On bended knee in the tree house…
Posted on | July 22, 2009 | 16 Comments
It’s been another windy week here, plants falling over left right and centre -oh well, this is a British summer after all. I’m still waiting for the full blown hot summer predicted by the Met office!
It is very busy here at this time of year with many coach parties visiting every week, though this was eclipsed by my friend Chris proposing to his gorgeous lady Siobhán on bended knee in the tree house here at the Exotic Garden on Tuesday evening. Oh joy!
In a couple of week’s time the garden is going to host a wedding reception for two wonderful people who fell in love with the garden. They would like to have been married here, but unfortunately obtaining a licence for such a wonderful event is prohibitively expensive.
Despite the vagaries of our British weather, the garden is never-the-less looking blooming wonderful! The gingers are all getting ridiculously tall and should start to flower next month. One in particular Hedychium wardii is only a week or so away from flowering – this one is an absolute smasher. I will post some pictures as soon as the cone-like buds burst.
Some plants in the garden just grow far too quickly for their own good, swamping neighbouring plants in an almost bullying fashion. One in particular – Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’, always grows like it is on steroids, growing from nothing in march to about 5ft tall by June and then it falls over on its face! I find the best thing to do with such a rampageous plant is to give it the ‘Chelsea chop,’ in other words, cut it to the ground. Before you have time to worry about about how it looks, it grows back again to about 2ft high in a couple of weeks. No wonder – it’s related to the well known scourge of the countryside Japanese Knotweed. Speaking of which, I have a very handsome clump of Giant Knotweed, Fallopia sachalinensis.
Before you scream with panic – my plant has 15ft stems with a spread of 20ft or more, and is contained behind a solid concrete block (flint faced) wall on all sides and cannot escape. In fact the growing area isn’t more than about 2ft x 2ft, and no, it doesn’t set seed and has been happily restrained for over a decade. The whole plant arches like cathedral vaulting over a large waterfall with a dark sultry pool at the base.
Enough of giant weeds – the rest of the plants in the garden are mostly well behaved and responding well to the massive overdose of blood fish and bone they were given in May.
For those of you who read the RHS’s ‘The Garden’, you will find an article in the August edition written by Matt Biggs (of Gardeners Question Time R4) on the Exotic Garden.
Finally – here are some random pictures taken in the garden over the last week presented here for your delectation…
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16 Responses to “On bended knee in the tree house…”
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July 22nd, 2009 @ 11:03 pm
Hi Will
Love today’s post – your garden always makes me feel very dreamy so not surprised to hear that it is becoming a love haven
Tropical flowers are good for passion – enjoy the wedding and see you in September.
debbiex
ps Amazing pic of bee on flower!
July 22nd, 2009 @ 11:04 pm
Thank you for the treehouse happyness! You’re the best!
July 23rd, 2009 @ 9:27 pm
Hi Will,
I love the cat in the top picture – what breed is it?
Back to plants – what is the little golden leaved plants behind the lettuce-leaved Begonia?
Good clear photo of the Tetrapanax too, not so easy to do.
Rob
July 23rd, 2009 @ 9:28 pm
Sorry should have read golden leaved plant..
July 24th, 2009 @ 9:29 am
Thank you for letting your beautiful tree house be the site of the most amazing moment of my life so far!
xxxx
July 24th, 2009 @ 12:10 pm
Hi Debbie, thank you for your lovely comments about the garden and its passion creating powers.
As for the bee, it must have been so intoxicated with the effects of the garden it couldn’t move!
Chris – tree house happiness is all part of the service…
Rob – Ahh – that is my devoted Chocolate Havana. He is quite a rascal and very affectionate. The golden leaved plant is a large leaved form of Tradescantia fluminensis. When you visit the garden you are welcome to some cuttings.
I do love the Tetrapanax papyriferus – it looks so prehistoric and over the top with such huge leaves. My Schefflera macrophylla is also growing very quickly with masses of new leaves and is certainly plant of the year for me.
Siobhán – I am so happy that you are happy and I’m sure the tree house is happy too. Any time you want to canoodle with your fella way up in the old oak tree is fine by me!
July 25th, 2009 @ 3:08 pm
Hey Will!
Sorry for not commenting for ages…have only just had a chance to update my own blog in ages, and being off to Madeira in two days time it’s quite busy. (What am I talking about!!! I’m as chilled as anything and the packing won’t begin until midnight on Sunday lol)
Just read the posts I’ve missed, and the garden’s coming on fab!!! You do a really good job in capturing it in your pictures as well, I’d love to maybe come and visit later in the Summer, if I can get parents to do a trip to the Norfolk area…
Keep up the good work and I’ll speak to you soon!!!
Pete
July 26th, 2009 @ 11:43 am
Hi Will,
Really enjoying your website, and relieved to hear it’s not just down here in Cornwall that’s suffering with wet and windy weather!
It must be a good year for gingers, I thought I’d lost mine after the winter, but they started peeping through in spring, and my god you should see them now! They are enormous, and taken over the tropical bed! Brilliant!! jungle effect! mission accomplished!
Can’t wait to come and visit your garden in 2 weeks time. It’ll be the highlight of my year!
July 26th, 2009 @ 6:28 pm
Just spent a very enjoyable afternoon in The Exotic Garden. I will definately be visiting again soon.
I particularly liked your Musa’s. I liked the “red” leafed ones so much I bought the last one you had for sale. But I think it will have to take up residency in our spare bedroom over winter!!!!!!!
Just one minor problem, I have forgotten it’s name and the plant I bought had no name tag. So what’s the name of those red leafed Musa’s?
July 28th, 2009 @ 2:12 pm
Hallo Pete – good to hear from you – I’m please to see you blogging again.
Two weeks in Madeira – I hope you have a fantastically planty time; I’ve been to the floating garden seven times now, and three as a tour leader. I look forward to seeing a lot of pics or your blog upon your return. – Will
Tania – Thanks for the comments. It has been terribly wet and windy here. I have just been writing about it for my local paper the Eastern Daily Press.
All this rain has certainly made all the gingers look as though they are on steroids! I have a clump of the delectable Hedychium wardii just coming into bloom. Fantastic – you are going to visit the garden, please give me knock on the shoulder when you arrive so we can have a chat.
Andrew – Thanks for your glowing comments. The Red banana is Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’, also known as the Abyssinian banana – Ethiopia. A really stunning plant if you have the room. Look forward to meeting you again in the garden…
July 28th, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
Lovely, Will, just lovely….thanks for the reminder nudge to look and read…well worth doing. Gill
July 30th, 2009 @ 8:33 am
Will, when I visited the garden on Sunday, I saw a plant near the Tea & Cakes area which appeared ho have leaves which were half green and half black. I think it looked like a Canna, but perhaps it was a banana?
It was in a pot. I was just wondering what it’s called. Hope my description is ok!!!
Once I know what it is then I can start searching the Internet to see if I can find one gor sale!!!
Only problem is our garden is full now. Oh well I supose I can dig up a bit more grass!!!!
Thanks
August 2nd, 2009 @ 5:13 pm
Andrew – You were right the first time it was Canna Cleopatra – unfortunately it is rather rare. I was lucky enough to find it amongst a pile of green Cannas at a plant sale. Good luck finding one. I agree – get rid of the grass!
August 2nd, 2009 @ 10:12 pm
Will,
Have just bought the encyclopedia of exotic plants…. Wow! What a wonderful book!
Any chance you can produce a regular magazine? there are plenty for ordinary gardens and veg growing, but nothing much for us exoticholics!!
August 4th, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
Tania – I did write regularly for an Exotic garden magazine about ten years ago. Unfortunately it folded after six months or so, as not enough people were buying it. I’m afraid we are still in what is called a neesh market!
When are you going to visit the garden?
August 4th, 2009 @ 9:26 pm
Hi Will, All being well we should be visiting your garden this Sunday!
Had slight change of plan due to car trouble, so we are catching the train to Norfolk early tomorrow morning.
From memory, you are not too far from Norwich Station?
Look forward to seeing you and your garden on Sunday.
Tania