Tags
Agrostis stolonifera, Anizoganthos, bamboo, citrus, Colocasia, fig tree, garden shows, Loseley House, pomegranates
I promised you some pics of our weekend at the Great Gardening Show at Loseley House – so here they are…
Our humble little corner – that’s my hubby and dog looking rather lugubrious (or is that just embarrassed?). We sold quite a few of those nice oak boxes and got lots of interest in the garden storage solutions. Quite a hot topic at the moment, it would seem (all the better for our bank account, then).
Then I set off to have a look around. Got very excited about these “hanging bamboos” – finally, I thought, I’ve found a way of using bamboos that keeps them in their place. But then I found out they’re not bamboo at all but a grass – Agrostis stolonifera. I suppose bamboo is a grass, strictly speaking, but I think my campaign to outlaw the stuff continues unabated.
Loads and loads and loads of flowers everywhere – I thought this display was a riot…
…and so did the bee, which took absolutely not a jot of notice of me while I took this photo. Far too busy. As you would expect, from a bee.
This fig tree was on the rather wonderful stall from Plants On Line. They had some fabby citrus and olives too (I’m a bit obsessed by exotic-ish edibles at the moment as I’m cooking up a scheme for my garden – literally…) And a few pomegranates, which is another tree I hanker for. Apart from their rather regrettable predilection for bamboos, this is a seriously good nursery which I hadn’t come across before.
Further indulging my edible exotics fetish, this is my must-have plant for this year: I spotted loads of colocasia at Hampton Court and this one was a beaut. Just look at those leaves… the edible bit is the tuber, which tastes a bit like potatoes so they tell me. I’d like to know who digs up £20 tubers to eat, mind you…
Last but not least, on the same stall as the colocasia (that’s Athelas Plants – another fantastic exotics nursery) was this gorgeous Anizoganthus in full flower. It’s called ‘Gold’ (can you tell why?): don’t know the plant well but apparently it’s not that easy to get it to flower like this. The label tells me it needs sun and well-drained soil – might do well in my acid sand, then…
My “must-grow-before-I-die” list is getting longer and longer. Better make it to my Queen’s telegram otherwise I’ll never get through it at this rate.
Sally Nex 
I didn’t realise you were at Loseley until after I’d been. Are you there next year? I’ll look out for you. I loved those hanging bamboos: I wish I’d got one. And I nearly bought that canna in the picture next to the colocasia. The price (£30) and the thought of getting it home in one piece put me off. Now, of course, I can’t think why I didn’t get it, as it was a spectacular plant and well worth it.