Topic
Table on this page moved to the right hand side.

Ivydene Gardens Mixed Borders in RHS Garden at Wisley Garden Design:
Flower Colour Range in September

I wonder if the Mixed Borders has a planned coordinated flower colour scheme?

The thumbnail of each plant is inserted into each month that the nursery states it flowers rather than the months that I or H. Kavanagh have photographed them.

Non in the text box below a tip colour graphic indicates no identified flower photo was taken and the distribution in the table below indicates the extent of this planting design problem.

Plant Type from Text below thumbnail and Height from border margin colour

Bulb (Bul)

Brown =
0-4
inches
(0-10
cms)

Blue =
4-8
inches (10-20
cms)

Green = 8-12
inches (20-30
cms)

Magenta = 12-16 inches (30-40
cms)

Red = 16-20 inches (40-50
cms)

Black = 20-24 inches (50-60
cms)

Orange = 24+
inches
(61+
cms)

Perennial (Per)

1 inch = 2.5 cms,
12" = 1 foot = 30 cms,
3 feet = 1 yard,
40 inches = 1 metre

Brown =
0-1 feet (0-30
cms)

Blue =
1-2 feet (30-60
cms)

Green =
2-3 feet (60-90
cms)

Red =
3-6 feet (90-180
cms)

Black = 6+ feet (180+
cms)

Brown =
0-1 feet (0-30
cms)

Blue =
1-3 feet (30-90
cms)

Green =
3-5 feet (90-150
cms)

Red =
5-10 feet (150-300
cms)

Black = 10+ feet (300+
cms)

Brown =
0-20 feet (0-600
cms)

Blue =
20-40 feet (600-1200
cms)

Green =
40+ feet (1200
cms)

Blue =
0-3 feet (0-90
cms)

Green =
3-10 feet (90-300
cms)

Red =
10+ feet (300+
cms)

Blue =
0-2 feet (0-60
cms)

Green =
2-6 feet (60-180
cms)

Red =
6+ feet (180+
cms)

Click on thumbnail to add the Plant Description Page of the plant named in the Text box below that photo.

Non in the text box below a "tip colour graphic" indicates no identified flower photo was taken either by H. Kavanagh or me during 2013, but clicking the centre of the image will link you to the respective Plant Description Page. Per in the text box below a "graphic" indicates a Permanent Herbaceous Perennial; Per Oth indicates a Perennial from the Other Permanent Plants.

"Tip colour" is the background colour in this cell.
 

The Comments Row of that Plant Description Page details where that plant is available from.

A table for each month - May, June, July, August, September, October, November - shows the flower photos for each of the 71 parts of the Mixed Borders split into Blue, Orange, Pink, Red, Unusual Colour, White, or Yellow for all the plants. I wonder if the RHS wanted to change the name from Mixed Borders to The Circus Performers Parade.

Design of EAST Border

Blue Flowers

Blue Flowers

Orange Flowers

Pink Flowers

Pink Flowers

Pink Flowers

Red Flowers

Red Flowers

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Row 1

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Row 2

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Row 3

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Row 4

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Row 5

Section 1 Part 1

Section 1 Part 2

Section 1 Part 3

Section 1 Part 4

Row 1

Section 1 Part 4

Row 2

Section 2 Part 5
 

Section 2 Part 6
 

Section 2 Part 7
 

Section 3 Part 8

Row 1

 

Section 3 Part 8

Row 2

 

Section 3 Part 9 with Seat Area
 

Section 4 Part 10 with Seat Area

Section 4 Part 11
 

Section 4 Part 12
 

Section 5 Part 13

Row 1
 

Section 5 Part 13

Row 2
 

Section 5 Part 14

Row 1
 

Section 5 Part 14

Row 2
 

Section 5 Part 15
 

Section 5 Part 16

Section 6 Part 17
 

Section 6 Part 18 with Plant Centre Exit
 

Section 7 Part 19 with Plant Centre Exit

Section 7 Part 20
 

Section 7 Part 21
 

Section 7 Part 22
 

Section 8 Part 23

Row 1
 

Section 8 Part 23

Row 2
 

Section 8 Part 24
 

Section 8 Part 25

Section 9 Part 26
 

Section 9 Part 27
 

Section 9 Part 28
 

Section 9 Part 29

Row 1
 

Section 9 Part 29

Row 2
 

Section 9 Part 30
 

Section 10 Part 31

Row 1
 

Section 10 Part 31

Row 2
 

Section 10 Part 32

Row 1

Section 10 Part 32

Row 2

Section 10 Part 33

Row 1
 

Section 10 Part 33

Row 2
 

Section 10 Part 34 with Access Road

Design of WEST Border

Blue Flowers

Blue Flowers

Orange Flowers

Pink Flowers

Pink Flowers

Pink Flowers

Red Flowers

Red Flowers

Section 1 Part 35
 

Section 1 Part 36

Row 1
 

Section 1 Part 36

Row 2

Section 1 Part 37

Row 1
 

Section 1 Part 37

Row 2
 

Section 2 Part 38
 

Section 2 Part 39

Row 1
 

Section 2 Part 39

Row 2
 

Section 2 Part 40
 

Section 2 Part 41

Row 1

Section 2 Part 41

Row 2

Section 3 Part 42

Row 1
 

Section 3 Part 42

Row 2
 

Section 3 Part 43
 

Row 1

Section 3 Part 43
 

Row 2

Section 3 Part 44
 

Section 3 Part 45
 

Section 4 Part 46
 

Section 4 Part 47

Row 1
 

Section 4 Part 47

Row 2
 

Section 4 Part 48

Row 1

Section 4 Part 48

Row 2

Section 5 Part 49

Row 1
 

Section 5 Part 49

Row 2
 

Section 5 Part 50
 

Section 5 Part 51
 

Exit Path between Sections 5 and 6 Part 52

Section 6 Part 53
 

Section 6 Part 54
 

Section 6 Part 55
 

Section 6 Part 56

Row 1
 

Section 6 Part 56

Row 2

Section 7 Part 57

Row 1

Section 7 Part 57

Row 2

Section 7 Part 58
 

Section 7 Part 59

Row 1
 

Section 7 Part 59

Row 2
 

Section 7 Part 60

Row 1
 

Section 7 Part 60

Row 2
 

Section 7 Part 61

Row 1

Section 7 Part 61

Row 2

Exit Path between Sections 7 and 8 Part 62
 

Exit Path between Sections 7 and 8 Part 63
 

Section 8 Part 64
 

Section 8 Part 65

Row 1
 

Section 8 Part 65

Row 2
 

Section 8 Part 66

Row 1
 

Section 8 Part 66

Row 2
 

Section 9 Part 67

Row 1
 

Section 9 Part 67

Row 2

Section 9 Part 68

Row 1
 

Section 9 Part 68

Row 2
 

Section 9 Part 69
 

Section 9 Part 70
 

Section 9 Part 71

This Mixed Border scheme has deciduous climbers, trees, evergreen and deciduous shrubs with bulbs as its other permanent plants to provide a permanent structure; which is backed by a deciduous hornbeam hedge.

This mixture provides a foliage and flower foil against which these other permanent herbaceous perennials can provide new growth from the ground each year, with the different colours of foliage from juvenile to mature to dying off in the autumn and then an easy maintenance during the months of December-March for removing most of the growth above ground and replacing the plant supports to provide a neat bed in a series of large ground areas.

The bedding plants provide the icing on the cake at different flowering time periods between May and November to enhance the overall flower colour scheme. The new bedding each year can provide opportunities to vary the look of these beds.

It was disapointing that I did not see and/or identify the flowers during 2013 of almost a third (28%) of these Permanent Herbaceous Perennial Plants - possible reasons shown in Lost Flowers Page with 'Walkabout' Plants and 'Stateless' Plants Page.

A table for each month - May, June, July, August, September, October, November - shows the flower photos for each of the 71 parts of the Mixed Borders split into Blue, Orange, Pink, Red, Unusual Colour, White, or Yellow for all the plants. Besides that, you can see from the table below that Red and Pink with Unusual Flower Colours seem to be predominant as flower colours and that these are spread throughout the beds.
Not having the knowledge of a fully qualified Royal Horticultural Society gardener, I am failing to see either

• a colour scheme from pastels to bright colours and then back to pastels to accentuate the middle area of the entrance to the Plant Centre or exit path to the Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden on the other side or
• the Red, bright Blue and Bright Yellows being closest to the garden entrance with the pastels at the furthest point of Battleston Hill to provide a visual extension to these beds or
• the duplication of the same plant throughout the beds to provide continuity (there are 14 Phlox varieties which provide some kind of continuity in the bed in using the same family with the same kind of plant form). Each of the Permanent Herbaceous Perennials normally only occurs in 1 patch in these Mixed Border Beds - rarely twice and even more rarely in 3 patches. Each of the parts of the Mixed Border beds overlaps the adjacent parts, so depending on how wide on the ground is that patch of a collection of a plant, then it depends on how many parts of the 71 parts that it is on.
  or
• change of flower colour from for example Yellow in May to Red in September to coincide with the possibility of the herbaceous shrubs/trees/hedge foliage becoming Brown/Red in the Autumn, in this Mixed Border or background hedge.
  or
• how the following distribution of flower colours from the Permanent Herbaceous Perennials in these beds comes from a restful to the eye and mind, coordinated and planned flower planting scheme:-
  Red or Pink flowers occurs in
  35 parts (17 Pink + 20 Red - 2 Pink and Red) in June,
  53 parts in July,
  59 in August and
  60 in September.
  Multi-coloured or not Blue, Orange, Pink, Red, White or Yellow flowers occurs in
  35 parts in June,
  53 parts in July,
  57 parts in August and
  47 parts in September.
  Mixtures of 2 or more colours is
  29 in June (16 of 2 colours + 17 of 3 colours + 2 of 4 or more colours - 6 of White and other Colour),
  52 in July,
  55 in August,
  50 in September.

I will continue to add the BEDding (started January 2014 - completed March 2014) and then the OTHer Permanent Plants (started March 2014 - completed May 2014) to the table below to show the flower colour planting scheme of the Bedding and the Other Permanent Plants and then its combination.
"Bedding Plant in Unknown Section" top data row in the Flower Colour Range months pages refers to the lack of a photo taken by me or H. Kavanagh of that bedding plant with the label in the same photo of a Permanent Herbaceous Perennial or Other Permanent Plant whose location in 1 or more of the 71 Parts of those Mixed Borders can be identified.

Me and H. Kavanagh were unable to obtain photos of the flowers of these Other Permanent Plants in 2013:-

• 7 Climbers,
• Miscanthus sinensis 'Kaskade',
• Miscanthus sinensis 'Roland',
• Sambucus nigra 'Guincho Purple',
• Sambucus nigra 'Gerda' and
• Buddleja davidii nanhoensis 'Nanho Purple' from the Other Permanent Plants produced spring foliage, but then were lost as the plants in front grew higher than they grew or the visability of its Plant Label was lost after May 2013.
• Ligustrum quihoui,
• Cornus alba 'Elegantissima' and
• Paeonia lutea var. ludlowii were at the back of the borders and were too far away to find and photo its flowers in 2013.
• Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea' and
• Paulownia tomentosa produced foliage but no flowers.
• Artemesia abrotanum produced foliage but no flowers - is this because this plant rarely produces flowers in British gardens?
• Artemesia 'Powis Castle' at the front of the border was overgrown by the Pennisetum orientale 'Shogun' behind it.

Clematis 'Kermesina' was probably removed from East Border 23 in March 2013.

In the late 19th century, Onopordum acanthium was introduced to temperate regions of North America, South America, and Australia as an ornamental plant, and is now considered a major agricultural and wildland noxious weed. I would not recommend growing it in your garden, orchard or fields.

If you find it difficult to buy Rosa Bonica 'Meidomonac' in the Retail Market like at garden centres or mail-order nurseries, then see WISLEY WISLEY Rose Classification System Page for details on this Rosa Retail Name 'Trade Name' RHS naming system.

Of the 98 named bedding plants
in the Mixed Border of the RHS garden at Wisley, neither I nor H. Kavanagh managed to take photos of their flowers with mature form during 2013 for

• 11 of them ,
• 17 of them had white labels with handwriiten plant information instead of the normal printed name on a black label; when their photos were taken by H. Kavanagh or me,
• 1 had insufficient identity in its plant name - Verbena x hybrida - to be able to state exactly what its flower colour, number of flowering months, or height and width were; or anything else about the plant,
• 2 of them had conflicting plant names Heliotropium peruvianum
  'Dwarf Marine' on the White Plant Label with Heliotropium arborescens 'Marine' on the Black Plant Label inserted later in the year for the same plant group and
• 3 of them I could find no information about or mail-order supplier for Dahlia '15 Love', Dahlia pinnata 'Dawn Sky' or Dahlia hybrid 'Trinidad Sunset'.

H. Kavanagh and I took photos of more than the 36 bedding plants with no plant label as shown in the Un-Labelled Bedding Plant Index Page during June, July and August 2013.

A table for each month - May, June, July, August, September, October, November - shows the flower photos for each of the 71 parts of the Mixed Borders split into Blue, Orange, Pink, Red, Unusual Colour, White, or Yellow for all the plants. The Mixed Border Permanent Herbaceous plants have been added in 2013. The Bedding plants and the Mixed Border Other Permanent Plants have been added to those pages in 2014.
 

I am sure that as 1 of the 1,000,000 visitors to the garden at Wisley in 2012-2013 and I am not sure how many visitors in 2013-2014, that I must express my grateful thanks to the RHS that more than 50% of the Summer Bedding Plants in the Mixed Borders during the summer of 2013 could not be identified or that the writing on their white plant labels was too small to be read from the path alongside the beds.

See my comments about
The RHS Companion to Scented Plants Hardcover - 16 Oct 2014 by Stephen Lacey) (Author), Andrew Lawson (Photgrapher) ISBN 978-0-7112-3574-8.

See the response to my comments on RHS Wisley Garden by the RHS in
Blue Flowers in January

MIXED BORDERS in Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley with my GARDEN DESIGN PAGES

Introduction

WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER WITH EARLY AND LATE AUTUMN SECTIONS OF WISLEY MIXED BORDERS
1-6 East Border
7-10 East Border
1-5 West Border
6-9 West Border

FOLIAGE COLOUR
.Black
.Blue
(o)Brown
.Bronze
(o)Green
(o)Grey
.Other
(o)Purple
(o)Red
(o)Variegated
(o)Variegated White
.Variegated Yellow
.White
.Yellow
.4 Season Colour

FLOWER COLOUR RANGE IN 71 PARTS OF MIXED BORDER DURING
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

7 Flower Colours per Month in Colour Wheel below.

Click on Black or White box in Colour of Month.

Design of East Border

Design of West Border

Section 1 Part 1
Section 1 Part 2
Section 1 Part 3
Section 1 Part 4
Section 2 Part 4
Section 2 Part 5
Section 2 Part 6
Section 2 Part 7
Section 3 Part 7
Section 3 Part 8
Section 3 Part 9 with Seat Area
Section 4 Part 10 with Seat Area
Section 4 Part 11
Section 4 Part 12
Section 5 Part 12
Section 5 Part 13
Section 5 Part 14
Section 5 Part 15
Section 5 Part 16

Section 6 Part 16
Section 6 Part 17
Section 6 Part 18 with Plant Centre Exit
Section 7 Part 19 with Plant Centre Exit
Section 7 Part 20
Section 7 Part 21
Section 7 Part 22
Section 8 Part 22
Section 8 Part 23
Section 8 Part 24
Section 8 Part 25
Section 9 Part 26
Section 9 Part 27
Section 9 Part 28
Section 9 Part 29
Section 9 Part 30
Section 10 Part 31
Section 10 Part 32
Section 10 Part 33
Section 10 Part 34 with Access Road

Section 1 Part 35
Section 1 Part 36
Section 1 Part 37
Section 2 Part 38
Section 2 Part 39
Section 2 Part 40
Section 2 Part 41
Section 3 Part 42
Section 3 Part 43
Section 3 Part 44
Section 3 Part 45
Section 4 Part 45
Section 4 Part 46
Section 4 Part 47
Section 4 Part 48
Section 5 Part 48
Section 5 Part 49
Section 5 Part 50
Section 5 Part 51
Exit Path between Sections 5 and 6 Part 52

Section 6 Part 53
Section 6 Part 54
Section 6 Part 55
Section 6 Part 56
Section 7 Part 57
Section 7 Part 58
Section 7 Part 59
Section 7 Part 60
Section 7 Part 61
Exit Path between Sections 7 and 8 Part 62
Exit Path between Sections 7 and 8 Part 63
Section 8 Part 64
Section 8 Part 65
Section 8 Part 66
Section 9 Part 66
Section 9 Part 67
Section 9 Part 68
Section 9 Part 69
Section 9 Part 70
Section 9 Part 71

Design of EAST Border

Red Flowers

Red Flowers

Unusual Colour Flowers

Unusual Colour Flowers

White Flowers

White Flowers

Yellow Flowers

Yellow Flowers

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Bedding Plant in unknown Section

Section 1 Part 1

Section 1 Part 2

Section 1 Part 3

Section 1 Part 4

Row 1

Section 1 Part 4

Row 2

Section 2 Part 5

Section 2 Part 6

Section 2 Part 7

Section 3 Part 8

Row 1

Section 3 Part 8

Row 2

Section 3 Part 9 with Seat Area

Section 4 Part 10 with Seat Area

Section 4 Part 11

Section 4 Part 12

Section 5 Part 13

Row 1

Section 5 Part 13

Row 2

Section 5 Part 14

Row 1

Section 5 Part 14

Row 2

Section 5 Part 15

Section 5 Part 16

Section 6 Part 17

Section 6 Part 18 with Plant Centre Exit

Section 7 Part 19 with Plant Centre Exit

Section 7 Part 20

Section 7 Part 21

Section 7 Part 22

Section 8 Part 23

Row 1

Section 8 Part 23

Row 2

Section 8 Part 24

Section 8 Part 25

Section 9 Part 26

Section 9 Part 27

Section 9 Part 28

Section 9 Part 29

Row 1

Section 9 Part 29

Row 2

Section 9 Part 30

Section 10 Part 31

Row 1

Section 10 Part 31

Row 2

Section 10 Part 32

Row 1

Section 10 Part 32

Row 2

Section 10 Part 33

Row 1

Section 10 Part 33

Row 2

Section 10 Part 34 with Access Road

Design of WEST Border

Red Flowers

Red Flowers

Unusual Colour Flowers

Unusual Colour Flowers

White Flowers

White Flowers

Yellow Flowers

Yellow Flowers

Section 1 Part 35

Section 1 Part 36

Row 1

Section 1 Part 36

Row 2

Section 1 Part 37

Row 1

Section 1 Part 37

Row 2

Section 2 Part 38

Section 2 Part 39

Row 1

Section 2 Part 39

Row 2

Section 2 Part 40

Section 2 Part 41

Row 1

Section 2 Part 41

Row 2

Section 3 Part 42

Row 1

Section 3 Part 42

Row 2

Section 3 Part 43

Row 1

Section 3 Part 43

Row 2

Section 3 Part 44

Section 3 Part 45

Section 4 Part 46

Section 4 Part 47

Row 1

Section 4 Part 47

Row 1

Section 4 Part 48

Row 1

Section 4 Part 48

Row 2

Section 5 Part 49

Row 1

Section 5 Part 49

Row 2

Section 5 Part 50

Section 5 Part 51

Exit Path between Sections 5 and 6 Part 52

Section 6 Part 53

Section 6 Part 54
 

Section 6 Part 55

Section 6 Part 56

Row 1
 

Section 6 Part 56

Row 2

 

Section 7 Part 57

Row 1

Section 7 Part 57

Row 2

Section 7 Part 58

Section 7 Part 59

Row 1

Section 7 Part 59

Row 2

Section 7 Part 60

Row 1

Section 7 Part 60

Row 2

Section 7 Part 61

Row 1

Section 7 Part 61

Row 2

Exit Path between Sections 7 and 8 Part 62

Exit Path between Sections 7 and 8 Part 63

Section 8 Part 64

Section 8 Part 65

Row 1

Section 8 Part 65

Row 2

Section 8 Part 66

Row 1

Section 8 Part 66

Row 2

Section 9 Part 67

Row 1

Section 9 Part 67

Row 2

Section 9 Part 68

Row 1

Section 9 Part 68

Row 2

Section 9 Part 69

Section 9 Part 70

Section 9 Part 71