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....
Wow that first one is a stunner! The 2nd I've seen in person here and there--if you can grow it this year and strengthen the bulb for next spring it might be quite impressive. 3rd--is the bulb soft? Sometimes they take forever here. But--much different climate, of course. Could you grow them outdoors in your old garden in the South?
ReplyDeleteThe bulb is not soft so perhaps I should be patient. We could not grow them outdoors, except during the summer, but then they had to be brought back inside. I've pretty much given up on trying to get a repeat out of them. I've never had success with that.
DeleteI've never had an Amaryllis/Hippeastrum fail to bloom at all until this year. I bought 3 'Estella', 2 of which I gave as gifts, and none of them has even shown signs of life. I had a few bloom earlier but most of the others (excluding 'Estella') are actively moving in that direction. I grow all of mine outside so, even in our mild winter climate, they bloom later here.
ReplyDeleteI'm in NE Alabama but a little south of where Phillip lived. I've planted the bulbs outside and they have survived and bloomed in the spring. I planted the bulb so it doesn't show at all, unlike when it is in a pot.
ReplyDeleteInteresting!
DeleteI too potted up 3 bulbs at the end of November, figuring that way when I took down all the Christmas decorations I'd be closing in on fabulous blooms to cheer the space. Wrong. One is just finally open (Evergreen Cybister, it's fabulous), one is starting to bust open (white) and the other, La Paz', is still just buds and lots of leaves. It's been fun watching them develop though.
ReplyDeleteI've learned that it takes much longer for them to bloom than the usually stated "6 weeks".
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