Summer Update
Instant Summer Colour
We’re now getting to that time of year when we’re thinking ahead to beautiful hot summers filled with BBQ’s and parties with our friends and family. And, at the same time, we’re thinking ‘quick, we need to make the garden look lovely before everyone sees it’! Don’t worry, as always, we’ve got you covered. Our pre-planted hanging baskets and containers are perfect for picking up, paying for and placing into your garden for an instant splash of colour. Or if you’ve already enjoyed your planters for those Jubilee parties, but some of the plants are now looking a little tired, then we’ve got pots of colour to just pop in their place.
Unlike some of the larger stores that will throw plants away as soon as they’re looking a little past their best, we give them another chance by cutting them back, potting them up and growing them on for a few weeks until we’ve got a brand new, healthy plant ready for someone’s garden. There’s nothing we hate more than seeing trolleys of dying plants in garden centres and supermarkets that a nursery has lovingly grown that you know are just going to end up in a skip. What’s the point of all that wasted energy, materials and time when we’re living in an era where we need to stop being so wasteful and care more about our planet and its resources?
Hydrangea heaven
If you’ve ever visited us during the months of July to September, you will have seen just how much we love Hydrangeas! Most shrubs have a relatively short flowering time, but not these beauties as they can flower from June to November given the right conditions. Most of you know about the macrophylla types (even if you didn’t know that was what they’re called) with their big blue, pink or white heads in either a mophead or lace-cap style. These are fantastic plants for shadier spots as they like to remain damp (hence Hydra) or in a semi-shaded site that doesn’t dry out too much in summer. They all grow to a height of maximum 1.5m (or 5’ in old measure) and flower on the old growth so you have to prune them carefully or you’ll lose next years flowers. Leave the finished blooms on the plant to protect the new buds through the winter and dead head them in April.
Then there’s the relative newcomer to the block - Hydrangea paniculata. These are more tolerant of sun and drier conditions and if you choose the right variety are great in a pot. They have pointed flowerheads that start in a limey green, turning creamy white and then varying shades of pink as they age. You can again get the ‘mophead’ or ‘lace-cap’ effect and there are so many varieties to choose from now as there has been lots of breeding over the last few years. Some stay compact, only growing a couple of feet tall, whereas others can reach up to 8’. They flower on the new growth and do better from a prune each spring to make a framework. We even have some as standards so you can have them pop up above your other plants, or these do look great in containers or the ground either side of the front door (so much so that’s what Clare & Jonathan have!). We fell in love with them back in 2011 when we used them to line the outside of the marquee for Lynda’s daughter’s wedding in the July of that year – they were stunning, and still are, now planted in pots outside Lynda’s house!
New perennial batches are now coming through
Once we made space in the growing tunnel after you lovely lot started buying the perennials we starting filling them up again with even more! These are now ready and so you will start to find some of the later flowering varieties such as Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ and Alstroemeria ´Colorita Series’. Plus where we’d sold out of some of the more popular lines like Lupins, Delphiniums and Nepetas we’ve grown some more. We’ve got to keep our Rachael, who is responsible for growing all of the lovely perennial plants, busy down in the tunnel!
New website now Live
Over the last couple of months, we’ve been working on a new, updated website along with Steven from 51 Degrees Design. We’re quite pleased with it and ask you to take a look – we need some fresh eyes to look over it now to spot any mistakes we may have made! It’s got a bit about our history, with some lovely old photos on it too if you’re interested in where we’ve come from. We’ll hopefully be keeping it updated and seasonally fresh to keep you up to date with goings-on here.
Hope to see you at the Nursery very soon.
Jonathan & Clare