An Aerial View

Earlier this year we felled our large Paulownia tomentosa (foxglove tree) which stood on the Tulip Terrace. Last year we needed to remove a substantial branch and it was while undertaking this work we were able to examine the full extent of the tree's decline. 

Paulownia is a relatively fast growing and short-lived tree. It's fast growth habit and pithy centre makes any cavities potential habitats for bats. Therefore, following a full aerial bat survey and the ok given, the tree was dismantled section by section ensuring we did not damage the surrounding planting or stone work. We will be planting a replacement specimen this autumn maintaining it as a 1.5m high pollarded tree, pruned back annually to promote its vigorous growth and large leaves. This is however, at the expense of flowers. This gave us the opportunity to take some interesting aerial photographs of the kitchen garden from the cherry-picker.

What a day!

Following an e-mail I received from Plantnetwork which gave news of a wonderful free offering of glasshouse plants being donated by Liverpool City Council.

I quickly turned my attention to hiring a transit van. The following morning I left Myddelton House at 6am and travelled north east with no real idea of what treasures I may find. The email explained that following the rationalising of Liverpool City Councils indoor plant collection, somewhere in the region of 3000 plants were being offered as donations. Examples of plants listed in the email included bromeliads, dracaenas, cacti, orchids and codiaeums.  When I arrived just after 10am I met with David Kelly who very kindly showed me around the extensive service glasshouse range. Some of the plant material can trace its lineage back over two hundred years. The liverpool MP and botanist William Roscoe (1753–1831) was the founder of the first of the three Liverpool Botanical Gardens.

I was delighted with the diverse range of plants that were housed in the park department nursery. The collection was transferred from the last botanical garden which was closed in the mid 1980's.  

For information on Liverpool botanical history and William Roscoe

http://www.londonartistsprojects.com/files/MrRoscoesGardenBrochure.pdf 

As the email had been sent to a number of gardens/gardeners I was not the first and therefore this did mean that the majority of the larger plants had already been reserved by other gardens such as Tatton Park and Chester Zoo. I spent the next three hours rushing from glasshouse to glasshouse selecting and packing the plants into the van....like a child in a sweet shop!

The next challenge was to get home, empty the van and get it back to the hire company before a second day hire charge.  The van-load of plants will broaden our collection with in our new Victorian glasshouse range.

Aechmea coelestis var. albomarginata

Dendrobium x delicatum 'Album'

Fossilised Tree

While at one of our local suppliers, purchasing 17 dumpy bags of buff coloured chipping for a new project, I mentioned to the owner I was interested in some of the large stone aggregate and asked if he had any unusual items.  

He replied "have you seen the fossilised tree trunk?". We quickly went to see the large fossil and I just knew we had to add it to our collection of curios. This will be our second  fossilised/petrified tree in the garden.

The first was acquired by Mr Bowles following its discovery during the excavation of the King George V Reservoir at Chingford in 1937. Mr Bowles placed the tree trunk in the stone garden. The latest section has been installed in the new glasshouse range, next to our Encephalartos. We have also placed a section of Hertfordshire Pudding stone next to it. Unfortunately we don't have any details about the fossil other than it appear to have been polished on one side and end.

Bryan watering in our latest planting in the glasshouse
 

The first fossilised tree trunk in the Stone Garden