June 12th 2013

The weather may have forgotten that it’s early/mid June, meaning the sun seems to have disappeared! However, I am currently standing at the bottom of the Alpine Meadow.  All of the hoop petticoat daffodils Narcissus bulbocodium may have passed but I still enjoy a carpet of yellow; buttercups merge with clover which makes a wonderful habitat for our wildlife here at Wisley.
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Following last week's whirlwind of design and excitement at the Chelsea Flower Show (we Wisley Diploma Trainees get involved working at Chelsea and even get to attend press day-so lucky) I am back gardening at Wisley.

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Spring is a lovely time in the glasshouse.  As in any other area of the garden the plants display a new vitality as they come into their new growing season and it is a good time for flowering plants. 

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Let me tell you something; I have an ever-growing passion for European culture, art, history, literature, flavours, gardens and above all, beauty! In the last few years I have been travelling around this continent many times and one of my much-loved destinations has been Holland. The Dutch like give to the world a taste of their agricultural excellence and tulips are a proof of that! Originating from the Ottoman Empire, now Turkey, tulips were imported to Holland in the 16th century and they are only associated with the Dutch because of Carolus Clusius a Dutch gardener born in 1526. Clusius was head gardener at the University of Lieden in Holland, where his work in botany and medicine was well-known.

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Hi I am Jim Arbury and this is my first blog. I am an RHS horticultural specialist with a particular interest and experience in fruit growing. I have worked at Wisley for 30 years and so have seen the orchard and fruit gardens through many contrasting seasons. I have been involved with all aspects of fruit growing and in my own time grow vegetables and keep bees.

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Hi. We're Katie and Paul and we would like to ask if you're a "fan" of pelargoniums.  We work in the Propagation Department at Wisley (Katie is a trainee, Paul is a long-standing member of staff having once been a trainee but now has many years experience - you can see us in Figure 4 below). 

Fancy a bit of the Mediterranean in your life? A profusion of incredible scent and colour are on show in the Pelargonium display at Wisley. It is on for six weeks from May 4th - come now to see it at its best!
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March was freezing . . . thank goodness for April the drip, drip, drop has been just the ticket, combined with sunshine, to encourage the plants and us all to unfurl from what has been a long and bitter winter. 

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Not many people know that on the western end of Liguria on the Italian Riviera, just before reaching the boundary at Ponte San Luigi, it is possible to admire one of the most delightful gardens created by Sir Thomas Hanbury. In 1867 he bought an estate producing the greatest gardens of the Riviera. Sir Thomas Hanbury was a gardener who, at the end of his life, bought a large estate at Wisley and donated it to the Royal Horticultural Society in 1903 "for the encouragement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture in all its branches". To experience this legendary garden, Emily and Rohanna, two of the second year Wisley Diploma trainees, and I went to the breathtaking Italian Riviera to discover and work in this extraordinary garden.

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New beginnings:

Jan 7th 2013 marks the exciting beginnings for my second year at RHS Wisley.  I am taking over custodianship of the Canal, Walled gardens, Conifer lawn and surround.  For me, and I am sure many other families this is the quintessential vision of Wisley and one I have known of old. 

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It’s been a hive of activity down in the Glasshouse and now the 'fantasy island of orchids' is open and will run until Sunday 21 April.

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