Enter through the hallway

I’m having a bit of a one-woman-Wisley-fest here at the moment, and that’s not stopping today. I was wondering where to start with sharing my photos from The Giant Houseplant Takeover at RHS Wisley, and then it became obvious. Start at the beginning, or as with many houses, the hallway. This one certainly set the scene for the rest of the exhibition, and also brought back memories of the telephone being in the hall at home and sitting in the hall to use the phone. We didn’t have the houseplants takeover, but there was, at one point, some green patterned geometric-ish wallpaper.

Our phone was slightly more modern than this one too, but the space was full of memories. At one point in my teen bedroom I decided I needed an ‘old-fashioned’ coat stand, and so I had one just like this. Without the flat cap, and plants, mind.

The amount of plants used throughout the display was phenomenal, and for those of us who have memories of The Day of the Triffids, a little bit to be wary of.

The sampler ‘explainer’ was also a nice touch, definitely taken out of the National Trust’s information approach. That works, so don’t knock it.

What was clever, was as you walked through the space there were glimpses of what was to come - just like all the garden designs book tell us.

And as a sucker for succulents I was completely drawn in. The air plants hanging sphere also had me hooked. So with the hallway under our belt, now all I need to work out, is where next, and when.

Love this #91 A Cardboard 'vase'

I’ve not seen these before, but as we wandered around the obligatory shop exit at RHS Wisley I’ll admit to being rather taken with these. Not only for their use of cardboard, but also because of their texture and functionality.

They’re made from recycled cardboard, and are described as a cardboard vase on the packaging. It looks as if they’re French, though so far I’ve failed to find a website for the company, or brand, cache-cache. I’ve found them on websites

They look to be pretty reasonably priced too. The taller necked vase in the background of the photo below is around 28 Euros. When I spotted them at Wisley, I assumed that they’d be readily available and easily findable online, but it seems shopping in person might need to be the approach if you’re interested.

There’s much to be said for the simplicity of this sphere, though I’m sure over time it would become a dust collector. But with such great form and texture, that could be endured, even just for a short while.

The loos in a shed

The variety of photographable loos continues to amaze me. Who’d have thought loos in a shed would be a thing, and a thing I’d photograph. But I have.

There’s plenty more loos I wouldn’t include here, because there’s no reason to, but I am finding more and more loos to feature in the Loo Series, perhaps I’m more attuned to them, perhaps there are more than I thought, who knows?

These loos are the second Bajan loos - the first were in the glorious Hunte’s Gardens, and yes I know I’ve not shared pictures of the actual gardens here yet, and like the gardens have a different feel.

Painted in pastel shades, the shed wasn’t just any old shed either, definitely a step up from the more usual creosoted garden variety.

Maybe the yellow walls helped. I’m almost certain that was the standard colour of my childhood bedroom, which was regularly repainted to freshen it up. I think dad’s yellow paint supply has long been used up, but maybe there’s a tin lurking.

The polite notice did make me smile, and it’s always good to see reminders that we all need to take care of our energy usage.

At one end of the shed was the ladies, with the gents at the other. The door signs matching the character of the island, its people, the gardens and the decor.

All in all a ‘pretty in pastel’ shed, with a completely functional use, that was very welcome after a long explore of the garden in thirty degree heat, and after all the water we drank to try to keep our cool!

The gardens and it’s plants were just as spectacular, with our last view of the garden (before the loos in the shed) looking like this.

A perfect match, and a perfect place to sit and enjoy a nice long drink of mango juice - the garden views, not the loos!