Blue Fox Garden: London 2012

Honestly I didn’t plan for it to happen this way…I looked at the topics I had to post about and decided it was high time I go through the photos I took at the Chelsea Physic Garden. As I started to write “it was about 6 months ago…” I looked at the date on the photos and realized it wasn’t “about” it was exactly 6 months ago that I visited, on Thursday, September 27th, our last day in London. How quickly time passes.

The same could be said about the day I visited. By the time I made my way to the garden (having left Andrew a few blocks away at the Army Museum) I only had a little over an hour before they closed. I wasn’t sure what to expect…this is what I’d read online: “The Chelsea Physic Garden was founded in 1673, as the Apothecaries' Garden, with the purpose of training apprentices in identifying plants. The location was chosen as the proximity to the river created a warmer microclimate allowing the survival of many non-native plants - such as the largest outdoor fruiting olive tree in Britain - and more importantly, to allow plants to survive harsh British winters.” There is much more to read here.

It was a lovely afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed wandering the pathways through the garden. There is a plan to the layout but I’m afraid it won’t be terribly obvious from my photos, and I tried to scan the map I picked up but you still couldn’t read the labels. So just join me as we bounce around checking out the plants…

Eryngium lassauxii from S. South America

Eryngium eburneum, South America

Phoenix canariensis, Canary Islands

Echium wildpretii. There was a sign nearby saying "these plants are from the Macronesian Islands"...

Echium pininana, Canary Islands

Most of their Echium had these sicks stuck in the ground near the plant. It took me awhile to figure it out but they must be for securing the plant once it sends out it's tall bloom?

Like this!

Genista aetnensis, native of Sicily. And to think I have two of these planted in the front garden, they do get large!

Anthyllis barba jovis, from the Mediterranean

Pandanus amaryllifolius

Beautiful!

Luma apiculata, (Chilean Myrtle)...look at that bark!

Colletia paradoxa, from Brazil and Uruguay

Colletia infausta, Chile

This was part of the section called "garden of useful plants"

Palms!

Jubaea chilensis, Chilean Wine Palm

Butia capitata, I think it's been a bad palm to be tied up like that...

Dasylirion acrotriche, Mexico

Now we're over in the fern corner...

And inside the "cool fernery"

The outside of the fernery...

So many cool plants mashed together!

You've been warned...

It's just about closing time, but I've got to peek in the glasshouses!

Leucadendron argenteum

Beshorneria tubiflora, Mexico

As I was leaving (having been told it was closing time more than once…) I noticed this huge clump of what has to be Acanthus sennii (I couldn’t find a label)…

Wow! I would be thrilled if my tiny plant ever achieved this size. Maybe I need to reconsider its location.

With that we wrap up our visit to the Physic Garden as well as my trip to London. It’s been grand fun reliving it all over again. If you’re curious about any of the other places I visited they can all be seen under the label (lower right sidebar) of London 2012.

Sadly I’m down to the final two posts from our September trip to London. Today I’ve got some random photos from around London, plants and buildings that caught my eye, and we'll stop in at a couple of nurseries; The Kew Gardener which is cleverly set up just outside the Kew Gardens station as you get off the train and Frosts Garden Centre which I visited with Mark and Gaz.

Nice balcony plantings eh?...

I looked for signage to explain these distinctive fragments, but found none.

These fabulous cordyline trees were spotted from the train as we moved through a neighborhood…

And this tall tree fern on the walk to Kew.

These beautiful phormium and cordyline plantings were along the Thames, by the Garden Museum.

And so was this shaggy happy grevillea…

More cordy trees…

With blooming yucca “trees” behind them.

This very densely planted front yard (?) had several curvy agaves squeezed in, along with some aloes…

I looked and looked but never did spot that low tree.

Can you imagine the beautiful light in these apartments?

Most, but not all, of my London destinations were garden related. I did venture to shopping must-sees like Habitat, Harrods and of course The Conran Shop located in the Michelin House…

The building is gorgeous!

And love those roof-top plantings.

The Kew Gardener was closing as we walked up, but the kind owner let us look around a bit.

Most of the larger plants were safely tucked behind the building…

It was nice to chat with a fellow plant nerd and get a little of the local “dirt”…

And finally a few photos from Frosts Garden Centre which Mark and Gaz were kind enough to take me to while I was visiting with them. It was very interesting to see just how similar this kind of large mainstream nursery is to our versions back home. In addition to plants and garden tools there was the nick-knack department, furniture, and even some clothing.