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RHS Wisley (Surrey, England)

I'm up to the last day of my trip to England last May, and we ended with a trip to the second most visited garden in the country - RHS Wisley (Kew Gardens is the most visited). Most of the previous day was spent at the Chelsea Flower Show , which I will cover in the next post. I did not realize how huge this garden was until I started going through my photos. It is more than a garden - it is a horticultural institution. The garden was originally created by businessman, scientist, and inventor George Fergusson Wilson in 1878. He used a small portion of the estate to create the "Oakwood Experimental Garden" where he grew plants that were unusual in England at the time. Among his horticultural achievements was growing lilies outside the greenhouse and water gardening. Wilson's garden attracted notable visitors during his day, including fellow gardeners Ellen Willmott and Gertrude Jekyll (Jekyll actually worked some in the garden with him). Wilson died in 1902, and the pr...

December bouquet

Another extremely mild weekend with temperatures in the 70s. A change is on the way though with rain coming tomorrow and much colder winter-like temperatures. We need the rain. It has been very dry lately.

I noticed there were lots of roses and camellias blooming right now and picked some yesterday.

In the bouquet are roses "Mrs. B.R. Cant", "Knockout" and "Mrs. Dudley Cross". The camellias are "Pink Icicle" and "Debutante".

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

That is a beautiful bouquet. Enjoy them. I agree with you on the need of rain. We are below freezing today. Cold front rolled through this morning. Have a nice week.
What a sight for these color starved eyes. Beautiful. It is warmer than usual here but not as warm as your area. We need rain too. Good luck.
outlawgardener said…
I'd happily give you some of our rain! Beautiful boquet from a magical time in your garden - roses and camellias blooming atthe same time. Sweet.
sanda said…
What a treat - roses in December! They are beautiful.
HolleyGarden said…
Gorgeous! Roses and camellias are my two favorites, and it's so wonderful when they bloom together! I hope you get some much-needed rain.
Randy said…
Just beautiufl Phillip! I'm getting a Debutante. I don't know where it's going, but I'm getting one. LOL My neighbor has two huge ones!
Anonymous said…
Zowie! I was hoping there'd be roses and camellias when I came to visit. How did your grocery shopping trip go btw. I saw you were excited about the new store on FB.~~Dee
Hi Phillip, what a beautiful bouquet! I think it is so wonderful that you are able to pick a bouquet like this from your garden at this time of the year. It beats the store bought florist bouquets any time. My favorite blooms from this little plonk are the Mrs. B. R. Cant rose and the Debutante Camellia. Thanks for sharing!
Christina
Gail said…
Those are delicious roses! We've had very cold weather there's nothing left blooming.
Anonymous said…
I'm using up the last of my tomatoes I picked before the killing freeze. It'll be officially winter when my last one is gone.

The camellia and roses have been a beautiful sight around the Shoals this year.
RobinL said…
How wonderful it must be to still have roses in bloom. Although we are having a mild December, we've had a few hard frosts, so no roses for me. But there are still pansies around, so I can't complain. I wish camellias bloomed up here!