The Second Part Of Our Day In Wisley

we were still in the greenhouse,

a quick pose,

or two from Diana,

back in the 1950s my mother had one of these,

a rubber tree as it was called, (Ficus elastica), but it was nowhere as big as this one!

looking down on the pool which unfortunately was cordoned off, but if you look carefully,

you can see the hippopotamus,

I am not sure,

but I think this could be the bread fruit tree, the cause of so much anguish on the Bounty,

at times, 

it almost made me feel like I really was in the jungle!

in another section,

we came across a display of orchids,

these Paphiopedilum,

or slipper orchids as they are known,

looking really nice,

back outside with the grass,

we made our way past the glasshouse,

the pathways near to it and the lake surrounding it closed for repair,

it appears that for this visit grass is the theme plant, various species were everywhere,

and of course bamboos are just another type of grass,

strange but true,

I especially like this black stemmed bamboo,

looking back to the glasshouse,

we then came across this stunning tree, 

so it was time for a few poses,

from Diana,

and myself,

and of course Kai,

naturally,

a few more of Diana,

and a ground up to the sky panorama,

we started to walk up the hill,

on both sides of us mental grass as Diana once thought it was,

many times as we walked through Beckenham we would pass planters,

which had various types of grass planted in them,

I explained to Diana,

that they were ornamental grasses,

unfortunately Diana misheard me,

and for months thought that we were passing mental grass,

it just goes to show how easy it is is to mishear/understand someone,

back to the grasses here,

I have to say they all looked so nice,

we were almost at the top of the hill,

and then went around it,

to go to the orchard,

there were still a few apples on the trees, but they did not look at all appetising, 

we made our way to the soft fruit section,

passing the arch which on our last visit was laden with fruit,

there were still a few raspberries to be picked,

passing the rhubarb section, some were defiantly looking the worse for wear,

whilst others,

seemed to be doing quite well,

only one or two figs in the fig house,

the new centre now finished,

it was a building site the last time we saw it,

but now complete and in use,

in its landscaped grounds,

it is a learning entre,

showcasing all of the uses of various plants and trees in medicine as well as other applications,

like these,

for all manner of illnesses,

and where would cooks and chefs be,

without all of these?

on top of the centre, looking towards the main buildings,

and in the opposite direction,

other visitors admiring the view,

as was Diana,

there is a mobility vehicle for those unable to walk, which was a nice touch,

we were so lucky with the weather,

it really was a glorious day,

group photograph,

we were making our way towards the formal gardens,

Diana in the lead,

pathways lead to fountains,

and open spaces,

I somehow found myself in the lead,

at times the gardens were quite crowded,

but things soon calmed down and we had the place to ourselves, at the side of this water feature,

a bronze by Ray Lane,

elegantly dives,

a pose,

or two,

before saying goodbye to the diving lady,

we walked past the hill,

and found these two figures,

not quite my cup of tea,

the Chrysanthemums putting on a good show, 

this one called 'Hillside Apricot',

the dahlias in the next bed,

also looking nice,

a few fine examples of topiary,

as we made our way to another water feature,

past some of the houses in the garden,

under the arch to the house at the end of it,

what a delightful place to live,

looking back at the far end of the archway,

Steve and the girls were having a photo fest,

this was a really strange looking tree,

not only because of its soft fruit,

which looked good enough to eat,

but because of the lichen that grew on its branches, giving the tree a very old 'look' for want of a better word,

photo op!

 as we neared the alpine glass houses,

but first a look as we walked through Herons Bonsai Walk,

I like bonsai so much,

and these are especially nice,

there are only a few here that are younger than myself!

this one perhaps my favourite of the ones here,

a look at the label,

a youngster, only 40 years old!

what a magnificent show of autumn foliage,

next the alpine houses,

there are a number displayed outside as well,

we are now allowed inside,

the last time it was all locked up for covid,

so many strange plants to look at, like this Gypsophila aretioides,

there was also a lovely collection,

of alpine cyclamen,

a lot smaller,

and looking a lot more delicate than the ones normally offered for sale,

on both sides of the house,

plants that are seldom seen in most gardens,

OK fees up, who poked a hole in it?

a new one for me,

as was this Massonia pustulata,

into the next house,

not many small plants in this one,

there were mostly groundcover plants,

like these,

some with mini flowers,

very delicate,

outside both Steve and myself were amazed at the emerald green of this Sagina subulata var. glabrate 'Aurea',

I spy with my little eye, under this tree something you do not want to pick if you go mushroom picking,

the fly agaric mushrooms, (Amanita muscaria),

in case you do not know, fly agaric is poisonous and infamous for its psychoactive and hallucinogenic properties, but, reports of human deaths are extremely rare,

it was traditionally used as an insecticide, the cap was broken up and sprinkled into saucers of milk, it is known to contain ibotenic acid, which both attracts and kills flies – which gave it its name,

we started down the steps,

that lead to the lower levels,

in the distance,

a tree gives a touch of colour with its autumn coat,

the steps gave way to a path,

by the side of which there were some autumn crocuses flowering,

we passed a nice black bamboo,

I love the black stems,

and then there she was,

titled 'Diving into the Ocean of Life II'

the statue was by Dawn Conn,

a nice display of cyclamen,

as we passed the waterfall,

if only we had a garden!

some Robins are quite cheeky, this one was no exception,

he let Steve get up very close to take a photograph,

past the bear eating a fish,

in one of the pools a giant Chilean rhubarb,

in this one waterlilies,

we soon found soon more bamboos,

these with yellow stems,

the lilies in this pool defiantly need a trim back,

at last a giant Chilean rhubarb, (Gunnera manicata), we could get up close to,

you can see why it is called giant, that is just one leaf by Diana,

we were now entering the bamboo section,

both Steve and myself really like them,

also bamboo has a number of benefits,

as well as looking nice,

bamboo’s extreme growth minimizes CO2 and generates up to 35% more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees, one acre of bamboo sequesters 150 tons of carbon dioxide per year while one acre of young forest only sequesters 45 tons of carbon dioxide per year,

looking around,

we were all alone,

just the bamboo, 

as company,

group photograph,

I was intrigued by this vine,

growing up this tree and the shape that it had formed,

we started on our way back,

heading towards,

the pond,

it was now getting late,

not a soul in sight,

we just had to stop here,

for the girls to take some photographs,

whilst they were doing that, I had a look at these,

I have to admit it, the three pieces Little Girl, Little Girl II, and Little Girl III,

have such a blank look,

they really do not appeal to me at all, but there it is,

by now the girls had finished,

above the red leaves a growth of some sort on the tree behind,

a final pose,

and then time for coffee,

and into the garden shop,

lots of Christmas goodies as you might expect,

Steve and myself wandered off,

a few air plants,

lots of leaves,

and ferns,

another one of my favourite groups,

insectivorous plants,

if we ever have a greenhouse these will be my first collection,

citrus anyone?

a few more air plants,

and on to the orchids,

lots of them,

nowadays so reasonably priced,

back in my youth they were really so expensive, 

outside,

Steve and myself passed some outdoor cyclamen,

we were making our way to the far distance,

stopping here and there,

to see what was on offer,

like live Christmas trees, well sort of,

this is what Steve was looking for,

some ferns, one purchased and we were off on our way home,

we soon passed the fun fair on Mitcham Common,

not that we could see much of it from the road,

back to Steve and Kai's house for bubbly,

pineapple and snacks,

a pair of Steve's angle fish had breed, so Buddy wanted to have a look,

the little specks are the fry, they only hatched a couple of days ago and this is their first day free swimming, these last two photographs are from Steve,

hopefully,

mum and dad will look after them and soon Steve will have a shoal of baby angel fish, Steve kindly dropped us off home where it was feet up for a couple from Columbo, before were were off to bed.