In the Garden at the start of February 2026

 This post is one where I note six things from the garden, and like others link this to Jim's anchoring post. Last week Jim posted some 'then and now views of his garden plants' and as I was looking through and trying to delete old pictures I came across a couple of interesting ones. For the 2026 picture of the Chamaecyparis, I had to go out in the pouring rain this morning!  It has been the wettest of weeks, with just one day of a few hours without heavy rain.

1. This lovely golden evergreen started off as a very small specimen when I bought it in May 2019, three years later it had already been potted up twice.

Chamaecyparis pisifera var. filifera early 2021

Now it is a fine specimen and the pot is almost too large for me to move. Had I room in the garden it would probably have been planted out.  However in the pot it does look good standing on the pebbled area.

Chamaecyparis pisifera var. filifera 2026

2. I took cuttings from a friend's shrub in Kenwilworth, and since then have taken even more cuttings.  One of them was planted by the bird bath.

Lonicera 'Baggesen's Gold' Feb 2023

In the Summer of 2024, I had one of those frequent urges to do a little prunning and turned the Lonicera  into a pompom topiary. This is how it is looking this week.

3. We had one day of glorious sunshine, sufficient to warm the cockles of one's heart, and in the garden there was the sound of bees and a huge bumble bee, and flowers were opening.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Romance'

4. I often prune the rose bushes around mid February, but all the mild weather has led to earlier growth.  It doesn't take me long to prune the several bushes, rambler and the other climbers, all were pruned this first week of February.

Ghislaine de Feligonde new shoots

5. I like little plants and this week two of my smallest snowdrops are in full fligh in the Conservatory bed. One which is slowing increasing is Galanthus Margaret Billington (Formerly Quadripetala) . With small upright stems as the blooms open the call me to check the number of petals, snowdrops usually have three outer segments, but this one varies from three to five outer segments.  

Galanthus Margaret Billington

Whether the it is the same bulb that grows more segments as it matures I am unsure.  When I attend the Snowdrop festival in Shepton in a couple of weeks time, I shall try and ask the growers.  I bought this one early in 2023 when we visited Jenny and Mike Spiller at Elworthy Cottage, and since they will be at the festival they will be the best to ask.

The second little snowdrop closeby is Galanthus nivalis Charlotte.  Last year I divided the small clump, and I am delighted that the small bulbs survived this.

Galanthus nivalis 'Charlotte' 

6. In mid January I showed the northern end of the Conservatory bed with the darker cyclamen coum, the flowers are still growing strong and may actually be more floriferous, here is the bed a little further along, where the paler cyclamen coum are making their mark. I've mentioned before that I am aiming for the Millefleur effect in the spring for this border and it certainly is close to achieving this.  Yet to come out are the primulas and corydalis.  Starting in January, growing through February, and into March, this little bed is one of my garden's delights at this time of the year.

Because I left the top of a bag of compost open last week, I now have a bag of 'compost soup'!  And speaking of love: I have a pair of robins what come to check if I have anything for them, but they are still very shy. Here is one the cock I think on the wall.

What's up in my gardening domain- Six on Saturday 13 September 2025

Yes we have had rain, and thunder and lighting and those plants that have survived the long drought are bouncing back nicely, some are even thinking this may be spring as they come out of semi dormancy. As usual this is linked into Jim's early morning post, where you will find various approaches to six things from our gardens.

1.  This picture of one of the most successful decorative Origanums in the garden shows how it has extended a little too far across the path. and after six years it is time to dig up, divide, revive and move elsewhere, plus plenty for sharing with friends.

Origanum Bristol Cross

As plants mature and reach their full size, I often find myself wishing I had chosen a different place to grow them, and at the same time discovering a different plant to go in that place.   

2. When moving and dividing plants I often had to resort to an old bread knife.  However I have been thinking of treating myself to a tool, a particular one that I have been considering for a number of years: a hori hori. I wanted to be able to handle them to decide which would feel the most comfortable. Rather than buying online, yesterday Mr S and I went on a trip to visit Niwaki Headquarters, and suffice it to say Date Day will be remembered for a long time: each time I garden.  We then went on to visit Old Wardour Castle. 

I found several things and also my snips that had been sticking were sorted out and I learnt a few tips on maintenance. Yesterday evening I got out my old Niwaki secateurs and gave them a good clean and sharpen.

3. As we are starting to have several days with showers, many of them quite heavy, it is time to move the succulents off the conservatory shelf.  There are some in other parts of the garden too and they will all go into the conservatory. The ones by the front door under a canopy can stay out until it get much cooler, it is the daily drenching that needs to be avoided.

4. Looking back over the new plants I have grown this year I can report that the Coleus, well just two of them this year have done really well.  It seems that they grow and grow and the size very much depends on the size of pot they are in.   Coleus Flamethrower Serrano is just coming in flower, but quite honestly it has been a really colourful addition to the garden even without those.  Of course I haven't seen what its flowers look like so am perhaps a little presumptive. I shall take a few cuttings to overwinter somewhere around the house, and hopefully next spring will be able to find a couple more cultivars to add.

 Coleus Flamethrower Serrano

5. This is one of my favourite potted shrubs in the garden and it really comes into its own in low sun  when everything else starts to wind down and right through the winter too.  Last year I noticed that it was slowly shedding twigs and starting to go brown and I had to tease out lots of dead growth: it was really on the decline to the extent that I thought it was dying.  I repotted the Chamaecyparis pisifera var. filifera into a larger pot with new soil, perhaps it was last autumn or maybe even early this spring. I am happy to report that there has been a real turn around.  This was a lesson to me that plants just can't keep on growing in the same medium in pots for years on end. 

Chamaecyparis pisifera var. filifera

6.  Hands on propagation is something for which I enjoy getting my eyes and nose close to a plant which needs increasing.  As you handle plants especially during rain the smell of the earth gives an added dimension to gardening.  Petricor is the name scientists have given to this smell, and on Monday whilst I was out in the garden with large clouds piling up, I enjoyed gardening whilst there was thunder and lightning overhead until the rain started and having a good drenching was not on the list of things to do in the garden. I had gone out to divide the pot of Limonium bellidifolium.  I had promised Hilary a piece and I also wanted to remove what looked like some Rhodohypoxis growing through it.

In amongst the foliage I found a large snail hunkering down (RIP).  It is sometime ago since this plant was lifted from the gravel garden, and divided and planted into this pot.  Some divisions are now back in the gravel garden, and I am trying some at the edge of the path. I bought this plant during my visit to Beth Chatto's garden in 2021. 

I know the season is moving on as there is less gardening time in the evening.  There is less gardening time too because we have decided we were eating dinner later and later, on account of my loosing track of time on the days I decide to 'play' in the garden after tea time, then get called back in some time later, with the cry 'are we having dinner tonight'?  I like gardening and I like cooking, but my hunger noises don't kick in when I am in the garden!

Six on Saturday - 6 March 2021

It has been a little drier and sunnier and some plants are requiring some tender loving care, various tasks are being added to the list, but removing some plants, and moving others around seem to be the main activity. Having just a small garden, it is the way I like to try different arrangements otherwise I would get bored! Six on Saturday is a great source not only for myself but by joining in with The Propagator and fellow bloggers, we get to learn, share, and just enjoy 'chatting' with other gardeners.  Some are superb photographers too, so visiting Jon's blog and whether you contribute or just 'ear's drop' is always interesting.

1. Chamaecyparis pisifera var. filifera  maybe ‘Filifera Aurea’,  it could be 'Golden Mop'.  It is a type of dwarf threadleaf cypress, with graceful golden foliage. 

 I must admit that the name is simply gleaned from the internet, having looked for plants with a similar form and colour.  I had been using some little snippets of prunnings in my recent In a Vase on Mondays, and given that I had several comments about it, I thought I would feature it this week. I've had it now for three years, it is a slow grower, which is one of its advantages in a small garden. I bought it from Graham at his Tadham Nurseries stall, this was the last one he had, and I forgot to ask him the name!

In the pot, the foliage drops down around the rim, and it tends to be moved around making different groupings.  Grown like this I am also able to turn it around to catch the sun, and gain a lovely golden colour all round. During the winter when most of the garden is quiet, this little shrub shines out.

2. I could have shown a picture of the Amelanchiers last week when I thought the buds were just starting to swell slightly.  

The trees in the front garden were 'builders' trees', planted around twenty five years ago.  Probably misshaped from the the start we have done a little pruning each year since we arrived. This week they ought to be shown, and this way I will have a way to compare different seasons and timing of the bud burst. They are about ten days later compared to last year.

3. When I received an email with an article about the crocuses coming out in Turkey this week, I read that there is a name for people who like crocuses it is Croconut .  I don't think I am one yet, but I do love them. I have three clumps of rather congested Crocus Barr's Purple looking like this:

There were four such clumps before I decided to dig one up, and split it in the green.  Another year will tell whether I did something foolish.  I thought they stand a better chance this spring with space and tlc to help them bulk up with more room. 

It would interesting to hear of your experiences. I'll probably do my 'homework' this coming week and may come across 'scientific experimentally proven advice'. If dividing in the green is an option then all the others may get divided if I have the time. The sticks are there to try and deter birds from walking all over the area.

4. Of the little consignment of corydalis planted out this spring, this is one of the two new Corydalis integra. It has formed a lovely tall (for corydalis) flower spike with many flowers, with a couple of good side ones coming up. I'm rather pleased with this variety, and quality of the plant: thanks again Andrew.https://kindheartsandcorydalis.co.uk

 Corydalis Beth Evans continues to unfurl and the corydalis are following on very nicely in the same bed, where the snowdrops have finished blooming. This is one of several clumps which I have gradually increased in that bed from the original plant.  I seem to have got the conditions just right, or maybe they are just easy to grow.

5. This is my first Cyclamen repandum, only recently acquired.  I shall be looking for a cool shady place for this one. The flowers are still in bud with their petals genteelly twisted,  ready to leap up from its pirouette. 

6. These primula are so bright, I have had to tone down the colour a little and in turn the leaves look a little yellower. I could never get bored of this primula, which is why I cherish it and nourish it as it requires: it gets split and replant regularly in soil enriched with compost, otherwise I think they would just flower themselves to death. They flowered before Christmas, and are again ready to send up several flower spikes per plant.  

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.

Six on Saturday - November 11 2023

It is a quick SOS today, as I am off to plant bulbs and clear undergrowth from a nearby Somerset Wildlife mini reserve.  Today is going to be the first dry day for what seems like ages.  I am joining in with Jim again to share six things from my garden this week.

1.  Let us start with the best autumn colour in the garden this week:

Acer Wakaranai (Japanese for 'unknown')

I think this is the best year for colour on this acer.  I had thought that the colour and falling of leaves was late this year, but comparing dates on this blog in December 2021, there still was no leaf fall or colour! 

Acer  corner acer is still unphased by the lowest temperature so far at 3.8 C.  

2. The two Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' are lighting up the garden even when it is a little misty as it is this morning. The promise of flame effect stems to come can also be seen.

Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'

3. Either side of the blue bench the Japanese grass Hakonechloa Macra Aureola is still looking beautiful and doesn't seem to have suffered with all the rain. In the wild this is a Japanese forest grass

4. Chamaecyparis pisifera Filifera Aurea and it’s common name is Sawara Cypress is till growing in its pot.  It is said to be very slow growing and small, but I may just launch it into the garden this autumn. I do hope this is the nana version as I saw a similar cultivar at Bicton, and it was huge!   Use the link to see my post about Bicton and that tree.

5.  I 'titivated' the auriculas earlier in the week.  It was very wet during the week, and I broke down this job in stages, or otherwise I wouldn't have get round to doing it.  It is a little late in the season to do this, so I didn't replace all the soil, as they were newly potted up earlier in the year.  The new ones were ready to do into larger pots.  Phase one, remove all the old leaves, Phase two mix the compost, phase three move the pots to the potting area, phase four choose new pots, phase five pot on, phase six clean the outside of the pots, phase seven find saucers, phase eight move the pots and saucers to a sunny position.  Job done!  I had procrastinated long enough, but doing it this way, I managed to get this off my list even though it appeared to have not stopped raining for three days.

Downloading the pictures, I noticed all the water in the saucers.  Even though I had put a good layer of grit purposefully so that the compost is above the layer of the water, I just went down to empty the pots!

6. Still a rose so late in the season does catch my eye.

In a Vase on Monday - The last of this year's roses

With gusts on the increase, and a need to trim the rose trees, the remaining buds on Rose Grace were put together and graced our main daytime sitting area over the weekend.

Starting with tight buds on the Thursday,  with more open roses, the arrangement was a delight.

The red chillies which were the last of the harvest from the garden plants are now nicely dried, but remain in place as a bright accent in the centre of the table. 

My neighbour Val offered me some of her purple flowering Verbena bonariensis, which I planted up in a border, but I cut the flowering stem from the seedling to allow it to bulk up for next season.  Together with some ivy fruits picked on a recent walk down our lane, and the flowering tips of Persicaria Red Dragon, a second posy was also ready to show this morning. And on the theme of 'upcycling' I added another item Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Golden Mop'that would have otherwise ended up earlier in the compost heap, as will both these arrangments in a couple of days.

I'm joining in with Cathy and from her garden she will have set her arrangement, no doubt with excellent props.

A Vase of Nodding Tulipa Sylvestris

This morning I picked all the lemony yellow tulips from a pot and decided to also use the clippings of the maple which had been slowly opening in this very vase.  As I walked back with the tulips wondering what else to include,  my notice fell upon the green and yellow foliage of just the right hue on the Chamaecyparis a dwarf threadleaf cypress. 

We have enjoyed looking out at the two pots I planted out with Tulipa Sylvestris on the garden tables for a couple of week.  The Tulips have swayed in the wind but remained unscathed by the hail storms but with their sinewy stems they would look far better in a more natural planting scheme, so this week, I shall relocate the bulbs.

I'm linking this post to Cathy's blog for the In a Vase on Monday get together She talks about clouds and books on clouds.  I too am a  lover of clouds and very much enjoyed the book she mentioned 'The Cloud Spotters Guide'.

Morning out to East Lambrook Manor

 Our little group of friends from the WI enjoyed our day out at East Lambrook Manor yesterday, and in the lull between days of storms and as today wintery showers with hail, we had the best of the weather for our visit which lasted around an hour.

Whilst waiting for other friends to arrive I popped over to the nursey shop to see what was available.  I photographed some of the snowdrops which appealed to me the most.  Coming back home I found that I had only recently bought a number of them, but I know there are two which they had previously for sale, as a friend had bought one early February it was Heffalump. I'll be back early February next year!

Having helped out at a HPS plant sale there previously I had visited before but several weeks later.

One of those snowdrops that stood out on the display was Marjorie Brown. The curved tiered snowdrop display was well set out with good labels, but I wonder how they managed to hold back some of the earlier flowering snowdrops so that they were flowering alongside later ones.  I guess there is a 'trick of the trade' going on here. Until recently most of my friends were not aware that there were different species or named cultivars, and this arrangement was a great way of helping them to 'get their eye in'.

Here Galanthus Marojorie Brown is shown at her best in the garden. Also in the garden the stems of the cornus both Midwinter Fire and the green stemmed varieties formed a nice high point whilst their feet were carpeted with snowdrops and newly emerging Hellebores.  What I did notice and which Kate also appreciated was how pale lemon colours showed up well in the light.

Again with an acid yellow colour of  this little clump of early daffodils caught our attention. I think there may well be orders put in for yellow hellebores for at least a couple of gardens!

Coming through the Manor central door giving onto the back garden, the stems of a Fuchsia with its pale peeling bark was particularly attractive, and it made me regret cutting down the tall stems of Fuchsia Hawkshead only a few days ago.  I shall try growing it taller next year. It is always fun having others interested in gardening around as we point out and share ideas. 

It was easy to get the gang to stand here, as there was this lovely bush of Daphne.  I thought it was Margaret Postille but with its rounded form and slight cream margins, it does not match Margaret Postill's form.  I have emailed the gardens for identification.  

Mike Werkmeister replied and said "It was Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ - see article in March The English Garden for more info on Daphne.

As for initially thinking these were trimmed yew, it shows how one can be deceived: " In case you are interested, the yew is Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Fletcheri’, so not yew at all! I wish it was yew, much easier to control." Margaret Fish used to call these the Pudding Trees. " They are difficult because, unlike yew, if you cut into old wood they don’t regrow." I've enjoyed my conversation with Mike and learnt a thing or two.

Several boxes of plants were purchased from the shop as well as birthday presents in the form of  tall metal snowdrops. A very agreeable stop for lunch closed the day for many of us: a shame though that the nearby pub is currently closed!