Ivydene Gardens Mixed Borders in RHS Garden at Wisley Garden Design:
WEST BORDER of MIXED BORDERS in the Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley:
Section 7 Part 61

Page Menus are below the Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn photos.

Winter. Photo taken on 4 January 2013 by Heather Kavanagh

Spring. Photo taken on 1 May 2013 by Heather Kavanagh

Early Summer. Photo taken on 1 July 2013 by Heather Kavanagh

Early Autumn. Photo taken on 19 September 2013 by Heather Kavanagh

Late Autumn. Photo taken on 23 November 2013 by Heather Kavanagh

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.

The distribution throughout the 71 parts of the Mixed Borders of each flower from the

• Permanent Herbaceous Perennials, Bedding Plants and Other Permanent Plants

split into

• Blue, White, Yellow, Unusual, Red, Orange or Pink

is in each of these Month Pages

• May, June, July, August, September, October and November

Summary of the Mixed Border Planting Design and Garden Maintenance - including in tabular form - shows the number for each single colour and combinations of colours for each of these months and whether it is from the Permanent Herbaceous Perennial (See its Index Page), Bedding Plant (See its Index Page) or Other Permanent Plant (See Index in Flower Colours per Month) plant type.

See below for which of the 7 flower colours have been used for each of the 71 parts during 2013 in a table of colours.

SPRING FOLIAGE COLOUR
Spr-Black
(o)-Brown
(o)-Green
(o)-Grey
Spr-Other Colour
(o)-Purple
(o)-Red
(o)-Variegated
Spr-White
Spr-Yellow
Spr-None
Spr-Multi-Colour

SUMMER FOLIAGE COLOUR
Sum-Black
(o)-Brown
(o)-Green
(o)-Grey
Sum-Other Colour
(o)-Purple
(o)-Red
(o)-Variegated
Sum-White
Sum-Yellow
Sum-None
Sum-Multi-Colour

AUTUMN FOLIAGE COLOUR
Aut-Black
Aut-Brown
(o)-Green
Aut-Grey
Aut-Other Colour
Aut-Purple
Aut-Red
(o)-Variegated
Aut-White
Aut-Yellow
Aut-None
Aut-Multi-Colour

WINTER FOLIAGE COLOUR
Win-Black
Win-Brown
(o)-Green
(o)-Grey
Win-Other Colour
(o)-Purple
Win-Red
(o)-Variegated
Win-White
Win-Yellow
Win-None
Win-Multi-Colour
 

Plant Height from Text Border

Bulb

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

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)

Plant Soil Moisture from Text Background

Wet Soil

Moist Soil

Dry Soil

Click on thumbnail to add the Plant Description Page of the plant named in the Text box below that photo.
The Comments Row of that Plant Description Page details where that plant is available from.
Flowering months append the Sun Aspect in the Text Box below each Thumbnail.

Permanent Plant Name if background is yellow

Flower Colour

with link to a Design of East Border or
Design of West Border Page where that plant is located

Flowering Months

with link to each Month of that Flowering Colour Page

Height x Spread in inches (cms)

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

Foliage Colour

This section details what I consider as errors in design carried out by the staff at the RHS garden in Wisley, before the next table on the right details my Design Concepts:-

Mixing all the primary colours together for the flower colours used in many of the 71 parts of these Mixed Borders

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.
   

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

Another Possible Solution for lack of coordinated Flower Colour Scheme

If you want the garden to be restful to the eye, then you can provide a colour scheme using the harmony of adjacent colours. If you prefer to shock the visitor, then use the contrast of opposite colours, but I am not favourable of the above partial use of the harmony of triads as shown by the Colour Wheel Page of Garden Design.

Very Poor Plant Labelling

After reviewing the situation that 102 plants were missing their identity when in flower in 2013 out of 348 (29.31% of the plants) in 768 square metres of Mixed Borders garden beds:-

• for the Permanent Herbaceous Perennials of the Mixed Border beds in the
  Lost Flowers Page with the
  'Walkabout' and 'Stateless Plants' Page ,
• for the Other Permanent Plants of the Mixed Borders in the Index above
• and the Bedding Plants of the Mixed Border beds in the
  Bedding Plant Index Page
  and Un-labelled Bedding Plant Index Page

I am tempted to state:-
'There is room for improvement in the Mixed Border'.

Possible Solution for this Very Poor Plant Labelling

As a possible improvement for the viewing public being able to identify the plants in the RHS Garden at Wisley, maybe the following might be useful:-

• Each planting member of the RHS staff at Wisley be provided with Large White Plastic Angled-Head Labels which are 20 inches (50 cms) in height with a 6 x 4 inch (16 x 10 cms) writing surface and a Marker pen with Black ink.
• When they have completed the planting, then the plant information on the plant label supplied with the plants will be rewritten onto 1 Angled-Head Label and inserted into the ground in front of the plants. This label should have large-enough writing on it for the public to be able to read it from outside the flower-bed with the naked eye, even if that bed is in the Alpine House:-
  
  or behind it if the label is higher than that plant:-
  
  Above photos taken by Chris Garnons-Williams on 2 September 2013.
• The plant label supplied with the plants will be given to the sign-writer with the distance from the public viewing point and the eventual height of the plant when in flower, who could then use the Letter Size to Visibility Chart with the Colour Contrast Visibility Chart.
• The sign-writer will then produce the required plant label on a relevant contrast colour background with the font size being large enough to read easily by the viewing public at the viewing distance that public is away from the plant label. The stake that it is on is to be sufficiently high that the reading part of the label will be 6 inches (15 cms) higher than the plant when in flower and be inserted at least 8 inches (20 cms) into the ground to provide stability for that plant label.
• This new label should replace the white plant label inserted by the planter within a week and should be inserted into the same hole as the previous label by the same plantsman. If plant labels in between this label and the viewing public are higher than this plant label, then the Soft Landscaping Designer of that bed should be informed so that person can then resolve the possibility that the newly planted area would become not visible when that plant was in flower because the plants in front had grown higher than it.
• The White plant label can be cleaned and re-used.

This might lead to flower beds becoming educational instead of being frustrating for the viewing public:-

• in not being able to either identify that plant in flower because it had no label or
• that label supplied was unreadable by the naked eye due to its font size being too small for the distance from it to the viewing public, or
• not identify it because its label had been overgrown by the plant in front of it, or
• not identify it because the plant label had been turned away from the viewing public:-

The viewing public stand on the lower path. Only RHS staff have access to the path at the back of this Mixed Border bed. That is unfortunate, because the viewing public would like to view both sides to make a judgement as to whether they wish to repeat this in their own garden.

Photos taken by Chris Garnons-Williams on 30 November 2013.

Another way to provide plant labels is to provide a Plan with Plant Labels from the Plant Label Wizard and place that at the front of a bed or part of a bed on 1 label.
If you want to allow people to continue walking whilst searching and looking at the signs then the Sign Legibility Rules of Thumb by the United States Sign Council will help.

Bedding Plant Name if background is blue

Spring

with link to that Foliage Colour in the Spring Page

Summer

with link to that Foliage Colour in the Summer Page

Autumn

with link to that Foliage Colour in the Autumn Page

Winter

with link to that Foliage Colour in the Winter Page

Alternative or Extra Plant Name if background is pink

Bamboo

Bedding

Dahlia
'Blyton Royal Velvet'

Dark Purple

Jul-Oct

48 x 24
(120 x 60)

Dark Green

Dark Green

Dark Green

Salvia leucantha 'Midnight'

Purple flowers with Purple calyces

May-Nov

48 x 24
(120 x 60)

White-woolly when young, narrow, lance-shaped, grey-green leaves, white beneath

White-woolly when young, narrow, lance-shaped, grey-green leaves, white beneath

White-woolly when young, narrow, lance-shaped, grey-green leaves, white beneath

White-woolly when young, narrow, lance-shaped, grey-green leaves, white beneath

Bulb

Climber

Clematis x diversifolia

Blue, Violet, Lilac, Lavender

June, July, August, September, October

100 x 40
(250 x 100)

Lance-shaped Dark Green

Lance-shaped Dark Green

Lance-shaped Dark Green

Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans'

Dusky-Purple

Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 13 April 2013

Chelone glabra black plant label on left and Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' black plant label on right.

Conifer

Deciduous Shrub

Buddleja davidii 'Nanho White Monite'

White

Unable to locate plant label to take photos of its foliage or flowers after 15 May 2013.

Deciduous Tree

Evergreen Perennial

Evergreen Shrub

Evergreen Tree

Fern

Grass

Stipa calamagrostis

Pale Green ages to light buff

June, July, August, September

30 x 18
75 x 45)

Dark Green

Dark Green

Dark Green

Stipa gigantea

Purple ripens to Gold

June, July

100 x 48
(250 x 120)

Slender Grey-Green

Slender Grey-Green

Slender Grey-Green

Hedge

Carpinus betulus (Hornbeam)

Green Catkins

May

480 x 320
(1200 x 800)

Mid-Green

Mid-Green

Brown dead leaves

Brown dead leaves

Herbaceous Perennial

Chelone glabra

White with Pink tinge

August, September, October

24-36 x 18-30
(60-90 x 45-75)

Coarsely-toothed, lance-shaped, Dark Green

Coarsely-toothed, lance-shaped, Dark Green

Coarsely-toothed, lance-shaped, Dark Green

Eupatorium purpureum

Purplish-Pink
Plant removed after 4 Mar 2013 - see walkabout and stateless plants

August, September, October

60-100 x 20-40
(150-250 x 50-100)

Lance-shaped Purple-tinged, Dark Green

Lance-shaped Purple-tinged, Dark Green

Lance-shaped Purple-tinged, Dark Green

Salvia transsylvanica
'Blue Spire'

Violet-Blue

June, July, August

30 x 24
(75 x 60)

Dark Green

Dark Green

Dark Green

Veronicastrum virginicum 'Fascination'

Violet-Blue/ Mauve

July, August

40 x 20
(100 x 50)

Light Green

Light Green

Light Green

Herb

Odds and Sods

Rhododendron/ Azalea /Camellia

Rose

Soft Fruit

Top Fruit

Vegetable

Wildflower

Site design and content copyright ©February 2013. Chris Garnons-Williams.

DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site.
 

Solution to Unemployment in Britain:-

"The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Auckland, New Zealand, have taught 3 rescue dogs to drive in an effort to encourage people to adopt and love shelter pets."

Besides the trained dogs who aid Blind People in walking, these other dogs could be trained to drive in Britain. Then, when a Blind person wishes to be driven, an unemployed person could earn their benefit by being in the front passenger seat giving directions to the dog who is doing the driving, but not to the dog who is sitting in the back seat alongside the Blind passenger.

The Blind person gets social interaction and the unemployed person - in aiding this blind person to go further than that person can walk for shopping or to visit friends - increases their self-esteem and self-worth.

The cars are maintained and operated with the dog driver during 8 hours each week by these unemployed. The running costs, cars and car parts are paid for by the local Government Employment Department.