Skip navigation.
My Garden » Jim Gardiner
Jim Gardiner is the Curator of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden at Wisley, a position he has held for over twenty years. Before that he was Curator at the Hillier Gardens and Arboretum. His primary interest is in woody plants, in particular Magnolias on which he has written two books, “Magnolias, their Care and Cultivation” and “Magnolias, A Gardener’s Guide”.
These are comments that Jim Gardiner has left on blog posts and gallery photos.
Dear Babs. I named only 11 species due to space restrictions. In actual fact we have nearly 40 but some of them are only in tiny numbers. The main ones are: Asclepias tuberosa, Aster oblongifolius, Baptisia australis var minor, Baptisia leucophaea, Dianthus carthusianorum, Dracocephalum ruprestre, Echinacea pallida, Echinacea paradoxa, Eryngium yuccifolium, Euphorbia corollata, Geum triflorum, Helichrysum aureum, Oenothera missouriensis var. incana, Oenothera tetragona, Penstemon barbatus 'Coccineus', Penstemon cobaea var purpureus, Penstemon strictus, Phlox pilosa, Pulsatilla vulgaris, Rudbeckia maxima, Ruellia humilis, Schizachrium scoparium, Scutellaria baicalensis, Silphium laciniatum, Silphium terebinthinaceum, Sporobolus heterolepis. The seed supplier is Jelitto (www.jelitto.com). The minimum order value is 25 Euros plus VAT @ 7% and P&P. Best wishes.
Dear zingiber. Below is the answer from James Hitchmough, designer of the prairie:- it is possible to do broadly similar things in shaded areas but only a few of the species e.g. Penstemon digitalis, Penstemon smallii are really very shade tolerant, basically one needs a completely different set of plants. Heuchera villosa, Aster divaricartus, Polemonium reptans are the really shade tolerant species.
As promised, the details for our Perennial Seeding Workshop on Thursday 10th September are now available. See my latest blog (19th August 2009) or the RHS Event Finder for more information.
Look out for them in the Model Vegetable Garden
Update: regarding the Planning Applications Threat to Wisley, Surrey County Council’s decision on both planning proposals has been postponed until February, and you have until Friday 16 January to register your opposition with Surrey County Council.
Hello Lady Slipper. You will have no problems with the surface on the road. It has a hard surface. Wherever possible we are ensuring that access is as easy as possible for everyone. The central area of the road across the field will be grass through blocks for aesthetic reasons. The road isn't quite finished yet but it should be open in parts by next week.
Dear Jennifer. Glad to hear you're trying this lovely tomato. Grow it as a cordon. Did you see the Trials Report that included this from our 2007 trial when we grew them in the polytunnel?http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/documents/Tomato_cherry07.pdf And it was mentioned in the Garden Magazine too:- http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/Publications/pubs/garden0208/newsplantforum.htm For more advice on growing tomatoes see:- http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0600/tomatoes.asp Good luck.