If you fancy some foxgloves in the garden next year, now is the perfect time to plant them, because they flower from their second year.Although the air temperature may have dropped, the soil temperature holds much longer and plants will begin to esta...

We have many old and interesting 'pinks', because they are one of my favourite plants and I love the strong clove scent of many of them. This is the latest addition to our range. It's Dianthus 'Tatra Ghost'. I don't have a lot of information about it...

Taking cuttings today. If ever a plant was well named, it's Persicaria 'Painter's Pallet'. Each leaf looks like a decorators overalls :-)

We're very pleased to be able to offer this unusual foxglove (Digitalis purpurea 'Campanulata') now. It has the usual foxglove flowers most of the way up the stems, but the terminal flower of each stem is a completely different, open form (peloric). ...

Hollyhocks are the archetypal English (and wider UK!) cottage garden plant which has been loved for centuries. Gerard’s Herbal (1597) notes: “These Hollihockes are sowne in gardens, almost every where, and are in vaine sought elsewhere.” Legend ...

The flower buds of Calandrinia grandiflora always remind me of snakeheads. They hang down from the stem and raise themselves up one at a time to open in all their bright pink glory. Being such open flowers mean the bees love them.These tough plants g...

We currently have a large range of plants on offer at reduced prices. Don't forget, delivery is free for orders over £60 so it's a good time to stock up and fill some gaps in the garden! Plants put in now should grow rapidly with the current war...

We enjoyed being at the Rare Plant Fair at Waterperry Gardens yesterday. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and there were a lot of comments along the lines of "it's just nice to be able to do something normal again!". Our next fair is at Evenl...

The wonderful Night Scented Phlox has started flowering early this year. Fortunately it flowers for months so it'll still be flowering when the evenings are warm enough to sit outside. Plant it near a path, or in a pot near your outside seating, to e...

Love this violet. It does just what it says on the tin.This one is in the pollytunnel so it's flowering early but the sororia violets usually flower after our native dog/wood violets, so they are useful for extending the seasonal interest.More inform...

We haven't posted much over the past few weeks due to being so busy. This is our busiest time, both for growing and for receiving orders. We dispatch orders every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (we don't dispatch later in the week to avoid plants bein...

Primula 'Gold Lace' was introduced by the Victorians and was much prized by gardeners in those times. Much prized by us now, it's a lovely spring flower. We have plants available and about to flower now .Full plant details here.

Now is a good time to plant perennial wallflowers (Erysimum) for a good display of flowers this year and for several years to come.There is a lot of history associated with these plants. In the 12th century, Troubadours would wear a sprig of wallflow...

This is Viola odorata 'Princess Diana' which is flowering in the polytunnel now. She has a gorgeous scent when the sun is on her.

Really like this unusual lesser celandine which we've grown for the first time this year. Lovely green petals with light streaks of lemon. Only available in small numbers this year but we should have plenty available next spring. It's called Ficaria ...

Have you suffered from a dragon bite? If so, you may like to know that French Tarragon (Artemesia dracunculus) is alleged to have the power to heal their bites.On a more mundane level, it was traditionally also used to cure stings and bites from veno...

Primroses are a quintessential sign of spring and the word means 'prime rose', or the first rose of spring. The flower has long been linked to faeries and it was believed that growing both red and blue 'primroses' in the garden would attract faeries....

It doesn't matter how many thousands of seeds I sow, lifting a seed tray cloche and seeing the first shoots pushing out through the soil never fails to excite me.... possibly I should get out more?  

Woad has been an important plant for much of our history. Archaeologists have discovered the seeds in Iron Age pits in Lincolnshire and elsewhere but it's thought that it has been used since even earlier times.In 1377 Coventry was the 4th largest cit...

Regular readers will know that I am fascinated by the many and varied common names of plants and the stories and myths that surround them. One of the plants we sell, Selliera radicans, is known colloquially as Bonking Grass. This plant is native...