Finding amazing plants is one of my favorite parts of travel, and my trip to the United Kingdom in January was no exception. I knew I’d find plants in their winter beauty, but there was so much more.
This was my favorite plant on our trip. Although there were many old, large London planetrees (Platanus x acerifolia), this is the one that stays in my memory best. It was in Stratford-Upon-Avon along the Avon River. Only in winter can we fully appreciate this mature tree’s full habit, branching structure, trunk texture, remaining fruits, and colors against the sky and landscape. Very similar to our Sycamore trees, London planetrees are a cross between Oriental planetree and the American sycamore. According to our tour guide, about half of the trees in London are planetrees.
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| London planetree in Stratford-Upon-Avon |
Other outstanding mature trees that made me say “Wow” included beech and cherry.
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| Cherry tree in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, Scotland. |
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| Closeup of beech bark in Minsters yard in York, England. |
“Tropical” plants were the biggest surprise for me. The United Kingdom has warmer, milder climate that we do in Illinois. Where we traveled the USDA plant hardiness zones ranged from 7 to 9 (Central Illinois is zone 5b). Here are some examples of plants growing outside in January that we grow as tropical annuals or houseplants.
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| Palm at Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, England. |
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| Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana) Avon River in Stratford-Upon-Avon. |
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| Japanese Aralia (Fatsia japonica) growing in Whitehall Gardens, London, England. |
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| Camelia in bloom in Whitehall Gardens, London, England. |
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| Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica) Oxford University, England. |
Blooming shrubs in January were also a nice surprise. This witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana) especially striking. Located in a yard along the Ouse River in York, its cheery blooms were eye catching.
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| Flowering Witchhazel in a yard in York, England. |
We explored many types of sites and landscapes with interesting plants.
Edinburgh Castle had bright green grass, large trees, and nice shrub plantings.
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| Nice tree outside castle cafe. |
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| Large grassy areas around castle. |
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| Plantings of euonymus and pine. |
Bamburgh Castle was a pretty castle from the outside. I loved how it sat upon a hillside with rocks and grasses next to the shoreline. There were a lot of ferns and English Ivy growing there, as well as yellow blooming gorse bush.
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| Natural areas surrounding Bamburgh castle. |
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| Hillside with ferns and ivy. |
I was impressed by the plants I found in York, England, especially those on the Minster grounds. We walked along York's roman wall and could see beautiful yards and impressive trees below the medieval stone walls.
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| London Planetree on Minster grounds. |
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Mature leaves and berries on English Ivy (Hedera helix)
(Note how leaves lose their three lobes when mature.) |
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| View of Minster grounds from York wall. |
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| View of food plots from York wall. |
Positioned along the Dee River, Chester, England was also surrounded by a Roman wall and gates. Yards and cathedral grounds contained interesting plants.
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| Chester, England yard |
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| Grounds around Chester cathedral. |
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Mark and I got excited when we saw this
paperbark maple (Acer griseum) on the Chester cathedral grounds. |
Our Stratford-Upon-Avon Indigo hotel room had a great view of the courtyard.
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| View from Indigo Hotel room in Stratford, England. |
Like many universities worldwide, Oxford University has amazing architecture and plantings. I especially liked the large wisteria, trees, natural areas, grass, blooming shrubs, and more.
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| Another view of the mature Atlas Cedar mentioned above. |
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| Large wisteria vine. |
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| Viburnum in bloom. |
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| Natural areas with bulbs and Hellebore. |
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| Large tree by Oxford building. |
London’s St. James Park is the oldest Royal Park in London and is surrounded by three palaces: the ancient Westminster (now the Houses of Parliament), St James's Palace, and Buckingham Palace. Although there were many plants there that I enjoyed seeing, here are a few of my favorites.
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| Tower of Jewels (Echium pininana) has interesting leaves. |
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| Red and Yellow twig dogwood shrubs (Cornus servicea) |
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| Birch and shrub groupings. |
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| Masses of bulbs about to pop. |
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| Gorse (Ulex europaeus) in bloom. |
London’s Garden Museum in the deconsecrated church of St Mary-at-Lambeth. “The Garden Museum explores and celebrates the art, history and design of British gardens and their place in our lives today.” I was thrilled to see displays on pioneer female horticulturist Beatrix Jekyll (1843-1932) who created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, and wrote over 1000 magazine articles. There were displays of old garden tools and a first lawnmower. A special exhibit featured Lucian Freud’s (son of Sigmond Freud) paintings of plants and gardens. The Museum’s courtyard contains the burial place of John Tradescant, an early gardener and plant hunter, and the tomb of Captain William Bligh (from Mutiny on the Bounty).
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| St. Mary's garden outside the Garden Museum. |
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| Display houses outside the Garden Museum. |
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| Plant display inside the Garden Museum. |
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| Garden Museum courtyard with two graves. |
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Exhibits of old garden tools.
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| Silens Messor Lawnmore, c. 1885. |
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Studley Horticultural and Agricultural College for Women, 1920.
The first college for women to study horticulture was set up in 1898
by Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick. |
We also saw interesting plants growing in and on various structures, roofs, and walls.
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| Heather (Calluna vulgaris) under a hedge in a container in Edinburgh, Scotland. |
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| Lots of primrose (Primula vulgaris) in bloom. |
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| Living wall in Chester, England. |
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| Firethorn (Pyracantha sp.) vine in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. |
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| Planter in Oxford, England. |
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| Workers securing vines to structure in Oxford, England. |
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| Vines on wall in Oxford (probably Boston Ivy). |
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| Living walls and flower boxes in London. |
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| Flower arrangement inside St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. |
My favorite part of the entire trip was a natural area called horseshoe pass. Running from Llandegia to Llangollen, this short road climbs to 1,368 feet and is considered one of the most spectacular riding routes in the UK and is popular with motorcyclists. (We must come back and do that!). Though it was dusk and hard to see clearly from the far side of the bus, this was my favorite part of the entire trip. I loved it! Rolling hills of gorse and bracken fern. Slate piles that they mined. We needed more time in Wales and more time to explore the natural green beauty there. I enjoy the city and culture and history, but my soul yearns for green spaces and connection to nature. We stopped at the top and got out for pictures. I felt home there.
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| View from horseshoe pass. Foreground: bracken fern and gorse bush. |
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| View from horseshoe pass. Upper right: slate outcropping. |
Even though I couldn’t visit any botanical gardens during this visit, I still saw some amazing plants and places. Next time I’ll visit in summer so I can go to Kew Gardens, Edinburgh Botanical Gardens, and hike natural areas.
Other blogs about this trip:
