A second chance for plants at Wisley
I worked at Wisley for six amazing years; Amy for four. We both love it there. Neither of us had been back since 2021, but we felt the urge to visit the place we once called home. I firmly believe that the plants at Wisley are among the best in the UK, and this visit didn’t fail to inspire.
It gave me a chance to re-experience some plants that I’d failed to appreciate in the past.
Let me show you some of them.
Geum (Avens)
I think we see something different in plants each time we meet with them. The setting and the context change our experience.
I used to think Geum were boring. They’ll survive just about anywhere, so they are quite a common sight in poorly maintained gardens.
But this light orange, single-flowered cultivar changed my mind.
So much so that in the week since we visited, I’ve bought four new Geum for our home garden.
It was growing by the water in a wildlife area at Wisley. It looked right at home (maybe because of my association with Water Avens).
For this reason, I planted our new additions near our wildlife pond.
Asphodeline and Asphodelus (Asphodels)
Asphodelus aestivus and Asphodeline lutea have a similar story. I hadn’t given them the degree of attention they deserved.
But seeing them amid a drought that’s been going on since early spring helped. I expect that in their native habitats, they put up with far more severe dry weather.
I suppose we’ll have to visit a nursery to get some of these too!
Erodium (Storks-bill)
I’ve never given Erodium the time of day. I probably associated them with lawn weeds.
But check out this beautiful Erodium ‘Stephanie’, which was growing under oak trees at the top of the rock garden. They tend to prefer full sun, but it looked happy to me.
I will certainly be looking for some Erodium to join the rest of the plants in our garden.
Helianthemum (Rock Roses)
I used to think Helianthemum were messy/straggly plants. I’d probably been turned off by poor cultivars or plants grown in shady positions.
The following plants weren’t labelled, so names are a best guess. Helianthemum ‘Wisley Pink’ and H. ‘Fire Dragon’
Let me know how you get on
Have you been to a public garden recently? What did you like the look of?
I’m looking for recommendations on gardens to visit, so I’d love to hear which gardens you like to go to. Please leave a comment if you have any favourite public gardens I can check out.
Thanks and happy growing.
Joe
Joe Vary Dip. Hort (Wisley), MCIHort, CMTGG
Gardener, educator, consultant, and planting designer. Learn with me 1-2-1, or in the My Gardening Mentor community.