What to see in the garden on your visit:

Home Wood:

The Sundial Garden is ablaze with some very interesting annuals and perennials including a good collection of Salvia’s, Dahlia’s, Fuchsia’s, Cuphea, Nicotiana, Ricinus, Agapanthus  and the large leaves of a Paulownia tomentosa all enclosed by a  large yew hedge and an old pergola smothered by an ancient Wisteria.

The Ponds & Cascades:

A number of very interesting Japanese Maples (Acer palmatum) are producing good autumn colour. The delicate leaves turn from yellow to orange and fiery reds.

The Lower Pond will soon be filled with water after its annual clean out and repairs to the concrete walls.

The Herbaceous Border:

The Herbaceous Border always has something of interest  Anemone’s,  Penstemon, Rudbeckia, Aralia, Crocosmia’s, Miscanthus  and many more. Look out for Yucca gloriosa  with large ivory white flowers near the Chinese Paper-bark Maple  (Acer griseum) a small tree with a very interesting bark.

Yard Wood:

Several trees are turning colour and best of these will be the Liquidambar (Sweet Gum), Nyssa sylvatica (Tupelo), Acer palmatum (Japanese Maples), Betula nigra (River Birch) and other interesting shrubs including Disanthus cercidifolius, Cotinus coggygria  (Smoke Bush) and many more.

The Hydrangea’s along Hydrangea Walk are still worth a look with a wide variety of colour and flower shape. The Board Walk is in complete contrast and boasts plants from a Jurassic age and includes Dicksonia antarctica (Tree Ferns) Ginkgo, Wollemi Pine, Taxodium distichum (Swamp Cypress) lots of bamboo and interesting foliage plants.

Parts of the Rock Garden are undergoing a major refurbishment. Due to the severe 2009/10 winter many of the dwarf rhododendrons were badly damaged. As the seasons progressed very few recovered and as a result many of them are being heavily pruned back to encourage new growth further down the stems. This will allow more compact plants over the next few years.

Several interesting Fungi are now appearing in all sorts of places round the garden as the weather becomes cooler and damper. Look out for the Fly Agaric especially close to Birch Trees.

Keep a look out on the Exbury website “Current Flowering conditions page” to see how the autumn colours are developing. And don’t miss the spectacular display of Nerine sarniensis in the Five Arrows Gallery throughout October.

If you have  some spare time and enjoy gardening? Would you like to join our existing volunteers in helping to maintain he gardens in a very friendly atmosphere?
Then please contact: Vicky.Scott@exbury.co.uk  or John.anderson@exbury.co.uk

John Anderson
Head Gardener.