On my way up north from Edinburgh by train I stopped off to visit Scottish Rockers ( Scottish Rock Garden Forum luminaries) Ian and Maggi Young’s wonderfully diverse garden in Aberdeen. Ian was actually the first person to review my book and I blogged about the review and Ian’s labour of love since 2003, his weekly Bulb Log here: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=269
Maggi is the intrepid commander-in-chief of the Scottish Rock Garden Forum and other FB fora for many years, a forum I used to follow daily until FB took over as there’s an enormous amount of information and knowledge there, and perhaps 30% or so of ornamentals are edible!
Ian kindly volunteered to pick me up at the station and I spent a pleasant hour or two looking through their paradise. Although it wasn’t the best time of year to see the garden there were still a number of plants in flower and it was good to also meet Allium wallichii here too (see my blog about the Edinburgh botanics)…and this week’s Bulb Log from Ian features a great shot of this plant on the front page: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Sep141473851515BULB_LOG_3716.pdf Now to plan a spring visit!
Home made alpine troughs everywhere!
Crocus spp. in a bed full of many spring flowering Erythroniums
A trough with 3 species of Aciphylla (Maori carrot)
One of several Celmisias in the garden (not edible)
Edibles appeared in due course!
An autumn flowering Hepatica
Eucomis, non-edible pineapple lily was in full flower
A developing ecosystem on a rock in the pond with butterbur!
Smilacina henryi?
Codonopsis grey-wilsonii is a stunning edimental climbing beauty!
New Zealand dwarf Fuchsia procumbens is a beautiful miniature edimental
Parochetus communis, shamrock pea or blue oxalis, has two widely different populations in South Africa and the Himalaya, the latter being hardy in northern Europe!
The plant of this trip as I saw it in most of the gardens I visited, often in large quantities and the Youngs’ garden was no exception, one of the 80 in my book!
Allium wallichii, Sherpa or Nepal onion!
Allium wallichii, Sherpa or Nepal onion!
Maggi and Ian
More Celmisias
More Celmisias
?
In the front garden is a great little collection of Vacciniums etc.
Ian Young
Rubus nepalensis?
Gaultheria spp.
The black form of Rosa ?
Celmisia spp
Veratrum fimbriatum has very special flowers! (Poisonous!)
A diverse selection of pictures from last weekend in the Edible Garden :)
Urtica dioica “Danae Johnston” (stinging nettle/brennesle) originally came from Rosie Castle ten years ago (2006). Seed plants with similar variegation started appearing this year in my garden
Lathyrus tuberosus (Earthnut Pea/Tuberous Pea / Jordflatbelg9 clambering up into a yew (barlind) in my garden Edible tubers.
Lilium davidii var. unicolor flowering for the first time! It lacks the spots on the flowers seen in the species! Edible bulbs.
Platycodon grandiflorus (balloon flower / flattklokke) is cultivated for its edible root in the Far East
Lilium michiganense flowering for the first time : the bulbs are/were eaten by Native American tribes
Lilium michiganense flowering for the first time : the bulbs are/were eaten by Native American tribes
Lilium michiganense flowering for the first time : the bulbs are/were eaten by Native American tribes
Ligularia fischeri flower close-up; for more on its use, see here: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=3114
Ligularia fischeri flower close-up; for more on its use, see here: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=3114
Ligularia fischeri flower close-up; for more on its use, see here: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=3114
Calamintha nepeta is used as a herb tea or flavouring in food. Known as mentuccia, nipitella or nepitella in Italian cuisine!
Prunella vulgaris “Pagoda”: the leaves can be used raw and cooked. Flowers are presumably also edible!
A pink flowered variant of Veronica beccabunga (brooklime)
White and mauve coloured flowers of edible Campanula trachelium (nettle-leaved bellflower / nesleklokke) with poisonous Veratrum californicum on the right in full flower.
My chicories are growing well this year!
The tops of Chenopodium album from Feral Farm Agroforestry
Lilium regale? growing up through a Macropiper excelsa from New Zealand!
English mace leaves can be used as a flavouring in soups and salads
Apium prostratum from New Zealand – see separate album about this!
It’s unusual here to see runner beans in flower in July…this was a cultivar I bought in Japan and is well ahead of other varieties I planted!
Slow to bolt coriander cultivar “Calypso” (right) is the most bolt resistant variety I’ve grown. It’s bred in the UK. I just hope it’s not so late at bolting that seeds are not produced!
I’ve had this magnificent Adenophora in my garden for many years, but am unsure what species it is…
I’ve had this magnificent Adenophora in my garden for many years, but am unsure what species it is…
Now a few Patrinias which are in full flower now. Although wild collected in the Far East as a vegetable I’ve found them rather bitter…sadly. They belong to the Valerianaceae. This is Patrinia triloba v. takeuchiana
Patrinia triloba v. takeuchiana
Probably Patrinia gibbosa
A white flowered Patrinia
A white flowered Patrinia
Urtica galeopsifolia, the stingless sting nettle
Rubus occidentalis is still 3 weeks or so away from harvest and its going to be a bumper one this year!
Clintonia borealis in fruit with Fragaria moschata…
I was surprised to see two Gunneras (both tinctoria/chilensis and manicata) outside at the Ringve Botanical Gardens in Trondheim at the weekend. Reidun Mork told me that they had used the same overwintering technique as they used at the Copenhagen Botanical Gardens, where she used to work. I knew exactly what she meant as I’d taking a picture in Copenhagen of this in early May (second picture). I’ve never seen overwintered Gunnera so far north before. Gunnera tinctoria is one of the 80 in my book and has special significance locally as the genus was named after Trondheim Bishop Gunnerus (by Linnaeus).
I must have a go at overwintering my pot grown specimen…
These 4 fun-loving specimens of Homo sapiens from Germany, the US, Denmark and Norway, on a secret mission, raided my garden of some giant vegetables this evening and here they are caught in the act! All may eventually be revealed…
I can’t remember people’s names, but that’s an Angelica / kvann behind them ;)
Tonight’s greens: Sea kale(strandkål), Scorzonera (scorsonnerot), Allium senescens, Sweet cicely (spansk kjørvel), Giant bellflower (storklokke), Sorrel / surblad, Nettle (nesle), Dandelion (løvetann)Sea kale(strandkål) flowering tops are deliciousScorzonera (scorsonnerot) tops are also delicious and sweet tastingAllium senescens hybridSweet cicely (spansk kjørvel) flowering tops (the flower stems need to be removed as they are woody) are also sweet.Giant bellflower (storklokke) tops are also sweetishSorrel (surblad) leaves from my patch of 6 Russian cultivars
Somebody once said that solstice greens are the best…I’d add that solstice perennial greens are even better :) Here’s what I used in tonight’s soup: Sea kale(strandkål), Scorzonera (scorsonnerot), Allium senescens, Sweet cicely (spansk kjørvel), Giant bellflower (storklokke), Sorrel / surblad, Nettle (nesle), Dandelion (løvetann) (all are in my book)…and I almost forgot that there’s chickweed (vassarve) in there too, perennial in that it’s there every year!
Many thanks to Sam Brown for showing me around backstage and for posing for scale next to this giant Taunton Deane’s Cottagers Kale, the UK’s only documented old surviving cultivated perennial kale! This one was acccording to Christina Damerel only about 5-6 years old. I was bowled over to see the cottagers kales when I visited 5 years ago, but hadn’t realised how big they could get. The pictures in the link above show plants that weren’t actually that old… The plant in the picture below has a similar stature to the Californian Tree Collards. Sam told me that the woodpigeons graze the higher leaves (you can see this in the picture), but the lower ones are left alone and are also better tasting. The “trunk” was massive!
More pictures from this still great edible walled garden when I get a chance!
Well, not only Mandy’s plot, a group of local people in Ashburton, Devon got together to buy The Field a few years ago to grow vegetables communally! It is truly an inspiration to see how productive what was sheep pasture can actually be!! We need much more of this and I’m imagining the hills around covered in Andean tuber crops in a few years from now rather than sheep!!
It was great to meet you all and a big bonus that Owen and good lady made the journey up from Cornwall to join us!!
More pictures in the album below!
See Mandy’s blog of my visit here: http://www.incrediblevegetables.co.uk/stephen-barstow-visit/
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
