Winter Wisley

One cold and frosty but bright day a week or so ago, we paid a visit to the gardens at Wisley. And opted to turn left for Battleston Hill on exit from the entry port.

The first item of note was the first sign of extensive electrical works supporting the forthcoming twilight festive fun - or something of that sort. By the end of our visit it was clear that a great deal had been spent on this fun and one only hope that Wisley management have got their sums right and that the festive fun breaks even. That it makes headway against all the other rival festive attractions, for example at Polesden Lacey, Hampton Court Palace and Chessington Garden Centre. While I was pleased to see yesterday that Painshill seems to eschew this sort of thing.

With this tree noticed for its having been chopped down, perhaps coppiced, the large leaves and that fact that they were dropping green rather than brown. Something called a Paulownnia Kawakamii, from the Far East, where it is on a red list of endangered species. This despite its being widely grown as an ornamental plant in western nurseries. Otherwise known as the sapphire dragon tree.

With rather spectacular flowers in the spring. Maybe we will remember to come back to look at them.

At the top of the hill framed by long herbaceous borders, we had a decapitated horse's head, a slightly smaller and less offensive version of the green one at Marble Arch. BH objected that I did not object to portrait busts, which were also decapitated. But her point falls, because portrait busts are not usually displayed cut uppermost, in decapitation position, rather with the cut is discretely tucked underneath.

On the other side of the hill we had what were the trial beds, soon to be a lake, and some left over pumpkins. By some trick of the light they looked quite black from the top of the hill. Probably quite close to the Wellingtonia noticed at reference 2, although I did not think to try and pick them out.

Too busy admiring the line of them in the other direction, previously captured and scored.

Not to mention the stump art near the top of the slope. I like to think I could make a good job of painting one of them in bright colours. Given the fondness of Wisley management for outdoor art, I wonder how they would respond to a letter volunteering to paint? Perhaps I would be turned down as not being a member of a qualifying artists' collective or trade union. Or they would trot out some H&S story...

Onto the handsome library in the new science block. A bright airy space, with quality bookshelves and reading tables. Open to anyone who happened to be passing, as well as anyone with some more serious interest. But I wondered whether they got the trade to justify what must have been the considerable expense. The blue books, for example, are Sander's list of orchid hybrids. Is there still a place for them in what one might imagine to be the world of computerised botany? Or are there so many plants out there - Bing says getting on for half a million species identified so far - not counting algae, mosses and such like - that there is still a considerable backlog of plant catalogues to be digitised. While reference 3 suggests that this particular list, with updates every couple of months or so, has been digitised at least back to 2000.

From the sample above, one might think that the main point is that orchid fanciers, like plenty of others, like to see their names in print. I suppose there might also be a copyright angle.

Moving on from orchids, I came across a rather entertaining book about coconuts, presumably directed at colonial administrators and others with an interest in growing them, or rather in getting them grown by someone else. I forgot that I could probably have taken it out or I would have done.

From there to the sky terrace, from which there were good views of the garden, plus a modest garden of its own. But I was puzzled as to why this new building had so much complicated asphalt sheet on the roof, the stuff which comes in rolls - and which is being displaced by some fibre glass flavoured as the roofing material of choice for extension roofs in suburbia. In this case, all terribly complicated, as can be seen top right in the snap above, and which one might have thought likely to cause maintenance problems in the future. Given that the library below looked to have been no expense spared, could they not have splashed out on a bit of lead or zinc on the roof?

No expense spared on the festive fun front. Cafeteria visible behind, where we were able to buy very respectable ham and cheese baguettes. As good as one is apt to get anywhere these days, even if both ham and cheese quite possibly came shrink wrapped, if not in a tin. Separate tins that is. 

Last stop the shop, probably occupying as much floor space as the one at Chessington Garden Centre, although, to be fair, the goods are more National Trust than T.K.Maxx. And in both places, the plants outside probably get as much space again. Although I suspect the same wholesalers from the Netherlands do business with both places.

PS: I have been reminded this afternoon of the trashy news served up online by Microsoft, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, although this particular selection does not offer any glamour - on which my understanding is that the business model is that more trash generates more clicks and more clicks generate more advertising revenue. And to think how Mr. Gates and his former wife come over all holy about all the billions they give to charity. Which, to be fair, they do. I also wonder how much Harry owes his apparently strong position in the personal shaving market - on the evidence of a correspondent - to his spend on online advertising.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/08/wisley-art.html. The previous visit, something more than a couple of months ago.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/10/wellingtonia-47.html.

Reference 3: https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/publications/orchid-hybrid-lists.