Floral trumpets

At Gardener's World Live I was keen to cover every pathway in the Floral Marquee and take as many pictures as I can, but let's just say MOH wasn't so keen on my ordered approach and on occasion headed off towards whatever caught his eye.  I've shared before here how he misnames plants, I'm sure on purpose, his favourite being busy lilies (not lizzies), and so I wasn't surprised when he asked me if these were those.  

They aren't busy lizzies at all, but they are a kind of lily - you might know them as Cala or Arum lilies.  Usually here in South London we spot the white varieties in front gardens and I always think they're such an elegant plant.  It turns out the white ones are hardier than the colourful relatives, and there's quite some colours to choose from.

The pink was so bright, that you couldn't help but be taken in by it - well a girl who's a bit partial to pink, couldn't be - and gazing at it again, I think it's the same pink as my garden trug, yes the one that had the herbs in.  The purple and cream variety was much more subtle, but not uniform at all and even now I'm checking out each of the flowers and their markings.

The real star of the show was these dark red, almost black flowers - aren't they stunning?

While I like the white, I think I'd be tempted by the darker variety.  We didn't leave with any though, the thought of carrying them back to London on the train didn't appeal, actually it was the part of the journey across London and out to Greenwich that didn't appeal, getting them back from Birmingham would no doubt have been easy!

I can see that driving to Gardener's World Live definitely has it appeal, but what do you think of these canna lilies?  

The Round Garden

This was one of the gardens I'd seen on Gardener's World before arriving in Birmingham, and as you might expect the circles appealed to me.  There was also a garden based on squares but somehow I missed that one, I'm not quite sure how. If I remember rightly there was a competition between the designers of the square and the round garden, and I'm pretty certain this one won.  Or if it didn't, it was definitely my favourite.  

But having my own garden full of circles that really didn't surprise you did it?

I love how the theme is repeated throughout the garden.  Since we added a raised bed of sleepers it has become my favourite place to sit and I think these benches would be relatively easy to replicate.  MOH thought so too as I caught him working out how to make these, perhaps for a future garden, who knows?  I'll not hold my breath though.

I also liked how the decking was flush with the stone circle, and how the lines matched up. I bet you didn't notice that did you?

Clever huh?

I was less keen on the statue or stacked circle ornament, but I understand that the area needed some height and this was an effective way of ensuring that stayed throughout the year.  I did like the corten steel finish though.

The planting was interesting too as it was mostly shrubs, but not boring shrubs at all. The variegated and coloured foliage made sure of that as well as the different shaped leaves. 

So what do you think, are you a fan of circles in the garden yet?

Our space in space

When I saw this at Gardeners' World Live I hadn't fully appreciated the concept as I have a terrible habit of taking a snap of the bumph alongside things to read later, simply enjoying the garden (or whatever) for what it is on face value at the time.  Not always a bad thing, as how often are we 'told' to live in the moment, but sometimes (and for me often afterwards) you realise the intentions had a much deeper meaning and purpose, and this Beautiful Border is one of them.

On the face of it, it's a pretty space and totally worthy of its inclusion in this part of the show, but at the time I couldn't help but notice its starkness, and stripes in comparison to the other beds.  I did spot the blue tardis though.

And I really enjoyed the almost lime green succulent 'balls' around the green phormium and against the grey pebbles. Striking aren't they?

What I hadn't realised was the greater significance of the blue dot - or tardis - and the connection to the photos taken from Voyager on 14 February 1990.

Look again at that dot.  That's here.  That's home.  That's us.

- Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A vision of the Human Future in Space

Which in my book makes it a very clever - and bold - garden, which clearly works on a number of levels. And who knew that a garden could be so deep? And educative?  Certainly not me, but I'm glad it has.  Talk about inspiring. 

But not only on that deeper level, but also on the planting.  Just look at the succulent, and what looks to be a coleus and a heuchera with its lettuce-like leaves against the dark pebbles.  It's certainly striking, that's for sure...