A Year at Kew

2007-07-27T13:41:00.000+00:00

People.

Shipka from Pakistan working on salinity problems in rice is ever the serious man, but with a very dry sense of humour.

Carla, here celebrating her birthday is the sunshine in the lab, teaching everbody Italian while we all teach her our languages. She is a great Shrek fan.

See what happens when you leave your camera lying around, Carlos (photo taken by Beack at the Milenium Seed Bank) here puts on his best pose for a new dating site.

2007-07-27T13:38:00.000+00:00

Cornwall

My cousin Vanessa with her two children, Michael and Jodi.

Part of the trail I rode to Gwithian one day, the water in some parts because of all the rain was several feet deep.

Great sculptures made from from rubber boots, forgot what they are called but they have created quite a controversy because of their cost, about thirty thousand pounds. But then again public art should be controversial.

The view out towards Brea Vilage (I was born on the hill (in a house)) on the right side of the picture.

2007-07-27T13:37:00.000+00:00

Gwithian

Gwithian lighthouse, nowdays automatic as all lighthouses are in England.

You can see grey seals (endangered species) on the beach, they come here every year to bathe, rest and calve since they cannot be disturbed as the beach is impossible to get to.

2007-07-27T13:34:00.000+00:00

Aunt Connie.

As you can see I have come by my gardening skills through genetics, on my mothers side of the family although my grandfather on my fathers side was also a great gardener and a flower show judge. Aunt Connie now has a Bletelia from Kew growing in her garden.

Looking back towards the kitchen, the house is part of a row ofold miners cottages

Notice the chimney stack in the very left foreground of the above, there was once an old mining foundry operating next door which the stone wall hides.

2007-07-27T13:26:00.000+00:00

Around Cornwall.

This is the view from the front yard of the first school I went to. It is now part of a world heritage site celebarting Cornwalls mining heritage.
My older brother and I used to walk to and from school along this road, we were always terrified of meeting a car as there was no where to go except up the hedge, which can seem mighty high when you are only six years old.
From the top of Carn Brea, with the castle in the background and Redruth off in the distance, taken while standing in the Cup and Saucer, pictured below.

The Cup and Saucer, a rock as kids we would climb into and sit.
Carn Brea Monument, to the Basset family, the local gentry.

View from the Carn towards Pool and Camborne.

My first school: Peace School.
An old, restored pumping engine, to keep the mines free from water, at Pool.

Part of the piston,the arm (green) is 52 tons, this is owned by the National Trust and they are considering restoring it to working condition.

The actual piston itself.

From the outside, this engine house unlike the one at Pool was used to lift the miners and ore to and from the mine shafts.

Carn Brea castle.

2007-07-27T13:19:00.000+00:00

The Lizzard.

This is the most southerly point in England, looking back towards the village: Lizzard.

The rock is quite unique here and is used locally for crafts, it is called serpentine.

Part of the coastal path system, you however cannot get to the ocean except at a few spots. This being one of them. If you look carefully, you can see the reamins of a WWII machine gun placment facing towards the ocean where a river cuts through the cliff.

The Lizzard is home to many rare and endangered plant and animal species. Above, Jasione montana.

Silene maritima growing on rocks, not that rare.

Kynace Cove, a popular spot at low tide for its sandy beach.

Rare, Erica vagans only grows on the the Lizzard.

2007-07-27T13:14:00.000+00:00

Portreath, Cornwall

This was one of the beaches we used to visit when we were kids, today a popular tourist destination.
The harbour was once used to bring in coal from Wales to fuel the large boilers that ran the engine houses (see later blog) on the mines.

2007-07-27T13:04:00.000+00:00

Nymans Gardens

Nymans is quite an interesting garden connected with many of the great plant collectors. Today owned by the National Trust it has extensive collections of Asian flora and is a garden I shall return again to photograph many of the plants (half hour drive from the house).
The dovecote on the the remaining side of the house that was not burnt during the fire.
The remains of the original house were never re-built by the family, although half of the house was saved and was still used by the extended family.
Leonard Messel ws one of the owners of Nymans, you may recognise his name in Canada attached to Magnolia 'Leonard Messel' which was bred here.

Part of the conifer collection.

For more details on Nymans visit:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-nymansgarden/

http://www.gardens-to-go.org.uk/Nymans_Garden.htm

2007-07-02T12:14:00.000+00:00

Out and about.

Everyone look at the camera and say sheep. Shearing time on the downs.

Above and below is a Chattery, a memorial to Sikh and Hindu soldiers whose bodies were cremated on this spot during the second world war. The soldiers came to Brighton for treatment and those who died were cremated just outside the town in the hills.

Fields of wheat in what was my last plant collecting trip on the downs on Thursday.
Sailing last week, Stephen at the helm, leading the pack in the last race.

2007-06-30T13:21:00.000+00:00

Friends at Wakehurst

On Thursday Wakehurst sold off some of their surplus plants to employees, I could not resist although most will be going down to Cornwall for my aunts gardens. The large tomato however will sit on the back steps in Brighton.

Above Lindsay and Rose caught up in the chaos of the sale. Lindsay is a Canadian working at the seed bank, when the two of us get together we have been accused of being noisy since we laugh and joke a lot (just being Canadian). Rose is a researcher from South Africa working on Galanthus and puts up with us, more Lindsay than me since she works closely with her, with good humour. In the background is Tom, a graduate of the plant conservation program at Sussex and now working on his PhD at the seed bank.

http://www.kew.org/msbp/

A lunch visitor looking for a handout. He is a bit disappointed.

2007-06-30T13:08:00.000+00:00

Sheffield Park

I have joined the National Trust since the remaining three months I intend to visit a few of the gardens and buildings they own. About 30 minutes drive from the house is Sheffield Park, and although the house is not open the grounds are quite unique, especially the collection of trees, with some mammoth specimens of Castanea and Nyssa ( I have posted images of the Nyssa on my website since it is a native Ontario species) http://www.ontarioplants.ca/ (the website is still under development so excuse the blank spots and typing errors to date, it is a work in progress when I and Wendy Harry have time).

I will say little about the garden sine you can visit the National trust link at the bottom of the page.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-sheffieldparkgarden.htm

2007-06-30T12:39:00.000+00:00

A day trip with friends.

Two weeks ago the Sussex Language Institute organised a day trip and opened it to international students. Nine of us spent the day in a minivan touring the countryside, leaving the university at 9:00am and returning at 11:00pm, led by Lee from the institute. It was a great way to see many of the local sites and just to sit back and enjoy. These are in reverse order for the day. The Long Man of Wilmington, pictured above was one of our last stops for the day.

The origins of this huge figure cut into the chalk of the north face of the South Downs are unclear but it has probably served as a marker since Neolithic times. The Long Man is the second largest representation of a human figure in the world and obviously would have been clearly visible for many miles. As well as being a marker it probably had religious significance and would have been a gathering point for people from a wide area. The natural amphitheatre of the site amplifies sounds and would have made a spectacular backdrop for a speaker standing on The Long Man.The poles that The Long Man carries have been variously interpreted as measuring sticks, farming implements (they have been altered over time) and also as the doors to the underworld. On another hill nearby is a horse: I jokingly thought that maybe he lost his horse.

Camber Sands, both above and below is also unique since it is one of the few sandy beaches around.

The historic town of Rye on the river is where we spent some time amongst the cobbled streets and had a cream tea.

The view of Rye from the church tower, but not the one below.

This image above is taken from the wall around the Abbey at Battle (battle of Hasting, 1066)

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.10955

Part of the Abbey is now a private school.

Above and below is the castle ruins of Pevensey.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server.php?show=ConProperty.206

Bua (Thailand) and Shipka (Pakistan) who work in the lab downstairs from me, solving problems of salinity in rice.

The garden of Rudyard Kipling in the village of Woodingdean.

http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1001371

Lee the tour leader from the Sussex language Institute has posted more photos of the day at:

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sli99/album?.dir=/819fre2&.src=ph

click on the slide show icon in the top right corner of the page.

2007-06-30T12:27:00.000+00:00

Ashdown Forest.

Ashdown forest is apparently where Winnie the Pooh lives. It is about a forty minute drive from my house and is unique in the region since most of the plants found here are growing on acid soils. This was important for my for my pollen atlas since I needed representatives from the acid loving group for analysis. I was able to find three types of heather (Erica) in bloom as well as a rare and endangered species of Gallium. That said there was no Winne the Pooh or Eyore.

I though the tombstone memorial above would have maybe marked the birthplace or burial spot of Winnie but it commemorates the visit of JFK in 1963, the trees around it were planted in honour of his visit.

I spent most of Saturday hiking here, it has spectacular views out over the weald but is mostly managed forest. On the way home I visited Sheffield Park Gardens, see the next blog.

2007-06-22T15:19:00.001+00:00

Plumpton College Open Day

Towards the end of May the local agricultural college held a public open day. It was a day full of demonstration's, activities, crafts and competitions. It was well attended, I do not know the numbers but I would guess in the thousands. A lesson for us at Fanshawe.

They have a very intense arboriculture program, and the image above shows students in a competition climbing. What was also worthy of note was that part of their course taught the use of a portable sawmill to use the trees that were cut down, much more sustainable than what we do.

Not so sustainable was their annual production techniques, plants grown in foam packs. I was assured that this method of production was on the way out and that they were moving towards plastic. Their annual quality was poor as was their greenhouse hygiene. In fact the facility and organization and quality did not impress me: I expected much better.

Their greenhouses were older and made of several rooms, individually climate controlled which we lack at Fanshawe but I hope with the Ivey donation we will be able to do when we start the new building.

A new building that I did like was the construction shop and classroom, this was attached to the main greenhouse complex but was I thought, a little small.

What I did like was the gardens constructed by the students, there is much more detail and imagination used here than in Canada.

2007-06-22T15:18:00.001+00:00

Paris with Sue and Gunter

On the 26, 27 and 28 of May I went to Paris to meet with Sue and Gunter and their tow daughters. Sue teaches in the Horticulture program at Fanshawe and Gunter is a famous chef, so we were assured of eating the best food and drinking the best wine which we did. It was a great time to sit back and relax, the first I have really done since coming to England in October and forget about all the pressures of the research. We had no agenda and were content to walk around, admire the sites and sit in cafes.

Above, the view from the roof of the Arch de Truimph.

The entrance to a museum, Paris is very grand as you can see from the images, with something to see at every corner.

The church at the veterans hospital.

Some famous short guy, who was defeated at the battle of Waterloo.

The veterans hospital, part of which is still in use today. At the back are extensive parterre gardens.

2007-06-22T15:16:00.001+00:00

Versailles

On a rainy Sunday we took the train to Versailles, once a small town but now a suburb (district) of Paris and of course home to the famous palace; Versailles.

Built 1660-85 by Louis LeVau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart; André LeNôtre (gardens), Charles LeBrun (decoration) 36,000 workmen were employed to build the palace. In 1677 Louis XIV moved the court there.

The grounds of Versailles contain one of the largest formal gardens ever created, with extensive parterres, fountains and canals, designed by Andre Le Nôtre modified the original gardens by expanding them and giving them a sense of openness and scale. He also liked to enjoy sunbathing in his wonderful work of art. He created a plan centered around the central axis of the Grand Canal. The gardens are centered on the south front of the palace, which is set on a long terrace to give a grand view of the gardens. At the foot of the steps the Fountain of Latona is located. This fountain tells a story taken from Ovid's poem metamorphoses and served — and still serves — as an allegory of the Fronde . Next, is the Rotal Avenue or the Tapis Vert. Surrounding this to the sides are the formal gardens. Beyond this is the Fountain of Apollo. This fountain symbolizes the regime of Louis XIV, or, the "Sun King". Beyond the Fountain lies the massive Grand Canal. The wide central axis rises on the far side. Even farther into the distance lie the dense woods of the King's hunting grounds.

The Grand Canal.

Apollo rising.

The Royal Avenue.

Versailles was one of the principal reasons for the French revolution, it was the extravagance and perceived waste by the rich in the eyes of the poor that saw the monarchy fall.

Versailles is a grand garden, it is however a very controlled environment and is in regard a false image of nature as was the intention: man’s control of nature.

http://www.chateauversailles.fr/

2007-05-21T20:21:00.000+00:00

More Wakehurst

This is one of the places in the garden where I often have my lunch, with George (below) who often stops in for handouts.

Occasionaly George's wife stops in as well, although she is a little shy; and I think a bit brighter than George.

Catharine and Bea, both forgein visitors, Bea is from Spain and Catharine is from Scotland. I wonder what she is doing at the seed bank since all they have in Scotland is heather.

Chloe is from France, and has helped me with some of my experiments. Here she is preparing lunch for everyone by cooking quail eggs in the water bath.

Meet Tom, above on a good day and below on a bad day. Tom, does great impressions of Americans and terrible ones of Canadians. Tom, Catharine and Cloe are what they call here gap students. They take a year out of their studies and work to get expereince; this is paid work (unlike me, I work free). They finish their contracts in late August.

Another lunch spot below, the old stable building with Wisteria sinensis and Wisteria chinensis in bloom.

The bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scriptus) in the arboretum at Wakehurst.

The English Robin.

2007-05-21T20:01:00.000+00:00

Sissinghurst, The Castle Garden.

On May 7, a holiday Monday a group of us working at the MSB Seed Bank decided to visit the National Trust Garden of Sissinghurst, a garden I have visited many times before but never tire of. The delegation from MSB included Chris a Norwegian, Anne from Australia and Hannay from Mexico. If Dale or Jane are reading this we stopped in to see your dad and Patsy on the way home; they were gracious and gave us tea and great shortbread biscuits. Of course in concern for your fathers health I ate several.

The cottage garden at Sissinghurst is famous for its vibrant colours, I think this is a spin off from nearby Great Dixter, where the late Christopher Lloyd spun his magic.

It was still early for Sissinghurst, and I was a little dissapointed for I saw no new ideas and little imagination in the plantings since my last visit. The garden I felt, was too meticulous and of course the plant signage was out of date and in several places incorrect. It was as if the garden was in a time warp.

One of the great parts of the garden is the tower, which Vita Sackville-West had her study in. You can climb it as we did and get a great overview of the garden.

Chris, the Norwegian, cannot get the viking spirit out of his blood as he tries to plunder the gardens (the urn contains the ashes of Vita). He of course is forgetting the weight restrictions on the plane home. Norway no longer has longboats.

The most famous garden room at Sissinghurst, the white garden; a bit dull at this time of year.

A view from the tower,towards the main entrance of the garden.

For more information on Sissinghurst visit the National Trust link below:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-sissinghurstcastlegarden/

2007-05-09T19:37:00.000+00:00

Castle Hill and the hunt for the Early Spider Orchid.

On Monday April 30 several of us led by the intrpid Dr. Peter Scott set off in search for the elusive Early Spider Orchid. We were told to prepare; packed lunches, rain gear and hats as we were to penetrate into the darkest, untouched reaches of the South Downs in search of this botanical enigma.

Dr. Scott, obviosuly used to this type of activity marches ahead of the group risking the perils of the nearby wooly pigs. Two of which we did encounter and where my farming background saved the day as we hearded them back into the field; they were young ones for if they were adults I fear we would have all perished.

The picture above gives a true indication of our chances of finding this elusive orchid, miles upon miles of vegetaion lay before us; in it we hoped was the Early Spider Orchid.

Up and down hill we went following the intrepid Dr. Scott, all to no avail, they were supposed to be on this hill, but obviously not. I felt like one of the polar explorers, who would never reach the pole. This was the culmination of our course on Restoration Ecology. This great day was on the agenda, for months, we planned the expedition with meticulous care and we were not going to be dissapointed, I would see to that.

Low and behold, there it was, this three inch orchid, cowering in the grass, I had finally achived one of the nirvana's of botanical exploration and found Ophrys speghodes.

Of course several days later, when out for a casual jaunt I found the much more coveted and as yet unamed orchid pictured below.

In journalistic fairness I suggest you read the Universities version of the days events, visit the MSc website and look under the blog link.

http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/gradstudies/pc/Plant%20Conservation%20MSc/Home.html

2007-05-09T19:23:00.000+00:00

Alfriston Village

On a Sunday bike ride to the village of Alfriston we climbed the hill out of the Cuckmere Valley.

The area around Alfriston has been occupied from neolithic times as a number of barrows from this period have been found higher up the surrounding Downs . Alfriston originally known as Aelfrictun the 'town of Alfric' in Saxon times, was recorded in the Domesday Book as Alvriceston and had a range of other names including Alvericheston and Aveston. It lies in the Cuckmere valley just off the main A27 Eastbourne to Lewes road. The village was settled long before the Norman invasion of 1066, as the mound that the church lies on was an old Saxon burial ground. St Lewinna a Saxon virgin Christian was killed by the Saxons in 690AD and her body was kept at the church, her relics were attributed to a number of miracles. They were stolen by a monk from Belgium and transported to the Priory of Bergue St Winox in 1058 (even they had problems with the French). The majority of the church of St Andrews was built in the 1300's and is known as The Cathedral of the Downs. The rectory was built in the 14th century and is of wattle and daub construction. This building is now owned by the National Trust, and is open to the public.

You may have noticed a church theme through this blog, they are horticulturally some of the remaining cultivated grounds around. Planting patterns and plant choices can be seen, where native plants were introuduced and spread throughout the tombs.

The rectory building below.

2007-04-20T14:14:00.000+00:00

Coast The monastery in the previous posting sits on this promontory, where more exciting than the building I found many Narcissus bulicodium growing.

The Mediterranean climate is quite diverse, in the above section of coast we found many terrestrial orchids growing as well as Astragalus, Thyme, Rosmarinus and Lavandula species. The picture of the coast below was quite the contrast, being protected by hills and in the lee of the prevailing winds the vegetation was much higher and included Cistus, Pinus pinea and a mixture of many smaller plants.

2007-04-20T14:10:00.000+00:00

Cabo Espichel

Cabo Espichel is an impressive promontory with breathtakingly large cliffs which drop to the pounding Atlantic. Sitting proud, if somewhat neglected, at the end is a sanctuary dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Cabo to which pilgrims would travel and be housed in the now dilapidated lodging houses which flank it. Dating from the 17th century, the church contains typical blue and white tiled representations of religious stories alongside many treasured paintings and a tribune designed for the visiting kings. Situated precariously on the edge of the Cape, a few metres from the main church, is the primitive little white chapel at the heart of the legend of Our Lady of the Cape. Various versions tell the same basic tale that many moons ago a brightly lit image of the Virgin would appear and save sailors from shipwreck in storms. One such lucky soul sold all he owned to build the chapel in her honour, where he would live the rest of his days alone and requested that his crew visit his hermitage every year, hence the annual pilgrimage which continued for many centuries. Cabo Espichel also attracts dinosaur enthusiasts, especially for the rock containing a footprint attributed in the legend to the mare which carried Our Lady of the Cape, but in fact apparently belonging to a dinosaur of which there is much evidence in the area.

2007-04-14T12:44:00.000+00:00

A Portuguese Garden Center

Armin Pritcher, the botanist at the Quinta took me to visit a local garden center one morning, the main purpose was to confirm the identification of several of the introduced species in the Quinta. This was a high end garden center and from what I could tell since most of the conversation was in Portuguese and Latin, was family run.

It was hard to believe that this was actually a garden center since it used almost every plant for sale in a series of display gardens. It was surprising to see the quality (very high) the variety and size of the plants being sold and the overall cleanliness of the place.

From palms to olives to succulents the variety was never ending and even though it was a small garden center I could have spent the day there. The olive trees, in 40l pots were quite old, some I was told were over 100 years.

Part of the succulent display.

This Opuntia species was full of fruit.

2007-04-13T12:13:00.000+00:00

The Palace of Pena

King Ferdinand II built a palace in the Park of Pena in the town of Sintra just north east of Lisboa between 1838 and 1849. The area including Pena Parque, Mourous Castello, Monserrate Parque and Capuchos Convento is now designated a UNESCO world heritage site. On an afternoon off the faculty and staff from Sussex went there for the afternoon. I have already posted images from the town of Sintra. Pena sits above the town at the highest point in the area and even though it was warm in Sintra it was quite cool and very windy in Pena. The castle was used as a summer palace when it became hot during the summer months in Lisboa.

The carving over the main entrance to the palace, could it be Neptune, the god of the sea?

The palace is built over many levels, however the rooms inside are quite small and somewhat conservative for royalty, although the outside does not denote conservatism. The Moorish style was all the rage during the period and the nearby Monserrate palace is the epitome of Moorish style.

The palace/castelo could have repelled invaders although it was never built for that purpose and there is one spot on the back side where I think one could climb over the wall to the battlements.

A view out to the Atlantic ocean.

We are at this point just entering the palace grounds after spending 15 minutes driving up a very steep hill and another fifteen walking.

2007-04-12T10:28:00.000+00:00

A municipal garden.

This was a local public garden around the corner from the Quinta near a restaurant we went to several time. Not terribly exciting but unique architecture and lots of planting.