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
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
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, 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 ~ £25
collection only
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 ~ £20
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 ~ £20
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
Monday, 6 May 2013
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Big Chilean Lobelias!
Lobelia excelsa

A potentially large shrubby species (6ft tall here) from Chile with vivid scarlet flowers, and remarkably hardy so far. I've planted these outdoors in several locations in Sussex (all sunny and well drained) and they've formed substantial clumps.

This year, with the mild winter, they've been evergreen and flowered on last year's stems. In colder years they are cut to the ground by frost but grow away vigorously in the spring and flower in August. For any well drained soil in full sun.
Barry Clarke, the holder of the national collection of Lobelia, tells me this probably isn't excelsa, in which case, as far as I'm concerned anyway, it's even more interesting.
sold out
Lobelia polyphylla

A potentially large shrubby species (6ft tall here) from Chile with vivid scarlet flowers, and remarkably hardy so far. I've planted these outdoors in several locations in Sussex (all sunny and well drained) and they've formed substantial clumps.

This year, with the mild winter, they've been evergreen and flowered on last year's stems. In colder years they are cut to the ground by frost but grow away vigorously in the spring and flower in August. For any well drained soil in full sun.
Barry Clarke, the holder of the national collection of Lobelia, tells me this probably isn't excelsa, in which case, as far as I'm concerned anyway, it's even more interesting.
sold out
Lobelia polyphylla

Another large Chilean species more like the better known L.tupa but more shrubby. The flowers are a dark maroon red in this case. These seem to be much less hardy than excelsa but would make a good subject for a container in cooler areas (as here) or in a sheltered spot in perhaps the South West or elsewhere in Europe. I'm going to plant some in a garden in Rottingdean - see how that goes.
sold out
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