Surrey Homes | SH30 | April 2017 |Gardens supplement inside
The lifestyle magazine for Surrey - Inspirational Interiors, Fabulous Fashion, Delicious Dishes
The lifestyle magazine for Surrey - Inspirational Interiors, Fabulous Fashion, Delicious Dishes
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Image: FreeImages.com/Marcin Wojciech<br />
fantastic ground coverers. At Great Dixter a venerable old<br />
crab apple, M. floribunda, growing near the oast, appears to<br />
rise from a carpet of E. pinnatum subsp. colchicum (AGM).<br />
I love Christopher Lloyd’s description of Euphorbia<br />
palustris’s lime green ‘flowers’ as literally sparkling perhaps<br />
with ‘a tiny crystal of nectar in the centre of each flower’.<br />
It is a particularly nice euphorbia with a good spread and<br />
an average height of a couple of feet as well as lime green<br />
inflorescences. Perfect for giving a dramatic backdrop to<br />
bright tulips. Another spurge that takes itself here and there<br />
and then flowers in <strong>April</strong> is E. amygdaloides var. robbiae. It’s<br />
not a rich and rare plant and it pops up usually where you<br />
haven’t planted it but it produces loose limey ‘flowers’ from<br />
rosettes of dark evergreen leaves which are just great with<br />
bright spring bulbs. Have a look at the Cottage Garden<br />
at Sissinghurst in <strong>April</strong> to see the first of the euphorbia<br />
flowering. Each spring I admire Euphorbia polychroma<br />
there and mean to grow it. Greenish yellow flower heads<br />
last for weeks, are SO cheerful and are perfect for the front<br />
of a border. I haven’t grown it myself but it might be an<br />
idea as I usually go for huge plants like E. mellifera and<br />
E. stygiana which grow into completely unruly giants.<br />
And finally, the hellebores, most of which started<br />
flowering long before <strong>April</strong>, are treats in the spring garden.<br />
One that is completely different from the hellebore hybrids<br />
we grow and collect is the Corsican hellebore, Helleborus<br />
argutifolius. I saw a clump in full flower yesterday and it<br />
is a very dramatic, beautiful thing. The combination of<br />
big bold trifoliate leaves, distinctively veined and many<br />
bunches of apple green flowers is very striking. I couldn’t<br />
help noticing that seedlings were coming up merrily in<br />
the gravel surrounding it. A midnight raid perhaps?<br />
Kent Garden Show<br />
& NAFAS Regional Flower Show<br />
Sat 27th, Sun 28th & Mon 29th May<br />
Gates Open 9.30am - 5pm (last admission 4pm)<br />
Featuring over 300 exhibitors with a wide variety of goods.<br />
Floral marquees with stunning fl oral displays including<br />
medal winners from Chelsea. There is a food hall,<br />
craft pavilion, brass band & children’s rides.<br />
Garden furniture, water features, garden sheds and<br />
buildings, tools, sculptures, & much more.<br />
Jacqueline Aviolet & Tom Hart-Dyke will be in attendance<br />
all weekend to give answers to your gardening questions.<br />
Tickets available now.<br />
Tickets<br />
available at<br />
the gate & online<br />
Prices: Adults £8.00,<br />
Seniors £7.00<br />
Children up to<br />
age 16: Free<br />
Sorry no dogs<br />
01795 474660<br />
www.kentgardenshow.com<br />
The Kent Showground, Detling ME14 3JF<br />
GardenShowWT182.indd 1 17/03/<strong>2017</strong> 10:58<br />
Bespoke design & build treehouses, playhouses<br />
and elevated platforms.<br />
Commercial & International commissions welcomed<br />
Sue Whigham can be contacted on 07810 457948 for<br />
gardening advice and help in the sourcing and supply of<br />
interesting garden plants.<br />
TEL: +44 (0)1403 732452<br />
www.cheekymonkeytreehouses.co.uk<br />
21 wealdentimes.co.uk<br />
CheekyMonkeyWT173.indd 1 13/06/2016 17:13
Change language