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Dear Sir Yehudi,
Your description of your "eagle's nest" view of London sounds like one of those special hideaways we dream of having to ourselves as children (and grown-up children). What a delight!
I feel quite presumptuous offering horticultural suggestions for your use in London, when you have the marvelous Kew Gardens and Wisely near at hand.
Since the space you describe is 8'x4' in size and on a rooftop, you may not want a large-growing plant or one which requires a large container. Would a vine planted in a long, narrow box (at least 12"x12"x 2-3' long) be appropriate? Perhaps one of the small-flowered Clematis would be pretty, but well-mannered enough for the small space. _Clematis macropetala_, a shrubby species with violet-purple flowers in May-June and fern-like leaves are two examples.
An entirely different approach might be to use one or several deciduous plants which can remain on the "roof garden" during the winter, with little attention, but which would provide green foliage and flowers during warmer weather.
Remembering Mrs. Menuhin's love of Roses, one might consider them as candidates. Adaptation of specific Rose cultivars to various climates is so specific, and the cultivars available in different countries varies so, that I would not even hazard a guess which ones are the best performers in London. You can be sure that the new cultivars are available which are more disease resistant than the old ones, and with wonderful fragrance. Rosa x 'Kathleen Harrop' is shrubby, tough, thornless, and bears shell pink, fragrant flowers. Rosa 'Ballerina' would certainly be an appropriate selection, not only for its name but for its other characteristics mindful of Mrs. Menuhin. (It produces apple-blossom pink flowers with a white center which are wonderfully fragrant. They almost speak "spring is here, be happy" as do Mrs. Menuhin's happy laugh and sparkling conversation.
There are no doubt many other better suggestions, so I hope you will not object if I send a copy of this note to Dr. Phillip McMillan-Browse, the new director of the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden at Wisely. Phillip has not only forgotten more plants than I am familiar with, but is certainly more acquainted with your specific climate than I.
He is, no doubt, snowed under with emergency work since the terrible destruction caused by the recent winds, but if the three of you could find time in your schedules to meet, I'm sure it would be mutually interesting.
You will find Phillip interested in and knowledgable about a broad range of subjects and an all-around fine man. He served as the Director of the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation from 198601987. We really miss him.
His address is:
Dr. Phillip McMillan-Browse, Director
The Royal Horticultural Society's Garden
Wisley
Woking, Surry GV236QB
Telephone: Guildford 0483 224234
I hope this is of some help.
With love,
Carl, Carol and Barrie
P.S. -- We just received the good news about Cathedral Oaks hopefully being sold to the Peninsula Open Space District. Hooray!Note Type
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Dear Barrie,
I have a little balcony right up on the top floor, the 5th floor from the ground, the 6th if you count the basement, exposed to the four directions of the compass. I can see the sun rise, follow its trajectory around the south and set in the wet. I also have a northern view from the corner. There is a substantial wall up to about a little over waist-high, 3 to 4 ft, and there is a roof cover for about a third of it. It leads out into the open and I can see the London roof tops and the corners of the big building as they emerge at a distance.
As our London climate is very like San Francisco as for the nightly fogs in the summer, what would be the best plants to survive? I have a water tap on the little terrace. By the way, it is about 8x4 ft. Please advise me.
Much love to you and Carol
{inscription} Yehudi
