The Chelsea Physic Garden

Grey Granite paid a very brief  visit to Chelsea Physic Garden. This delightful, historic garden is a tranquil spot in the middle of the bustle and noise of London.

The garden was founded in 1673 by the Society of Apothecaries of London so that their apprentices could learn to grow medicinal plants and study their uses. The four acre site close to the Thames was chosen by the apothecaries because it was already famed for its orchards and  market gardens and had a free draining soil and favourable micro-climate and provided somewhere f to house the painted barge they used for royal pageants. Close by were great houses belonging to Henry VIII and his Chancellor Thomas More who would have  used the Thames as the most efficient means of transport. Visiting the garden reminded Grey Granite of reading in Wolf Hall of Thomas Cromwell's journeys along the river thoroughfare.  

A replica of the statue of Sir Hans Sloane created by Michael Rysbeck in 1773, the original suffered  from pollution damage and is now in the British Museum. Sloane, who had studied at the garden in his youth took over the freehold of the garden when he bought the Manor of Chelsea in 1712 granting the Society of Apothecaries a lease on the land for a rent of £5 per year in perpetuity on condition that 'it be for ever kept up and maintained as a physic garden'.

The rockery on the left of the statue is the oldest man made rock garden in Europe, it has grade 2 listed status and contains pieces of carved stone from the Tower of London and basaltic lava used as ballast on Sir Joseph Banks' ship on  a voyage to Iceland in 1772.

Carl von Linne, the Swedish botanist, better known as Linnaeus, made several visits to the garden in the 1730's. 

An astonishing specimen of Echium pininana, taller than Grey Granite, this native of  the Canary islands is a moncarpic member of the Borage family and was swarming with bees in the hot sunshine.The blue flower spike looked amazing against the dark red rose in the background.

'We blossom and flourish as leaves on a tree, then wither and perish'.

The recently redeveloped Garden of  Edible and Useful plants

The Physic Garden, with its historic associations to the greats of botany,  was a complete contrast to the  crowds and modernism of the Chelsea Flower Show. Grey Granite found her visit a very humbling and moving experience and hopes to return with more time.

Chelsea:another dimension

In addition to the gardens and plants, which are the primary attraction of Chelsea, there are magical displays of sculpture and floral art and the opportunity to celebrity spot.....

'There's a sun show every second'

 'I dreamed I woke in Africa' in the floral art display

One of several floral chandeliers in the great pavilion

Bronze sculptures of thistles awaiting transportation to East Neuk

Elegant glass agapanthus

Whimsical floral corgis with blackberry noses

Carol Klein blending in with the aliums 

Chelsea 2012 : Kirstenbosch South Africa

The impressive South African exhibit was designed to celebrate the landscape, biodiversity and cultural diversity of South Africa.

The stand features four distinct regions, each with its own distinctive flora. Above is the semi arid Karoo province characterized by succulents and aloes.

Water colours of picturesque locations provide an appropriate background for the plants of the depicted region.

The grasslands of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. 

Chelsea structures;the sublime to the ridiculous

Buildings and structures at Chelsea were many any variable, ranging from the attainable to the impossible. The artisan gardens had particularly interesting structures which often gave  character to the garden. 

Shepherds hut based on Gabriel Oak's hut in Far From the Madding Crowd, one of Grey Granite's  favourite novels. In this garden the hut is designed to be  a writer's retreat and is surrounded by beautiful naturalistic planting incorporating native plant species.. 

Grey Granite was disappointed in this garden, 'Naturally Dry-a William Wordsworth inspired garden'. The catalogue confirms that this adapts elements of a Cumbrian landscape where the annual rainfall averages at 200cms, but unfortunately the use of Yorkshire stone as opposed to angular dark grey Cumbrian slate completely transforms the essential character of the   garden destroying the relationship between geology and flora. The explanation that Wordsworth spent some time in Yorkshire may only be regarded as spurious.

Pepa's Story another shepherd's hut this time constructed from limestone  from the Slovenian Karst region.

Best in Show Cleve West's garden for Brewin Dolphin

Jo Swift's Teenage Cancer  garden for Homebase had superb colour combinations, the planting perfectly complementing the cedar screens 

An attractive new take on carpet bedding

A small recycled structure which particularly appealed to Grey Granite 

The ridiculous

Chelsea 2012; The learning curve

What did Grey Granite learn from the Chelsea 2012 experience?

Within the gardens were several inspirational details of structure and planting 

Geranium Bill Wallace, on the right of the picture is a plant to lust after for its colour and low growth. 

An idea for displaying sempervivums for which Grey Granite has an affection recalling house leeks growing on the roof of the old Windle parish workhouse.

Alpine troughs need to be densely planted and to be given height.

Bold colour combinations

Single species alpine planting can look stunning

That all is not lost!

Chelsea 2012

Grey Granite and Dr. Anne visited the 99 th Chelsea Flower Show, this year they departed from custom and travelled up to London the day prior to Members' Day at the show. This gave them the benefits of a relaxing evening at the excellent Pestana Chelsea Bridge Hotel and the prospect of a full day at the show. The weather was extraordinary, the temperature reaching 26c during the afternoon. Mindful of the need to maintain good levels of hydration, Grey Granite and Dr Anne took time out from their horticultural quests to relax by the bandstand with a delicious jug of refreshing Pimms. 

The Pestana Hotel is part of the prestigious Chelsea Bridge Wharf development. 

 The Queen's diamond jubilee being almost upon  us, the show had a distinctly regal  theme.

The quality and range of exhibits in the Great Pavilion was extraordinary, ranging from the pastel opulence of   Evison's  Clematis Nursery stand to the simplicity of W & S Lockyer's auriculas. Grey Granite, whose gardening style is decidedly retro, tending towards clay pots and cottage garden planting, particularly liked the auricula stand.

This was a hugely enjoyable, inspirational and refreshing trip. 

Inverallochy to St Combs along Whitelink Bay

A glorious sunny morning on which Grey Granite and Rufus enjoyed a tranquil walk along  deserted Whitelinks Bay. Recently this has become  a favourite walk, particulary on occasions when Rosehearty and Philorth Woods are deemed unsuitable for one reason or another.  

This morning instead of turning inland at the Kitty Loch, we carried on across the Millburn Shore towards Charleston as far as the ruins of St Colm's, returning along the beach instead of along the route of the old railway. 

Washing drying on the bents at Charleston. Charleston, across the Millburn from older St Combs,  was founded by the Inverallochy estate around 1800. It was contemptuously christened Soddom by the folk of St Combs.

The bents were studded with bright dandelions and the odd patch of wild hyacinths which like this Greater Periwinkle are almost certainly outcasts from gardens. The prodigiously large periwinkle was an eye catching blue.

The kirkyard at St Combs surrounding the ruins of the medieval St Colm's Kirk

Dactylorhiza purpurella, the first orchid of the year

A cold driech morning of drizzle over the Wastart, the temperature was only 5c, but there were house martins swooping low over one of the temporary lochans below Pitheughie, hunting insects in low wide loops over the water. As we watched the birds a pair or roe deer bounded in elegant silence round the edge of the dense whins between the two lochans before pausing on the dyke and on in to the field beyond. Several groups of gannets were passing, flying low over the sea in distinctive lines.

Northern Marsh orchid?

Closer to Pitheughie we found this single orchid growing in  a relatively dry sheltered patch of grass. The flower spike not being fully open and orchids being astonishingly promiscuous so that there are many hybrids, identification is difficult but the magenta flowers and spotted leaves suggest Northern Marsh Orchid, Dactylorhiza purpurella. 

Scotland Small?

 In the midst of a very protracted 'Gab of May'. Grey Granite and Rufus snatched a short walk between hail showers over a wild windy Wastart, loud with the sound of waves.

The iconic flowers of the Wastart are starting to appear, recalling  MacDairmid's wonderful poem 'Scotland Small?'

'...amongst the sage green leaves
of the bog myrtle the golden flowers of the tormentil shinning;
and on the small bare places, where the little blackface sheep
 Found grazing, milkworts blue as Summer skies....

The marsh below Pitheughie,  is studded with lousewort, masquerading as orchids, perhaps false orchid would be an appropriate name for this plant which annually lures grey Granite into thinking that the orchids have appeared. There are also milkworts in a range of hues, palest blue to a strong reddish mauve, the first bright yellow flowers of  tormentil and birds' foot trefoil are in the drier grass. The clefts in the rocks have suddenly filled with sea campion (Devil's hatties) and thrift, so prolific that it is known locally as Wastart daisies. Again there is an enormous range of colours, every conceivable pink, which will soon form a great thick patchwork quilt in favoured places.

The rare and beautiful Spring Squill (Scilla verna)grows in several drier locations on the cliff tops and is just starting to open its delicate stars.

Lords and Ladies at Barnyards of Pitsligo

 Cuckoo Pint (Arum maculatum)
 This clump of Cuckoo Pint grows at the roadside at Barnyards and is the only example Grey Granite knows of in this area. It is very much at the mercy of grass cutting operations and some years does not manage to produce the pale green  spathes which trap pollinating insects by day to release them by night. The position of the plant is apposite for the alternative name of Lords and Ladies, being  directly opposite Pitsligo Castle. Grey Granite suspects that these Lords and Ladies may have arrived in one of the cattle floats which are washed out in the adjacent yard.

The Dry Briggs path, originally a much used cart track, runs south over the Cairnhill from Rosehearty to Holland Park and beyond to the  mill at Boyndlie. The bank on the sunny side of the track provides a sheltered habitat for violets ranging in colour from palest mauve to a strong purple. They will soon be succeeded by birds' foot trefoil. 

The Dry Briggs is so named for the stone bridges,  one of which can be seen in the middle distance, built to allow beasts to pass  under the track to obtain water, there being no natural supply to the fields on the Peathill side. 

Close to Holland Park the track is thick with daisies. The bushes on the right are bour trees (elder) and possibly mark the site of an old smiddy.