New Plants and Products

Our new mail order catalogue is now out!  You can pick one up from the shop, download it from our web site or request that one is sent to you in the post by calling 01280 827933.

Our online shop has now been updated with all the new lines in this year's catalogue.

Last year we were delighted to be able to introduce the new hedging line ‘Hedge Germander’ to the range of hedging plants and this proved to be very popular, so this year we are pleased to have two new hedging lines.

Raspberry Ruby Beauty The first is unusual as it is a soft fruit which would make a truly ornamental and edible hedge thus making an excellent choice for separating a vegetable garden from the ornamental garden.  This is RASPBERRY Ruby Beauty which only grows to about one metre in height and, unlike the taller growing varieties, will only need support if the weight of the fruit bends the stems over too much.  If you do not need a hedge, this variety can be grown as a free standing plant or it is ornamental enough to be grown in a large pot on the patio.

Photinia Crunchy The second is a new variety of that now well used favourite Photinia Red Robin.  PHOTINIA Crunchy has similar attributes to Photinia Red Robin, but the foliage is toothed and prickly, almost like holly but much softer, and upright in habit.  The leaves emerge coppery-red, turning to a chocolate shade before finally turning a dark and shiny green.  Panicles of white flowers are an added bonus in late Spring.  It will make a most attractive evergreen hedge of up to 1.8 metres.

Geranium Rozanne We are delighted to offer in our mail order range a plant which has proved extremely popular with our Garden Centre customers, GERANIUM Rozanne.  This variety was voted ‘Plant of the Centenary’ at the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show, and we are not surprised as this superb variety is a sterile hybrid which produces masses of beautiful violet blue, saucer shaped flowers from June till November. Unlike some other geraniums it does not self seed, but is fast growing forming neat hummocks.  The flowers have the added advantage that they are attractive to bees and butterflies.  It can be planted individually in sun or partial shade, or used as ground cover.

Japanese Maples

The extended range of JAPANESE MAPLES we introduced in larger pots last year proved very popular so we have introduced four new varieties to give a different choice this year.  The four new varieties are all stunning in their different ways and are suitable for different situations.

Acer Dissectum Shindeshojo may not be a very attractive name but it is an outstanding variety which is often given the common name ‘Spring Ruby Tree’ due to the intense shrimp pink leaves in the spring which are so intense in colour they look like flowers.  This colour slowly turns green in summer then to reddish orange in autumn before falling.  Acer Crimson Queen lives up to its name as its leaves are deep burgundy red and if planted in semi-shade these will hold their intense colour all summer before turning vibrant crimson before falling in autumn.  This variety forms the typical mound form so often seen in acers with the branches drooping right to the ground.

Acers Katsura and Skeeter’s Broom are both upright varieties which make excellent specimen small trees.  Katsura has leaves which emerge bright orange, turning to yellow-orange margined with pink, then turning to bright orange before falling in autumn.  It also offers an ‘added extra’ in the winter with its brownish-red bark.  Skeeter’s broom is a particularly slender form with bright red leaves in spring, turning to deep red and summer then bright ruby red before falling in autumn.

Heucheras and Hostas

HEUCHERAS and HOSTAS have become more and more popular with the many beautiful new varieties being introduced in recent years and these have been available to visitors to the Garden Centre.  We decided to increase the range in our mail order catalogue from two to nine plus one Heucherella and three wonderful Hostas.

The Heuchera range in colour from brilliant lime yellow through many shades of orange and copper, then different shades of purple to one which is almost black! They also produce delicate slender stems of flowers in summer and these are attractive to butterflies.  Hostas are such useful plants to act as colourful ground cover in shady areas.  All three varieties offered are pretty resistant to slugs – the bane of many varieties – so if well mulched will make excellent plants.

We know from our Garden Centre customers that they are happy to pay a little more in order to buy a more mature, larger plant so we have made available an interesting range of perennials in 1 litre pots as well as the 9cm already available.  We have chosen varieties which will give colour at different times of the year, with varying colours and suitable for a variety of conditions.  The twenty listed are, in fact, only a fraction of the number available from the Garden Centre, so if there is something not listed that you want it would be worth contacting us to see if we do in fact also have the plant you are wanting.

Heuchera Black Taffeta	Heuchera Peach Flambe	Heuchera Lime Marmalade	Heuchera Forever Purple

Root Wrapped Roses

Again the root wrapped roses are just a some of the many superb varieties we have available and as usual we have changed the varieties listed from last year adding Agatha Christie, Seagull, Starlight Express, Chandos Beauty, City Livery, Fragrant Cloud, Margaret Merril, My Valentine, Rhapsody in Blue, Sunny Sky and Tequila Sunrise. This is definitely the most economical way of purchasing top quality roses but they are only available from October to March so don’t leave it too late if you need some new roses for your garden.

Agatha Christie	Starlight Express	Chandos Beauty	City Livery	Fragrant Cloud
Margaret Merril	My Valentine	Rhapsody in Blue	Sunny Sky	Tequila Sunrise

New Grasses & Ferns

The final three new plants for this season are CAREX EVERGOLD, CAREX RED ROOSTER and MOTHER SHIELD FERN.  Carex Evergold, otherwise known as Japanese Sedge, rightly has a R.H.S. Award of Garden Merit as an outstanding evergreen grass.  It is neat and compact, forming a clump of narrow arching leaves, dark green with a central creamy-yellow stripe.  It does produce a flower spike but this is not its selling point as these are inconspicuous but not detrimental to its value, and the plant is so attractive with it foliage and form. 

Carex Red Rooster, otherwise known as New Zealand Leatherleaf Sedge or Buchanan’s Sedge, has the appearance of an ornamental grass but being a sedge is more versatile tolerating most soils, even boggy, and is happy in full sun or partial shade.  It therefore makes a good edging plant, will be attractive in an ornamental pot or planted either individually or in clumps in a bed.  It is evergreen with coppery red to light brown upright narrow leaves which flex gracefully in the breeze  Although evergreen, it is good to cut it back in the spring to make way for new fresh leaves.

Mother Shield Fern originates from the cooler area of Australia and thrives in this country in warm but shady areas where is will make a good ground cover plant with its wide, arching fronds billowing out.  It regenerates by new plantlets forming when the mature fronds touch the ground which is why it works well for ground cover.

We are also pleased to be able to offer a new smaller size of Broadleaf for those only planting a few new plants.  The 100 gram sachet came out after our printed catalogue went to press but it is listed on the Web Site.  As you only need about 2 grams per plant this will still go quite a way.

 

Sections in our catalogue: Hedging, Trees, Shrubs & Conifers, Ornamental Trees & Shrubs,Ornamental Grasses, Climbers, Ground Cover & Perennials, Ferns, Fruit,Root-Wrapped Roses,Seed Potatoes RootGrow, Broadleaf P4, Plant Protection, Plant & Tree Ties, Stakes & Canes, Growhouse & Cloches, Gloves, Watering, Fertilisers, Root Grow Friendly Fungi, Weed Control & Mats, Tidy Up Bags & Sheets, Pest Control, Gift Vouchers