Busy loading for yet another weekend away - Ramster gardens this time on Sunday . A few things caught my eye this morning in the sunshine (wish someone would stop the wind!)
The Tropaeolum tricolor is still look good , been weeks now
Noticed the Iris looking good last evening when I think the end of day light brings out the blue better than this mornings pictures reflect . I was given it as Iris japonica but several people have said it looks like Iris confusa
Wish I could post the smell for you, the scent from this Holboellia coriacea (dark form) is all around the garden, I know someone has decided that they are all Stauntonia now!
Charlie, can I ask do you leave your Tropaeolum outside through the winter? I had one in a pot which did very well but I planted it in the greenhouse with the intention of it clambering up the wire frames. It never came back. I was wondering if it was too wet for it in there through the summer as my other plants in there need lots of water?
I have two forms of Irish confusa, the white and the blue Martyn Rix. They are really stunning plants but the flowers are very similar to japonica. Confusa has a very definite cane with a flat fan of leaves at the top. Mine are about 4 ft tall on good sturdy bare canes. I can’t see from your photo if yours have long canes beneath the leaves. Either way, both a very lovely irises. I also have Iris wattii and I’ll be damned if I can see any difference between that and confusa.
I have two clumps of T tricolor out, the first is up a yew tree in the ground the second is in a pot which gets split in late summer before going back out for the winter, usually starts back into growth in January, I would imagine winter wet is the main problem
Just back from the weekends plant sale at Borde Hill and was greeted by the Lonicera cilliosa looking rather splendid, sadly in the tunnel with the for sale plants its looking shabby so it obviously likes a bit of fresh air!
It was always a "Nice" garden but back in the 1980's never really took advantage of its position. there are also some very unusual plants to be found like this Ampelopsis chaffonjonii not even sure what it does! nice foliage though!!
Here is a shady spot in the garden, photographed this afternoon, just before the lizzies collapse in the heat by the end of the bank holiday weekend.
The lesson here is not to plant more than one or two varieties of Impatiens in any border if you want to keep track of how they are performing. There are at least six different species and cultivars in this pic. I thought I had given them enough space to develop, but didn't envisage them converging in one spot from all corners of the border.
MICHAEL wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2026 2:49 am
Do almonds fruit well in the UK, Charlie?
Not sure? they were a popular front garden tree in south london where I went to boarding school but I wasn't paying them much attention! We dont have one here but the Plumcot and Apricot are similar timings for the flowers and they fruit well
Thank you Martin, they are wilting a little by lunchtime, but perk up again by mid afternoon. Sometimes, the nicer combinations come totally by accident. I would love to claim credit for the beetroot leaves of pritzelii 'Hubei Red' picking out the red stems of the fern behind, but it just wandered across into that spot.
DSC_0016 by charliepridham, on Flickr
DSC_0017 by charliepridham, on Flickr
DSC_0018 by charliepridham, on Flickr
DSC_0019 by charliepridham, on Flickr
