Capability Brown

This year sees the 300th anniversary of Capability Brown's birth and I like this portrait of the man which shows him, without wig, and smiling. 

He looks so approachable. 

Had I been a stately home owner back in the day, and could have afforded his fees and the cost of the re-vamp, I would certainly have hired him.

Image from kwag.org.uk

One of his accolades was to be nicknamed "England's greatest gardener".

I think nowadays he would more correctly be called a landscape architect, given the scale of his work.
But he was much more than that.

http://www.capabilitybrown.org/lancelot-capability-brown

In the 18th century he was the designer of choice with an unparalled celebrity status and was responsible for the creation of landscapes around many stately homes, some of which were years in the making.

Blenheim Palace

His vision of the landscape was both monumental and original. 

He not only sculpted and planted the land, but built bridges and classical structures to enhance his creations.

Stowe

A whole new environment was built, with artfully placed trees, water and buildings forming an harmonious whole.  

Highclere

And his greatest gift of all was to make the whole look completely natural. 

"Such, however, was the effect of his genius that when he was the happiest man, he will be least remembered; so closely did he copy nature that his works will be mistaken". Anon.

What an epitaph.

Roof garden

It's amazing how many roof or above ground gardens can be found once you start looking.

In London recently I was treated to lunch at the most amazing place.

Image taken from Babylon roof garden site

http://www.virginlimitededition.com/en/the-roof-gardens/the-gardens?gclid=Cj0KEQjwnIm7BRDSs42KxLS8-6YBEiQAfDWP6N3gHY5RgibRWN8HvnJ4cqwDezB68gxAiYSx9aHpnGAaAoPq8P8HAQ

I'm ashamed to admit I've been a regular visitor to London for more years than I care to mention but I never knew this was there.

The garden is on the sixth floor of the Derry and Toms building and has a soil depth of a mere 18ins.

This is difficult to believe when there are clearly some very mature trees, dating from the initial planting, in 1938, which are almost to the height of the seventh floor.

The planting elsewhere is lush and vibrant and the themed areas are a joy.

               

The Alhambra one is particularly well done, with lots of Moorish connotations both exotic and erotic. 

There's a romantic almost gothic inspired secluded walk.

The garden is free to visit, provided there is no private function being held, but for a bird's eye view - book into the restaurant on the seventh floor and have a really fab day.

Oh......and there are real live flamingoes!

New building

There seems to be a sudden rush of gardens built, or to be built, above ground.

In many urban areas this makes a deal of sense since ground space is not only scarce but valuable.

Planning permission has been granted for the latest Maggie's Centre, in Leeds, within an already densely built environment.

Photo courtesy of Heatherwick studios

https://www.maggiescentres.org/ 

The design brief to the Heatherwick studios 

http://www.heatherwick.com/

was to create a "positive environment to calm minds and foster a sense of well being" and to provide "qualities of a garden with shared and private spaces". 

Photo courtesy of Heatherwick studios

These centres offer free support to anyone affected by cancer. Often outside space is important to enable this to be delivered and can be difficult to provide given the physical constraints of the site.

Photo courtesy of Heatherwick studios

Internal spaces, both private and shared, are also important to facilitate year round usage and plants are of proven mental health benefits.

Looking at these images, there seems to be lots of little spaces, tucked away to give maximum privacy, but also larger areas which encourage socialising.

Photo courtesy of Heatherwick studios

The buildings themselves remind me of ancient Arabic dwellings found in dry and arid desert regions. 

But I think the abundant injections of greenery both compliment and soften these organic exteriors.

I hope the gardens will provide the oasis of support needed and can't wait to see the fully built project. What a lovely and worthwhile scheme to be involved with.

Good luck to all concerned.

Peckham coal line

Not exactly a title to make you think of a garden, or even greenery and certainly not a green community space.

But how about this.

Following on the heels and success of the High Line comes a proposal to turn a disused elevated section of rail line in London - in Peckham to be precise - into a linear park. 

Image from www.ianvisits.co.uk

Perhaps not quite the same cachet and certainly not the same length or having as many opportunities as the New York one it is however commendable for a number of reasons. 

Not least that it will provide a desperately needed non concrete environment for locals to enjoy but that they are being involved right from the start. 

image from proposal plan@now-here-this.timeout.com

People have been encouraged to suggest uses and ideas for the project, volunteer practical skills and help and more importantly, to donate funds via crowd funding. 

Image from www.standard.co.uk

Southwark council and the Mayor of London's fund have both promised £10k with Sustrans 

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ 

pitching in £7k but amazingly the project has already reached its funding target and is now moving forward.

http://peckhamcoalline.strikingly.com/

Image from www.tumblr.com

So many congratulations to the initiators of the scheme. 

Let's hope it encourages other people around the country to look for similiar opportunities to provide city dwellers with green lungs.

Once completed I look forward to visiting, with real photos to show the line in all its glory. 

Until then conceptual computer generated images will have to suffice. 

A new begining?

Did you see the recent announcement about the plant experiment conducted in the International Space station where "the first ever plant flowered in space"?

How beautiful does this little Zinnia look - and what an achievement.

Some of the photos are just amazing.

photos taken from www.universetoday.com

How can a seed grow in zero gravity? 

How does it know to send the roots down and the flower up? Or does it not matter?

So many questions but such a brilliant result. 

Seems the astronauts also managed to grow red romaine lettuce which they ate. Doesn't this open new options for extended space flight?

Not about to pooh on their success but technically the accolade for the first flower grown in space belongs to Don Pettit who in 2012 produced a sunflower.

credit Nasa 

And if I'm being really picky we could go back to 1982 when the Soviet Salyut 7 crew grew some Arabidopsis (rockcress) which flowered and then produced seed.

Although edible I wonder if the Zinnia was grown primarily as an ornamental - on the grounds that food is not the only requirement to sustain a happy existence. 
Is this some acknowledgement that all things green nourish the soul and gladden the heart?
For whatever reason the Zinnia promises wonderful things in space which I can only commend. 
Brilliant!

Happy New Year 2016

So, here we are again at the start of another gardening year.

Lots of seed catalogues to look at, things to order and planning what to grow, to eat and to cut.

My current fave is the Sarah Raven website

https://www.sarahraven.com/

mostly because last year this was the only convenient place for me to obtain Ratte potatoes which are totally our favourites.

Small main crop potatoes with a great buttery and slightly nutty taste these are definitely the pick of the crop.

As usual, planted too many but came in useful to trade with fellow allotmenteers for their surplus goodies. 

Just yummy.

Plus, not wanting to pay further postage costs I wanted to order some annual flower seeds for a cutting garden in the allotment.

These especially were brilliant.

Ammi majus

White Scabiosa

Centaurea cyanus

Cosmos sonata

All of these grew brilliantly.

Have spent some time again looking at heritage and heirloom seed sites. The range and names always bedazzle me and I get totally carried away.

This is one of the more quirky heritage ones, which needless to say appeals to me greatly but it's also extremely informative.

http://thomasetty.co.uk/seeds/veg-flower-2016.pdf

How can anyone not want to grow Spignel Meum?

A member of the carrot family, both roots and leaves can be eaten.

And who could refuse Good King Henry seeds from

https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk

Think the leaves give this one away - similiar to spinach, can do everything spinach can but with the added bonus of the young shoots, tied in bundles when cooked and eaten taste like asparagus. You can even saute the flower buds in butter.

Must stop now.......getting totally carried away!

Magnolia Plantation

September is not the best time to visit a magnolia plantation. 

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/caneriver/mag.html

But I was so glad we did.

The main flowering period for these plants is Spring or early Summer but since this was part of our holiday trek, and our only chance to visit, we went anyway. 
Just look at the size of the Magnolia grandiflora shown above. 

A bit of imagination was needed to visualise how the whole place would look in full bloom - and that would be stunning, given the size and age of the trees.

A plantation in the original sense of the word there were reminders of slave occupation everywhere.

But there were also plenty of lovely landscape views and sights, with Spanish moss romantically draped everywhere.

Bridges across swampland were not just functional

but beautifully constructed with an artist's eye for the surroundings and strong visual impact.

Not all pretty and peaceful though as in part of the grounds lurked water snakes and alligators in addition to the usual voracious mosquitoes. 

Must have been a tough place to live and work.

Some of the original barrels can still be seen, standing by the wharf waiting to be loaded with cotton and shipped down river to Charleston.

Since I have an inherent dislike of anything that slithers, or bites, I was so glad to get back to the boat in one piece! 

Apart from the bits the bitey things had.