Special Plants Nursery (Chippenham, England)
Our third day was a busy one as we left our first hotel in Bath and traveled to Wells. There were several stops along the way, the first being Special Plants Nursery in Chippenham, England. It was a warm day. The nursery is owned by former Oregonian Derry Watkins, who moved to England decades ago when she married an Englishman. She is a plant collector and has traveled all over the world, her favorite place being South Africa. That is Derry in the above photos talking to our group. The house and garden are located on a steep hill with idyllic countryside surrounding it. She says the garden was designed by her architect husband and she has filled it with her favorite plants, mostly tender perennials that she has collected from her plant-hunting expeditions. Most of the beds are terraced and many plants are grown in gravel. The garden is also enhanced with some striking ornaments - Lower island beds proceed downhill - A bog garden - At the bottom of the property is a woodland walk....
Sound advice for those in your corner of the globe. I hope you can deal with the problem effectively now, your hydrangeas look magnificent in previous posts.
ReplyDeleteThis is good to know. I hope not to see such a thing here. I have lots of hydrangeas.
ReplyDeletePhillip, that is a shame that you may have to destroy them. But at least you know and have been able to warn others.
ReplyDeleteHydrangeas bring such great color & texture to a garden.
I agree with Lisa...I have not seen this problem in Illinois (as of yet!!) and hope I will not. I have added many hydrangeas to my property over the past few years and would hate to lose them. Good luck with yours!
ReplyDeleteP.S. You have an interesting blog - I am new to blogging and realize I have much to learn... :)
Who knew?! I wonder if this is what killed my limelight. I had assumed it was some sort of fungus/rot.
ReplyDeleteYikes! I don't grow the hydrangeas that you do...and boy are yours beauties~but I'll pass this info onto friends. Thanks Phillip, gail
ReplyDeleteFortunately, this hasn't hit hydrangeas in MI yet, but it's good to be aware of. Yet another reason I love reading blogs from around the country! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, man, that is the pits. Glad you figured out what it was. I'll keep watch on my hydrangeas too.~~Dee
ReplyDeletethanks for comments
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rdrop.com/~paul/hulse.html
this is the site that i found that explained how to do the rose cuttings - like i said it's the wrong time of the year - the rose has no leaves, but i still hope some of them make it. Good Luck!
Philip, thanks for the tips on the Hydrangeas.
ReplyDeleteBTW, your hydrangeas look great
Aanee
Irish Florist
I just discovered this borer in my own garden. I am new at gardening, but planted Hydrangea's this spring - one of my favorites. My husband & I purchased a hundred yr old farmhouse with an acre of property, so there was already a well established Hydrangea there, and now they both have what appears to be the "black twig borer" you described. Were you able to get rid of it? Do you have anymore tips? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAm having a significant issue with these this year 2021 in Atlanta, GA on Blue Nikkos. Seem to also be targeting stems on an adjacent bay laurel. Seems to target both old growth portion of stem and new growth indiscriminantly - is there ANYTHING that could be added to the soil to eliminate them? Have yet to actually see one on the 'outside' of the stem or even see any larvae when I cut the stems off and cut them open to inspect - just very small black bugs themselves. I am afraid i am going to completely lose a 10 year old hydrangea. Seems like the more stems I cut, the more they attack other stems at this point.
ReplyDelete