Absolutely Fabulous
Tucked away in a hidden Warsaw courtyard, a very old and amazing Wisteria sinensis is growing, reaching almost to the top of a 5 storey block of a pre-WWII flats. It gained fame recently when photos appeared on Facebook (how I learned about it). It cannot be seen from the surrounding roads, which is a great shame because in full bloom, as it is right now in early May, it is a truly stunning sight. Close by, there are a number of unusually-tall lilacs - 5m or more in height, they are small trees – a mixture of white, pink and purple flowers. The courtyard creates the perfect microclimate, not just for plants but birds, insects, butterflies and bees … and for people too!
Wisteria sinensis growing upwards from balcony to balcony (approx. 12m high so far) and horizontally too along the balustrading – an absolutely fabulous spectacle, drawing visitors lucky enough to be given access.
Clusters of racemes, some almost 50cm long cover the plant
It’s been a great year for lilacs. So many beautiful blooms … but this one really caught my eye.
Pollinator-friendly Chaenomeles speciosa, covered in clusters of scarlet flowers from around February to early May depending on climate (There are also pink and white-flowered varieties). It makes an attractive stand-alone specimen, but can also be added to mixed borders of woody shrubs or trained as colourful hedging. It is also known as a quince and produces a sharp-tasting fruit which can be used in cooking, in preserves and for infusions.
Clematis alpina used to cover park railings edging a town centre park. They were planted about 5 years ago and are now fully established covering the railings with green foliage topped by clusters of delicate colourful flowers all working together to screen the park from the busy road.
Towering above the Clematis alpina-covered railings there are a number of horse chestnut trees - Aesculus hippocastanum. Like so many plants this year, they appear to have an exceptional number of flowers, promising a bumper crop of conkers in autumn
Sadly, in the time it has taken to publish 2 blogs showing off flowering shrubs and small trees, the cherry and apple blossom have all-but disappeared. Maybe it was the lack of late frosts this year, but I can’t recall a spring so full of blossoms, blooms and flowers. Absolutely fabulous!
Happy gardening, from SeeHow
The above Photographs and Text are copyright of Wincenty (Wicek) Sosna. Please contact SeeHow (07939 226417) for permission to reproduce in any way, in part or as the complete text.
Wicek, now semi-retired, is a multi-award-winning architect. He is also a writer, horticulturalist and keen gardener. He lives in Macduff on the dramatic north Aberdeenshire coast. He invented the unique interactive SeeHow - Gardening Books concept, which actually shows gardeners how and when plants and veg grow throughout the calendar-year. Because SeeHow books work visually, anyone can use them - from school children to garden design professionals. Pictures really are worth 1,000 words!
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