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....
Beautiful, Phillip!! You've inspired me to think about keeping potted plants in the winter as well. Normally I just do veggies or flowers in the Spring/Summer.
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful Phillip. A plant I will surely experiment with more.
ReplyDeleteI bought a couple of 6 packs on close out and put them on the patio table & got home late from work a couple of days and the next time I came home during light, they were in fairly sad shaped. I put them in a pan of water & revived them and planted just before my knee surgery. I couldn't cover them during the freeze and thought they had died. Now with the warmer spell they look fairly good, even through the snow we had Thursday. I still around half an inch Friday when I started to work. Mary
ReplyDeleteStarted to pick some up at Lowe's yesterday for a couple planters in front of the house and now I wish I had! Might have to go back now and get some yours look so good! Carol
ReplyDeleteI usually don't mess with them as they don't stand up to our winters for long. I do like them though. Too bad I didn't plant them this year as they would have lasted untilnow. We just went into the deep freeze.
ReplyDeleteI love them and have a dozen or more scattered around with the pansies...
ReplyDeleteI've also had a few disappoint years with kale...but boy, when they are happy they are stunning!
ReplyDeleteHeavy rain this evening; I think my ornamental cabbage, as well as a few other plants I have, are not going to be happy. Yours are beautiful! If it were somewhat cooler, we would be having a blizzard!
ReplyDeleteI just took a shot of this yesterday and couldn't figure out what it was....but your post helped clarify. Thank you. This plant really has nice color.
ReplyDeleteYours look good enough to eat. Luscious!
ReplyDeleteLovely, Phillip. This is the first year I planted these, and I am so pleased with how well they have done.
ReplyDeleteThese will definitely be a repeat.
Jan
Always Growing
Pretty! It looks like a pretty flower. I would really love to plant one of these but it is always a failure. Thank for the great and informative post though.
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