There are no speed limits or red flags in the rock garden at Wisley today. No need to engage in any form of pursuit to enjoy the fine views.

The first diary of 2026 was done ten days ago; therefore the  garden appears similar. There are subtle changes as the days lengthen and the sun offers more warmth than just a few weeks ago. All pictures were taken on 28.01.2026.

Just outside the Alpine Display House

The next two plants might divide opinions on whether they should have a place in an alpine environment. The first Opuntia pottsii grows at 1000 – 3000m in northern Arizona much of New Mexico and parts of northwest Texas. It is one of the prickly pears having edible fruits called tunas. This name comes from the Caribbean Taino languages, being adopted into Spanish during Mexico’s early colonial times (1500s). The flowers are reddish or pink sometimes yellow. This week I’ve learned that the flattened or modified stems that function as leaves are called cladodes. They are technically stems as they can produce flowers and fruits, whereas modified leaves can’t do this. These plants have six to 10 cladodes and the whole plant remains small at 10 – 15cm high and 25cm across. It is grown in a raised bed with very good drainage, in a south facing bed with some shelter from the walls of the Alpine Display House. The genus name is from the ancient Greek city of Locri Opuntii. Its site may have been at modern Atalándi or at Kiparíssi. The specific epithet is to honour the English plant collector John Potts (1805 – 1876) who was the director of the mint in Chihuahua City, Mexico.

Opuntia engelmannii  var. lindheimeri is named to honour two different individuals. Dr George Engelmann (1809 – 1884) was born in Germany and migrated to Missouri and amongst his many interests and achievements he was an amateur botanist. He became one of the founders of the Missouri Botanical Garden and established its library. He has a number of plant species named for him in genera including Quercus, Picea and Pinus. Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer (1801 – 1879) was the first permanent resident plant collector in Texas, although being born in Germany. He collected plants from 1843 – 1852. This prickly pear is found in Louisiana, Mexico, New Mexico and Texas and is known as the Texas prickly pear. It is hardy to -12C if it is given a free draining substrate.

Garrya elliptica ‘James Roof’ AGM has featured in a previous diary last January. I’ve included it again as I came across some more information about James Roof. He was the first director of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden located in Tilden Park, in the hills above Berkeley California, from 1940 to 1974. First collected in Prairie Creek State Park in 1940, it still grows there today and was awarded an AGM in 1993. It is a male form of the Silk Tassel bush. I think they look like icicles.

Daphne jasminea is growing alongside the prickly pears at Wisley. The AGS Encyclopaedia states that it’s not reliably hardy and so best grown under glass. It can be found from Greece and Crete to Libya growing on limestone cliffs from sea level to 1000m. I’ll include it in another diary when it is in flower.

I saw many beads of condensation on the twigs of many of the small maples, glistening like glass in the winter sunshine, this one is Acer palmatum ‘Sharp’s Pygmy’.

Some views of the main rock garden

In previous diaries I’ve commented that it is at this time of the year you notice the rock work in the garden more so than you do when the flowers are in full bloom and they catch your attention. As the Sussex sandstone is a canary yellow colour, the fresh quarried rock would have been very bright indeed. It has certainly mellowed in the century it’s been here. The last pictures show the clumps of snowdrops that are now appearing in the fern glade.

There was scent in the garden from a number of plants

Daphne ‘Perfume Princess’ (‘Dapjur01’) AGM has one of the longest flowering periods of any daphne, being the first to flower as well as the last. It is a selection from the hybrid D. odora x bhoula and will grow to 1.5m x 1m. It was bred by Mark Jury in New Zealand who is also famous for his work on Magnolias and Camellias. When released in 2015 it was voted Plant of the Year in 2016 for the Australia Nursery and Garden Industry Association at their National Conference.  It has the growth habit of D. bhoula with the heady fragrance and flowering performance of D. odora varieties. With blush-pink, sweetly scented flowers and a compact growth habit it is also perfect for growing it in a container. 

Larix decidua ‘Puil’ has also been included in a previous diary but I’ve included it again, without its foliage it is even more like a shaggy dog, the cultivar name being the name of a dog belonging to the person who raised it.

In the Alpine Display House there was plenty to see today

Galanthus ‘Bitter Lemons’ is a selection of G. x valentinei (G. nivalis x plicatus). St Valentine was a Roman priest and physician martyred during the persecution of Christians by emperor Claudius II, c270 and is also the patron saint of Beekeepers. His feast day is 14 February and this hybrid normally flowers around this time, hence the name. This particular cultivar was found as a seedling under a tree where a clump of G. ‘Midas’ had grown. The yellow markings turn more yellow as the flowers ages and it is in flower about a month earlier than ‘Midas’.

Galanthus ‘Aunt Agnes’ is a soft-toned “Trym” type snowdrop, giving it a more understated look than many of its bolder relatives. It was raised by Olive Mason and named after her aunt.

I had to wait until the morning sun opened up the crocus flowers. In the sunshine in the ADH it felt very spring like, but I expect it will be snowing next week just to prove me wrong. The ones I’ve selected are the ones that I’ve not included before, rather than the most impressive displays, which have been shown before. As always Tony Goode’s information on Crocus is a good place to start for information on any particular crocus. http://archive.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/Crocus

Crocus reticulatus subsp. hittiticus is from Turkey. The specific epithet is from the Latin meaning netted, or veined, having reticulated corm tunics. The Hittites were an Anatolian Indo – European people who were in modern day Turkey in the early second millennium BC. The distinctive black anthers are a distinguishing feature.

Crocus korolkowii ‘Snow Leopard’  is an unusual white form that arose in cultivation. The species is found above 1200m in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and North Pakistan, which is also part of the range of the Snow Leopards.  It can be grown outside in the UK.

Crocus biflorus subsp. biflorus is found in Italy, Sicily, Rhodes and Northwest Turkey. Tony Goode states that “the biflorus group present the taxonomists with the greatest challenge in the genus.   A variety of fine botanical distinctions are used along with the geographical distribution to determine the different subspecies”.

Narcissus willkommii is named in honour of Heinrich Moritz Willkomm (1821 – 1895) who specialized in the flora of the Iberian Peninsula. This species is found in South Portugal and South West Spain. The flower stems are about 20cm tall.

I’ve included both of the next two Dionysia’s in previous diaries where I’ve included details of their naming. I thought they were looking so good that they deserved another opportunity to be included again.  The first is Dionysia ‘Ewesley Theta’ and the second Dionysia ‘Emmely’.

Water vapour in the winter sunshine

For a little while the sun dried up the condensation on the plants which produced a very strange misty effect which quickly passed. It was quite surreal while it lasted. The supports on the bonsai walked looked as if they were steaming in the winter sunshine. The other side of the yew hedge the borders by the Cushion House were experiencing the same effect.

On this day in history 28 January

Regular readers will be very familiar with the UK Locomotives on Highways Act 1865, as I was. A reminder, the law introduced speed limits for powered vehicles of 4mph in the countryside and 2mph in built up areas. It also required a vehicle to be preceded by a man walking with a red flag to warn other road users of its presence. This aspect was later repealed in 1896 and also raised the speed limit to 12mph.

It was on this day in 1896 that Walter Arnold from Kent was the first motorist to receive a speeding fine, for exceeding 2mph in a built-up area. He was doing 13km/h (8mph) as he passed the house of the local policeman. The constable gave chase on his bicycle and after an 8km pursuit (5m) Mr. Arnold was arrested. He was fined one shilling for his offence (equivalent to £9 today). I’m sure the magistrate had stern words for him. There was no mention about the absence of a red flag bearer or what punishment, if any, was incurred for that omission.

There are so many aspects of this story that I like. How did the policeman know who the driver was and that chasing him might get a result? At the end of 1895 there were only 15 cars on British roads, 800 – 900 by 1900, 1m by 1930 and 10m by 1967. The policeman in 1896 would therefore have been very aware of who the driver was and where he lived. How did he know he was doing 8mph without a RADAR gun? The policeman would know how long it would take him to cycle 5m and so could calculate his speed. Did the driver give up or did he just run out of petrol?

I’ve heard motorists complain about 20mph limits being very slow, imagine them being 2mph. We certainly live in a different world. In 2024, 3.3m Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) were issued, leading to 9.6m penalty points on driving licenses, not all for speeding. 38% of drivers admit they have been caught speeding and only one in four know that fines can now be based on annual income. With AI speed cameras being rolled out since 2021, there will be many more NIP’s being issued in future. If you are coming to Wisley please observe the speed limits carefully. You can spend the money you save on fines buying alpine plants, in the garden centre. Are there any other type of plants available?