Sunday Hike



This past Sunday Geoff (the musician who lives in the flat above me) and I hiked through Firston Woods and along the cliff to beachy head. Thanks Angela for the map to this area.

The cliffs here are quite spectacular, even at low tide. One had to use caution however when getting close to the edge as in this fairly remote section their are no barriers.

To get to the cliffs you had to walk through acres of sheep pasture.

A typical Downs farm.

Firston woods, mainly Fagus sylvatica, here with orange lichen growing on the north side.

Snowdrops, Galanthus nivalus, in full bloom in Firston Woods, where they are wild.

The church in the village of West Dean near Firston Woods.

Spectacular stained glass windows.

I have always wanted to be a preacher!

As this listings of church rectors shows this church goes back to the 11th century.

The sarcophagus (not sure if that is the right term) are above ground.

A typical house in the village of West Dean

Our major blizzard that actually closed roads and schools, here at the biology building at the University of Sussex.

Great Trees at Wakehurst Place

Sequoiadendron giganteum, if you look closely at the image at the top of the page you can see two people at the base of the tree giving you some indication of its height. Although not hardy in Canada, I have tried to grow it in the Cuddy Gardens, it is still a spectacular tree. There are two of the oldest at Wakehurst Place posted on a previous blog, they are at the front of the mansion and are over 100m tall.

Pinus nigra does well here as there seems to be no evidence of Diplodia tip blight.

Picea orientalis, we have a cultivated one in front of the bookstore at Fanshawe College

Pseudotsuga menzeisii also does well at Wakehurst Place in contrast to the few remaining ones at Fanshawe College.

Tsuga canadensis a local native, here in the Bluebell Dell at Wakehurst Place reaching half the height of the Giant Redwoods.

Out and About

The cliffs in the Brighton area which stretch all the way to Dover are composed of chalk as seen here on a recent bike ride to Newhaven.

On the Downs in a recent storm I came across this ancient warning system, when invaders ships approached the nearby shore a bonfire would be lit on this high point and on another distant highpoint a second fire would be lit, until all along the high points warnings were sent.

There were once two piers in Brighton, this old abnandoned one burned not many years ago and is soon to become the site of a new viewing tower, same designers who did the London Eye.

This paving project is quite interesting since they are using blocks of finely cut and polished granite. My students at Fanshawe College in Pat Callon's class will appreciate how straight the lines must be kept and how difficult it must be handling the 12" thick blocks of stone.

Blooms and Bark at The Royal Botanical Gardens, Wakehurst Place

The following images were taken in the gardens at Wakehurst Place on Sunday January 20, 2007.



Of course the snowdrops, daffodils and crocus have been now flowering for weeks.

C. X williamsii 'Mary Christian' X C. reticulata C. 'Leonard Messel Tea is made from the species C. sinensis, a native of China.


















Wollemia nobilis.

Wollemia is a genus of confier in the Arauicaceae family.
W. nobilis is the sole species in the genus Wollemia and was discovered in 1994 in a remote series of narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorges in temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, 150km north-west of Sydney, in Australia

In both botanical and popular literature, the tree has been almost universally dubbed the Wollemi Pine, although it is not a true pine (genus Pinus) nor a member of the pine family (Pinaceae), but rather is related to Kauri and Araucaruia in the family Araucariaceae.

This specimen at Wakehurst is one of the few in public cultivation in England and is grown in a cage to protect it from both rodents and theft, until it becomes firmly established. It is located in the Australasia beds in front of the manor at Wakehurst Place.

The public can buy plants from a licensed propagator, they advertise in the RHS journals, the profits from the sale contribute towards conservation efforts.

The actual location of the stand of Wolemi Pine is kept secret for fear of introuducing infection and competative stress into their isolated environment.




Cyclamen coum , we have this species planted on the college grounds courtesy of JEA Perennials.
















Ulex minor, or lesser gorse is considered a bit of a pest where it grows on lean soils. Farmers are often forced to grub this invaisive species on marginal pasture land before it overcomes the grazing, that said however, farmers on the top of the Downs leave clumps of Gorse so that sheep may find shelter from the wind, rain and snow.



















Hakea epiglottis















Stuartia sinensis, a beautiful species that is marginal in Ontario, I have never seen a mature speciemen in the province showing these outstanding bark characteristics.


















Bellis perennis, these are grown as a winter bedding plant, this is a horticultural cultivar (not sure which), but otherwise they can become a lawn weed. This was used in a planter arrangement in the walled garden at Wakehurst Place.











Camelia japonica 'Tricolor'

Viscum album, missletoe, a relative of the North American species, this is a parasitic plant.



















Daphne bhoula 'Jacqueline Postill'

Lonicera 'Winter Beauty'

Daphne bhoula var. glacialis

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena'

Helleborus oreintalis

Erica carnea 'Springwood White'

Daphne bhoula

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Palida'

Hammamelis mollis, again we have this species in the college gardens at Fanshawe.

Helleborus lividus ssp. cosicus

Rhododendron X pulcherrimum X 'Nobleanum'

Camelia sp.

Correa alba 'Andrews'

Viburnum grandiflorum f. grandiflorum which has been flowering since November.