In April I visited The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew with The Plant School to look at the spring bulbs and study the tree flowers as it was an exceptionally good year for them. The displays of tall, red and white tulips were impressive, and so too was the damp, meadow area which was flourishing with fabulous fritillaries. Magnolias, pears, cherries and many other trees were certainly flowering beautifully. Whatever the time of year, Kew Gardens is certainly worth a visit.
In June, at the end of The Plant School summer term, we visited Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens in Dorset and were very privileged to have one of the best plantsmen of our generation guide us round and discuss the many interesting and unusual plants found there. This was also the year that Roy Lancaster published his fascinating autobiography celebrating his life with plants, and I seized this opportunity to ask him to sign my own copy and grab a photo too!
Whilst on holiday in Italy this summer I finally fulfilled two wishes, the first to visit the Botanical Garden of Padova which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is the oldest existing university botanical garden in the world and the second, to travel along the Brenta Canal and explore some of the sumptuous Venetian villas and gardens.
For the first time, in March I visited Ashwood Nurseries, Kingswinford, West Midlands with The Plant School to discover the wonders of breeding Hellebores and Hepaticas, and to have a guided tour of John’s magnificent, ‘plantsman’s garden’ which is open for charity on selected dates throughout the year. There are truly many treasures to be seen in this private, three acre garden which is
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Ashwood Nurseries
Click to see some photos of
Abbotsbury Subtropical
Click to see some photos of
Kew Gardens
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the Botanical Garden of
I have been a member of Butterfly Conservation for a few years now and, this year, I was inspired to start recording a butterfly transect in my local woodland, which revealed over ten different species of butterfly including Speckled Wood, Comma, Holly Blue, Small Skipper, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Wall, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Silver-Washed Fritillary. I never expected to see so many, and I saw the woodland in a whole new light. For more information visit
Click to see some of my own
photos of butterflies
Gardens
Padova & The Brenta Canal
set against a beautiful backdrop of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.