Plants and news 2026

[NigelJ]

A couple of salvias from the greenhouse.
Salvia leucocephla


Salvia gesneriflora


Outside I was surprised to see this shoot on a Dahlia imperialis stem

[charlie]

Definite signs of spring there, mind you -2c this morning according to a wildlife camera I had put out to see if the Grey Heron is about yet

[Chad]

The coldest night of the winter so far, +3C here.

A radiation frost left everything white for an hour after daybreak.

I hope your -2C was a 'surface' temperature and not an air frost Charlie.

The fleeces that went over vulnerable things in the tunnel have been taken off this morning.

If I'm lucky they won't be needed again until December.

So far this has been an unusually mild winter; I'm not usually 'frost free'.

Chad

[charlie]

Grass frost, temperature was at the bottom of the garden where we do get the coldest temps, but no not an air frost and no ice on the ponds, I probably wouldn't have even noticed if it hadn't been for the temperature stamp on the wild life camera pictures - which by the way recorded a visit from a rat but nothing else of interest!

[charlie]

I have a rotation of photo albums I use as back ground and screen savers on the Computer and this picture just popped up from 2016, I thought at the time it was a nifty idea for garden steps in an informal setting.

022 levada de Norte by charliepridham, on Flickr

[Paul S]

Beautifully pragmatic!

[MartinNicklin]

I’d get tyred of going up and down all those steps! It would drive me crazy.

[charlie]

Isnt it typical, lovely weekend weather but we were booked in to be off and about! Firstly we decided to go to the annual National garden scheme "Coffee morning" which we had avoided for the last god knows how many years (and will probable not feel the need to do it again for some time!) and at the last minute we were charged with looking after a couple of grandchildren (they were surprisingly good!) Anyway it did mean only a quick foray into the gardens which I must say were looking wonderful, very little big tree damage inside the garden although the surrounding woodland was quite devastated in places.

Trelissick by charliepridham, on Flickr

Amomyrtus luma by charliepridham, on Flickr

Good to see the size some of John Lanyon's Schefflera plantings

Trelissick by charliepridham, on Flickr

[charlie]

A few things catching my eye when we finally got a chance to go around the garden

The Akebia was throwing its scent well in the sunshine

Akebia quinata by charliepridham, on Flickr

Chaenomeles moerloosei by charliepridham, on Flickr

Another plant throwing its scent in the warmth, although I can see I will have to take the loppers to it again soon!

Ercilla volubilis by charliepridham, on Flickr

Azurea the darker form of this shrub, just starting to flower, reputed to be less hardy than the normal slightly paler blue form , I am not sure there is a lot of difference

Teucrium fruiticans Azurea by charliepridham, on Flickr

This evergreen climbing hydrangea has very good "aticipation value" it seems to be in bud for weeks before any flowers actually open!

Hydrangea serratifolia by charliepridham, on Flickr

My original up a big yew tree I thought had died so I put another out to grow over a Buddleja loricata only to find the original has made a comeback!

Tropaeolum tricolor by charliepridham, on Flickr

[charlie]

Pleasant surprise today in the greenhouse, Passiflora mollissima starting to flower, normal have to wait until later in the summer to see the first flowers

Passiflora mollissima (2) by charliepridham, on Flickr