin, I was looking forward this time to looking at the trees, and hoping to find ones such as the Giant Redwood whose seed William Lobb brought back from his plant hunting trips.

Eventually we arrived at the Gardens but not before a wrong turning.

Focusing on the garden, glass houses and arboretum here are some of the wonderful views:

Towards the Italianate Gardens 

As we walked down the path on the far left of this picture I was very much taken by the large golden leaved conifer, and looking closely at the leaves and its form was intrigued as it reminded me of the golden leaved plant I had at home, in a pot. 

Contacting the garden with the tree outlined, I received identification: "It’s Latin name is Chamaecyparis pisifera Filifera Aurea' and it’s common name is Sawara Cypress."  Yes it is the very same!

Bicton Palm House

The Palm House predates the one at Kew, however it is still the second largest Palm House in the UK, build in the late 1820's a gift from John Rolle to his wife.  There was even a Date Palm with fruit, but this was one of the trees without a name label, probably because they did not want people eating the fruit!  How did I know it was a date?

Of course I had to have a tour of the other glass houses and garden.

The gardens have wonderful views and of course magnificent trees and borders and well worth a visit.

With their rarest tree on the site being this Cupressus chengiana var. jiangeensis. It is endemic to China where only one tree has been identified.

Thanks to Mr S who was incredibly patient and found places to sit whilst I revisited trees, or back tracked to view more closely trees that looking back I had not noticed. There were many Champion Trees which I may write about a later date. 

I mentioned at the start of this post that we had been misdirected.  Had we not been 'misdirected' by a student of the college, we would have missed this magnificent avenue leading from the Sidmouth Lodge to Flint Lodge. 

Bicton Park - Monkey Puzzle Tree lined Avenue

 At the gardens I would have liked a book with details of the plantings, the history of the gardens with as much background as possible.  A good big heavy book with lots of scholarly work, and I was prepared to spend all my 'holiday spending' on this book.  Sadly apart from the short guides, there was nothing.  On my return, searching on the internet I had a hard time and was sadly disappointed that there is nothing which met my needs.  I did find 'The Trees of Bicton' by N D G James, a 1969 Edition.  Together with a direct question via Facebook to the Gardens, which they kindly answered after a few days, the book has been an excellent source of information with extracts from the diaries of the Head Gardeners making for excellent reading.

About the Araucaria araucana or Monkey Puzzle Tree from 'The Trees of Bicton':

From seed received from South America in 1837, and Bicton received seedlings in 1839/40, in 3 x 3.5 inch pots (No 60) which were moved on to 6 x6 inch pots(No 32), and except for protection in the dead of winter, the Monkey Puzzle Trees were ready for planting, and were just knocked out of their No 32 pots and planted in the avenue,  protected by little wire cages, in 1844. 

In 1842 Mr Veitch visited the avenue to discuss the plating of 25 tress on either side of the avenue, and positions were was marked out, allowing 54 feet between each tree, in a double row 63 feet apart.  

Today some of the trees are much larger and I wonder how much replanting has taken place. The book has a list of all the trees with height and girth at 5 feet, gave the largest tree No 10 on the South side, in 1968 as 85 foot high, and 11' 4.5'' girth. Latest found sizes for 2013 gives the height at 95 feet and girth of 13.5 feet.

Tree Appreciation Tuesday - a tiered beauty Cornus controversa

 Trees in front gardens are a gift to passers by and visitors from the people who planted them.  I often direct visitors to Wells to view 15th Century Vicar's Close. After this post I shall suggest they also view this beautiful tree.

Just through the Waggon Gate in the Chain Bridge you can see this week's tiered beauty.  Although this beautiful tree captured my attention the first time I walked down St Andrews Street, I didn't know what it was.  It is a beautiful specimen of a tree, nicely placed and surrounded by beautiful buildings which could easily outshine a different darker tree. But with its variegated foliage and space around it stands its ground well.  It is so much younger than any of the surrounding building.

Is it because of its juxtaposition to the beautiful late medieval house called the Rib and the Cathedral to the other side, or its exquisite form with layers of variegated leaves, that I wanted to choose this tree for my third 'Tree Appreciation Tuesday' post?  It just appeals to me on so many levels. 

Cornus controversa 'Variegata'

This is a weekly post, comments are very much appreciated, and you are very welcome to join in any week with a tree which has caught your attention, follow the link to understand the format. 

In a Vase on Monday with Chrysanthemum Startlet

This morning on our neighbourhood Whatsapp, I read that  Pippa had put some extra pumpkins on her front lawn which were surplus, and having already decided to use Chrysanthemum Starlet today, all that was need was a little supporting foliage.  Here I used trimmed leaves from the Carex comans 'Bronze Form' and Pittosporum Tom Thumb.

Chrysanthemum Starlet this autumn Monday

I had the Carex comans growing in my last garden, and had not brought it as a plant here, but some of the soil  from other plants brought by the removal men did have seeds, and this one clump is as a result of a seedling which took about four years to decide it would germinate and come up in amongst my other plants.

It is sheer coincidence that Cathy is also using Chrysanthemum today, well not altogether since they do so well at this time of the year, I wouldn't be surprised to see Chrysanthemums in other vases too.   Cathy is the person who thought up this weekly get together and where we anchor our posts, a number of us link in our posts each week, this way we get to share our vases and chat about them.

Six on Saturday - 21/10/2023

Talk about rain, except for yesterday morning up until about one o'clock, it has been raining, sometimes 'bucket loads', or even shed loads.  This morning we have a few hours of respite, but it has probably been the same for others in the UK, if not worse.  However it is still mild, and these is still plenty of colour and green dominates at the moment. I'm looking forward to reading Jim's post and others who link in to his talking about six(ish) things in our gardens.

1. I keep dividing and moving plants every two or three years.  This also yields many plants to give away as in the example of Pulmonaria 'Sissinghurst White'. All through the winter the foliage is a great ground cover . This originally came from my dear friend Kay from Kenilworth, since moved. Many friends have benefited, and also many divisions have been sold from the HPS Membership sale table.  I ought to plant out a few for the next sale at Yeo Valley next year on 23rd of March.

Pulmonaria 'Sissinghurst White'

2.  Several of us comparing the purple leaved Loropetalum 'Fire Dance'.  It had to be cut back severely early this year after suffering from the freezing temperatures, and I am pleased to see it has bounced back.  To add further to its woes, I have decided there is a spot still along that same shady border where it will be better seen and also shine more just behind the Lophomyrtus x ralphii 'Little Star'.

3. Acer 'Wakaranai' has obviously had a great year and looking great, both from a distance and close up.  That is not the name but one suggested by Gill Heavens, who of course has a wonderful turn of phrase!

4. I always knew them as Arum Lilies, now called Zantedeschia aethiopica from South Africa, and having seen fine clumps of them growing in some of the front gardens of older properties, realised that they grew well in the area.  What surprised me was that it was growing in full sun in dry areas. I've always liked them and when I saw a plant earlier this year I decided to grow it, first in a nice pot, but then I planted it in the ground.  The weather has suited it, and it has thrown up what perhaps will be its last flower this year.  

5.  When I moved to this garden from Kenilworth, I was delighted with the Ivy leaf toad flax growing on the wall.  On a tour of Wells Bishop's Palace gardens given by two Enacters who took us round showing us a number of plants, I heard that seed may have come when statues were brought to the castle from Italy.  There are a number of 'stories' about how it first came to England, and I refer you to The Frustrated Gardener post on Kenilworth Ivy for a number of them.

6. There are always things that can irk me.  One of them is when I can't get on with gardening and I have some one else working in the garden.  Barry is the person sent by the company, and the work is slow and not particularly efficient, not much planning or management of time, but this is Somerset, and things get done in 'Somerset Time'!  Things are being well done though.  

The second thing is that my green bin was not emptied on collection day. After phoning up, as I wondered whether I needed to renew,  I was told to leave it for for someone to come and empty it.  Although I am bin monitor for the close and move most bins to the end to make it easier for the bin collection, my bin was left unemptied, and despite phoning up, it still hasn't been collected three days later. There isn't even a system for paying by S.O or D.D....only in Somerset me thinks! You have to phone in and renew and pay over the phone!

For my second in the Tree Appreciation Tuesday I chose a Yew tree, it turned out to be two trees a male and female one twinned and fused!

Tree Appreciation Tuesday - The 'Adam and Eve' Yew Tree at Bishop's Palace Wells

 I've been delighted by this Yew Tree from the day I first saw it. 

The 'Adam and Eve' Taxus baccate

I had imagined this as a very old tree, with aged boughs removed,  standing there perhaps centuries before the Bishop's Palace and this wall were ever built.  Just how many times have I squeezed myself to look through the 'eye' from the other side?  Not through the hole but round the tree! The saying from the bible sometimes floats into my mind when I see this tree about a camel going through the eye of a needle. I tried this time looking through the  hole to see if I could see something interesting: there they are The White Angel Wings by Edgar Phillips.

Last week I went to a talk for members, and happened to get chatting to one of the group.  As we walked back I found out that she was a volunteers guide, we stopped and chatted by the treen and Diana explained that they used to call this the Adam and Eve Yew, because there used to be a sculpture of Adam and Eve at about the spot where the wings now stand.

A few days earlier on one of my morning walks round the grounds I happened to see James Cross: Head gardener since 2004, and asked him if he knew how old the tree was.  I was quite shocked to hear that he believed it only about 200 years old, so much younger that I thought.  He showed me a tree which was slightly bigger than he knew had been planted around that time too. Further more he explained that the tree by the door to the outer garden was two trees: a male and a female, that had fused together, but he did not know if that had been by design or not.

So much for opening my eyes: I had not realised that there were male and female trees!  I went back to look more closely at the tree.  When you have this knowledge you look at the tree in a different light.  Yes there were branches with the ripening fruit, that was growing from the female part.

Arils bearing the seed on a female Yew Tree

The branches from the male tree had none, with the tips where the male flowers that will bear the pollen which the wind will carry are starting to form.

Tips of branches on a male Yew Tree

The bark of the tree is beautiful and I  noticed the characteristic shedding of small flakes.

The trees are fused at the lower parts, and also higher up.

Finding out a little more about this tree in particular and Yew Trees in general has increased my appreciation of this tree even more.

Just by coincidence when I popped into the library on the way home after taking pictures of the tree, I happened to see a book on the shelf, it was called The Treeline by Ben Rawlence.  The very first page of the book starts off with a description of the Yew behind the author's house. That author describes the trees wonderfully.  Another example of serendipity.

I have been asked since posting this about how to tell the age of Yew Trees.  At the start of his book, Ben explains:

"Dating yew trees is notoriously hard.  This is partly because there is no upper age limit.  They grow rapidly in youth, steadily in middle age, and can survive in senescence for an apparently unlimited period,  Sometimes growth can stop and the tree can stand dormant for long periods, possibly centuries.  Tree ring analysis fails with yews." 

If you would like to join in and post a good tree on your blog, and link it in the comments, you can find some guidelines here: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2023/10/tree-appreciation-tuesday-participant.html

In a Vase on Monday - Mid October 2023

This week's vase is a hand painted tankard from Rouen, a gift from my sister on her return from a year in France  when she worked there for a year whilst reading French at Uni. It is just the right size for a large arrangement.  This is the last of the Chrysanthemum varieties bought new this year to make an appearance.  Chrysanthemum Ruby Mound 21C is a dark burgundy red colour.

This close up gives a more accurate idea of the form and colour, which are superb.  The plant has good long stems for cutting with the blooms nicely arranged on the stem.

I've paired the Chrysanthemum Ruby Mound with stems of golden Lonicera and a few stems of a grass which I was recently given, but with no name.  If anyone has any idea of what it might be, your suggestion in the comments below would be helpful.

There is a lovely bunch of people who show their arrangements with plants from their gardens, and Cathy is the lead, and champion of this weekly gathering.

You may also like to have a view of my first choice for Tree Appreciation Tuesday last week and tomorrow it will be another tree from The Bishop's Palace Wells 

Six on Saturday - White and purple on 14 October 2023

The days are whizzing past, and I have to prepare the garden for work to our seating circle and various other works.  Some of the landscapers were expected for this coming Monday, that work has already slipped to Wednesday.  I have already established the patch which contains the divisions of plants that need to be out of their way,  but I definitely want to be around when the work starts.  It poured yesterday deluges of rain ran down the paved slope of a road, but the garden all drained very well.  Hopefully with a couple of days of dry weather I shall be able to get out there again, sorting out the garden for the late autumn/winter. I am sure Jim will have everything in order, and has his model post up on his blog, where we all congregate to chat about six things in our gardens which a little latitude as I read in the guide notes.

I have also been visiting my 'local park/garden' which is the beautiful garden at Well's Bishop's Palace.  Here I took pictures of the  Eastern Black Walnut-Juglans nigra. I have started up a new weekly post/meme called 'Tree Appreciation Tuesday',  Do visit it and hopefully leave comments and even join in. The guidance is still in its 'infancy'!   

Now for six things in the garden this week:

1.  This one is described as a hardy garden Chrysanthemum, for now I am absolutely delighted with it. I have already cut several stems for flower arrangements, and in the week took a bouquet to a friend when I was invited to pick pears in her garden. Is it going to be hardy over the winter?  As I like this one very much and the plant is in the middle of my bed that contains a lot of spring plants, I shall lift it and try to preserve it over the winter.

Chrysanthemum Nicole

 

Chrysanthemum Nicole close up

2.  Another white flowered plant that has benefited from the cooler weather recently is Fuchsia Hawkshead, another one that I cut for vases.

Fuchsia Hawkshead

3. Around the garden the Cyclamen hederifolium are coming out.  Gradually I am moving the white flowered ones  to one section of the garden.  This is a late flowering one compared to some of the others.

Cyclamen hederifolium white form

4. This is a new 'Aster' to the garden, it is shortish and stands up nicely, and is a really bright purple.  I would have liked the centres to be more golden, this one came from Old Court Nurseries, when Brenda and I put in a joint order earlier in the year.

Symphyotrichum novi-belgii 'Purple Dome'

5. I don't have as much room as I would like to grow the range of plants that appeal to me, but this late flowering Allium from Japan is ideal in the gravel garden.  When I first bought it in a very small pot, greedily I divided it, but planted the divisions fairly close together so that it formed a wider clump. Allium thunbergii Ozawa has been in this spot since September 2021, and I really pleased with it.  The seed I had saved and sowed have not come up so I do not believe they can ripen and be viable here as they flower very late into the season.

Allium thunbergii Ozawa

6. It seems to be a white and purple week, for my sixth here is a view of the Serratula by the edge of the path.   

Serratula tinctoria var. seoanei

Serratula tinctoria var. seoanei close up

I'm over for the morning at the HPS monthly meeting when our speaker will be Razvan Chisu, The Transylvanian Gardener and his talk is called 'confessions of a Plantaholic': I think many of us in the room will already have succumbed to that condition! 

Enjoying purchases from Wells Food Festival 2023

 We set off on foot to arrive at the Wells Food Festival early.  It was a warm and sunny October day, and we went through the tents which were already warming up, and by the time we left they were really crowded.

One of the items we brought back was a beautiful fresh soft Sheep's milk ricotta bought from Homewood artisan cheesemakers  Arriving home I trawled the various sites and also my recipe books for a recipe preferably for a cake.  In the end I have chosen just to enjoy in slices on a plate.  The first serving was alongside a couple of perfectly ripe sliced figs, the whole drizzled with local honey and topped with toasted walnuts.  

For lunch yesterday on a savoury twist I scattered pieces over our starter salad, on beetroot from the garden, and a home grown cucumber and mint salad with spring onions, all topped with a great dressing and pine nuts.

We also bought a selection of sheep and goat milk cheeses, Pear and Apple Juice from the trees of the Bishop's Palace, and a delicious pastry which we ate in the BP's Garden along with drinks ordered from their café. 

Tree Appreciation Tuesday - Black Walnut

This is the first of my posts for the new 'Tree Appreciation Tuesday' meme.  If you find something interesting, or wish do add something, please leave your comment below, feedback is welcomed and appreciated. 

If you would like to join in and add a link to your own appreciation of a tree post, I have written a draft of the guidelines, which may get refined in time. 

Admired this Sunday at the Bishop's Palace Wells is this magnificent Eastern Black Walnut-Juglans nigra.

Situated on the entrance side of the croquet lawn, it is possible to admire this tree without even paying to enter the gardens, so if you ever in Wells, then do have a peep.  The gardens are splendid with many interesting trees, and a visit is well worth it.

This specimen was planted in 1820 the year the Florence Nightingale was born, and the year King George III died, and it is listed as 'A Monumental Tree'.  The tree is native in Eastern North America 

There is a younger tree close by planted in the late 1980s when the 'Monumental Tree' was hit by lightning, as a replacement in case the old tree succumbed.  It is the older tree which I am showing and as you can see it did survive.  I just fell in love with it, the first time I saw it.  A few years ago, I asked if I could pick up some of the nuts on the lawn, and I was advised that they are extremely hard to crack. I brought three home and  with a club hammer  it was impossible: I gave up! 

Some of the limbs of this tree at the left below splay out a long way from the trunk and the tree offers shade and certainly it has presence.

It is said that in its beautiful bark you can see diamond patterns, I shall need to look harder next time.

The nights are still warm, the fruit is swelling and there is just a little hint of autumn colour.

I am no botanist or dendrophile, but I was able to learn a little more using the internet, if time permits!

Having lived in 'Wooded Warwickshire' and falling in love with so many of its trees, I am particularly delighted that my good friend Mandy has joined in with her post today:

https://blossomandsunshine.com/2023/10/10/tree-appreciation-tuesday

Tree Appreciation Tuesday - A participant guide

I thought I would start up this weekly meme called Tree Appreciation Tuesday and today offer some guidelines which I shall attempt to adhere to myself as I post each Tuesday about a tree and my appreciation of it.  

Should you wish to join in here are some guidelines to help you along:

It could be a tree in a group, but essentially it is about 'The Tree'.  A picture, maybe taken on your phone, or with a camera, and it will may have been taken recently or it may just come a stunning picture in your photograph archive.  

It could an old tree, or big tree, a small one, one that has meaning and just touches one's heart. 

If I can or wish to it, it will have a close up of the leaf, and fruit or seed, maybe the bark and the roots if they are exposed, all depending on the season. I may have a description of where it is and the circumstances of coming across it.  I may add links to other posts or sources of information.  That way I can bring together my enjoyment of trees  in posts under the label/title 'Tree Appreciation Tuesday'.

Links to books, poems, places etc welcome.

Should you wish to join you are very welcome, and may link in on a regular basis, or from time to time, or just leave a comment. 

Should you wish to join, I will be delighted to read your post, linking into the weekly "Tree Appreciation Tuesday" meme, do add a link to my post in yours that week,  and remember to add a comment on my weekly post that contains a link to yours along with your comments:  that way everyone who reads my post can easily find your 'Tree Appreciation' post.

This is a 'draft' guideline, and if you have suggestion on changing or improving, your suggestions will be considered.