Six on Saturday: Oxford Botanic Garden

Tags

Agave, container planting, garden visit, Oxford Botanic Garden, Pavonia, Saturday smile, six on saturday

Hello, my Six on Saturday this week are from a garden visit to the Oxford Botanic Garden on January 20th. The gardens are the oldest in the UK ( founded in 1621) with nearly 6,000 types of plants.

What strikes you about this first picture? The enviable dark brown soil or the vivid green grass? Or what about the bright blue sky, it was January after all. Then there is the obelisk, look at its height. All quite remarkable but what really struck me was the incredibly straight edges to the borders, so very crisp and smart.

2. The straight edges are a strong feature of this part of the gardens, dictated perhaps by the garden wall. It may appear as if there is little to see in January and clearly it does looks rather bare, where are those 6,000 plants I hear you thinking, yet I really enjoyed seeing the crisp form of the space.

3. On closer inspection there are things happening in the borders. Witch Hazels, Willow, salix and Rainbow Chard. There are also these willow structures shaped as apples here.

There were masses of snowdrops but I am no Galanthophile hence my next pictures are of the container planting.

4.

The combination of ferns and primula with Skimmia is lovely for Winter container planting. I especially liked the addition of birch which adds height, colour and catkins.

5. In the glasshouses the relief from the cold was very welcome and necessary for this exquisite beauty

Pavonia. Simply stunning.

6. I love cacti’s and succulents and always enjoy seeing the Agave.

This one is a beautiful specimen.

That’s it, my Six on Saturday about my garden visit to the immaculate Oxford Botanic Garden.

The propagator blog is our host for Six on Saturday. If you would like to join in please be sure to include a link to his blog. If you find yourself near Oxford I recommend a visit to the botanical gardens, an historical and beautiful space to walk around.

Have a good weekend. D.

Sun, sea and …….

Tags

Agave, Cacti, Mallorca, Oleander, Palm trees, Succulents

Sun, Sea and Succulents…….(bet you were hoping for something different there). I love Mallorca for many reasons, not least for its wonderful climate, tapas, local wines and landscape, its great city, Palma, and of course its plant life.  

Those towering Palm trees photographed for many a postcard, run along beach fronts, in gardens and line roadsides, their long shadows providing welcome shade. 

Great big prickly pears, Opuntia, can be seen growing on the side of the road, often against tumble down abandoned houses, and I understand that these were planted by peasants because its distinctive smell kept away insects from the outside loo “facilities”! The fruit which ripens in summer is used as food for pigs or made into a jelly.  Other road side plants are Oleanders, a colourful show of pinks or whites softening the infrastructure.

Olives, Almond, Carob and Citrus trees grow to proportions we can only dream about.           Big Olive/ small car.

We were lucky enough to be given a crate of oranges upon arrival and used them to keep us supplied in freshly squeezed juice each morning.  If only we could bottle that smell for the depths of Winter.

Bougainvilleas are planted along walls and  scramble over boundaries all over the Island, their distinctive colour dazzles in the bright light.  In the evening light, sheep got to work with a little light pruning, seeming to be rather partial to a pink snack.

Hibiscus are knockout show stoppers and as much as I love to see “Oiseau bleu” here in Blighty they really do not compare with these:

There is fennel, self seeded on the road sides wafting its liquorice like aroma in the warm air. Rosemary, Lavender, all wonderful, but my love is a Succulent. There is something really great about the way that they thrive in baking conditions, never asking for anything, putting up with little or no water. To me they look fabulous, shades of green, grey, terracotta, with or without a soft grey down, like velvet or peach skins.

 

Many inhabitants on the Island live in flats with perhaps only a small window box or balcony to grow anything in, some just use the space around the front door to satisfy the need for a plant or two.

Then there are the more architectural  Agave and Cacti which in this setting look worthy of admiration rather than those dusty,somewhat sad looking varieties on chilly dark window cills of Suburbia.I love the way the spine of needles on a new Agave leaf leaves its imprint on the surface of its outer neighbour.  And these Agave grow to mammoth proportions, this is quite a small one, broken off and placed next to crockery to show scale.

These pictures were taken on holiday and understandably will not make it into the family album, here’s hoping you like them.

I would be interested to learn the names of any of the succulents, so should you happen to be in the know, send me a message via the comments section.