As the days shorten and trees start their colourful autumnal display it really only means one thing for me, that I will be gathering nuts in May, specifically walnuts. The past weeks haven’t been so much of a lockdown for me as a nut down, so I was more than happy to get out and about and one of the first places I visited was our Botanical Gardens. The walnuts have fallen at the Bason and the trees are now in their wonderful golden livery, beautiful in the sunshine and just as atmospheric in the foggy rain when the Beech, Liquidambar and all the rest glow in the diffuse light.
It was just as lovely to nod to the others enjoying the vast open spaces the gardens offer. And it wasn’t just the kids kicking up piles of leaves and revelling in the change of season. Some people think that gardens can be a bit boring as we head into winter now that the showy summer blooms have packed it in for the year. But I like this time of year as it reminds us that structure and leaves play a significant role in the success of a garden.
We may not all have room for an Arboretum, but we can all enjoy visiting the one at the Bason. On a smaller scale, the striking Blood Lily flowers on the Haemanthus coccineus may have passed but now is the time of year that it sprouts a pair of large green leaves that lead to its other common name – Elephant Ears. While Stanley Bason was justly proud of this South African bulb, his wife Blanche had a fondness for Camilla from the Orient and some of her original shrubs are now coming into bloom in the Homestead Garden. It’s not just the flowers that are a stand out on Camellias, many have been lifted to allow for planting below and showcase their gracious smooth barked trunks.
On an even smaller scale look out for the hardy Cyclamen cicilium that is being encouraged to grow as a ground cover near the herbs in the Homestead Garden. This tiny pink flowering Cyclamen has heart shaped leaves which are traced in silvery white. It is a long way from its native homeland in the Turkish Taurus Mountains so be careful not to stray off the lawn and crush it. It won’t be long before the Winter Rose or Hellebore orientalis starts to flower, but right now we can enjoy their fabulous evergreen leaves which look great mass planted and help provide depth and texture to the garden. As they come from both Europe and Asia they are classified as Eurasian plants, many have been hybridized and flower in a range of colours including, black, white and pink. My personal favourite is the unfortunately named Stinking Hellebore, Helleborus foetidus, as its leaves are more finely fingered and I like its bright lime green flowers. Not to be out done in the foliage front, our own native Astelias stand out among the green leaves with their striking sword like foliage, especially large silver leaves of Astelia chathamica, or the finer silver foliage of Astelia banksii.
If you are a plant nut like me then while we may not be able to physically travel to exotic locations to find rare and unusual plants, we have the advantage of nipping out to our very own Botanical Gardens where you can find an array of some of the world’s best plants. I can’t wait for winter when I get to see the flowering Aloes from Africa.