Monday, 16 December 2013
New phone number
Please note that due to an administrative hoo-ha our mobile phone number has had to change.
It is now 07955744802
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Friday, 11 October 2013
Spiraea thunbergii

I get the impression that Spiraea is one of those groups, like Hypericum, that most keen gardeners tend to scoot past, and generally speaking I'd do likewise, but I've come to learn that almost every group has something choice to offer and it can be fun locating it.
Spiraea thunbergii is one such gem - hardly an obscurity (it has an AGM after all) but I hardly ever see it in gardens or nurseries. It is an exquisite shrub combining sprays of pure white flowers with the lightest and freshest of pale green leaves, all in a loose billowing (but not overly large) arching shrub up to about 4ft tall and across. Mine flowers surprisingly early in the year (March) and goes on into May. After that the foliage and form make a very pleasant contrast to darker heavier plants, and are never even slightly ugly.
Can be pruned quite hard after flowering if neccessary and I imagine it would make a good informal hedge.
Very easy to please on any soil in sun. Absolutely spiffing in every way.
3L pots ~ £9
Leucosceptrum stellipilum formosanum
Mauve pink bottle-brushes and large (to 6ins) fresh pale green foliage. A lush leafy herbaceous perennial related to Elscholtzia, Agastache and Rostrinucula, and with the same late flowering season - well into November if the weather allows.

Possibly best in sheltered woodland to avoid hot sun and early frosts which can damage the display. Otherwise easy and adaptable.
3L pots ~ £8

Possibly best in sheltered woodland to avoid hot sun and early frosts which can damage the display. Otherwise easy and adaptable.
3L pots ~ £8
Labels:
autumn,
brighton,
Chelonopsis,
excisus,
formosanum,
Isodon,
Leucosceptrum,
longituba,
longitubus,
moschatus,
nursery,
plants,
Plectranthus,
Rabdosia,
stellipilum
Salvia reptans

Very different – this is a slender willowy American, very late f;lowering species with very narrow, almost grassy green leaves, giving a very light fresh effect in the garden among grasses or grey leaved shrubs. The flowers are exquisite – small but of intense cobalt blue on fine stems above the foliage and produced from September until the frosts. For open well-drained sunny sites.

Two things: like many bushy Salvias, the stems are quite brittle, and the flowering, being so late can be spoilt by harsh weather, so although quite cold hardy, all in all best given some shelter.
Ps. not to be confused with S.repens which is a low growing S. African species with short spikes of mauvish flowers. I think both reptans and repens mean creeping (as in reptile) but this one, so far at least, does no such thing. Strange...
1L pots ~ £7
Monday, 23 September 2013
Gladiolus papilio

A terrific tall slender species that always attracts attention with its cryptically coloured nodding flowers. Easy and perfectly hardy around here and, though I've not tried it, probably worth trying to naturalise in rough grass. It can run about a bit underground, popping up here and there so I recommend planting it among herbaceous perennials or low shrubs that are done flowering for the year.
1L pots ~ £7
Monday, 2 September 2013
Keiskea japonica Pink form

Keiskea are from Japan and make extremely pretty bushy herbaceous perennials to about 2ft tall. The pink is very pale so the flowers shine out against the dark tinted foliag.
Plants that flower late into autumn are always worth having and there are a number of late season Lamiaceae (mint family) from eastern Asia that are far too little grown in the UK. Colquhounia, Elscholzia and Rostrinucula are three that I grow, and this is another.

Adaptable and completely hardy, but possibly at their best in coolish, moistish spots.
2L pots ~ £9
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Sussex Prairies Plant Fair
Once again we will be at Sussex Prairies on Sunday, September 1st. This is the only fair we do at the moment (us not having a van as yet, and it being just down the road from the nursery) but it's good hectic fun and a great opportunity to chat to fellow plant nuts.
Sussex Prairies itself is famed for its immense Prairie plantings (lots of grasses and giant herbaceous perennials in huge drifts) set around a geometrical pattern of broad grass fairways. For the fair there are also sculptures to look at (and buy) and a huge selection of specialist nurseries, including some from the continent.
Please feel free to contact me in advance if you would like to reserve some plants to pick up at the fair.
Sussex Prairies itself is famed for its immense Prairie plantings (lots of grasses and giant herbaceous perennials in huge drifts) set around a geometrical pattern of broad grass fairways. For the fair there are also sculptures to look at (and buy) and a huge selection of specialist nurseries, including some from the continent.
Please feel free to contact me in advance if you would like to reserve some plants to pick up at the fair.
Labels:
brighton,
henfield,
nursery,
plant fair,
plants,
sussex prairies
Monday, 8 July 2013
Gladiolus flanaganii

An absolutely astonishing hardy species from near vertical cliffs in the Drakensberg. The plant is only 10ins high but the outsized vivid red flowers are rich red and grow out sideways. Hard to explain – has to be seen.

Closely related to the equally extraordinary G.cardinalis and should be just as hardy over much of the country in a well-drained sunny spot.
10cm pots ~ £7
Labels:
brighton,
cardinalis,
flanaganii,
Gladiolus,
nursery,
papilio,
plants
Monday, 1 July 2013
Indigofera
Indigofera hebepetala

A very striking species with fresh green leaflets and dramatic magenta and maroon flowers over a long period in summer. Easy and adaptable in any ordinary garden soil in sun.

May need shelter in cold areas.
4L pots ~ £12
Indigofera pendula

A tall lax shrub best grown among other sturdier shrubs which it will decorate with its fine silver green pinnate foliage and pendulous strings of pink pea flowers from June until the frosts come.

Almost any half decent soil in sun. May need shelter in cold exposed areas.
Sold out for now - sorry
Indigofera decora
I've been wanting to do this for ages and here it is. I only sowed the seeds last autumn and here are the first flowers already.
This is an exquisite small ground-covering species with fresh green foliage and rosy pink flowers.
Apparently a popular front of the border plant in warmer climates but is hardly ever seen in the UK.
Hardy but wants a warm sheltered spot to grow and flower well.
Sold out for now - sorry
Labels:
brighton,
decora,
hebepetala,
Indigofera,
nursery,
pendula,
plants
Monday, 17 June 2013
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Viburnums
The main reason though for their being so popular around here is that they grow so well on chalky soils.
I'm offering a few of the more rarely seen species.
Viburnum cinnamomifolium

A wonderfully big lush exotic shrub, and essentially a tree-like version of the common (and unfairly despised) V.davidii. Both species have among the very best evergreen foliage of any hardy shrub, and are well worth growing even without the flowers, which are the usual small rosy white, or the berries, which are intense blue with red stems. You will need male and female plants to get fruits but davidii will pollinate cinnamomifolium apparently.
5L pots ~ £15
Viburnum atrocyaneum

A neat evergreen with small rounded very glossy leaves with a distinct wine red cast. The flowers are the usual small pinkish white affairs, followed by bloomy black berries. Very adaptable and easy.
3L pots ~ £12
Viburnum cylindricum

An evergreen species grown for the unusual greyish cast to the foliage and panicles of creamy flowers in summer.

Bloomy black fruits. A rare large shrub – excellent on chalk.
sold out - sorry
Viburnum erubescens
Viburnum erubescens

A very high quality and strangely little-known evergreen species. Perfectly formed bell-shaped white flowers are produced in spring on red stems. The foliage is glossy green but also has a distinct red tint and turns rich maroon in winter. Overall the shrub has a graceful layered spreading effect. Excellent in every way.
sold out - sorry
Viburnum henryi

Suitable for most ordinary garden situations but especially good on chalk.
sold out for now
Labels:
atrocyaneum,
brighton,
cinnamomifolium,
cylindricum,
henryi,
nursery,
plants,
viburnum
Monday, 10 June 2013
Moraea huttonii

Stupendous tall Iris with beautifully crafted yellow ‘flags’ on rigid upright stems well above the narrow strappy green leaves (easily hidden among other perennials).

For open sites on fertile moist soils ideally but very tough. Basically they’ll grow anywhere Agapanthus or Kniphofia succeed.
1L pots ~ £10
Labels:
acinosa,
Amsonia,
brighton,
hubrichtii,
huttonii,
Moraea,
nursery,
Phytolacca,
plants
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Piptanthus nepalensis

A really striking shrub, notable not just for the acid yellow flowers, but also for the dark green foliage and, once the leaves drop in autumn, the rich lustrous black-green stems (a bit like the black bamboo, as my mate Richard pointed out the other day).
Hardy and adaptable but probably at its best with some shelter. Other members of this group (Laburnum, brooms etc) are real sun lovers, but Piptanthus nepalensis can look a little washed-out in too much heat and drought. It often looks its best in less exposed, cooler, and even semi-shady conditions.
Can be grown as a free-standing multi-stemmed shrub or trained on a wall.
5L pots ~ £14
Labels:
brighton,
nepalensis,
nursery,
Piptanthus,
plants
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Athamanta
![]() |
Athamanta 'turbith' |
![]() |
Athamanta 'vestina' |
Either way they're both jolly nice!
Athamanta 'turbith' :
3in pots ~ £6
Athamanta 'vestina' :
3in pots ~ £6
Monday, 6 May 2013
Viola quartet
Surprisingly few violets are well-known in cultivation and leaving aside some of the very tricky species and the all-too-well-known Pansies and Violettas, many are exquisite but easy-going plants of woodland and mountain, especially in Europe, the far East and North America, and they should appeal to anyone who likes Anemone, Primula and Cyclamen.
I suspect that many people, based on their experience of the invasive V.odorata, might be suspicious of these plants. My experience is that almost every group of plants has at least one weedy member, but that violets are no more prone to this than any other group. Some seed about but the seedlings are easily eradicated (or moved) and most show no inclination to run underground.
Viola pinnata

Pretty purple violet flowers produced in profusion among a clump of most un-violet-like fingered foliage. This is a European alpine species, almost never seen in cultivation to my knowledge, but which seems very happy indeed here in our sunny raised bed.
10cm pots ~ £5
Viola glabella

A really gorgeous little golden yellow violet from California (Thanks Dennis) - much nicer, I think, than the European V.biflora. My camera really refuses to capture the rich golden colour properly but the compact shiny foliage and floriferous-ness (phew!) should be apparent. A lovely woodlander. Will probably seed about but doesn't seem to want to run.
sold out
Viola aff. chaerophylloides

A bit of a mystery this one. I obtained the seed from a seed exchange under various names including chaerophylloides sieboldii, chaerophylloides sieboldii rosea and chaerophylloides x eizenensis Kurenal and the two forms you see above are the kind of things that resulted.

This paler version has yellowish foliage, turning darker later in the year.
V.sieboldii and chaerophylloides are notable for their jagged palmate foliage so they're in the right general area. Perhaps I should come up with some cultivar names? Whatever they are they are extremely lovely, and seem so far fairly easy in a cool woodsy spot. Once again, they seem to seed about a bit but not to run.
Few to spare so far. Please enquire
I suspect that many people, based on their experience of the invasive V.odorata, might be suspicious of these plants. My experience is that almost every group of plants has at least one weedy member, but that violets are no more prone to this than any other group. Some seed about but the seedlings are easily eradicated (or moved) and most show no inclination to run underground.
Viola pinnata

Pretty purple violet flowers produced in profusion among a clump of most un-violet-like fingered foliage. This is a European alpine species, almost never seen in cultivation to my knowledge, but which seems very happy indeed here in our sunny raised bed.
10cm pots ~ £5
Viola glabella

A really gorgeous little golden yellow violet from California (Thanks Dennis) - much nicer, I think, than the European V.biflora. My camera really refuses to capture the rich golden colour properly but the compact shiny foliage and floriferous-ness (phew!) should be apparent. A lovely woodlander. Will probably seed about but doesn't seem to want to run.
sold out
Viola aff. chaerophylloides

A bit of a mystery this one. I obtained the seed from a seed exchange under various names including chaerophylloides sieboldii, chaerophylloides sieboldii rosea and chaerophylloides x eizenensis Kurenal and the two forms you see above are the kind of things that resulted.

This paler version has yellowish foliage, turning darker later in the year.
V.sieboldii and chaerophylloides are notable for their jagged palmate foliage so they're in the right general area. Perhaps I should come up with some cultivar names? Whatever they are they are extremely lovely, and seem so far fairly easy in a cool woodsy spot. Once again, they seem to seed about a bit but not to run.
Few to spare so far. Please enquire
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)