outing to RHS wisley
september 2007
Two cars of Unitarians set off on one Saturday in September for Wisley, the Royal Horticultural Society garden in Surrey, ably driven by Heidi and Michaela. After the rain of July and the heat of August, the vegetation was so abundant that the plant labels were often obscured; but if we looked carefully we could find the labels explaining both species and variety. Plants that we knew already were there in brilliant colours we had not seen before - deep purples and brilliant blues. The michaelmas daisies especially were at their peak.
Wisley rises above the land around it yet the plants did not seem windswept. There was a newly constructed earth mound with a spiralling path up it which gave a marvellous vista across to the new glass house and beyond. This greenhouse is rather reminiscent of the ones at Kew and contains different environments. The tropical plants were set out beautifully in this building and colourful orchids hung from above, their air roots reaching downwards towards us. Wisley also has a number of smaller gardens with particular themes such as town gardens and the herb garden where the air was filled with the scents of rosemary and fennel.
Although the house is not open to visitors it gives a lovely domestic feel to the gardens with its lake and pond, complete with mallard ducks, and arts and crafts style chimneys. It gave a fine view for our last look back at Wisley after our splendid day there.
Gwen Molloy
last updated: 03 Aug 2009
