Christmas is on its way at Wisley this week. The teams have been busy creating a festive atmosphere all over the Garden.
On the corner of Seven Acres nearest the Walled Garden, we have just put in a Wildlife Christmas Tree. We’ve decorated it with pine cones, seed pods, and a variety of festive, ornamental bird foods. You can see nut and seed feeders, nest boxes, and especially attractive for Christmas, 3D birdseed trees, stars and bells. They’ve been kindly donated by CJ WildBird Foods (www.birdfood.co.uk/), Wildlife World (www.wildlifeworld.co.uk/), and Gardman (www.gardman.co.uk/), and they’re on sale in the Plant Centre (subject to availability). The birds have already been enjoying this new addition. I’ve seen plenty of blue tits on it. It’s just opposite one of our established feeders behind The Pines cottage.
We are in the process of planting and decorating a series of 38 Nordmann firs, leading from the Garden Entrance to the Glasshouse, and back to Seven Acres. These should be looking great in the next day or two.
In the Glasshouse, the poinsettia display is coming together. These brightly coloured plants, traditionally red, but available various other shades including cream and pink, create a stunning sight. We have ivy bells, giant Christmas baubles made of air plants (Tillandsia), winter cherry, anthuriums, exotic cut flower arrangements, cyclamen, fragrant bulbs, and more. Next week, Father Christmas sets up residence in his grotto here too, (www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/gardens/wisley/whats-on.htm) and we’ll have a display of fruit, herbs and vegetables to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Next week we hope to be installing Wisley’s first Citrus Mosaic by the Lab and Canal just inside the Garden. Look out for photos coming soon. And watch where you sit – we’re decorating some of our benches with holly wreaths!
Apart from this we are now running a new visitor leaflet, The Festive Trail, which highlights some other seasonal delights like holly, ivy, types of Christmas tree in the Garden, and some hidden jems. We hope you can make it along and enjoy the season with us.