While other parts of the UK have snow, here at “Costa del Dyffryn Ardudwy” a tulip popped up!
The temperatures are plummeting and the wind is coming from the East. Icy blasts cross the garden and the ponds are frozen.
However on Friday, when it was still mild and raining (nothing unusual there). Our local gardening club went garden visiting in the village. Guy and Margaret Lloyd had opened their garden for us to have a peep at their winter garden.
I wrote about visiting this garden in May 2008, when it was open for the afternoon under the NGS.
Garden visiting was just what I needed to get me out of my January trough. While the best time to visit Ty Newydd is in the summer, the garden provides interest throughout the year. The majority of the planting is trees and shrubs, but not just any old trees and shrubs.
If I think of evergreen planting, I think dull. I imagine this comes from going to a school where the main planting was Ivy, Laurel and Rhododendron. Mostly rhododendron ponticum. Nevertheless on Friday Guy’s garden was alive with colour and form and also beautifully scented. I think that some of the winter flowering shrubs do have the best and most welcome fragrance. The No1 spot belongs to the Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’ this was planted near a path, close to the back door – a most perfect spot for winter perfume. Also doing “the scent thing” were; Sarcococca, (Sweet box) and Hamamelis (Witch hazel).
As we are by the coast here – our climate is kinder in terms of temperature and most years we can get away with growing slightly tender plants. Guy has used our Maritime climate to his advantage and I was particularly taken with the Acacia baileyanna ‘Purpurea’. It is a beautiful small tree (or large shrub) and it is the structure of the foliage that I find so attractive … so I can forgive it for having yellow flowers.
Rhododendron edgeworthii could help me “get over” my loathing of that genus. It has rust coloured indumentum – which makes the plant seem very tactile.
Another plant that I found intriguing was tree heather. As I don’t have anything from the Erica family in my garden it caught my eye as it would be such a good plant for any early insects that might be searching for food.
These plants are only the tip of the iceberg of the winter interest in this garden. Other plants I noted in my journal include a white vinca (possibly difformis) doing a wonderful ground cover job – the white flowers shining out like twinkling stars beneath the trees. Drimys – with evergreen leaves and dark red shoots. Coprosma ‘tequila sunrise’ … now this would fit in my garden! Also a Fuchsia microphylla, which was still in flower.
Sadly I seem to have damaged the camera lens I took with me and didn’t realize until I got home and downloaded the images. I would like to have made a slide-show of some of the marvellous plants we saw.
It was a fine visit, the garden had diverse structure, texture and colour in January, there was also tea and cake. So if you spot a garden that is open now, go visit it – you may be delighted and surprised with what you find. I was
