Stourhead Landscape Gardens

This is the oldest garden that you will see with Mike and I on our summer tour. It is in the natural landscape style ala Capability Brown. This garden was designed by Henry Hoare in 1740. The house was in the Hoare family for 300 years. It has since been turned over to the national trust.



We will visit this garden on our tour of English gardens this summer. I will try to post regularly to FB about the places that we are planning on going as a way to seduce you to join us on this tour. Please write to me for details. The tour is July 11-18. We have designed the tour with a historical perspective. We will show you over 300 years of gardens. From Stourhead to the most current trends at the Hampton Court Flower Show.

Please think about joining us. It's going to be amazing. You deserve a vacation.

Smooches,
Frank

Mike & Frank's Quintessential English Garden Tour

This is it. Frank and I have been planning this trip for 2 years. We're hosting a small group to a journey through the development of the renown English Garden. That fantastic place where nature and art collide.

We will visit 15 gardens including: Hampton Court Flower and Garden Show, Rodmarton Manor, Hidcote Manor, Kiftsgate, Rousham, East Lambrook Manor, Tintinhull, Stourhead, Hestercombe, Westbury Court, Iford Manor, The Courts, Broughton Grange and Great Fosters.

Drought in California and the State of my nursery.

January 2014 was spectacularly warm and sunny. But it's an official Drought and that has taken some of the pleasure of working in perfect 70 degree weather. The soil is not heavy or mucky from winter rain. I just read that parts of England had record high rainfall for January. Whereas we had a record low rainfall. January normally our wettest month was bone dry. I think England got all our water. I hear these tweets from England suggesting lots of mud and water. We're at the complete opposite end of dread here. Some rural communities in California have less than 100 days supply of water.



Sedum 'Angelina', Euphorbia characias wulfenii, Centaurea gymnocarpa 'Velvet Centaurea'

Bonsai Maple Pruning Technique

Last weekend saw the annual ritual of root pruning my bonsai. I've been growing this large maple for more than 10 years now. I found it in an indoor nursery on Polk street. Five years ago I started cultivating this tree on a slab of red Arizona sandstone.



This is the from the rock's prespective. I remove the entire section of last year's root growth, about half an inch layer from the bottom.

The pruning of the limbs is primarily nipping every branch back to only two healthy buds. Some major branches up to the diameter of a pencil were removed to stunt growth or to open to growth below.