News2021-05-15T11:26:22+01:00

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23Dec 2022

All found in one Mediterranean garden

This Christmas arrangement was created by Lindsay Blyth using plants from all over the world which she grows in her Andalusian garden. Before you read on, how many different plants can you  see are represented here? Well… The pale orange pencil-like sticks of Euphorbia tirucalli towards the bottom of the image combine with the brighter orange Nandina domestica berries and one of Lindsay’s favourites, Kniphofia rooperi, to give a warm festive feeling. Seed heads are from an aloe. There are a couple of bits of grey Echeveria, lots of nasturtium leaves, and a few autumn leaves of persimmons (Diospyros kaki) and flame vine (Pyrostegia venusta).

10Dec 2022

The Cactus and Succulent Review

This Agave parryi var. truncata in a garden in Essex, UK, is a stunner pictured originally in the December issue of the Cactus and Succulent Review. The quarterly magazine, issued in PDF format at the beginning of March, June, September and December, focuses mainly on what the title suggests and also includes information on plants which grow in similar habitats to cacti, growing succulents outdoors in the UK, and exotic gardening. Those interested can find more details on the website https://www.cactusandsucculentreview.org.uk/ where they may subscribe free of charge.

1Dec 2022

Over the sea to Skye

Becky Cross has recently joined the horticultural team at Dunvegan Castle and Gardens on the Isle of Skye, after completing the Horticulture with Plantsmanship BSc course at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Dunvegan has recently been voted Scotland’s RHS Partner Garden Winner 2022. The castle is the oldest continuously inhabited one in Scotland and has been the ancestral home of the Chiefs of clan MacLeod for 800 years. Its five acres of formal gardens have an eclectic mix of flowers, exotic plants, specimen trees and shimmering pools fed by waterfalls and streams. Becky (second from the right) is a former Secretary of MPG, having been on the management committee.

24Nov 2022

Spectacular first flowering at RHS Wisley

This Agave attenuata is flowering for the first time since it was planted in the arid section of Wisley’s Glasshouse in 2006. The extraordinary and wonderful inflorescence is attracting a lot of attention as it’s very unusual. Originally from Mexico, this agave is now said to be naturalised in Libya and Madeira, and is found throughout the Mediterranean. Members can look forward to a special visit to Wisley on Wednesday 15 March, organised by Melvyn Jope and Lesley Jones.

18Nov 2022

Exciting job move

MPG member Russell Beeton has moved to the National Botanic Garden of Wales, where he is senior horticulturist looking after the Great Glasshouse, the tropical houses and nursery houses, and the plant reception facility. Designed by Norman Foster and Partners, the Great Glasshouse is famous for its Mediterranean-climate plants and conservation of endangered species. Russell was involved in MPG’s summer 2021 visit to the Oxford University Botanic Garden where he was a propagator working mainly in the Rock Garden to which he gave our members an introduction. He is pictured here with Banksia prionotes, of Western Australia, and Xerochrysum bracteatum, an annual in the Asteraceae family.

1Oct 2022

A memory from Great Dixter in 1960

MPG member Lindsay Blyth was reminded by our visit to Great Dixter last month that when she was married in 1957 and moving to Calcutta, her parents gave her cactus collection to Christopher Lloyd of Great Dixter. On return to England in 1960, Lindsay went to see Christopher and the garden. However, she was welcomed by his mother who spent ages showing her round the house, talking about herself and Edwin Lutyens and showing the embroidery done by her sons. As Lindsay looked longingly out of the windows, she saw Christopher deadheading in rubber gloves but there was no escape. Finally, the house tour ended and Lindsay thought at last she would spend time with Christopher in the garden. But his mother’s voice rang out, “Christopher darling, it’s time for lunch.”

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