-
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...
Read More...
-
Everyone knows the old saying about eating an apple a day , but this is just the tiniest tip of the mountain of apple facts and folklore . This wealth of information could perhaps be attributed to the fruit's long association with humans, so long that it might just be the oldest cultivated tree....
Read More...
-
Have you got a fruit tree in your garden, but don't know which variety? Jim Arbury, fruit guru at RHS Wisley, will be on hand at the Plant Centre to identify your unknown fruit, from 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm, on both Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th November. Please bring several examples of each variety...
Read More...
-
Fancy learning some Norwegian? Here's a great expression for you... 'TING TAR TID' (tid - pronounced 'tee') Remember those tiny seedlings and all that bare earth? I was fortunate to spend 7 days away working at the Chelsea Flower Show and when I came back the whole thing had just...
Read More...
-
Let there be warmth, let there be light. Let there be glorious flowers. What a wonderful week. You really must come during this warm spell. The garden is looking simply amazing. On the hot beds on the outer side of the Walled Garden (above), overlooking the Conifer Lawn, you cannot fail to be mesmerised...
Read More...
-
This is how the potager looked back in February. Box hedges dividing the plot( Buxus - no record of species or cultivars) - that one on the middle-left is completely out of proportion with the others. These plants can work beautifully in a formal potager, providing all year round interest. Also they...
Read More...
-
Hello! I'm Sigrid a Trainee on the Fruit Department at Wisley and this year as part of my project work I get to re-design, plant up and look after the Potager, located in the Model Veg Garden. It's an exciting opportunity to create something hopefully both productive and aesthetically interesting...
Read More...
-
We are enjoying the autumn so far at Wisley. Fruits, flowers and veg are in evidence all over the Garden, and the leaves are starting to turn. We're looking forward to our Taste of Autumn Festival next week, 16-19th October, with great anticipation - it's been a fantastic event over the last...
Read More...
-
It’s here. We have a bright and cheerful snowman welcoming everyone into the Garden for the next few weeks. As a seasonal citrus twist on our annual Apple Mosaic that features during Wisley's ‘A Taste of Autumn’ festival, the Fruit Department have designed and built a Citrus Mosaic for Christmas...
Read More...
-
It’s harvest time, and with it we’ve been celebrating the wonderful world of produce at A Taste of Autumn. It was a phenomenal success this year, with Wisley’s busiest ever day on record on Saturday. As part of the celebrations we do an apple mosaic. Every year we invite school children to draw up a...
Read More...
-
Back in 2001 Simon Akeroyd, then a Senior Gardener in the Fruit Department, proposed that we should plant a vineyard here at Wisley. This we did, and after much careful research into the best grapes to grow, we planted up 756 vines in May 2004. Our two cultivars are ‘Phönix’ and ‘Orion’. We selected...
Read More...
-
Have you ever wondered how a chef knows which cultivars of fruit or veg are best suited to his or her dishes? There are a handful of potatoes that are well known to be excellent for a particular use, be it baking, roasting, chipping, mashing, boiling etc, but when it comes to, say, apples, we tend to...
Read More...
-
It comes to us now just once a year, but when it does, it does it with a bang. Last week we held our annual Flower Show on Seven Acres at Wisley. The theme was fuchsias, and we had them inside, outside, all over. This tied in nicely with those that greet you as you approach the Garden from the the car...
Read More...