greening up our Fine City

Went trolling about in Norwich at the weekend and was delighted to discover a "living wall" on the newly extended Marks & Spencers store on Rampant Horse Street.
According to the EDP, it covers 152sq m. Plants quite happy to grow vertically up this British institution include:  

Armeria maritima
Blechnum spicant
Galanthus nivalis
Galium odoratu
Geranium macrorrhizum
Hebe pinguifolia ‘Pagei’
Helleborus argutifoliu
Luzula nivea
Phyllitis scolopendrium
Sarcococca humilis
Thymus vulgaris

Yes please, Norwich. More of this and less ghastly winter bedding.  

More autumnullyness

Alright, maybe I was a bit harsh on autumn. It's the middle of November and the majority of the leaves are still on the trees, which is a bit unusual. Yesterday the sun was shining and I waddled about the garden taking snaps of everything that was looking stunning. Think I'll ask for a better camera for Christmas...

An avenue of sunlit lime trees.
If that's not inviting, then I don't know what is...

Could this be a morel? Slightly past its best, maybe...

Hosta seed heads with ladybird.

Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii 'Profusion'
Generally I find this plant a bit... vulgar. Maybe it's the colour. But whatever
you think of it, it's a plant that demands you stop and look at it

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this combination of Euphorbia wulfenii and Cornus sibirica just about makes me want to pee myself with excitement

Lovely autumn berries of Cornus sibirica 'Westonbirt'

Autumn colour

It's fairly grey and dismal in the garden today. Autumn colour, I think, has been less than showy and quite short lived this season. At least in the East. So I thought I might cheer myself up by posting some pics I took this time last year, to remind myself what autumn's supposed to be all about...

It's been a fantastic year for small-leafed limes (Tilia cordata). Ours were absolutely thrumming
with blossom and bees in the spring - and their scent is absolutely gorgeous. 

Another cute little lime.

A fab contrasting autumn colour combo:
Rosa 'Frensham', Melianthus major and Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace'

POW! Take that you boring native trees.
Nothing does autumn colour quite like Taxodium distichum

Catching codzilla

Catching fish out of the fountain today. It's a smelly job, but someone's gotta do it. Altogether we netted about 500 fish, mostly goldfish but there are three bigguns that have (so far) survived the heron. This fellow here is the biggest. He's a koi carp and about 10-15lbs. All the fishies have gone into a holidng tank while our 18th century fountain is emptied and given a good scrub.

Back to the Bishops Garden!

I've already said that the Bishop's Garden is one of my fave gardens in Norwich (and not just because I often get a custard cream doughnut and a cup of tea from Simon when I visit).

Me standing next to Tetrapanax papyrifer, a gorgeous hardy tropical
that can get absolutely enormous. Watch out though, it tends to sucker.

Euphorbia x pasteurii 'Phrampton Phatty'An unusual hybrid Euphorbia with an awesome name.

Indigofera howellii

Lonicera hildebrandiana, or "Giant Burmese honeysuckle"
Not hardy but dramatic climber with dark green leaves and gorgeously scented yellow flowers.

250 year old pear tree surrounded by wildflower maze - this is a lovely feature of the
garden  and looks great almost throughout the year. You couldn't really ask for a finer backdrop
than Norwich Cathedral, either - could you!?

Hot off the press.

The light was absolutely gorgeous this morning, when I got to the garden. couldn't resist taking a few snaps... feels as though autumn is almost upon us.

Anemone hupehensis - I know this plant is happiest in semi-shade
but it looks simply stunning when the sun shines through it

A squirrel feasting ground...

Tomatoes worked well this year.

A chilli plant whose name has long since been lost.
For some reason we call it 'Donkey'

Dahlia 'Karma Sangria'

Check out the colour of this bad boy! It is Vitis coignetiae 'Claret Cloak'

Lunaria annua, doing what it does best.

This deep blue Aster looks incredible in the shade of a yew hedge -
the colours really pop. Having trouble identifying the variety... will get back to you.

September

I'm being nagged again (Bainbridge!) that this needs updating. So here you go!

Beautiful Eupatorium purpuream. This is a cracker for the back of the
border, as it can get more than 6ft tall

Love the texture of these two together: Yucca filamentosa and Limnanthes douglasii "Poached egg plant"

Robin's Pin Cushion (Diplolepis rosae), actually a gall caused by a tiny wasp which causes a chemically induced distortion of an unopened leaf axillary buds. Purdy ain't it?

This enthusiastic plant is Phytolacca americana. At least we thought so, but it could also be P. decandra, since americana seems to have panicles hanging down, rather than pointing, erm, right up into the air. Maybe someone could clarify... Nevertheless, this plant causes a bit of a stir at this time of year, when it can get up to 3m tall.  



For garden designers, I've heard it's a bit of a faux pas to put pink and yellow together.
But I think this Sedum spectabile and Rudbeckia deamii look a treat.