Hardy exotica

A day of mixed weather. Dull, followed by sunshine, followed by hail, followed by wind, followed by sunshine. At one point I thought I'd go out in the sunshine and find a nice Blip, then I was deafened by a sudden hailstorm blowing horizontally against the glass of the patio door.

So it had to be an EB, and having selected a couple of shrubs to photograph out on the deck I then had to contend with some sudden gusts of wind - Rosie the cat, who had come out to investigate, shot off up the bank to find shelter!

So here we have a couple of foliage plants which someday, weather permitting, will grace the steep bank known here as my garden.  On the left is Fatsia polycarpa 'Green Fingers', a deeply lobed form of a comparatively recently introduced species from Taiwan. It's a less well-known cousin of the more frequently seen Japanese Fatsia japonica. I found it in the Plant Centre at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. On the right is Schefflera delavayi, a wonderful shrub from high altitudes in China and Vietnam and said to be one of the hardiest of the scheffleras, tho' I grew three other species outside at Arduaine with no trouble at all. Very spectacular - this I bought in the Plant Centre at Heligan, in Cornwall, last October. Both plants are in the Araliaceae, the ivy family.

Well then - what a lot can be said about not very much when you put your mind to it!

Quote of the day - a Valentine's Day special:

A.A. Milne, 'Winnie the Pooh' - “If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.”