January 2016 Newsletter

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1 January 2016 Newsletter Spring greetings Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year. I know in the last news letter I mentioned that I was not going away!! that all changed when it rained for over a month and the sun rarely showed in Hunting Brook Gardens! yes I am back in Bali for a few weeks. Hope you

2 enjoy the video below with a selection of photos from Bali. For me Indonesia is a mixture of exploring new places, getting inspiration for new plantings in Hunting Brook, doing lots of yoga and eating health food. We have a really exciting few months ahead with the Hunting Brook events program. We only have a few places left on the new Plantspersons Course starting on the 21st Feb. Check out my new healthy food course "Breakfast With Jimi" on the 27th Feb and the Supper Club on 5th Feb 'A Plantsmans Pick: Exciting, Long Blooming Perennial, Sourced From The Best Nurseries In Europe" Hope you enjoy the newsletter and see you all over the spring and summer Jimi Bali with Jimi Favorite plants for this time of the year Anisodontea capensis 'El Rayo' is a slightly tender, upright evergreen shrub with deep pink flowers similar to a mallow. I got my plant as a cutting from Carmel Duignan and it has flowered ever since. Carmel told me that it has flowered continuously in her Dublin garden for the last few years. This is now available in the garden centers.

3 Mahonia x lindsayae 'Cantab' A medium sized arching shrub with large drooping evergreen foliage. Winter flowering, with racemes of large soft yellow sweetly scented flowers. I originally got this from Pan Global Plants in the UK.

4 Metapanax delavayi I have a serious soft spot for any of the Araliaceae family. I have being collecting them for a few years but unfortunately many of the most spectacular are quite tender. Metapanax delavayi is one of my favorite from this family and it is actually extremely hardy. I planted this in the woods about 8 years ago and its grown very slowly and formed a handsome evergreen with an exotic look. Schefflera delavayi One of the finest broad leaf evergreen introductions in recent years. I have grown this for the last 7 years by bringing it in and out of the tunnel every winter. But I can't continue doing that and have decided to give it a go out side this winter! During my recent trip to the US, I saw it growing in many gardens on the east coast including Chanticleer gardens where it has grown out side unprotected for many years. Schefflera delavayi launches wide umbrellas of lobed Oak-shaped new growth cloaked with an alluring fawn-coloured fuzz and mature, glossy green. An Aralia family member indigenous to south-eastern China and Vietnam's higher regions.

5 Astelia fragrans When I worked in Airfield, I was a regular visitor to Dr Neil Murray's Nursery which was at the end of Airfields farm. The nursery is long gone and replaced with those massive unattractive apartment blocks but before Neil closed the nursery I got these wonderful Astelias from him. It has attractive broad green flax-like leaves, stiffly arched and the ribs are often reddish. A very tolerant species which will grow in sun or shade. The female plants bear bright orange berries in Summer. This is one of the most important winter structure plants in Hunting Brook.

6 Click for a birds eye view view of Hunting Brook Take a couple of minutes to have a look at our new drone video of the gardens. While we were filming we discovered the outline of another ring fort! Very exciting and most unexpected! Watch for it when the drone flies over the meadow. Garret is available for filming and his contact details are at the end of the clip. We are going to load all of Jimi's videos onto the Hunting Brook You tube channel so please do subscribe to ensure you don,t miss any of them.

7 To Subscribe to Hunting Brook Channel Click here Starting February 2016 In this course, Jimi Blake will provide a deeper understanding of current planting ideas and plant combinations. Over the course of a year, classes are held in the beautiful surroundings of Hunting Brook Garden and June Blake's Garden.

8 Learn to create spectacular borders with succession planting throughout the year and effectively group plants to create stunning combinations. Enjoy lectures by leading horticulture specialists in the country. Invaluable opportunity to see changes in Hunting Brook Gardens over one year. Receive detailed notes on at least 50 plants from each visit to Hunting Brook Gardens. Participants are taken through a wide range of plants -from highly aristocratic to reliable good doer and get to see in-situ plant specimens at Hunting Brook Gardens. Gain access to private gardens and specialist nurseries led by Jimi and specialist plantsmen at each venue. These visits provide a unique in-the-field learning experience and area rare highlight of the course. If you miss a class you can repeat the following year. Cost of course 74 per class 12 classes over the course of a year. This can be paid in one full amount upfront or split into 3 installments. (first installment of 150 is used as your deposit) Do you want to know more...? Join Jimi on his plants person course. One day a month over the course of the year, follow the journey of his wonderful ever changing garden at Hunting Brook. Click here to book This course is for people who truly love plants; if you are a trained horticulturist or an avid gardener then this course has something for you. Jimi's charismatic insights into the

9 world of plants is not to be missed!

10 Click here to book Click here to book

11 In his talk, Jimi will take you on a breathtaking journey through the newest and most exciting perennials in his collection in Hunting Brook, and from his travels to other gardens and nurseries. He will share with you how he incorporates these choice perennials into his planting schemes in Hunting Brook. Be prepared for your plant wish list to explode! Lectures begins at 7pm and the evening ends around 9pm Doors open at 6.30pm Jimi will cook one of his favourite vegetarian dishes, which will be served after the lecture. Cost: 35 including lecture and supper Click here to book

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14 I'm really happy to announce that the weekly meditation at Hunting Brook Gardens will start again on the 3rd of February and is is on every Wednesday from 7.30pm to 9pm with Trevor Clarke. Cost per class 12 Hunting Brook Gardens Lamb Hill, Blessington, Co Wicklow Jimi