My Climate Change Garden

Drought Plants : Palm Trees

16. May 2011

Palms are perfect for this dry weather as they require hardly any water to survive once established plus they bring something unusual to your garden. Despite their prominence in hotter climates, palm trees are very hardy plants and most will thrive in the British climate providing there are not weeks of snow and very low […]

Black Bamboo

10. April 2008

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Latin name: Phyllostachys nigra Description: Highly architectural plants giving stature to the garden as well as flowing form. Clump-forming and normally well behaved bamboo with green canes (culms) when juvenile, turning jet-black with age. Although this is currently the most popular bamboo, there are contless others that are well worth trying. P. bambusoides ‘Allgold’ for […]

Black Leaved Elder

10. April 2008

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Latin name: Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace’ Description: Elder is a well known shrub in our hedge rows, but there are several highly garden worthy forms and Sambucus niger is certainly one of them. If pollarded (cut to the ground) yearly it will produce up to 2m of fresh growth. ‘Black Lace’ makes a striking plant […]

Brighten your day with a nursery visit

3. January 2011

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At this time of year when all is grey and drab in the UK, many specialist plant nurseries offer excellent sales to tempt you back into the garden. One of my favourite place to buy architectural plants in London has just started its annual sale .Its really wiorth a look at some of the excellent […]

Bull Bay, Southern Magnolia

10. April 2008

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Latin name: Magnolia grandiflora Description: Glorious evergreen shrub and one of the first flowering plants on the planet, making it another plant that was around at the time of the dinosaurs! This impressive magnolia can get rather large, so needs to be positioned well. The oblong, pointed, glossy, dark green leaves are velvety-matt brown on […]

Cabbage Palm, Torquay Palm

10. April 2008

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Latin name: Cordyline australis Description: Striking tree that can get many meters high over the years. Best planted as a single trunked specimen, then after a few years its first flowering will cause it to become multi trunked from the top. If cut to the ground it will become multi-trunked from the ground. The greyish-green, […]

Canary Island Palm

10. April 2008

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Latin name: Phoenix canariensis Description: Very large palm hailing from the Canary Islands and probably one of the most well known palms in the world. Found to be much hardier than originally thought in this country. They are grown for their very architectural appearance with their graceful arching green fronds that can be up to […]

Cardoon

10. April 2008

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Latin name: Cynara cardunculus Description: Resembling a giant thistle, this is a very dramatic and statuesque herbaceous perennial. It has enormous, thick, architectural greyish-green leaves up to1.2m across by 60cm wide. The purple thistle-like flower heads are borne in mid-summer and are held well above the foliage. On a hot summer’s day, myriads of bees […]

Century Plant

10. April 2008

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Latin name: Agave Americana Description: Only in resent years has it been considered possible to grow spiky desert plants in our temperate gardens, but now with warmer winters very much in mind, many garden centres are now stocking some of these fabulously spiky plants. Agave americana is one of the most dramatically architectural plants available […]

Chain Fern

10. April 2008

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Latin name: Woodwardia radicans Description: Spectacular evergreen fern with arching, broadly lance-shaped mid-green fronds up to a staggering 2m long, with conspicuous bulbils on the frond tips which root when they touch the ground, hence they chain down mountain sides in the wild over large areas rooting as they go. Like most ferns they require […]

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Drought Plants : Palm Trees

Black Bamboo

Black Leaved Elder

Brighten your day with a nursery visit

Bull Bay, Southern Magnolia

Cabbage Palm, Torquay Palm

Canary Island Palm

Cardoon

Century Plant

Chain Fern

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