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Tom Hart Dyke's Blog
Sunday, 06 April 2008 10:31
HOT & SPIKEY!!!!
World Garden Bloggers it's been a cracking time at Lullingstone over the last few weeks. The star orgasmic, highlight has been the construction of the 58ft long, 23ft wide and 16ft high Cactus House, aptly named "Hot & Spikey". The construction of this horticultural orgy, of all things spikey & succulent has been hardcore horticultural fun albeit knackering. We only finished planting the some 1,000 hot horticultural lovers a couple of days ago! It's south facing, the backdrop being a tall hot wall, so it should provide ideal conditions for the cacti, succulents & bromeliads.
Without the Lullingstone team to help me, the cactus house simply wouldn't exist. For example moving by hand and barrow the 21 tonnes of 5 different types of rock for each of the beds required 18hr days in March!!! The significant, amassed diversity of plants mainly donated by the brilliant local cacti enthusiast Jim Earles look simply stunning and give the World Garden visitor something extra to see rain or shine. Or should I say snow or shine: The 5 inches of snow that fell today (Sunday 6th April) was breathtaking beautiful, transforming Lullingstone into a winter wonderland. This beautiful scenery though and the bitterly freezing cold Easter weekend has meant a dip in visitor numbers but the brave, adventurous visitors that have come have been brilliant and have enjoyed their visit. Let hope that the weather improves!!!
All 5 beds (Canary Islands, Mexico, SW USA, South America & South Africa) in the cacti house are looking awesome. A couple of cacti are now flowering including the Mexican Mammillaria's. The phallic looking "Snake Trouser's Cactus" (Mammillaria matudea), also in the Mexican Bed, is set off stunningly with jet red coloured marble chips being used as a mulch. Your retinas are knocked out with the intensity of the colours in "Hot & Spikey". Local sculpture extraordinaire Will Jordan has created an awe inspiring desert mural as the backdrop on the south facing wall which sets off superlatively the varied often bizarre shapes of the cacti, succulents & bromeliads.
The World Garden sap is definitely rising as spring hopefully approaches - it's going to be the best plant filled year at Lullingstone ever!!!!
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Monday, 21 January 2008 19:53
The Prickly Wonders of The Ecuadorean Andes:
Hola World Garden Followers,
Tumultous apologies for the tardiness of my latest blog. I 've had a most corking passage of time since i last updated you on October 29th 2007!
From the 3rd - 19th December 2007 i headed for the florally rich South American country of Ecuador and in just two weeks travelled nearly 3,000 km!! My plant filled hardcore mission was to collect in seed form from the wonderful genus of Puya. Of the nearly 200 species native to the Andes of South America, some 35 different species exist in Ecuador. I collected 13 species of Puya in seed form including the tallest Puya hamata. None have been seen in cultivation in the UK, till now........ My aim is to have the first NCCPG (national collection) of Puya's in the UK located of course in the developing World Garden at Lullingstone. The 'wowsers' factor these stunners exude, will knock visitors out, what with their prickly rosettes of leaves and stunning often massive (to 20ft) phallic flower spike spewing out of the centre of these devishily prickly leaves. It'll all be too much - even a hardened, well ripened, hardcore plant nut like me will rapidly be walloped unconscious by their horticulturally endowed assets!
In Ecuador i was fortunate enough in just one day to observe the world's biggest banana plantation on the Pacific coast, whizz up to well over 4,500m in the Andes and then down to the humid edges of the Amazon. All the while in my comfortable Corsa Chevrolet 1.6 litre hire car for 41 US Dollars a day!! Ahh the hardships of modern day plant hunting!!! My eyeballs were bursting at the seams laden with turgid blood vessels, due to the rapid changes in altitude. It amazes me that in a hire car i can collect seeds from a selection of plants including Puya's that have never been cultivated before anywhere in the world. Why Not? It baffles me! The World Garden is going to be a special place with plants growing here and no-where else in worldwide cultivation!!!
I also ventured into Colombia for the first and re-assuringly, i promise, for my last time, since captivity. My senses were numbed by my day excursion with flashbacks galore. But it was something i had to do - to release myself from my albeit sporadic but hellish nightmares. And its worked, not a bad night's sleep since. It made me sick inside crossing into Colombia and a huge burden lifted leaving Colombia. I will never again see that country in the flesh but needed that day of passionately pensive thoughts to release what happened to me and Paul Winder almost 8 years ago.
Will finish bantering now but can't fail to mention 3 final things; how good the website is looking thanks to Danny; a huge thankyou must be reigned out to Harry Hay (a wonderfully passionate plantsman) for partly sponsoring my Ecuadorean Trip and lastly thanking the entire Lullingstone Team for their undying support in all areas at Lullingstone, especially in creating the awesome brand new Cactus House - which is due (a huge amount still to do!) to open on our first open day in 2008 - March 22nd.
From the plant nut - now the converted Prickly Puya Nut!!! xXx
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Monday, 29 October 2007 04:22
Jack Frost Cometh !!!:
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Finally a horticulturally endowed update from the floriferous World Garden! Many apologies for the huge lapse in blogging. But Tom The Plant Nut hasn't been able too leave the 4 walls containing the World Garden since February!
Let's start with something special to tell you -
It's my Granny's 93rd birthday today. Granny (nicknamed Crac) is my horticultural, legendary inspiration. We've just had a birthday lunch for her & she's on absolutely cracking form! |
We've experienced a tumultous 2007 season here in The World Garden, albeit the wettest summer for many years - personally for me the best ever summer for plant growth and exposive flower power action! Eucalyptus globulus (The Blue Gum), where your fisherman's friend and Viks vapour come from has grown over 8 feet since first May! The Blue Gum is stately situated in the middle of my miniature Tasmania especially as its the floral emblem of this wonderful island state.
Visitors to the World Garden have been massively supportive as ever - we passed our dream goal of 20,000 visitors this year on our last open day - Sunday September 30th. Wowsers!!!
Jack Frost cometh now with minus 4c last Tuesday night, which transformed the World Garden into a wintry wonderland. This was the hardest frost in October for over 5 years at Lullingstone; A sign of things to come? - I hope not! My miniature Mexico, in the nick of time, had its plastic corrugated roof, supported by scaffolding and thick plastic sides - constructed last week. This is to keep "God's Tear's" between Nov - March off the 'hardy when dry' succulents such as the Agaves, Dasylirions, Opuntias (Prickly Pear's) and Furcraeas, which have literally doubled in size this year. These beauties will tolerate extremes of cold in the deserts where they originate but not wet at the same time. A huge thanks to Dave, Les, Jim, Sylvia & Adrian for their humongous efforts in constructinf the Mexican roof!!
As for the 50ft x 20ft polytunnel - well it's crammed full (you can barely open the sliding doors!) with over 1,500 tender plants that have had to be dug up from South Africa, Australia, South America and The Canary Islands for winter protection against 'Jack' and Arctic Winds that are surely to come!?! All the Lullingstone helpers have been amazing in cramming this tunnel often working till its pitch black to get these stunners in before the frost - Sarah, Laurence, Jo, Jo, Iris, Alan, Benus & Andrea have been marvellously faithful and hardworking! The World Garden wouldn't be able to continue without them.
What a year! Simply cant wait till we open next Easter!
More hardcore horticultural banter to follow - i promise!
Over and Out - The Plant Nut (Tom Hart Dyke).x. |
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