What did you do this summer? Did you travel? Did you learn about new and interesting places? I always enjoy seeing photos from others taken during their vacations.
This year, my niece, Sophie Herbert Slater, and her beautiful family went on a much-anticipated journey to Great Britain, visiting London, Dorset, Oxford, and Edinburgh, Scotland. During their 17-day adventure, they spent time with friends and relatives, toured the historic Bodleian Library, experienced "The Making of Harry Potter" at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, hiked and biked through the scenic countryside, explored a castle, attended The Fringe, the world's largest performing arts festival, and so much more. It was truly a memorable and fun-packed trip abroad.
Here are some photos and Sophie's own captions - thanks for sharing, Sophie! And go to Nonfiction Nut @bydanslater on Substack for more!
This is the part of the famous River Thames, the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn. The River Thames Uber boat is a great way to see London and its many iconic sites.
While we didn’t go on the London Eye, we enjoyed seeing it from the boat.
My family and I spent the first five days staying at my Aunt Heather and Uncle Mark Mays in Putney, London. We loved exploring nearby Richmond.
It was fun to wander through this iconic Richmond square that’s become so recognizable thanks to Ted Lasso.
Here is Dan, standing in front of the apartment building he lived in while studying abroad in London in 1999. It’s just south of Regent’s Park. The park was beautiful, but very dry due to drought.
Recognize this former power station from Pink Floyd’s 1977 Album, Animals? The Battersea Power Station was one of London’s most imposing structures in its day.
We all loved our visit to the Warner Bros. Studio tour of “The Making of Harry Potter,” in Leavesden, which is north west of London. It was unbelievable to see the artistry and vision that went into creating this timeless series. Here is Felix in front of the Hogwarts train.
Recognize this greenhouse from the 2nd Harry Potter film? We loved the greenhouse and thought my Aunt Martha would, too.
This is just a fraction of the massive Hogwarts model.
So many of London’s museums are free to the public. While we will have to return to visit them all, we managed to spend a morning at the impressive Museum of Natural History. Here is a tiny snapshot of the extensive mineral and gem collection.
Despite the 100-degree Fahrenheit day, we walked from the Museum of Natural History to the beautiful Princess Diana Playground in Kensington Gardens. The children adored this pirate ship and created fun games with other kids.
We had a splendid beach day with Laurence Booth-Clibborn, who is also Martha’s godson. We climbed up to the top of the Hardy Monument before spending the afternoon fossil hunting and swimming on the Jurassic Coast. You might remember Laurence’s beautiful wedding photos from May.
Traffic stopped for this goose procession.
Julia met us with a delightful picnic, which we enjoyed on the rocky shore.
The next day, we hiked up the cliffs towards White Nothe. The view was stunning.
The cliffs of White Nothe are made of chalk, which is a type of limestone.
After our beautiful adventure in Dorset, we spent one day exploring Oxford. We were in awe of the majestic architecture of the Radcliffe Camera, the earliest example in England of a circular library.
We also enjoyed a visit to the Bodleian and Weston Libraries, including this special exhibit about the precious roles pets have played in human’s lives throughout history.
Here’s Silas inside the Bodleian library, which was founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley. it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe and holds more than 13 million printed items.
Here are Silas and Felix across from the Sheldonian Theater.
Next, we spent two nights “glamping” in a bell tent at the YHA hostel in Hawkshead in the Lake District.
The architecture and landscape all through the area is stunning! This is St. Michaels & All Angels Church.
We hiked about 12 miles to and through Grizedale Forest. It is made up of many hills, tarns, and footpaths – all managed by Forestry England.
Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit was inspired by her time in the Lake District. We took public footpaths through many beautiful sheep pastures.
Next, we drove to Callander, Scotland by way of Stirling Castle. We loved their incredible castle kitchen exhibit.
Here’s a view from inside the castle.
During our full day in Callander, which is situated just south of the Highlands, we took a 28 mile bike ride through stunning scenery like this.
Dan loved this book exchange inside an old telephone booth, located near Rob Roy McGregor’s grave in Balquhidder.
Here is one of many highland cattle we saw on our journey.
The drive through the highlands to Fort Williams was also magnificent!
Here I am with Silas and Felix before we set out on our hike up Ben Nevis.
During our full day in Fort Williams, we hiked up Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the United Kingdom. We were so fortunate when the clouds cleared and were rewarded with this stunning view.
We made some sandwiches with an assortments of provisions purchased at the Ben Nevis Holiday campground store and then enjoyed exploring the ruins of the meteorological station that operated at the peak from 1883 until 1904.
The trail, which is a little over six miles each way, was certainly mixed terrain! Here is Felix near the summit.
Here’s a view from the summit.
Silas realized that he was the highest person in the UK when he was atop this emergency shelter at the summit.
We saw the most vibrant rainbow after our trek from the Ben Nevis Holiday campgrounds, where we also rented a caravan.
We spend the final three days of our trip in Edinburgh, where The Fringe Festival was in its final week. This is Felix and me atop the monument tower built for Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson in the early 1800s. The 143-step ascent offers rewarding views of this historic city.
We had the privilege of seeing dozens of performers on the streets of Edinburgh. We especially loved the playing of guitarist and composer, Bartek Dabrowski.
We walked about 30 miles during our time in Edinburgh. Seeing a city on foot offered the chance to pop into so many fascinating shops, including The Gently Mad, a stunning antiquarian book and bookbinding store.
And, in addition to the street performances, we saw an incredible performance by Afrique en Cirque and a fun show by 360AllStars. The performances take place in venues throughout Scotland, including the university’s Assembly Hall. It was a very full two and a half weeks, and we enjoyed every minute.
One of my trusted sources for shrubs, perennials, ferns, and conifers is celebrating a milestone: its 100th anniversary.
Not long ago, the wholesale plant company, Monrovia, hosted a Centennial Celebration Expo at their Dayton, Oregon location - a week-long open house that welcomed customers, industry professionals, and garden enthusiasts. More than 1,000 guests attended, enjoying expert talks, guided tours, and gardening demonstrations. The event also included an exclusive luncheon to celebrate "Landscape Legends" who have helped shape the horticulture industry over the years and inspire Monrovia's extensive plant selection - I was honored to be one of those recognized. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the festivities, but my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, was there to tour the showcase, participate in some of the activities, and explore potential additions for my gardens.
Enjoy these photos.
This Monrovia Nursery is located in the Willamette Valley, southwest of Portland. It is where many of the company’s conifers, maples, broadleaf shrubs and other cold-hardy plants are grown. Plant displays like this one are created especially for the annual open house event.
Monrovia Chief Marketing Officer, Katie Tamony, took Ryan for a tour of the fields. Monrovia’s nursery is spread over more than 1000 acres.
This is Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula.’ It is a striking evergreen conifer known for its cascading branches and vivid steel-blue needles. I have several of these trees growing in my living maze.
Another section was filled with Golden Globe Thuja, a widely admired variety known for its vibrant color and dense, yellow-golden foliage.
This is Daub’s Frosted Juniper. Ordinarily, this is a type of ground cover, but Monrovia grafted it onto another juniper variety to create these beautiful “trees” – perfect for containers!
Challenges were special to the week-long event. These mini workshops allowed visitors to get first-hand training from Monrovia’s own horticultural experts.
This is a topiary training challenge. Topiary is the practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs, and subshrubs to develop and maintain specific shapes. The term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way.
Here’s Ryan grafting. Ryan practiced grafting Japanese maples under the watchful eye of master craftsman, Antonio Ceja. Monrovia promised to grow the Japanese maple and send it to us when it’s ready.
Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique where tissues of various plants are joined to grow together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock. These are scions ready for grafting.
At the breeder showcase, Ryan sampled new varieties of berries for 2028! Here, he tried the sweetest, most golden raspberries, which are thornless. Ryan is with breeder, Robert Bett from Plant Haven, Katie, and Monrovia CEO, Jonathan Pedersen.
This is something new at Monrovia – Fyre Wing Heuchera from Terra Nova. I have lots of heuchera at my farm. Heuchera, or coral bells, is a colorful perennial, with attractive foliage and bell-shaped flowers. It comes in an array of colors and forms, and grows wonderfully in shade gardens.
This Heuchera is Fyre Wing ‘Amber.’ It has autumn tones of honey, copper, yellow, and orange, and deeply cut lacy foliage.
This is Hot Rocks™ Dark Leaf Red Sedum, Sedum telephium, with its a compact habit, and vibrant deep red flowers on dark chocolate foliage.
These are Jurassic ferns from the Dan Hinkley Collection at Monrovia.
These are different types of Royal Hawaiian Colocasia – tropical, compact, clumping plants with striking variegated foliage. I love Colocasias and display mine outdoors in ornamental urns every summer.
Guests were invited for lunch under a large outdoor tent. Guests included garden center customers, media, plant breeders, and friends.
Look familiar? Andrew Beckman, on the right, was a longtime garden editor for my magazine, Martha Stewart Living. Here he is with his husband, landscape designer, Bob Hyland.
My friend, plantsman Dan Hinkley, gave an interesting talk about his latest finds and memorable adventures hunting plants in China, India, and Nepal.
While I was unable to attend the event in person, I did address the group via Zoom, and shared photos of my living maze, which Monrovia helped me complete. This photo was taken from the carriage road of my Boxwood Allée, high up in my Hi-Lo tractor looking at my three-acre maze.
It was a very successful, interesting, and productive visit. Happy Centennial, Monrovia – here’s to another 100 years.
In order to keep my farm and its gardens, allées, and groves as beautiful as possible, I pay lots of attention to the maintenance and care of all my trees and shrubs.
Smoke bushes, Cotinus, are among my favorite small trees - they have superlative color, appealing form, and look excellent in the gardens. Healthy, established smoke bushes are vigorous growers and can put up to three feet of new growth in a season. This week, many of these trees are being carefully pruned and groomed to keep them well-shaped and beautiful.
Enjoy these photos.
These are the very interesting leaves of the smoke bush, Cotinus. Depending on the variety, these leaves can range from bright greens and yellows to deep purples and reds.
The leaves are about one-and-a-half to three inches long and ovate, or oval like, in shape.
There is one leaf per node along the stem. The leaves are also deciduous, meaning they drop off in winter, or wither and persist on its branch.
The name “smoke bush” comes from the billowy hairs attached to the flower clusters, turning a smoky pink to purplish-pink as the weeks progress.
This mature smoke bush is near the front of my home, where guests can see it. The fine, feathery clusters remain attractive for many weeks from now to fall.
Cotinus prefer full sun and well-draining soil, but some varieties can tolerate dappled shade. We’ve also had a good amount of rain this year. Look how much this Cotinus has grown – it is one of several outside my Tenant House.
And these are some of the 100 royal purple smoke bushes I planted in the allée in my middle hay field. The London plane trees behind have also grown so much this year.
The smoke bushes around my pool have been pruned twice already this year. This is new growth just from the last several weeks.
Pasang Sherpa is my resident tree pruner. He does a wonderful job overseeing the maintenance of all the trees here at my farm. I like as much of the pruning and grooming to be done by hand, so Pasang trims many branches with his pruners – one by one.
Pasang uses his Okatsune hand pruners. Pruning shears, hand pruners, or secateurs are a type of scissor used on plants. They are strong enough to prune hard branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes up to an inch thick. Everyone on the crew has a pair.
He also uses two STIHL tools – loppers and a long reach pruner.
Pruning means to lop or cut off any superfluous branches or shoots for better-shape and better growth. These trees look fuller every year – in part because of the regular pruning.
Pasang cuts off any dead or crisscrossing branches first. The rule of thumb when pruning is to cut the dead, diseased, damaged, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted plant material.
He goes under the tree to examine all the lower branches.
Dead branches, or those without any signs of new growth, are cut, so the energy is directed to the living branches.
A bow saw, or pruning saw, cuts on both the fore stroke and back stroke and is designed for cutting thicker, older branches.
Here, a long handled pole pruner is used to remove harder to reach branches. Pasang takes these tall branches out to keep the tree’s full shape.
Pasang is a thoughtful pruner. He often looks at the tree to assess where he needs to cut. Any branches which interfere with the tree’s shape or create a dense framework should are removed.
As the branches are cut, Pasang gathers them in one place, so they are easy to collect later and take to the compost yard.
And then Fernando loads them up and takes them away.
Pruning is crucial in preserving trees, retaining their form, and encouraging healthy growth.
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