Public Green Spaces in Britain’s Floral Resort

Originally entitled ‘Why do white flowers smell best?’ I have revised this article.

The pomegranate is a native of Iran and Pakistan. The shrub or small tree bears bright red flowers and juicy, if seedy fruit. Even if placed in the sunniest, warmest part of the garden they will suffer in the UK but with global warming who knows.

Trees, shrubs and all plants have developed methods to procreate and ensure the continuity of their species. ‘Natures Home winter 2018’ looks at trees that use Anemochory, Autochory, Zoochory, Barachory plus other methods. For our purposes we will look in the same order at wind distribution, explosive seed pods, animal dispersion and drop and roll plus other methods.

The green swards in front gardens throughout the UK are not as environmentally friendly as you may think.

Some time ago in the pre-Trump era the west lawn at the British Museum  showed plants from North Americas landscape. The plants were provided in partnership with Kew but the photographs were mine taken in September. I now wish I had also visited to see and take pictures of earlier spring and summer flowers fro N America.

Botany is the science of plant life. In other descriptions it is the study of plant science or plant biology. A botanist is one who studies botany.

Harlow Carr the RHS garden in Harrogate has a series of gardens through the ages. This sculpture is part of the offering for the Festival of Britain 1951. To me it looks a lot more modern than that but certainly none the worse.

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It is the season for houseplants and this Solanum capsicastrum was raised from seed probably in a Dutch hothouse for the UK’s pre Christmas market.

Autumn sunshine sets off the traffic lights in the vegetable plot. A low angle for the rays of sunshine creates an extra opportunity to appreciate this vegetable. I like the leaf texture and think Chard can look so colourful that I will grow some amongst the flowers for next year.

I used to think the stinking hellebore was the main hellebore plant. It has its place but on the compost heap. The Christmas rose on the other hand is a fine plant well worth cultivating. (Hellebore foetidus is a compact, evergreen perennial with finely divided elegant foliage and green flowers.) The better loved Hellebore niger or the Christmas Rose or Lenten roses produce the white flowers similar to those shown below.

Leaf miners are the larvae of moths, beetles, maggots, flies or caterpillars that have hatched between the upper and lower epidermis of a leaf. They then burrow there way out eating part of the leaf and leaving a trail.