<-------- Title of Page

(o) in front of Page Name or Index Page No in this Main Menu Table indicates that all pages linked to from that cell have content.

SPRING FOLIAGE COLOUR
with Foliage Stalk and Form

Index Page No.

AUTUMN FOLIAGE COLOUR
with Foliage Stalk and Form

Index Page No.

CULTIVAR GROUP with Flowers
Erica Hardy Heaths:-

Index Page No.

CULTIVAR GROUP with Flowers
Erica Hardy Heaths:-

Index Page No.

HEATHER EVERGREEN SHRUB
INDEX GALLERY PAGES

Index Page No.

Site Map

Introduction

Index Page No.

Click on Colour below to change to its Heather Flower Colour Page with Flower and Flower Stalk

Spr-Bronze

1

(o) Aut-Bronze

(o) 1

Erica garforthensis

(o) 1

Erica tetralix

1

CULTIVAR GROUP with Flowers

FLOWERING SEASON
with Flower and Flower Stalk

(o) H0
White

Index Page No.

(o) H1 Amethyst

Index Page No.

H2
Mauve

Index Page No.

(o) Spr-Green

(o) 1

(o) Aut-Green

(o)
1 2

Erica gaudificans

(o) 1

Erica umbellata

1

Andromeda

(o) 1

(o) January
Winter

(o)
1 2

(o) 1

(o) 1

1

Spr-Grey

1

(o) Aut-Grey

(o) 1

(o) Erica x griffithsii

(o) 1

Erica vagans

1

Bruckenthalia spiculifolia changed to
Erica spiculifolia

1

(o)February
Winter

(o)
1 2

(o) H3
Lavender

(o) 1

H4
Lilac

1

H5
Ruby

1

(o) Spr-Orange

(o) 1

Aut-Orange

1

Erica krameri

(o) 1

Erica veitchii

1

(o) Calluna

(o) 1

(o) March
Spring

(o)
1 2

Spr-Red

1

Aut-Red

1

(o) Erica lusitanica

(o) 1

Erica watsonii

1

(o) Daboecia

(o) 1

(o) April
Spring

(o)
1 2

H6
Cerise

1

(o) H7
Rose Pink

(o) 1

(o) H8
Pink

(o) 1

(o) Spr-Yellow

(o) 1

(o) Aut-Yellow

(o) 1

(o) Erica mackayana

(o) 1

Erica williamsii

1

Erica Hardy Heaths:-

(o) May
Spring

(o) 1

(o) Spr-Other Colour

(o) 1

Aut-Other Colour

1

Erica maderensis

(o) 1

Erica x afroeuropea

(o) 1

(o) June
Summer

(o) 1

(o) H9
Beetroot

(o) 1

(o) H10
Purple

(o) 1

(o) H11
Lilac Pink

(o) 1

(o) Erica manipuliflora

(o) 1

Erica andevalensis now treated as Erica mackayana ssp andevalensis

1

(o) July
Summer

(o) 1

SUMMER FOLIAGE COLOUR
with Foliage Stalk and Form

WINTER FOLIAGE COLOUR
with Foliage Stalk and Form

Erica multiflora

1

SEED COLOUR

(o) Erica arborea

(o) 1

(o) August
Summer

(o) 1

(o) H12 Heliotrope

(o) 1

H13 Crimson

1

(o) H14 Magenta

(o) 1

(o) Sum-Bronze

(o) 1

(o) Win-Bronze

(o) 1

(o) Erica
oldenburgensis

(o) 1

Seed

1

(o) Erica x arendsiana

(o) 1

(o) September
Autumn

(o) 1

(o) Sum-Green

(o)
1 2

(o) Win-Green

(o)
1 2

Erica platycodon

1

(o) Erica australis

(o) 1

(o) October
Autumn

(o) 1

H15 Salmon

1

(o) H16
Shell Pink

(o) 1

(o) H17 Multi-Coloured

(o) 1

Sum-Grey

1

Win-Grey

1

Erica scoparia

1

BED PICTURES

(o) Erica azorica
(Syn.
Erica scoparia subsp. azorica)

(o) 1

(o) November
Autumn

(o) 1

Sum-Orange

1

(o) Win-Orange

(o) 1

Erica sicula

1

Garden

1

(o) Erica carnea

(o)
1 2

(o) December
Winter

(o) 1

Sum-Red

1

(o) Win-Red

(o) 1

(o) Erica spiculifolia

(o) 1

(o) Erica ciliaris

(o) 1

Website Structure Explanation and
User Guidelines

(o) Sum-Yellow

(o) 1

(o) Win-Yellow

(o) 1

(o) Erica stuartii

(o) 1

(o) COMMENTS

(o) Erica cinerea

(o) 1

Sum-Other Colour

1

(o) Win-Other Colour

(o) 1

Erica terminalis

1

(o) Erica x darleyensis

(o) 1

The 2 rows of "Height x Spread in inches (cms) (1 inch = 2.5 cms, 12" = 1 foot = 30 cms) and Comment" state the Heather Description from 'Handy Guide to Heathers Descriptions & Suppliers of over 1000 varieties" by David & Anne Small, published in 1992 by Denbeigh Heather Nurseries (ISBN 0-9519160-0-9). This gives the official Heather Society flower colour(s) and foliage colour(s).
Photos from Chris Garnons-Williams are added to that respective flower colour or foliage colour page in the Shrub Heather Gallery and the relevant index page in this gallery IRRESPECTIVE OF THE ACTUAL FLOWER COLOUR OR FOLIAGE COLOUR (stated in the Handy Guide) IN THE IMAGE THAT WAS TAKEN BY CHRIS GARNONS-WILLIAMS.

(o) Erica erigena

(o) 1

End of Main Menu - See Sub-Menu and Data below:-

Comments on the Heather Beds in the Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley:-

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Walking along the chipped bark path from the top left to the bottom left, I see this triangular section of heathers with the following plant labels:-
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 1 is entwined with Heather Number 2.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 2 label.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 3 Label with Heather that may not be alive.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 1 label on the left with Heather Label Number 2 on the right.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 2 label on left.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 2 on the left with this Heather Number 3 in the middle and Heather Number 4 label on the right.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 4 label
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 5 label
 

COMMENT 1

Calluna vulgaris 'The Pygmy' looks as though it is dead and so this particulkar plant can be distinguished from the others, but we as visitors do not know if there is more than 1 of Calluna vulgaris 'The Pygmy' in this ensemble and this adds to the confusion of plant identity by the visitors.

Both Heather Number 3 and Heather Number 5 are cultivars of Calluna vulgaris. Callunar vulgaris Goldcarmen has live foliage and so is distinguihable from Calluna vulgaris 'The Pygmy', but not from Heather Numbers 2 and 4 (Daboecia cantabrica 'Bubbles' or Erica carnea 'Jason Attwater').

When did the foliage of Erica vulgaris 'The Pygmy' die off and how often are these beds maintained?

If these 5 different heathers were separated with a distinctive demarcation zone for each heather group, it would make it easier for each of the 1,000,00 visitors per year to the garden at RHS Wisley to see and perhaps check their differences:-

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 4

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Heather Number 5

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

No plant label for this heather behind sign stating WH 0702

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

No plant label for heather with its pink flowers.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

No plant label for heather and its brown seedheads.
 

COMMENT 2

If a plant in a garden for display to the public and the garden holds a National Collection of Heathers, it is vaguely possible that its viewers would be slightly interested in each heather's identity, especially when that garden aims to educate.

There were more heathers without plant labels.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This is an easy to read black background label.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This is still readable, but the black background is being bleached by the sun.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This is becoming unreadable due to

• the black background is bleached by the sun and
• it is growing lichen on it

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This is becoming more unreadable due to

• the black background is bleached by the sun and
• it is growing lichen on it

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This is unreadable due to

• the black background is bleached by the sun and
• it is growing lichen on it

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This is unreadable by the visitor on the lawn due to it being back to front.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This is the heather with its unreadble label of the previous image.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Whether the front half of the label is missing or
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

the end half of the label being missing, it still means that the visitor still cannot identify these heathers without doing a lot of research.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This has the first half of the label missing and
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

so it makes it very dificult to identify these 2 flowering heather shrubs.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This label is the right hand label of the 2 labels in the next image.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

This has the black label in the last image on the right and the left label is back to front - as further detailed in the next photo.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

As far as the visitor can see from the edge of the lawn, these 2 labels refer to the same plants.

COMMENT 3

Why are these labels allowed to age beyond readability, get broken, get turned round and then

• not maintained by cleaning,
• turned to face the visitor or
• replaced - including the replacement of the white starter label with the normal black label (which includes the RHS Wisley database identity of this heather in the top left corner)?

There are more examples of heathers with invalid Plant Labels in Label moved from elsewhere Page.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Calluna vulgaris 'Lady Maithe'

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley
by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Calluna vulgaris 'Lady Maithe' enveloped with moss

COMMENT 4

"Calluna vulgaris 'Lady Maithe' Deep mauve (H2) flowers, Aug-Sep, with dark green foliage. Prostrate habit similar to, but more floriferous than, 'Mrs. Ronald Gray'. Ht. 10-15cm. Spd. 31-45cm. Sources: THS, 14e © The Heather Society, 3 October 2002 
www.users.zetnet.co.uk" from Flora Library.

At last the Royal Horticultural Society has provided some soft insulation support material for this shrub

• to provide nesting material for the local birds,
• to support expected snow during the winter or
• keep it warm if it is only frost.
• Then, this moss and dead deciduous tree leaves will rot the shrub due to the moisture surrounding its branches (held in place by the absorbent moss) and
• deleave it, since its evergreen leaves cannot receive sunshine and therefore
• kill the heather.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Group of Calluna vulgaris 'Lady Maithe' enveloped with moss.

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Erica carnea 'Rosea' with grass growing through it.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Erica carnea 'Rosea' with grass growing through it.
 

Photo from Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams in March 2015.

Erica carnea 'Rosea' with grass growing through it.

COMMENT 5

At last the Royal Horticultural Society has come up with a solution for its staff possibly over-watering the heather beds by leaving the sprinklers going for too long - a standpipe sprinkler is shown in the first image on this page.

The grass

• will absorb the excess irrigation water in its extensive roots and
• provide shade for this Erica carnea 'Rosea', before
• the thatch created from the dying grass leaves and dead deciduous tree leaves will rot the shrub due to the moisture surrounding its branches and
• deleave it, since its evergreen leaves cannot receive sunshine and therefore
• kill the heather.

Depending on which heather species you choose with their 1 from the official 18 heather colours in the top menu, you can have flowers throughout the year, which is very useful for their pollination by bees.

Click on the 1 in the Colour Wheel below to link to those thumbnails in their Comparison Gallery -
with their index of those bee-pollinated plants in addition to heathers of that flower colour in that month -
to compare their blooms:-

"RHS Plants for Pollinators
There are lots of ways to make your garden as perfect for pollinators as possible with the RHS
We have compiled two downloadable plant lists to help gardeners identify plants that will provide nectar and pollen for bees and many other types of pollinating insects:
 

• RHS Perfect for Pollinators – Garden Plants (1.3MB)
 
• RHS Perfect for Pollinators - Wildflowers (711kB)

How to attract and support pollinating insects

• Aim to have plants that are attractive to pollinating insects in flower from early spring to late autumn.
• Grow garden plants with flowers that attract pollinating insects.
• Avoid plants with double or multi-petalled flowers. Such flowers may lack nectar and pollen, or insects may have difficulty in gaining access.
• Never use pesticides on plants when they are in flower.
• Where appropriate, British wildflowers can be an attractive addition to planting schemes and may help support a wider range of pollinating insects.
• Observe the plants in your garden. If you know of plants with blooms that regularly attract insects, let us know.
• Encourage bees by keeping honeybees yourself or allowing a beekeeper to place hives in your garden. Nest boxes containing cardboard tubes or hollow plant stems, or holes drilled in blocks of wood will provide nest sites for some species of solitary bees. Such nests are available from garden centres or you can make your own (holes/tubes should be in a mixture of sizes with a diameter of 2 - 8mm)." from the RHS.
  

Site design and content copyright ©December 2014. Index Page for each Comparison Page of Heather Comparison Gallery created in this Gallery in December 2014. 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.
It is possible that the carrier pigeon used in the original link may have died and thus that link currently may no longer be functional. 

Some heathers besides having flowers have foliage colours that change from 1 season to the next season in the UK -

• Spring (March, April, May),
• Summer (June, July, August),
• Autumn (September, October, November) and
• Winter (December, January, February).

The Heather Comparison Gallery provides comparison pages of the:-

• 18 flower colours with flower and flower stalk as shown in the menu table at the top of this page,
• 18 flower colours with flower and flower stalk in each of the months that heather flowers,
• 7 foliage colours with foliage stalk and form per season as shown in the menu table at the top of this page, and
• Each of the Heather Cultivar Groups with flowers

and the Index for the heathers shown in each of these Comparison Pages is in 1 or more Index Pages in the relevant Heather Evergreen Shrub Index Gallery instead of being in the same Comparison page, due to their being too many to include within the available space.
THIS COMBINATION OF FOLIAGE COLOUR CHANGE CAN BE USED IN YOUR GARDEN DESIGN TO AID DIFFERENT GROUNDCOVER FOLIAGE COLOURS IN DIFFERENT SEASONS, together with the months of flower buds before flowering and the post months of seedheads.

As an insignificant member of the Royal Horticural Society, who does not have the qualifications to criticise the Royal Horticultural Society, I must remember to always read their following email responses to keep myself in awe of their superiority of gardening knowledge and practice.

Some of my history:-

• From 1967 to 1974 I attended Brunel University starting with Polymer Chemistry and graduating with a Lower Second in Psychology in 1974.
• As a volunteer I lived, worked and was educated in 3 kibbutzim in Israel from May 1969 to July 1970.
  • Having suffered back problems after a car crash, I informed the first kibbutz that I was not strong enough for heavy manual work, so they put me onto digging ditches. My back gave up and whilst in the kibbutz sickness bed area unable to get out of bed a katyusha rocket exploded within 400 yards. After the surgeon in the local military hospital released the muscles in my back, I managed to touch my toes.
  • To reduce my working hours to 4, I then attended an Ulpan at the second kibbutz from May 1969; where I got used to the exploding kutyusha rockets (all children in that kibbutz slept in bomb shelters). I attended the 4 hours per day Alef and Bet Hebrew course (4 hours a day working, I did the washing up - One friday evening, my helper did not turn up and so within 30 minutes I washed the 800 plates used by the members of the kibbutz and the students for dinner) and passed in November 1969.
  • Since the second kibbutz only wanted students for the Ulpan, I then moved to the third kibbutz in December 1969. Since I had some practical skills, they requested that I convert a large wooden hut with roofed side porches to house 6 volunteers. 3 rows of 2 per row metal beds would have filled the inner room leaving the basin in one of the side porches for toiletries and the other side porch for storage of their rucksacks. I stripped the 40 year old tar paper from the outside and applied 5cm strips of plywood over every gap between the butted upright 0.5 inch thick cladding. I replaced 3 out of the 4 doors - 1 to each side porch at the front and 1 to each end of the inner room in the middle of the side walls, with recycled doors from previous wooden huts used by the kibbutz when they first built the kibbutz. Using a setsquare, saw, claw hammer and other recycled timber, I erected a hanging cupboard in the first entry porch with room above for their rucksacks, using greenhouse framing I created 2 sets of bunk beds in the bedroom end of the inner room with a side table for hairbrushes and make-up. Using the only furniture of four 1 metre square sofa cushions, I created a sofa with shelf space under it and using recycled wood and a metal bed created another bed with shelf storage under it opposite the sofa in the lounge area of that inner room. I used the same method in the other side porch to create another bed with shelving under it and got the basin to work. Using greenhouse framing, I put this into the side windows in both side porches, so that glass could be inserted later and the green mosquito netting on the outside of the same windows. Replaced the ceilings in the side porches. I returned to the UK in July 1970. I went back for 3 months in 1973 to the same kibbutz and the hut was still being used for the volunteers with the furniture I created; undamaged.
• I then continued as a student at Brunel University doing a Sandwich Course in Psychology until April 1972. A week after the motor-bike accident where I landed on my head, I woke up in hospital. Talking caused headaches after 10 minutes and I had to relearn the English language. I had to listen to what I was saying in order to understand and continue the exchange of information with at most 3 sentences using the "Noun, Verb, Noun" structure like "The cat sat on the Mat". In order to overcome this language problem, I attended Brunel University and in the evening went to the Helpline run by students for students. I bought beads and candle-making equipment and asked if they wanted a perfumed coloured candle or a necklace - how long, colour of bead etc. I then made the relevant item and sold it to them for 25% more than the cost of the raw materials. That helped with the language problem and to improve my mind, I then created statistical programs for analysing psycholgical sessions using library books and persuaded the university computer operator to run them after midnight. After 18 months of being under Section 22, the Psychiatrist at the local hospital in Uxbridge passed me as being mentally fit. I then attended classes as a bona-fide student and passed the exams during the next summer to get a Lower Second in Psychology.
• During my time from August 1974 to September 1976 as a specialist technician, I was also doing part time lecturing in computing to Year 1 and Year 2 Architecture students of the Architecture Department of Portsmouth Polytechnic for 6 hours as an unqualified lecturer. Handing out my typed notes to the students at the end of the hour long lesson for the next lesson, the total of 61 pages made it so that the students did not have to take notes, but only to ask questions as each lecture progressed. During 2 afternoons of practical, I got the students split into groups and they created a flow-chart, a Fortran program and documentation before using it to analyse the results of their laboratory experiment. 75% of their exam answers to a waffle question, a flowchart question and a fortran program question created by me were passes and their anwers approved by the lecturer from the Computer Science Department, who left it to me to teach the whole course of hardware, software, flowcharting, documentation and the language Fortran to both years.
• With my fiancee going to work in Kent, I moved to become a Computer Programmer for the Inertial Navigation Division of GEC Avionics at Rochester, Kent from September 1976 to April 1986. I was responsible for the design, code and integration of software for the NIMROD Mk II CTS Displays (The last set of documentation I produced was 2,100 typed A3 pages for Levels 1, 2 and 3 Central Tactical System Avionic Documentation), Digital Colour Map Unit (Digitised paper map with aircaft two-thirds up the centre of the monitor for military helicopters and this was the precursor of SATNAV for cars) and the Terrain Referenced and Inertial Navigation System.
• As a Senior Software Engineer for the Maritime Aircaft Systems Division in GEC Avionics at Rochester in Kent from April 1986 to August 1990, I created On-line Real-Time Test Simulators for the Indian Sea King and Royal Navy Helicopters. I was also responsiblle for the software configuration and maintenance of 44 Integration Computers in the Test Rig area.
  I have received no lectures in Computer Science and have no paper qualifications in Computer Science.
• Being over 36 and a younger employee would have cost only half my salary, so I was made redundant in August 1990. I attended Hadlow College in Kent and in July 1991 passed my Higher National Certificate in Horticulture.
• As a Sole Trader, I started Ivydene Horticultural Services and designed, constructed and maintained private gardens from August 1991 to March 2013.
  I suffered Heart Failure in March 2013 with Atrial Fibrillation and now I have been stabilised with medication.
  Some of my designs are shown in the Case Studies.
  I have also built a large garage 15 years ago, including the complete roof.

I hope that the above demonstrates that I can think; and I find that the following reply from the Deputy Curator of the garden at Wisley for the Royal Horticultural Society is a demeaning experience.

You are reminded that the only person allowed to read the following is Chris Garnons-Williams, and even the authors from the Royal Horticultural Society who wrote the replies to my emails may not read it either according to their confidential restrictions:-

Confidential Emails from the Royal Horticultural Society for use only by Chris Garnons-Williams

On 16 Apr 2015, at 16:47, <thegarden@rhs.org.uk>
<thegarden@rhs.org.uk> wrote:

Dear Chris Garnos-Williams, 

Thank you for your additional response on this matter. I have passed this to Chris Young for his information, and also again to the Director of Horticulture, Curator of RHS Garden Wisley and Jim Gardiner, our Executive Vice President. 

Many Thanks,

Michelle. 

Michelle Housden

Commissioning Editor, The Garden

From: "chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk"
<chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk>

Reply-To: Christopher Garnons-Williams
<chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk>

Date: Tuesday, 14 April 2015 15:56

To: Michelle Housden <thegarden@rhs.org.uk>

Subject: Re: Change is in the Air Article in The Garden - hopefully the standards at Wisley might improve

Dear Mr Young

Thank you for current response and the sharing with the others, who might also find these 5 comments on heathers interesting:-

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Shrub%20Heather%20Index%20Gallery/comments1.html

which is linked to at the bottom of the heather page in my last email. 

Also the incorrect labelling of a heather in 

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Shrub%20Heather%20Gallery/heathersitemap.html

I look forward to your responses, and I can come to you if you wish. 

Kindest regards,

Chris Garnons-Williams

On 14 Apr 2015, at 12:26, <thegarden@rhs.org.uk>
<thegarden@rhs.org.uk> wrote:

Dear Mr Garnons-Williams

Thank you very much for your email in response to my article 'Change is in the Air'. You have supplied me with a huge amount of information which I will go through, so thank you for that. In addition, I will share it with our Director of Horticulture, Curator of RHS Garden Wisley and with Jim Gardiner, our Executive Vice President.

Please excuse the brevity of this response in proportion to the length of your email, but I wanted you to know that we have received it and it won't be ignored.

Many thanks

Chris Young

Editor, The Garden

From: chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk
[mailto:chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk]

Sent: 28 March 2015 12:08

To: thegarden

Subject: Fwd: Change is in the Air Article in The Garden - hopefully the standards at Wisley might improve

Begin forwarded message:

From: chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk <chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk>

Subject: Re: Change is in the Air Article in The Garden - hopefully the standards at Wisley might improve

Date: 28 March 2015 12:06:18 GMT

To: Christopher Garnons-Williams <chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk>

Reply-To: Christopher Garnons-Williams <chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk>

Dear Mr Young,

It is good to read that using £100 million  the Society will improve horticultural opportunities in the UK.

Comments:-

The photo at the start of the article shows the Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden and the Mixed Borders. I wonder if you have walked round those beds in April and again in August:-

1. Flower Colour Scheme in the Mixed Borders in 2013 - See table towards the bottom of this page on the right hand side indicating the lack of a coordinated flower colour scheme when you include the Permanent Perennials, the Bedding and Other Permanent Plants

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/easts1p3.html

and lack of coordinated flower scheme for Permanent Perennials, separated from Bedding and separated from Other Permanent Plants

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/permherbacindex.html

2. Together with missing the identity of 29% of the plants in flower for the Permanent Herbaceous Perennial Plants in the Middle Table

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/permherbacindex.html

3. un-labelled Bedding Plants

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/bedding2index.html

 

4. Use a system to select your plants

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/easts2p5.html#flowerselection

 

5. Provide plant labels that can be read by visitors

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/easts1p3.html#VisiblePlantLabels
 

See complete waste of money and effort by 60 staff in the Violas and Pansies display at the bottom right hand side of the above page

 

6. Create bed histories so that next year's students do not make the same mistakes as last years students

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/easts5p14.html#planthistory

 

7. Position Climbers in Mixed Borders so that they are visible when in flower and can be identified

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/easts5p16s6p16.html#Climberunseen

 

8. Speed up safety resolutions

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Mixed%20Borders%20Design/easts7p20.html#safetyconcerns

 

9. Do explain to your visitors if you intend to bring in a new Rose Classification System

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Rose%20RHS%20Wisley%20Gallery/wisleywisley.html

 

10. Further Plant Label and Path Foundation Comments

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Rose%20RHS%20Wisley%20Gallery/furtherplantlabe.html

 

11. Same plant labelling problems with the heathers in your heather collection

http://www.ivydenegardens.co.uk/
Shrub%20Heather%20Gallery/heathersitemap.html
 


The same problem with being able to read the plant name in the Alpine House also exists as well as identifying the Tulips in the large bedding trial - the beds were split up using baling twine and labels inserted. When the tulips were in flower, the labels had been overgrown.
 


I would suggest that you personally walk round the gardens once a month in Wisley as a visitor and you will see the degradation of standards as plants grow and mingle together. Perhaps the budget for the plant labeller could be increased so that when the bedding seed is planted in February, the label is available before they are planted out in May.

 

The standard of the trials in the Trials Field is superb and visitors can identify each plant in each trial. The labels in the plant trials alongside the Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden get overgrown and the result is beautiful to look at but totally uninformative for the visitor seeing the flowers.

 

If I was employed as a gardener at Wisley and I carried out your standard of gardening I would have been sacked years ago.

 

You might other parts of my retirement hobby of an educational website informative - it neither sells nor buys anything.

 

Best Regards,
 


Chris Garnons-Williams


 

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The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is the UK's leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. Anyone with an interest in gardening can enjoy the benefits of RHS Membership and help us to secure a healthy future for gardening. For more information call: 0845 130 4646, or visit www.rhs.org.uk.

The contents of this email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, proprietary and may be legally privileged. They are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. If you are not the intended recipient you may not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on this email. The sender is not responsible for any changes made to any part of this email after transmission. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Society. Although this email and any attachments are believed to be free from any virus or other defects which might affect any computer or IT system into which they are received, no responsibility is accepted by the Society or any of its associated companies for any loss or damage arising in any way from the receipt or use thereof.

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On 21 Apr 2015, at 15:45, <thegarden@rhs.org.uk>
<thegarden@rhs.org.uk> wrote:

Dear Mr Garnons-Williams

Thank you for your recent email to the Editor of ‘The Garden’ magazine.

I am the Deputy Curator of RHS Garden Wisley and, given that your feedback principally relates to the garden at Wisley, I wanted to take the time to address your concerns personally. 

Plant combinations and colours

With regard to your feedback on colour schemes and plant combinations across the Mixed Borders and Bowes Lyon Rose Garden, the appreciation or indeed the dislike of certain groupings and colours is always going to be highly subjective.  Whilst some combinations are clearly incorrect from a horticultural perspective – for example not mixing drought tolerant plants with aquatic plants – I believe that there is no absolute right or wrong when it comes to colour mixes.  Nowhere is the saying ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ more true than in gardening.

As I regularly conduct guided tours of the garden, you may be interested to know that we receive overwhelmingly positive feedback about both the Mixed Borders and the Bowes Lyon Rose Garden.  I do think that one of the joys of gardening is sharing varied opinions on someone else’s creations and, whilst I appreciate that these areas are not to your taste, I hope that there are parts of Wisley which you enjoy as your own personal favourites.

Labelling

Having read the various label-related points on your website, I do appreciate your frustration at finding an interesting plant with no means of identifying it.  It is worth noting that, overall, the standard of our horticultural labelling is considered to be one of the highest in the country, however, no plant labelling system is infallible and sometimes, unfortunately, omissions or errors do occur.  To put this in context, there are over 25,000 different plants at Wisley, many of which have multiple accessions, so there are potentially several hundred thousand plants labelled within the garden.  In fact, our label engraving team, which is based at Wisley, engrave in excess of 20,000 labels each year, for all four RHS gardens. 

My team and I are passionate Horticulturists and plants people and we want our visitors to be inspired by the discovery of a plant which is new to them.  For this reason, we do our utmost to ensure the correct size and height of label, and position them relevant to the planting, but where they will not be obscured.  Unavoidably, as the plants grow, some labels do become hidden by foliage.  I can offer my assurance that the gardeners work continually to correct this, time and resources permitting.

There are, also, other factors which are beyond our control.  As you may be aware, Wisley has over a million visitors a year and, during the daily review, we do find that labels have been broken and sometimes strangely relocated.  Interestingly in recent years, we have also suffered from some visitors ‘removing’ the smaller labels, which we presume is the easy alternative to making a written note/taking a photo of the name of the plant in which they are interested.  Unfortunately this is very unhelpful to all our other visitors and means that there is a ‘void’ period whilst we produce and install replacement labels.

I would say that our plant labelling is a continually evolving and, hopefully, improving process and that, over the whole 200 acre site, the plants are well labelled.  Should you need assistance with identifying a specific plant during one of your visits, please ask a member of the garden staff, who will be delighted to help.

Health & Safety

Thank you for reporting the issues with the paving stones on the path next to the Mixed Borders.  This is helpful, and if you do observe anything of concern during your visits please continue to report it to a staff member or mention it to the Visitor Services Team when exiting.

Please be assured that we take all matters relating to safety extremely seriously and aim to address any problems as a matter of priority.  We close off any areas which present a hazard and replace or repair any loose stones or those where movement is occurring.  If there are paving stones which are cracked but where there is no movement, these will be replaced as part of a wider and ongoing routine maintenance programme.

You may be interested in taking a look at the sloping path through the Alpine Meadow which is a new type of surface we are trialling in the garden.  This is a ’Flexipave’ path, a product made up from a blend of chippings and recycled rubber, bonded with polyurethane which allows for flexing under pressure or heave, and avoids the cracking and splitting which can occur with traditional resin bonded gravel.  The rubber content provides a non-slip quality and increases ‘grip’ for foot traffic.

Rose classification system

Finally, thank you for your feedback on the rose classification system which, as you highlight, is not displayed in the garden.  The physical signage in the garden is to interpret what the visitors see, with additional brief interesting or stimulating facts where space permits.  It’s not feasible, nor intended, for the garden signage to cover in-depth topics such as rose classification systems.  The rose classification system can be found in the ‘Classification of Genera’ section, Page 25, in the RHS Plant Finder.

I have read all your comments with interest and can see that you are a passionate and dedicated gardener, and a regular visitor to Wisley.  I hope that you will continue to enjoy visiting the garden with all the planned investment in its future, and find pleasure in the plant displays even where opinions on style and design may differ.

Kind regards

Matthew Pottage

Deputy Curator, RHS Garden Wisley

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The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is the UK's leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. Anyone with an interest in gardening can enjoy the benefits of RHS Membership and help us to secure a healthy future for gardening. For more information call: 0845 130 4646, or visit www.rhs.org.uk. 

The contents of this email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, proprietary and may be legally privileged. They are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. If you are not the intended recipient you may not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on this email. The sender is not responsible for any changes made to any part of this email after transmission. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Society. Although this email and any attachments are believed to be free from any virus or other defects which might affect any computer or IT system into which they are received, no responsibility is accepted by the Society or any of its associated companies for any loss or damage arising in any way from the receipt or use thereof.