Adrian Bloom
Posts by Adrian Bloom:
Hannah, Ruth, Kayden
“So right when you say this is a perennial lover’s paradise. I’m in 7th Heaven and will be back in the summer to see it all in ‘Bloom’! Wonderful, thank you.”
April 2017
“Stunning place. This is an amazing garden, such a tranquil and peaceful place. Inspired us to dig beds in our lawns!”
Richard, Cambridgeshire
”Peaceful garden has matured and been developed beautifully since I visited it 40 years or so ago.”
Spring into Summer
Spring into Summer
The gardens are looking fantastic as plants come into growth, foliage and flower. Always something to enjoy whether you are a gardener or not, and a visit any time from now on is likely to be inspirational. This week, despite an unfortunate ground frost which has singed the foliage of hostas and rodgersias, we have some of the flowering Cornus to look forward to. Already forming bracts which will flower for weeks is Cornus ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’ (as seen in the image above from May last year), soon to be followed by the spectacular large-flowered Cornus kousa ‘Venus’. In May we will also have the amazing Cornus kousa ‘Miss Satomi’ with pink flowers, which always adds a striking focal point.
The Devil is in the Detail
Adrian Bloom recently gave a talk at Ashdon Garden Club near Saffron Walden this week. The title of the talk was ‘The Devil is in the Detail – Inspirational Gardening’. As in his book Blooms Best Perennials and Grasses, Adrian drew attention to some of the best plants which will succeed in most gardens. Two outstanding plants featured – Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’, which has not been fully appreciated for the fact that it is a hydrangea that can be treated like a perennial, and cut to the ground in spring. See more about ‘Annabelle’ in our previous post here. All of the plants available at the event sold out, but Jason has more ready for dispatch from the nursery. The second plant, Galanthus ‘S Arnott’, a not-so-lowly snowdrop featured strongly on our pages is another special plant recommended by Adrian for winter interest. Now is the time to plant, and our nursery has plants available for dispatch immediately ready for planting, to make a show over the coming seasons. View more information on our nursery page here.
Good comments are always welcome, and visitors have an opportunity to write in our visitors book as they leave the ‘last’ garden of their tour, Foggy Bottom. Here – and elsewhere on the website – are some from visitors in early spring 2017:
‘Stunning place. This is an amazing garden, such a tranquil and peaceful place. Inspired us to dig beds in our lawns!’ April 2017
‘How did you envision all this? Quite spectacular! Love the unfurling ferns.’ Claire & Matt from York, April 2017
‘Peaceful garden has matured and been developed beautifully since I visited it 40 years or so ago.’ Richard from Cambridgeshire, April 2017
March 2017
“So grateful for the hard work put in to keep the house & gardens looking so beautiful. A wonderful holiday – thank you.”
Jim & Pat, Dumfries & Galloway
‘Been coming to the gardens for many years and finally here, we were not disappointed. Absolutely beautiful, given me lots of “food for thought”. An uplifting experience, thank you.’
Looking forward to Winter?
Adrian Bloom has for many years been in the forefront of gardening for year-round colour, writing a book in 1993 called Winter Garden Glory (alas, no longer in print), and creating the highly praised Winter Garden at Bressingham in 2004, now featured in books and articles. This was many years after his own garden Foggy Bottom was created, also stunning in winter… Now you can get a preview of some of the highlights of the Winter Garden and Foggy Bottom, joining Adrian in a video presentation, created by Richard Crafter (cameraman, sound recordist and director!) last winter.
Special Winter Opening: 16th February until 27th March. (Main open season begins on 1st April 2017.) See details here.
Autumn Moods, Fall Magic
Image: River of Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’ in Foggy Bottom, October
New England is renowned for vibrant ‘fall’ colour – England much less so.
But over many years planting at the Bressingham Gardens has concentrated on filling each season with change, colour, and occasionally drama. So now, as a garden of 17 acres, Bressingham Gardens – and in particular Adrian’s Wood and Foggy Bottom – can boast some of the best and most diverse colour of any British garden. Only a few weeks left to visit!
Note – The Bressingham Gardens and Steam Museum officially close at the end of October 2016 – but see Winter Garden openings.
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’
Image: Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ planted with Kniphofia ‘Tawny King’
We will be discussing new plants much more on our website, but the adage that ‘new is not necessarily better’ is certainly borne out by one of Adrian Bloom’s Best selections, Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’; discovered in the 1700s, yet only now becoming known and appreciated for the great garden plant it is.
Stephen Anderton, garden writer who has been to Bressingham Gardens many times, wrote an article in the Times on the 12th August –
‘Hydrangeas are this season’s must have…’
‘…and your garden needs an Annabelle’.
Thanks Stephen – the only thing we would slightly disagree with is that at Bressingham we treat Annabelle like a perennial and in late March, just as shoots start to show, we cut all old wood to the ground.
See our current offer on Annabelle and other plants from Foggy Bottom.
Autumn Planting
Image: View of Adrian’s Wood
Time was when gardeners did more than 50% of planting in the autumn – but that was before the container-grown revolution which started in, where else, but California in the late 1950s. It’s a long story, but once the garden centres and nurseries began to sell plants in pots and containers, they could sell – and gardeners could buy and plant – in generally better spring and early summer weather. Why wouldn’t they? But strong container-grown plants, particularly on lighter and well-drained soils, are still fine to plant in our generally milder autumns.
We plant spring-flowering bulbs in autumn – the best time, and it’s also a good time to plant robust shrubs, conifers and many perennials too.
Adrian Bloom’s Best
In our 17 acres of gardens we have years of experience of growing and assessing plants. Not just perennials and grasses, but shrubs and trees too – particularly in Foggy Bottom, Adrian Bloom’s garden. From Adrian’s more than 50 years of experience, he has selected certain reliable and garden-worthy plants, and we have tagged these as Adrian Bloom’s Best – plants you can rely on.
2016
“Thank you again for the warm welcome and comfortable and well-equipped house. It was a pleasure and very special. Hope we can come again.”
2016
“I want to say to the Bloom family, this is a wonderful treasure and thank you for allowing us to share it… The house, grounds and facilities were beautiful.”
From Foggy Bottom Garden
Why not recreate this stunning combination in your garden for 2017?
Three of Adrian Bloom’s favourite plants make a great and striking combination in a new planting which attracted a lot of attention from visitors to the Bressingham Gardens in 2016.
Easy to grow, free to flower, very hardy…
- 1 of each: £22.85
- 3 of each: £57.85 (15% discount)
- 1 Hydrangea, 3 Geranium and 3 Rudbeckia: £42.85
Easy to grow, free to flower, very hardy…
- 1 of each: £22.85
- 3 of each: £57.85 (15% discount)
- 1 Hydrangea, 3 Geranium and 3 Rudbeckia: £42.85
Easy to grow, free to flower, very hardy…
- 1 of each: £22.85
- 3 of each: £57.85 (15% discount)
- 1 Hydrangea, 3 Geranium and 3 Rudbeckia: £42.85
Easy to grow, free to flower, very hardy…
- 1 of each: £22.85
- 3 of each: £57.85 (15% discount)
- 1 Hydrangea, 3 Geranium and 3 Rudbeckia: £42.85
Delivery to your door, order online at from our nursery website or email us at info@bressinghamgardens.com or telephone 01379 688282.
Postage and Packing is £5.95 to England, Wales and Southern Scotland.
Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’
The hardiest and arguably most spectacular of crocosmias, C. ‘Lucifer’ is worth a place in all but the smallest of gardens.
The seven or so Crocosmia species all originate from South Africa, and since the 19th century considerable hybridizing has given us some wonderful selections for adding colour to the summer garden. Strictly speaking they should be classed as bulbs or corms, but the hardier types in particular are looked upon as perennials. Selecting for hardiness was one of my father Alan Bloom’s intentions, and while working with Percy Piper in 1963 they crossed the hardiest two species: C. masoniorum and C. paniculata.
Several hundred seedlings arose from this cross, and over the next three years they were assessed and reduced to a final six that were named and introduced in 1966 and then sold in 1970.
All six cultivars have stood the test of time, but ‘Lucifer’ has become the gardening world’s favourite Crocosmia. From large clusters of corm-like roots, bright green spear-shaped shoots emerge in spring, quickly forming broad, rich, green, ribbed leaves to 120 cm (4 ft.). It is the earliest Crocosmia to flower, arching heads of vermillion flame flowers on wiry black-green stems, creating an eye-catching display for several weeks. The combination of foliage, flower and attractive seedheads gives ‘Lucifer’ great garden value, especially in plant combinations where the flowers are luminescent against the purple foliage of Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ or Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo’.
‘Lucifer’ and other crocosmias need full sun, and even there, given warmth and moisture, the heavy leaves of ‘Lucifer’ can flop later in summer, so may need some maintenance. In hot summer regions, rust can be a problem, and in both cases discretion should be used in cutting away unsightly foliage. ‘Lucifer’ and other crocosmias will grow well enough in any garden soil that is neither too wet nor too dry, but all resent poor drainage in winter. If root growth becomes congested with age, lift in early spring and divide, discard the oldest woody corms, compost the soil and replant.
Protect for winter by mulching corms with 10 cm (4 in.) of leaf mould, or alternatively in very cold areas you can also lift the corms in late autumn, cut off foliage and dry the corms in a frost-free building, and then plant out the next spring. ‘Lucifer’ cuts such a dash that all this effort is rewarded.
120–150 cm (4–5 ft.) チ~ 60–75 cm (2–2. ft.)
Period of interest: Early to late Summer and Autumn
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’
With bright blue forget-me-not flowers in spring and silver marbled leaves all summer, B. ‘Jack Frost’ is a joy. The species Brunnera macrophylla is a native to north eastern Turkey, the Caucasus and Georgia to western Siberia in forests and open grassy slopes, forming a compact clump with bright blue forget-me-not flowers on wispy branchlets in early spring, followed by coarse heart shaped leaves that remain to make good ground cover all summer. The species and some cultivars will grow in full sun in cooler summer regions. B. ‘Jack Frost’ is a relatively new introduction that arose as a mutation or sport in the micropropagation unit at Walters Gardens in Michigan, and has already found a place as one of my favourite gardenworthy plants: hardy, reliable and undeniably showy. ‘Jack Frost’ makes a fine and long spring display of light twinkling blue flowers, but it is the silver-veined and marbled leaves that follow that make it a valuable plant for garden and container.
As its origins suggest, ‘Jack Frost’ is very hardy; however, leaves can be easily scorched in hotter climates in full sun or where dry root conditions exist, so if in any doubt plant in full or part shade where roots are moist. Old flowers are best removed as soon as flowering is finished, and if the foliage becomes damaged during summer cut back, water and mulch for another show of brighter, cleaner leaves, although these may be smaller. This plant offers so many opportunities for plant combinations throughout its season from spring to autumn: try it with the black-leaved Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’. Propagation is by division, but damaged roots may regrow with green leaves so care should be taken. ‘Jack Frost’ and other selections will seed freely on moist soils if flowers are not removed, but will vary from the parent. 45–60 cm (1½–2 ft.) × 60 cm (2 ft.) F spring, Z 3–8
Further Recommendations
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Hadspen Cream’ was raised by English plantsman Eric Smith and is a robust alternative to B. ‘Jack Frost’, with mid-green heart-shaped leaves edged irregularly with creamy yellow. It is free flowering and makes good, dense ground cover once established in part shade. 30–45 cm (1–1½ ft.) × 45–60cm (1½–2 ft.), F spring, Z 3–8.
Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’
Few plants can have such a dramatic effect in winter than the dogwood Cornus Midwinter Fire, a shrub that without pruning would grow to 3-4 metres.
Given a sunny situation where not too dry, and pruned annually in early spring, Midwinter Fire will make a striking show from November until the end of March, once its leaves have dropped.
The slender stems are orange at the base, suffusing to deep crimson at the tips creating from a distance a blazing fire, equally as showy on dull winter days as in sun.
Pictured here with Galanthus ‘S. Arnott’ and Snowdrops, it makes a stunning display.