Emily has been busy planting on the nursery using large containers.
Weekly catch up with gardens & propagation
POSTED 14th March 2025
Garden Team
Following on from last week, where the garden team were cutting back the established planting at Chattowood, our planting project on the neighbouring housing estate, this week we have been planting some new areas of the site, opened up to us as the next phase of building has been completed.
We have been monitoring the initial planting scheme closely, learning which plants thrive in the conditions, combinations which work well and the maintenance involved to care for it, all to keep fine tuning the scheme as it moves forward.
We have added more of the plants that are doing well, such as Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii with it's bright yellow flowers on sturdy stems above blue green foliage, Cistus x hybridus (rock rose) a lovely evergreen shrub with papery white flowers and Stipa gigantea with it's tall elegant flower heads that gently dance on the breeze.
Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii
We are also adding some new plants that we are trialling in this phase including Kniphofia galpinii, a red hot poker with spires of orange in late summer and Asphodeline 'Yellow Candle' with lush green foliage and masses of yellow star like flowers. We"ll keep you updated on their progress.
With an estimated 1500 plants added in a couple of days, it was a great team effort.
Propagation Team
A few days of warm afternoons had us questioning if it's time to remove the thermals, but we can assure you... it is not!
Miya has spent much of the last week over in our stockbeds, alongside Sean and Hannah, lifting, splitting and planting a whole host of treasures for the future. One of these being Anthericum liliago 'Major', also known as St Bernard's lily. This deciduous perennial sports a charming clump of narrow leaves, with proud stems sprouting white, trumpet flowers in short racemes. It's a must to plant these in full sun, where they provide a truly glittering display from the late spring, into the summer.
Debs has been hard at work at the cuttings bench, lending her expertise to Origanum 'Kent Beauty' and Salvia uliginosa 'Ballon Azul'. S. 'Ballon Azul' is another sun loving plant and will produce blue flowers as summer turns into autumn. The brief spell of warm weather also allowed us to sneak in a quick spell of biological control measures, keeping our greenhouse and production building safe from what may negatively affect our developing plants.
Salvia uliginosa 'Ballon Azul'
Over on the potting bench, Kathy has been busy potting on Sedum spurium 'Schorbuser Blut' synonymously known as the aptly named 'Dragon's Blood'. This mat-forming perennial will bring pinkish-red flowers in late summer.
Sedum spurium 'Schorbuser Blut'
Elsewhere, Emily has been putting her years of design experience to use, planning and planting a new display on our nursery. Emily was trained by Beth and has brought the philosophy of 'right plant, right place' forward to meet some of the challenges our world faces today, bringing life to forgotten areas.
If there's ever a plant which takes your interest, but isn't yet ready to be sold, you are able to place your email on our website to be notified when your plant or plants are ready. We will only ever part with healthy, strong rooted plants, and your patience is very much appreciated.
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