On Saturday 13 May, 50 Friends and their guests joined a tour of the Valley Gardens and the Punch Bowl, led by John Anderson, Keeper of the Gardens, and Patricia Craven, Valley Gardens Supervisor.
Journey to the Valley Gardens
John began by pointing out a nearby Paulownia kawakamii, native to Taiwan. The tree was just coming into leaf, which is a rarity in the wild, with more specimens now been grown in gardens around the world.
The first group of rhododendrons the Friends saw were ones transplanted before 2020 from the front of the Savill Garden car park and moved to the Azalea Walk of The Savill Garden.
The next stop was the Davidia involucrata, handkerchief tree, which had an excellent display this year. Just a little further on the group saw the Magnolia ‘John Bond’. Though the flowers had finished, the leaves demonstrated how healthy the plant was.
The davidia involucrata catching the attention of the Friends of The Savill Garden.
Shortly after the group came upon a large tree stump which John explained was that of a Redwood which had begun to lose some of its branches and become diseased. The tough decision had to be made to take it down after living for over 160 years.
The Punch Bowl
Next the group walked down towards the Punch Bowl and passed a wonderful group of Osmunda regalis, the royal fern, which many recognised as a specimen that grows all around the lake of The Savill Garden.
The Punch Bowl was looking glorious and shows how much it has benefited from the severe pruning which took place a few years ago. John explained the plans he has for the area which should enable it to be enjoyed by everyone visiting the area in the future.
The Friends then visited an area where over 50 camelias had been pruned short, but John commented that the camelias and the plants around them would benefit greatly over the next few years from the increased light they would be exposed to.
On the way to Azalea Walk the group passed a small grove of Cornus x rutgersensis ‘Celestial’, a very upright flowering dogwood with masses of cream-coloured bracts. A short distance away the Friends came upon the collection of the “Bird Azaleas” so called because they are all named after various birds including the Hawfinch, the Redwing and the Whitethroat – at the moment they are all still quite small and surrounded by a cage to keep them safe from any deer.
The Cornus x rutgersensis ‘Celestial’.
Written by Brenda Tong, Events Co-ordinator
