'Spoilt for choice' springs to mind as I walked through garden this morning!
The Rhododendrons, Magnolias and Camellias are all looking superb but one particularly eye-catching flowering tree, Embothrium coccineum (Chilean Fire Tree) took my fancy and I decided to make an arrangement using Chilean Plants.
The Embothrium grows in the Chilean Coomb and forms an upright small tree with exotic fiery red tubular flowers held in loose clusters. The handsome polished pinnate leaves come from Gevuina avellana (Chilean Hazel), a South American member of the Protea family and our huge specimen (UK champion tree at 13m) stands close by to Azolla Pool. We have yet to see it produce nuts but I believe they make a particularly fine oil that is used in face creams, hair products and anti-wrinkle serums!
I couldn't resist adding some foliage of Lomatia ferruginea, another rare and unusual Protaceae from Chile; its beautifully detailed geometrically shaped leaves are fern-like in appearance and in late summer it produces racemes of red and yellow flowers.
