A walk in the gardens November 2006

November has been a particularly wet and windy month. I set out to walk in the gardens and take photos on one of the slightly better days. The sun was shining when I set out but before long it had dulled down and by the time I left it was beginning to rain again. This was the morning after a fierce gale and I found the garden staff dealing with some storm damage.

This is our new head gardener indicating x Cupressocyparis leylandii that had split near the bottom and was about to be felled before it did damage to anything else.

I started taking photos on a regular basis in November last year. The gardens seem much duller and more sodden this year. Not surprising considering the amount of rain we have had. There is not a lot flowering this month. Lapageria rosea is in bloom again. I mentioned it in my very first walk in January. Nerines and Schizostylus are still blooming and Clianthus puniceus is beginning to flower.

Many of the berries that I saw last month have gone. The Sorbus hupehensis is completely devoid of berries. This could be due to birds (very likely) or possibly they may have been blown off by the wind. The fruits of Euonymus hamiltonianus are still putting on a good show. The Viburnum bodnantense that was just beginning to flower last month is a washed out mess this month.

In the walled garden one of the greenhouses has been completely emptied in preparation for cleaning and becoming a growing on area for the propagation unit. Is this a question of the new broom sweeping clean?

    As the photo shows it really does need a good clean. A few plants had been placed in it temporally just before I took my photograph.

There are many different trees in the gardens, both deciduous and evergreen. Many of the trunks have lichen, moss and fungi growing on them like this Elm. Near the bottom of the garden are trees with golden heart ivy growing up them.

Progress is being made on the renovations. Near the entrance some Rhododendron ponticum has been cut back to reveal possibly a Polar Bear (Rhododendron!) and to make way for new planting. Overgrown Griselinia and Leylandia are also getting the chop!