Green walls, Green Park

Being queue averse, I abandoned Van Gogh at the Royal Academy and went to look at two green walls planted nearby last year, each in a blast of publicity. At Anthropologie, left, an American shop for women's clothes in Regent's Street, the indoor wall is sustained by UV lights.  It spans three storeys. At the Athenaeum hotel, right, in Piccadilly, the wall clothes one corner of the building.

In both cases the modular planting pockets are visible, salt deposits have accumulated (not so attractive) and some species clearly do better than others.

Green walls are expensive to install and intensive to maintain.  These two examples felt to me as sustainable as annual bedding, and a bit sad. Neither shoppers nor tourists looked at them. 

There is something in green walls, and I want them to work, but I think the difficulty of keeping them looking good will mean they are a passing fashion and unlikely to attract many more corporate commissions.

Across the road, un-designer, unfashionable and  really rather vulgar :) narcissi and cheery blossom brought joy to all in Green Park, left in front of Buckingham Palace, and right, behind the Foreign Office.  

some I sowed earlier...

Root trainers is a proprietry brand module system that encourages good downward root growth.  The sides are grooved and there is a hole at the bottom so you can see how far downward growth has progressed.  Also, when the roots reach the bottom and go through the hole, they are 'air pruned', ie they stop growing in the drier environment, and this encourages secondary roots, making the plant stronger for planting out. The cells open like a book and you ease out the whole package into the planting hole. Look at the lovely root system on my first batch of peas!

I love my peasticks too.  They came from a Surrey coppicer last spring, together with some birch bean poles. Once planted they got a light sprinkling of organic slug pellets.  I don't think any slugs have overwintered (not even found any in the compost bin) but the eggs will be hatching and its too cold just yet to be putting out nemaslug, an effective biological control.

Root trainers are quite expensive, but you can easily re-use them lots of times if you are careful.  In addition, they are made of recycled plastic.  Many people say cardboard toilet roll is a good alternative.  However, you do not know what chemicals were in the pulp or what glue has been used.  In addition, you don't get the air pruning effect as the rolls and compost have to sit with their bottoms in a damp tray.  Lastly, the cardboard is prone to going mouldy.

The right kind of quality sticks, compost and tools really are more exciting than new shoes.

Watch this space...

Finally got to the allotment (work and never-ending winter) to have a think about what to do this year.  I focused on last year's cutting border, taking out Cosmos and Zinnia stems I left for overwintering insects and to deflect winter rain from the soil.  The weathered stems are interesting, you can see the strengthening structures, collenchyma ridges.  They are piled on the communal bonfire, which won't get done for a few weeks so plenty of time for insects to hatch. There are bound to be a lot of seedlings coming up, though, and they aren't such good colours a generation down from F1and so will be weeded out.                                                                     I gave the bed a light weeding (I'm trying to do the no-dig method so as not to disturb the soil fauna, just add mulch and keep the soil covered with crops or green manure), a scattering of Calseafeed (calcified seaweed, organic) and mulch with Croypost (amenity compost and not bad). Now I've covered it with a black textile permeable membrane which a) warms the soil, b) smothers weed seeds prompted into growth by disturbance and c) mitigates driving spring rainfall while allowing some water through.  Last year I did something similar and saw that worms had been busy. I've come up with a scheme for a decorative edible border with dark and purple leaves, orange flowers and some lime green through it and at the front and will sow them in modules. I've grown half of these before but the scheme is new and partly inspired by a combination I saw in Westminster Abbey Gardens in the summer.

Red orache or mountain spinach - Atriplex hortenis var. rubra - up to 120cm - edible (RHS Harvested Seed Distribution Scheme) - edible 18cm lance shaped leaves, and a decorative border annual with purple flower spikes.

Hare's Ear - Bupleurum rotundifolium (sourced as above) - to 60cm lime green clusters of flowers, bright green perfoliate leaves and reddish branching stems, purely decorative and insect friendly

Bronze Fennel - Foeniculum vulgae 'Purpureum' - up to 200cm (free with Gardens Illustrated) - feathery, edible leaves and seeds

Black Tuscan Kale Brassica oleracea 'Cavolo Nero' - to 60cm (Growing Old Heritage & Seed Heirloom Seeds from Pennards Plants) - deeply savoyed strap leaves, choc-full of vitamins and minerals

Pot marigold - Calendula officinalis 'Orange Porcupine' - to 60 cm (Johnsons World Botanics range) - a big pompom variety - petals in salads

Zinnia 'Fireworks Mix' - to 75cm (Suttons Seeds) - for the vase, long-lasting flowers (seeds have some bottom heat in a propagator)

Frisee and escarole mix - Cichorium endivia var. crispum and var. latifolia - to 20 cm (Franchi sementi)

Yellow Pak Choi - Brassica rapa 'Santoh Round Leaved' - to 20cm (The Real Seed Catalogue) - really quick to be ready and possible to sow this early and hopefully it'll avoid flea beetle.

Seed compost, vermiculite, modular seed tray, labels.

Garden and Cosmos

An exhibition combining my two endeavours, plants and yoga.  The fine detail of plants in these paintings is a joy, and also the contrary impenetrability of the more mystical paintings (eg no. 4 in this slide show, 

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/indian_summer/garden_and_cosmos.aspx)
The exhibition shows paintings comissioned by three generations of a dynasty.  The first king wanted to immortalise the wealth and luxuriance of his court; the second had scenes from Hindu scripture stories depicted (eg Ramayana). The last followed his yogi guru and this room has paintings of yogis floating in metallic seas of immortal bliss...no wonder he was the last in the dynasty.

Cornus stems

After the show was over (below) an exhibitor had left these dogwood stems.  With their brightly coloured stems they have a lot of winter value.  They are often planted in big stands by water where their colour can be reflected, and in parks - and car parks! Amenity planting uses them a lot as they are robust. 

I was delighted to see them come into leaf, especially as early glimmers of spring were soon swamped by cold grey earlier this month.  The baby leaves really are the fresh green of spring.

The varieties are: Cornus alba 'Sibirica' (red stems), and Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea' (chartreuse). These suckering shrubs also provide pleasant greenery, white flowers and small fruits the rest of the year, c 3m x 3m.  Another favourite is Cornus sanguinea 'Winter Beauty' (stems gradated red through orange and yellow), and Cornus sericea 'Kelseyi' (green and red at the top).

Silver Medal for Fire and Ice Balcony Design, RHS Plant and Design Show

My colleague, Brenda, and I were delighted to get a silver medal at the RHS Spring Plant and Design Show on 16th February. The feedback from visitors and the judges was really encouraging. Here are some pictures and plant notes.  Read more about the brief for the design in the entry before this. A big thanks to friends, family and neighbours who helped get the show on the road, and very special thanks to Kate without whom it could not have happened (her garden features on this blog elsewhere).

Crocus chyrsanthus 'Goldilocks', is also known as the snow crocus as it appears early, in February.  Note the flame-like markings up the sides of the petals, which are characteristic of the species and seen in other cultivars, be they blue or yellow.  The species comes from the arid areas of southern Turkey, where the bulbs will bake summer-long in its dormant phase.  It's ideally suited to a sunny balcony. 

The black strappy leaves are Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' which is seen a lot in garden centres, people's gardens and public planting because it is a real 'do-er'. The black straps turn blackest in full sun and contrast beautifully with the terracotta mulch (broken pots tumbled in a cement mixer to round the edges) and spring bulbs.

Snowdrops, Galanthus elwesii, and silverbush, Convulus cneorum, on the left, add to the 'ice' dimension of our scheme. Convolvulus loves the sun. The finely-felted silvery leaves reflect strong light and hold moisture close to the leaf surface. It is covered with a mass of white trumpet like flowers in early summer, with some repeat flowering through the year.  It needs pruning after flowering to keep it compact, and this will encourage further flowering. The plant is NOT fully hardy, and lots of visitors to the show reported having lost plants in winter, probably due to the soil being too wet, rather than too cold.  The plant would be fine on a London balcony. All our plants here like to have free drainage.  The Belfast sinks they are in would have a gritty compost and a good layer of crocks in the bottom. 

'Flames' were provided by two species of Libertia: L. peregrinans 'Gold Leaf' (shorter grass-like plant bottom right, in left hand picture), and two varieties of L. ixioides, 'Goldfinger' and and 'Taupo Blaze'.  From New Zealand, these plants like full sun and moist, well-drained soil though they can withstand dry conditions well.  Views vary on hardiness, but a grower at the show, http://www.oaktreenursery.com/, says they are ok to -10 degrees.  They certainly wouldn't have a problem on a London balcony. The specimen of 'Goldfinger'in the picture on the right of has leaves that have turned orange under cold stress to dramatic effect. Incidentally, the grower completely sold out of Libertia and we like to think our scheme had something to do with that!

Here you can see Libertia in one of the pair of chimney pots, with ivy, Hedera helix 'Glacier'. Also, you see the top of the Convovulus with its flowers that magically opened in time for judging.  Several visitors asked how we did that - just luck!

The scheme as a whole, showing the salvage materials and the RHS balcony set.

And lastly Brenda and I at the beginning of build.

RHS Spring Plant and Design Show, Victoria, London. Fire and Ice Balcony design

A fellow student from Capel Manor College and I have had a design accepted for the RHS Spring Plant and Design Show, 16th and 17th February.  The theme is 'The 25-mile balcony', the idea being that all plants and materials would be sourced within 25 miles of the RHS HQ in Vincent Square, London SW1, to promote ecological choices with low 'air miles'. Originally it was 20 miles, but even so this has been a tough brief, with lots of research to find plants that nurseries grow themselves (so much comes from Holland and Italy), and that would look good in February.  Plants have to be able to be in situ for at least 12 months. 

Planting choices were inspired by adaptation to dry conditions and suitability for containers on a sunny balcony. Visits to nurseries established some key plants. A Fire and Ice theme emerged. Key plants Libertia and Convolvulus lead to fresh associations for year-round interest.

The traditional frontage of the balcony set provided and the 25-mile rule suggested London salvage for containers and materials:  ceramic Belfast sinks, terracotta chimney pots, cast iron wall-mounted rain hoppers.  The materials, forged in intense fire but cool for many years, complement the plant textures and colours. The sinks are from a Stockwell school, the chimneys from a Clapham mansion block and the hoppers from a Chelsea house. All plants were sourced from nurseries within 25 miles of SW1.

Watch this space for pix of  assembled balcony and full plant list.  Come and visit,  http://www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/RHS-London-Flower-Shows/Getting-to-the-shows

Herbaceous perennials in Winter

Metallic shades of ghosts of plants in the low winter sun.
Echinacea, copper in foreground
Perovskia 'Blue Spire' irridescent white like magnesium in upright bunch far left (great blue flower spikes in summer)
Eryngium giganteum 'Miss Willmott's Ghost' spiky silver to the right
Phlomis bronze button seedheads, back left
Spun gold of dried grass (battered Calamagrostis?), back right
Piet Oudolf borders at RHS Wisley.

Winter Seedheads

There is plenty of interest in the predominantly herbaceous planting around the Millennium glasshouse at the Royal Horticultural Society's grounds at Wisley, Surrey, UK.  January 2nd  was cold and clear, the sky amazing. So, with a kid's eye view I took these views of seed heads. There is not an over-abundance of plant labels, which is ok.  (l-r)

Miscanthus sinensis  'Yakushima Dwarf' (probably)

Cynara cardunculus (globe artichoke, not sure if this is a varietal form)

Eryngium (not giganteum, because too tall -c. 2m - and basal rosette still quite green and fleshy)

These herbaceous perennials give good architectural form from mid-summer on.  They remain most attractive features in mid-winter.  Can't wait to use them in planting schemes!

Form and texture - winter update

Here are the same plantings in winter.  I like the way the Stipa plants have rhythm in the breeze.  You can see the dried Achillea heads.  The Eremurus have long been taken in, no doubt.The shape of the oaks is so pleasing. Later, in the winter dusk, the silhouettes of boundary oaks at the Wisley site gave such a show with the gradated pink sky behind them.  This was far more affecting than the staged 'Lumiere' lighting display put on to attract visitors.

The Hakonechloa has dried robustly, whispering, and the leaves in the beech (hornbeam?) columns rattle.  This view evidences the rhythm of the planting. I am still mystified by the choice of Sarcocca patches (see the dip in the grass).  The plants look very healthy ( I had wondered about the full sun location in the summer) but the combination of the bottle green foliage colour next to the coppery grass didn't feel so good.