Garden Sojourns - London

The memories we bring back from our travels....

....are an essential part of the journey. Long after returning home, the beauty of a setting, and the sense of discovery remain to be savored on a winter's evening. A richly rewarding surprise on a recent trip to London: Kensington Roof Gardens - adjacent to Sir Richard Branson's Babylon Restaurant. 

Spring was an excellent time to see the wisteria blooming above an ornate arched portal. Sadly, the Roof Gardens are no longer open.

Patrick Blanc: Vertical Gardens Update

Patrick Blanc Vertical Gardens: London and San Francisco

Detail: Heuchera Bloom at Drew School Living Wall - Photos © Alice Joyce

May 2011 Athenaeum Hotel, London

Compare images below from 2010 with those taken this Spring, and you'll see evidence of amazingly lush growth from one year to the next. Photos © Alice Joyce

Athenaeum Hotel's Vertical Garden completed in 2009 Photo © Alice Joyce

Spring Blooms - April 2011 Drew School Vertical Garden, San Francisco: Planted February 2011 -- I'll visit soon to update photos of the living wall's native plantings.

April 2011 ... Drew School Vertical Garden - San Francisco

Verdantly Vertical on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Garden Design RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011

Awarded Best Artisan Garden - RHS Chelsea 2011

Designed by Jihae Hwang (Muum), 'Emptying One's Mind' -- 'Hae - Woo- So'

represented a true first for the Chelsea Flower Show, a traditional Korean toilet.

The design worked around the concept of 'a place where you empty your mind' - which can also refer to a traditional-style Korean outhouse.

The charming, rustic building was surrounded by a landscape of herbaceous wildflowers & perennials, with lilac and camellia shrubs and a Magnolia denudata tree. Ferns, herbs and climbing vines added a lush, woodland ambiance to the setting.

The garden design's environnmental aspects included a half-basement accessed at the back to compost human waste for fertilizer. To walk the pathway, one experienced being refilled by the serene surroundings of flora, together with rock walls that gave the structure stability.

Sponsored by:

Suncheon Bay Garden Expo 2013 - Gwangju City, South Korean;

and Korean Cultural Centre UK

Sculpture! Chelsea Flower Show 2011

Chelsea Flower Show 2011: A look at selected sculptural works on view at this year's show.

Above: Laura Antebi - Wire Sculptures

Tom Hare installation: 'The Power of Plants' on exhibit in The Great Pavilion.

Physalis alkekengi: the Japanese Lantern or Cape Gooseberry is said to have use as a sore throat remedy; also to treat eczema, among the plant's medicinal properties.

I particularly liked this eye-intriguing work by Tom Hare - aka Willowman, combining willow elements woven onto a steel framework. At the base, a naturalistic planting, along with woven willow honeybees.

Photos © Alice Joyce

RNIB Garden - Royal National Institute of Blind People:

A silvery gilded figurative work, although not readily apparent, revealed itself to be a 'living' sculpture when slight movements could be detected.

Exuberant oversize blooms...

A discretely minimal form emerged as a central fountain in the M&G Garden designed by Bunny Guinness.

Photos © Alice Joyce

One side note: Strolling on the streets of London near the Victoria Embankment Gardens, a noteworthy architectural element loomed large.

On offer at Chelsea, works in most every style and material.

Tom Stogdon Sculpture

Photos © Alice Joyce

Sculpture figured prominently in all the major show gardens.

For more on design and horticulture at Chelsea, visit my website:  Alice's Garden Travel Buzz and click on 'Chelsea Flower Show' in the Topics.

100,000 Flowers Thailand Exhibit: Chelsea Flower Show

The petals of more than 100,000 flowers were used to compose the elements of a dramatic exhibit mounted by...

Nong Nooch Tropical Botanic Garden

Brilliant! Winner of Gold at ...

The Chelsea Flower Show!

the captivating design brought together cultural elements in the manner of Thai flower arranging.

A stunning sight to behold.

Overview of the lavishly colorful, vibrant exhibit.

'The Temple of the Dawn'

Thai Shadow Puppets - Fantastic Thailand Exhibit (Photos © Alice Joyce)

More horticultural displays -- Raymond Evison's Clematis 

And...

David Austin Roses  

in The Great Pavilion at Chelsea 2011

Look for more Show Gardens, Art and Design Trends to appear in the days ahead.

There is nothing quite like the Chelsea Flower Show!

Fantastical Irish Sky Garden: Chelsea 2011

Largest ever show garden: Fantastical realm created by Diarmuid Gavin for Chelsea 2011

Irish Sky Garden

Read more on... Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Brilliant! Best Show Garden - Chelsea 2011

RHS Chelsea Flower Show: A Gold for designer Cleve West and Best Show Garden award!

Lolling in Little Venice - A London Excursion

London's Lovely Little Venice!

In London's Little Venice, delightful parks rise up with brilliant displays of spring blooms and elegant bridges are eye-catching diversions. We arrived at the wharf on a cold, wet morning for a cruise to Camden Lock. Having booked a return trip, we decided to shorten the experience to a 45-minute, one-way trip because of the weather.

Booking a week-long cruise in the north of England had been on my wish list, but I suppose life on a narrowboat might feel claustrophobic to someone who is tall, and used to a very active lifestyle (umm... that would be T.)

Britain's narrowboats have a fascinating history of moving supplies along a complex and vast system of canals. Booking a tour on the Regent's Canal is a little pleasure I highly recommend, albeit, an activity that generally marks one as a visitor to London. (Usually when traveling, I make an effort to avoid doing anything that has me swimming in a sea of tourists. I'm happiest spending time in places that allow me to meld with locals.)

Jason's Trip .. www.jasons.co.uk .. is a 100 year old canal boat that's been converted for leisure travelers.

Alliums .. Mosaics and A Park Created by Children

Waterloo Millennium Green - May .. London

We found ourselves on the South Bank with a bit of free time while awaiting an afternoon performance of The Real Thing at The Old Vic.

Waterloo Millennium Green presented an inviting parkland to explore.

A proud resident of the neighborhood took Tom aside to explain that the park had been created

by local school children.

Delectable, Organic Vegetarian .. London!

One of the final days of our trip, strolling Portobello Road - not during market day, but the following afternoon, when Notting Hill is a bit quieter. Luscombe's organic juice - simply the tastiest blend of Carrot and Sicilian Orange with a bit of lemon to add zest; concocted in Buckfastleigh (great name!), Devon.

Lunch was at Gail's Bread; an open-face vegetable tart with flaky crust - picture does not do it justice - along with a red rice salad. And yes, the sun finally broke through, streaming in through the window.

Foodie heaven.

And a celebrity sighting, too: Looked like actor Barnaby Kay walking by, after we had seen him appear the previous day in a revival of Tom Stoppard's 'The Real Thing' at The Old Vic!

Beautiful yet Noxious .. Tamarisk

A follow-up to Monday's post showing a gorgeous Tamarisk holding center stage at London's

Chelsea Physic Garden. As gardening/blogging compatriot, Helen, aka Toronto Gardens recently pointed out, Tamarix ramosissima is considered to be an invasive plant.

I have vivid memories of seeing a beauty such as the one pictured here in a private garden in Provence a few years ago. Yet, as responsible stewards of our own bits of the earth, we must respect the fact that while we might be swayed to plant this tree, it would be a mistake to do so.

Perhaps you'd like to visit another London garden with nary a Tamarisk in sight!

For your pleasure ... a 1.5 acre rooftop landscape cultivated in the very heart of London's Kensington District!

Click on the link to the feature on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz: Kensington Roof Gardens

LONDON Calling .. Gardens Galore in the Weeks Ahead

A rare peony growing alongside the pond at Chelsea Physic Garden.

So much to share: Here, a few sights/sites to revisit.

I've returned from the U.K. with stories to tell and garden gossip. After experiencing two weeks of cold weather, the sun appeared, blazing among the aisles of London's Chelsea Physic Garden; preening with Paeonia and poppies.

A scene-stealer... the brilliant Tamarisk.

Physician, entrepreneur, plant collector: Sir Hans Sloane stands watch over the Physic Garden's amazing flora. Imagine! I returned today just as the Chelsea Flower Show was about to kick off. And though I've attended this fabulous show in previous years, I had other plans to occupy my days on this sojourn.

Detail of a rare, wonderful Echium - E. wildpretii

Along Portobello Road, cascading golden panicles of Laburnum trees draped the sidewalks.

Look for garden touring from London to Wales, continuing in the weeks ahead here on

Bay Area Tendrils

& on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Jet lag notwithstanding.