Appreciation: Out and About

Discussion in 'How's It Growing?' started by wcutler, May 24, 2020.

  1. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    I felt the Verbena bonariensis leaves, and yes, they do feel rough. And they're in focus.
    Verbena-bonariensis_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_145904.jpg Verbena-bonariensis_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_145919.jpg

    I found some Heliotrope flowers that were not planted with Lantana, and noticed the fragrance when I crushed a flower in my hands. Gardner Frankie was there, and I remembered to ask the species name - she says it's Heliotropium arborescens. She did not know the species or cultivar names for the Lantana.

    Here is a plant I have seen around, Prostanthera cuneata, with the tiniest leaves arranged like rose petals. Margot posted a photo of hers in May in the Virtual Garden Tour thread, with a lot more flowers. Anyway, it's the leaves I like. I didn't think to crush them to smell them, didn't remember the common name was mint bush (well, I didn't remember anything about it, had to look it up). I got a little mixed up, leaves like roses - this is really at the Parks Board office.
    Prostanthera -cuneata_ParksBoard-BeachAve_Cutler_20200819_141016.jpg Prostanthera -cuneata_ParksBoard-BeachAve_Cutler_20200819_141042.jpg

    So there I was in the rose garden, and I'm sorry, I have posted this first rose before, but I couldn't help myself, here it is again, a lot more photos of it. Rosa 'About Face'. It's in at least two beds, still looking excellent.
    RosaAboutFace_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150506.jpg RosaAboutFace_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150524.jpg RosaAboutFace_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150535.jpg RosaAboutFace_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150629.jpg RosaAboutFace_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150638.jpg RosaAboutFace_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150722.jpg

    I guess as an antidote to the above rose, I was attracted to this near-blue Rosa 'La Petite Prince'. The name is a little annoying to anyone who knows French, and this seems to have the unfortunate trait that the outer petals start to senesce before the rest of the flower opens, so hardly any of the flowers really ever look excellent at their peak bloom. Still, it has some nice subtle colour variations. And it's restful to look at.
    RosaLaPetitePrince_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150802.jpg RosaLaPetitePrince_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150815.jpg RosaLaPetitePrince_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150922.jpg RosaLaPetitePrince_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150942.jpg RosaLaPetitePrince_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_150959.jpg RosaLaPetitePrince_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_151010.jpg RosaLaPetitePrince_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200819_151022.jpg
     
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  2. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @wcutler I think you are behind us weather wise that is, as the rose gardens, especially Mottisfont have really gone over now. A few left but nothing like in your photos. June is the time for wonderful displays here these days. 30 years ago it was July.
     
  3. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Good morning, after the deluge of rain these last few days I thought about how water plays a big part in landscape gardens.

    Here are some photos of the landscape at Sheffield Park East Sussex England we visited. There are three large lakes with a carefully selected planting of many varieties of trees surrounding them.
     

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  4. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    My wife and I are very fortunate to have on our doorstep this lovely estate, it is only several hundred yards away. This is the Chamberlain estate Hampshire England and once home of Sir Isaac Newton.( Cranbury Park). A sun dial is still in situ that was calculated by the man himself.
    Our house is actually built on the grounds of this once large family estate.
    My photos are from yesterday, showing the sweeping land up to the house and glimpses of the folly that was built from the ruins of Netley Abbey England. Every grand stately home should have a folly!!!.
    It is not open to the public, but there are public rights of way through the estate so people can enjoy the scenery.
    Here is a link if anyone wants to read about the history of Cranbury Park.

    Cranbury Park - Wikipedia
     

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  5. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    A very early walk this morning to see what damage had been caused by the storms. Not too bad everywhere. These ancient Oaks Quercus robur stand in the same grounds as my posting yesterday, as can be seen storms and lightning over the years has taken its toll. Still natures art though. IMG_20200820_131603579_HDR.jpg IMG_20200820_131708656_HDR.jpg IMG_20200820_131715005.jpg IMG_20200820_131743029.jpg
    Sir Isaac Newton would have walked around these when they were newly planted, so the history is amazing IMO.
     
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  6. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Today I thought I would show just two photos of our visit to Clandon Park in Surrey England, not BC. Surrey was mentioned earlier in another thread, so it brought this to mind this morning.
    These are very formal gardens, but the Cedar is ever present. We were intending to re visit a few days later, but the very next day after our visit, this beautiful house was entirely gutted by fire. We watched the news in shock as it all unfolded. I have copied a link for anybody wishing to read about the estate.
    Clandon Park House - Wikipedia
     

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  7. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    Thanks for the photos and the link, Acerholic. That must have felt like a personal loss after you had just been there.
    I recognize the name Capability Brown, who landscaped the park.
     
  8. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Yes, Lancelot "Capability" Brown was an inspirational landscape designer, we love walking around the gardens he created. 'Such vision'.

    And yes it did feel very unnerving tbh watching it all unfold on TV. But many a stately home has fallen to the ravages of fire. The gardens do survive, so let's look on the positive side !!!!!!
     
  9. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    The feature at Mottisfont is old garden roses, many of which are once blooming whereas Wendy has been posting pictures of modern roses. Most of which flower from spring to fall.
     
  10. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    That's an interesting and very good point Ron. Next time we are there I will take note of the names for the forum. Going to be 2021 now though.
     
  11. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    It's been interesting seeing how steeped in HISTORY Acerholic is over there. Here we have history. Like the Roedde House, built in 1893, which is now a museum. To me it is most notable for being on a city block that is entirely a park, now called Barclay Heritage Square, with six rental houses, three community houses, and green space. You can read about how the park came to be at House Restoration - Roedde House Museum. This is in the West End, where I live, which used to be called the 2nd most densely populated square mile in North America (after New York City), though I have not heard it referenced that way for a long time, even though it is far more densely populated now, with a lot of high rises and low rise condos and apartments. I managed to find the name of the white Cleome hassleriana, spider flower.
    BarclaySquarePark-RoeddeHouseMuseum_Cutler_20200825_142332.jpg BarclaySquarePark-RoeddeHouseMuseum_Cutler_20200825_142401.jpg Cleome-hassleriana_BarclaySquarePark-RoeddeHouseMuseum_Cutler_20200825_142439.jpg Cleome-hassleriana_RoeddeHouse_Cutler_20200825_142323.jpg

    The Vancouver Parks Board looks after the plantings on this square. It's not often we see Kirengeshoma planted in a yard around here (though @pmurphy posted hers last year). This is the corner of the park that has six smaller houses with rental units.
    BarclaySquarePark_HaroBroughton_Cutler_20200825_143218.jpg Kirengeshoma_BarclaySquarePark_HaroBroughton_Cutler_20200825_143248.jpg Kirengeshoma_BarclaySquarePark_HaroBroughton_Cutler_20200825_143320.jpg
     
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  12. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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  13. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @wcutler I think the interest in history is because it is all around us here. The Cathedral that is just up the road is 1000 years old. (Winchester). We also have so many Roman sites 2000 yrs and obviously Stonehenge 5000 yrs closeby.

    I think it is so wonderful to see on this forum, a little bit of botanical history from all over the world. Really enjoyed seeing and reading about Roedde House.

    A great thread Wendy.
     
  14. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    I didn't get around to posting my banana photos last week - these are from August 19, at the Parks Board office, and today there is a story in the Vancouver Sun about banana trees nearby in the park at the lawn bowling club. There are several places these are grown around Vancouver, usually against a south-facing wall. I'm not posting this in the Fruits and Veggies forum - I don't think anyone in Vancouver counts on eating their crop.
    Vancouver’s Stanley Park finds fruitful bounty with bananas | Vancouver Sun
    Banana_StanleyPark-BeachAveOffice_Cutler_20200819_140704.jpg Banana_StanleyPark-BeachAveOffice_Cutler_20200819_140724.jpg
     
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  15. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    I haven't been by there in a long time but a residential property not far north of UBC used to have a highly visible Japanese banana planting. One time a couple of us drove in there and knocked on the front door. The man that answered said the bananas were present when he first starting working there in 1958.

    A small pool around which the bananas were arranged had full sized trout swimming in it.
     
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  16. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    Oh no, I understand from a facebook posting that the last installment of Douglas Justice's August 2020 In the Neighbourhood - UBC Botanical Garden blog will be the last neighbourhood edition. So many of these summer flowers have been ones I've never learned to name. And then there are those that I thought I did know, like Sedum autumn joy - guess what - it's called Hylotelephium 'Herbstsfreude' . Douglas wrote mostly about Hylotelephium spectabile (showy stonecrop), which have opposite or whorled leaves. These that I saw today seem to have alternate leaves. From the blog: " 'Herbstfreude' has alternately-arranged leaves (like H. telephium) and salmon pink flowers that open two weeks later than those of H. spectabile." Are these flowers salmon pink? I can't imagine at this point recognizing the difference and I have no idea how commonly planted are H. spectabile. I have assumed these are autumn joy.
    HylotelephiumHerbstfreude_LagoonDrAlberni_Cutler_20200826_155442.jpg

    In the same planting are dahlias, written up in the blog, and echinacea, and what I have guessed are Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb', which is not something I have ever heard of or even noticed before.
    Dahlias-and-Echinacea_LagoonDrAlberni_Cutler_20200826_155422.jpg Coreopsis-verticillataZagreb_LagoonDrAlberni_Cutler_20200826_155600.jpg

    There's a pretty colourful collection of Dahlia variabilis at the Rose Garden.
    Dahlia-variabilis_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200826_160646.jpg Dahlia-variabilis_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200826_160757.jpg

    Today's rose is a hybrid tea - Rosa 'Sweet Fragrance', which is aptly named.
    RosaSweetFragrance_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200826_161000.jpg RosaSweetFragrance_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200826_160901.jpg RosaSweetFragrance_StanleyPark-RoseGarden_Cutler_20200826_160922.jpg
     
  17. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @wcutler roses and horses, a perfect photo for my wife and I. We enjoy the smell of both !!!!! Some might disagree. Lol.
     
  18. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Good morning, on our way back from our early walk, the sun was shining through this Pinus sp in a neighbours garden.
    I thought it deserved a mention here.
     

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  19. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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  20. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot good morning Margot, yes I wish it was mine. Lol.
    It has been there as long as I can remember. Some trees just stick in your mind as just always being there, if you understand what I mean and I'm sure you do.
    I think this is why we have this infinity with trees and become so sad when they are lost.
     
  21. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    Well, she says tentatively, these must be Hylotelephium spectabile. Leaves are clearly opposite. These were in a traffic circle in the West End.
    Hylotelephium-spectabile_ComoxJervisCircle_Cutler_20200831_141145.jpg Hylotelephium-spectabile_ComoxJervisCircle_Cutler_20200831_141147.jpg Hylotelephium-spectabile_ComoxJervisCircle_Cutler_20200831_141236.jpg Hylotelephium-spectabile_ComoxJervisCircle_Cutler_20200831_141301.jpg

    Here are some more of the autumn joy Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude', from two different locations.
    Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'_AlexandraPark_Cutler_20200831_125840.jpg Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'_ComoxBidwellSwale_Cutler_20200831_142758.jpg Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'_ComoxBidwellSwale_Cutler_20200831_142841.jpg

    The last two were planted by the person maintaining this corner swale (rain garden) near me.
    ComoxBidwellSwale_Cutler_20200831_142908.jpg
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2020
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  22. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    We have another historical block in the West End, Mole Hill, a heritage community housing project made up of Victorian style houses dating back to 1888 - the earliest surviving block of pre-World War One housing stock in Vancouver. Mole Hill is governed by the Mole Hill Community Housing Society, and contains 170 social housing suites, three daycares, a group home and a host of community assets, set in a park-like environment. The Society has been recognized for achievements in heritage conservation, construction, landscaping and the provision of social housing. You can read all about it at Timeline – Mole Hill Community Housing Society. The weekly farmer's market takes place in the street where the houses face Nelson Park. The first photo is a public path through the middle of the block. Everything in this posting is from this block.
    MoleHill_Cutler_20200901_154733.jpg MoleHillHouse_1169Pendrell_Cutler_20200901_154215.jpg

    There are some interesting plants on this block. One of the tenants told this one is a pussy willow, so I have come up with the name Salix caprea 'Pendula', which is listed on several sites. Wikipedia says for Salix caprea "The most common cultivar is S. caprea 'Kilmarnock', discovered by James Smith, with stiffly pendulous shoots forming a mop-head; it is a male clone. A similar female clone is S. caprea 'Weeping Sally'." Presumably this would be a male plant.
    Salix-capreaPendula_1100blkJepson-YoungLa_Cutler_20200831_135409.jpg Salix-capreaPendula_1100blkJepson-YoungLa_Cutler_20200831_135452.jpg Salix-capreaPendula_1100blkJepson-YoungLa_Cutler_20200831_135534.jpg Salix-capreaPendula_1100blkJepson-YoungLa_Cutler_20200831_135608.jpg Salix-capreaPendula_1100blkJepson-YoungLa_Cutler_20200831_135649.jpg
    I knew those white things could not be flowers, but they had me very confused until I figured out that they are leaves.
    Salix-capreaPendula_1100blkJepson-YoungLa_Cutler_20200901_155042.jpg Salix-capreaPendula_1100blkJepson-YoungLa_Cutler_20200901_155454.jpg

    Here is a cultivar of Rhus typhina that I cam calling 'Bailtiger' (Tiger Eyes ®) until I'm told differently. It looks much nicer from the side I first saw. This is all the same plant.
    Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger'_MoleHill-paththru_Cutler_20200901_155804.jpg Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger'_MoleHill-paththru_Cutler_20200901_160214.jpg Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger'_MoleHill-paththru_Cutler_20200901_160119.jpg Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger'_MoleHill-paththru_Cutler_20200901_155833.jpg Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger'_MoleHill-paththru_Cutler_20200901_160008.jpg

    Here is another Hylotelephium spectabile. Again, leaves are obviously oppositely arranged. I have finally maybe learned this name too - I typed that in myself.
    Hylotelephium spectabile_MoleHill-Comox_Cutler_20200901_161126.jpg Hylotelephium spectabile_MoleHill-Comox_Cutler_20200901_161317.jpg

    Here is a passionflower - Passiflora caerulea. I thought I was doing very well to find all those bees, but there was a Botany Photo of the Day that was practically the same photo, maybe even same kind of bees, in which case they would be carpenter bees.
    Passiflora caerulea
    Passiflora caerulea_MoleHill-PendrellEntrance_Cutler_20200901_154917.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2020
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  23. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @wcutler great photos Wendy and I liked the link. Gold prospectors to social housing what a change !! There is something about a photographic history of an area that brings it more to life. Enjoyed it, thankyou for sharing this.
     
  24. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    I never got around to posting this last week, what I think is Farfugium japonicum 'Crispatum' (Curly-leaf leopard plant). It's a Park's Board planting, just two small plants around this size in Alexandra Park along the sidewalk across from English Bay. I read that this is an evergreen perennial (a confusing description for me) and that it should get pale daisy-like flowers in late summer. I don't see any sign of this going to have flowers or any indication that I missed them. I was trying to show how hairy the new leaves are.
    Farfugium japonicum 'Crispatum'_AlexandraPark_Cutler_20200831_125924.jpg Farfugium japonicum 'Crispatum'_AlexandraPark_Cutler_20200831_125945.jpg
     
  25. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    I see one on the web called 'Wavy Gravy' that also looks like the one in your photo. Wikipedia does say it's evergreen but other sites say it's deciduous and I don't think, looking at your pictures that it would hold up well in freezing temperatures. It's not considered to be in the genus Ligularia anymore though you can certainly see the similarity - I wonder if it needs as much watering as Ligularia.
     

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