I sometimes include photos from a guest garden and this one is unsual. The Hauser and Wirth garden in Bruton, Somerset, UK, is a combination of an art gallery and a garden – to get to it, you have to go through the art gallery. Once in, the late summer planting is stunning and world class!
Glade Lane Canal Side park – the mounds are ready to climb!
Rather more than a year ago, I described progress on this canal side park and its newly built mounds. You can now go to the top, and the view is pretty good when you get there.
Continue reading “Glade Lane Canal Side park – the mounds are ready to climb!”
Diversity in the Park orchard: A 2026 update.
This is another in our occasional series by our good friend Neil Anderson, on the state of plant and animal diversity in Perivale Park. As usual, it takes the form of general comments about various areas of the park, and then a list of the plant species observed in the orchard area.
Continue reading “Diversity in the Park orchard: A 2026 update.”
Bedstraw Season.
I have never before seen such a display of bedstraws around the park, and in the orchard meadows.
The ox-eye daisies are back.
Ox-eye daisies tend to show only periodically – every two to three years they put on a splendid display. So this is their year. Along with the corn flowers.
A good year for tulips (at RHS Wisley)
We occasionally go see how other parks and gardens are doing.  We were aware that  RHS Wisley had a tulip planting this year, and having seen the decent display that our own  Perivale Park tulips put on this year, we popped off to  Wisley.
Spring colour – 2026 style.
As always, each year favours particular plants and flowers. I am tempted to say that its the turn of the daffodils now. The glade where bulbs were planted 7 years ago gradually faded over six years, but now the daffodils have recovered and they put on a really good show for us.
The Pear Tree orchard – Varieties.
The planting of the Pear Tree orchard took place on 18th January, 2026 by an army of volunteers. Each has a photo of the variety at the base (although I am not sure how waterproof the prints will be!). And some fascinating varieties there are!
Primrose – World’s Most Scented Mix!
Just added to the raised beds in the orchard are 15 plugs of “Primrose – World’s Most Scented Mix”. So next year, keep your nostrils open for any new scent there!
Bulbing and Strulching the raised beds!
This year, with the help of five volunteers, the raised beds in the orchard have had a good maintenance. Â Weeding first, then bulb planting and finally strulching, a superior form of mulching!
Hops Hops everywhere!
About five or so years back, we noticed a hop plant with its roots on the banks of Coston’s brook and climbing up to the footbridge across the brook in the park. Boy has it spread!
Friends of Perivale Park: Annual General Meeting 2025. Tuesday 23 September, 2025, 19.30.
This will be the fifh AGM we have held since our formation in 2020. If you want the back story to some of the events happening in the park and surrounding areas, why not join us by Zoom. If you send an email to friends@perivalepark.london, you will get the joining link and a copy of this years Chair’s report by email.
Observations in the park – by someone with an acute eye for nature.
Neil is a frequent visitor to Perivale Park, and he sees plants (and invertebrates) that most of us do not. When I met him the other day, I asked if he had observed anything more unusual. This is his emailed reply: Continue reading “Observations in the park – by someone with an acute eye for nature.”
The raised beds in the orchard: community gardeners
There are four raised beds in the orchard area – and we have increasingly noticed community gardeners doing good deeds in them. So thanks for the recent weeding, and the sowing of as yet unidentified seedlings! If you know who it was, ask them what they are!
Continue reading “The raised beds in the orchard: community gardeners”
A riot of colour in June.
June is of course for roses, and they are looking absolutely splendid in the orchard garden at the moment. I even got a comment about them being better than the ones in the Queen Mary garden, Regent’s park!
The raised beds in the orchard garden- Iris and allium.
The most regular plantings of flowers in the park are in the four raised beds in the orchard garden (not withstanding the adjacent meadow which has just been planted with a mix which includes poppies and cornflowers for later in the year).
Continue reading “The raised beds in the orchard garden- Iris and allium.”
The Perivale Park meadow 2025 – a blue theme!
The meadow has been rotavated and is currently as I write this being seeded with the following mix:
Isabella Plantation- Richmond park
Following on from one of the spring highlights of west London, here is another. The Azalea and Rhododendron glade in Richmond park, known as the Isabella plantation. This is a movie of the famous still pond in the centre of the plantation.
Perivale wood 2025: bluebells, celandine, stitchwort and cuckoo flowers.
This year there is no public open day viewing of the bluebells in Perivale Wood, so I thought I would show some of the highlights here instead.
Continue reading “Perivale wood 2025: bluebells, celandine, stitchwort and cuckoo flowers.”
Tree planting in Pear Tree Park
The last of the autumn colour: Cosmos
The meadow “frame” planted earlier this year has finally brought the Cosmos to the fore. Â They have been going for a little while now, and will indeed last a little longer!
More seasonal activity!
The entire year has been wet! Â And so to the 2024 vintage fungii – which are now emerging in force.
Autumn colour in the park: Spindle.
Walking along the Capital ring path in the path, one comes across a collection of flowering bushes with spectacular pink and orange fruits and red leaves.
Guerrilla gardens close to Perivale Park
Along  Hicks Avenue,  the houses of which back up to the park,  we spotted this wonderfully cheerful little Guerrilla Garden.  Its been there for a while, but is looking particularly cheerful at the moment when Perivale  Park itself is starting to wind down for autumn. It is wonderfully well tended, and whoever looks after it, we want you to know it is appreciated.
All about Bees!
This blog features bees quite a lot. Way back in 2019 we had highlighted the Ealing  Beekeepers just down the road from the  park. Just recently I was contacted by Christy from savingourbees.org offering some nice advice on how to do the very best for our bees and it is reproduced here as a guest post.‡
“Framed meadows”
Ealing this year has adopted a policy of “framing meadows” with colourful strips of flowers,  whilst retaining more “bird friendly” sowings in their centres.  At  least for the central meadow in Perivale Park.
A summer’s day (spiral) walk around Northala Fields
Just to the west of  Perivale Park are the Northala fields, a prominent feature of which are the four large mounds. The largest and tallest of these has a spiral (right handed!) path to the top, which we walked today. The flowers on either side of the path were stunning – as was the scent from the thistles, attracting quite a few butterflies as well.
Continue reading “A summer’s day (spiral) walk around Northala Fields”
The orchard meadows in June!
The orchard meadows were sown in 2019, five  years ago.  Watching them each year,  I am struck by how very different each year has been.  This year is no exception.  The photos below do not do the meadows justice – go see them for yourself!
Volunteers improving the ponds! Purple Loosestrife.
Lythrum salicaria or purple  loosestrife is native to the UK (but considered eg a pest in areas like north America) and likes wet environments such as pond edges. Here are three volunteers planting 80 plugs into the edge of the ponds near the kids playground in the park.
Continue reading “Volunteers improving the ponds! Purple Loosestrife.”
Magnificent Roses in the park.
June heralds the start of the rose season. The main area where they are found is in the orchard garden, although they can also be found elsewhere.