@jillraggett / jillraggett.tumblr.com
Plant of the Day
Monday 25 December 2023
Last year my friend was given a Citrus × aurantium f. aurantium (sweet orange) as a houseplant by her daughter. It grew in a conservatory and this small tree flowered filling the house with scent. Then six fruits developed, ripened and now have been made into delicious jars of marmalade in time to be festive gifts. This is my wonderful jar. The sweet orange is a hybrid between Citrus maxima (pomelo) and Citrus reticulata (mandarin).
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Sunday 24 December 2023
In the autumn and winter Chrysanthemum cultivars are a great glasshouse cut flower crop. These perennial plants, depending on the variety, can be hardy or half-hardy and thrive in a moist but well-drained soil with added compost or well-rotted manure. For larger single flowers the side-shoots are removed (known as disbudding) and plants will need staking.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Saturday 23 December 2023
At Gordon Castle, Scotland, these pillars of Fagus sylvatica Atropurpurea Group (copper beech, purple beech) add height and structure to the 100m long central borders. The designer Arne Maynard surrounded the topiary tree pillars with herbaceous plants in a soft colour palette with flowers and foliage of blue, purple and white with touches of yellow and apricot.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Friday 22 December 2023
This striking display of succulents at The Beth Chatto Garden, Essex, features a large Aeonium ‘Schwarzkopf’ (black rose). The striking almost black, rosettes form tight spirals at the top of tall stems. These tender plants need bright sunlight and well-drained growing media.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Thursday 21 December 2023
The spectacular succulent Echeveria ‘Mauna Loa’ was created by Dick Wright in 1976. This plant is a complex hybrid with Echeveria gibbiflora ‘Carunculata’ and other cultivars in the parentage. The appearance varies under different growing conditions with the edges of the leaves turning red to burgundy when in the full sun.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Tuesday 19 December 2023
A cultivar of the slow growing succulent Kalanchoe beharensis ‘Fang’ (stalactite plant, elephant’s ears kalanchoe, velvet leaf, felt bush) has velvety silver leaves where the margins and underside are covered in small tubercles, or ‘fangs’.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Monday 18 December 2023
The slow-growing Kalanchoe beharensis (elephant's ear kalanchoe, felt bush) was part of this stone sink garden planting at Great Dixter, Sussex. This succulent is native to Behara in South Madagascar and is not frost hardy.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Sunday 17 December 2023
A good plant for a container display Echeveria ’Red Sea Monster’ has dark green and frilled at the edge with bright red. The flower stems are tall (up to 50-60cm) and topped with dark pink flowers.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Saturday 16 December 2023
By late summer and into autumn Salvia confertiflora (red velvet sage, Sabra spike sage) adds drama to the garden. This tender perennial needs a sunny, sheltered spot with a well-drained soil.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Friday 15 December 2023
The South African bulbous perennial Eucomis bicolour (pineapple lily, pineapple flower) gives a tropical feel to a border or container in a sunny position with well-drained soil. The bulb needs protection in a frost free environment over winter.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Thursday 14 December 2023
These columnar cacti, Cleistocactus hyalacanthus, branches at the base to form a cluster of stems densely clad in yellowish-white needle-like spines. This species is from Bolivia to North West Argentina and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Wednesday 13 December 2023
Seeming to flow down a slope in this cacti house was Sedum morganianum (burro's tail, donkey tail). This evergreen succulent has trailing stems growing 30cm or longer. The fleshy, glaucous blue-green leaves are sometimes joined by clusters of small, starry reddish purple flowers.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Tuesday 12 December 2023
After flowering Agapanthus 'Boleyn Blue' (African lily) continues to provide a display with seed-heads into the autumn and winter. This cultivar was a chance seedling found at the Beth Chatto Garden, Essex, UK with pale blue flowers.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Monday 11 December 2023
The foliage of herbaceous perennial Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' (bistort) is burgundy-plum in spring with a silvery, metallic, chevron marking, which gradually turns red as the foliage becomes greener. The tiny white flowers appear in late summer.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Sunday 10 December 2023
Flowering from early summer to autumn Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' (sneezeweed) produces orange-yellow-red flowers each slightly different from the next. This herbaceous perennial was found growing in a nursery trials ground in the Netherlands and noticed because it flowered for much longer than the other seedlings. The seed-heads are great for the winter.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Saturday 9 December 2023
In the vegetable garden Brassica oleracea (Capitata Group) 'January King' (cabbage, drumhead cabbage) is a cultivar that matures from December.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Friday 8 December 2023
This autumn I saw the cones on Pseudolarix amabilis (golden larch, false larch, golden pine) for the first time. This is a slow-growing, deciduous tree with whorls of light green, linear leaves, which turn bright golden-yellow in autumn.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Thursday 7 December 2023
These Dahlia cultivar tubers have been lifted from the borders to protect them from freezing soil temperatures. They need to be overwintered in a dry, frost-free place with good air circulation. One of the cultivars was the white, fimbriata flowered Dahlia ‘Ice Crystal’.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Wednesday 6 December 2023
Viola cultivars (heart's ease, black eye, cat's faces, come-and-cuddle-me, constancy, Cupid's flower, flower of thought, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, kiss-me-at-the-garden-gate, little faces, love-in-idleness, pansy, pretty face, three faces under a hood, tickle-my-fancy, none-so-pretty) are perfect for winter containers before the bulbs appear. Here they have their own display shelves similar to an Auricula theatre.
Jill Raggett
Plant of the Day
Tuesday 5 December 2023
The large, deciduous shrub Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum 'Mariesii' (Japanese snowball) has wide-spreading, tiered branches which are hung with red-purple leaves in the autumn. In late spring the horizontal branches have rows of white flowerheads.
Jill Raggett
