Bear with me while we do another two week blog. As summer slips into autumn the weather is still warm, though windier which we haven't had for a while and its very showery. We are thankful for rain but could do with out the wind. The windows are back in the top end of the polytunnels and the doors are now shut at night, a sure sign that the weather is changing. The colours in the nursery and gardens are also shifting, from pinks and blues to oranges, yellow and the browns of autumn leaves.
With only seven weeks until we close for winter, we are busy getting lots of propagation done, sorting out areas of the gardens, sorting out orders for customers and already making plans for next year.
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| Another page of my watercolour journal, July |
Last week it was Fiona's turn to choose plants in the sales area she recommends you add to your garden and plant collections:
Bergenia ‘Baby Doll’ – As we head into autumn evergreen plants come into their own and onwards through winter. This Bergenia is a lovely compact variety with rounded, bright green leaves to 10cm wide and short sprays of pale pink flowers in spring (often producing an odd flower or two through summer). A good Bergenia for the smaller garden. H 30cm, S 45cm 
Sorbus cashmiriana -A large spreading deciduous shrub or small tree with oblong leaflets and often great autumn colour. Flowers are a dull pink, followed by clusters of long-lasting white fruits which is what its grown for. A nice alternative to the red and orange berried varieties. H 6m 
Colchicum autumnale 'Album' - A robust, autumn flowering bulb with narrow green leaves. Open goblet-shaped, pure white flowers appear in early autumn followed by the leaves in spring. Plant in full sun and well drained soil. A smaller cousin of the large pink autumn crocus. H 15cm, S 10cm 
Cercidiphyllum japonicum AGM - “Katsura tree” An outstanding, medium tree and one of Rona’s favourites with rounded leaves that hang beneath the branches, emerging pink in spring, dark green with red petioles in summer and spectacular autumn colour. A great all round tree. Best on acid soil. Falling leaves smell of burnt toffee. H 15m 
Heuchera ‘Chocolate Ruffles’ – A colourful cultivar with evergreen, chocolate, ruffled leaves and a maroon underside and clouds of small, white flowers appear in early to mid-summer. One of the best! H 45cm
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First page of July in my watercolour journal  |
One thing people often struggle with is what plants to plant together to get either year round interest or a little montage at a certain time of year. Over the next few months I’m going to put together four plants I would heartily recommend for your garden that you can grow together. They will like the same conditions and act as a perfect contrast for each other and are for sale in the nursery.
Not ready for the autumn colours yet? Here’s a lovely late summer into autumn combination of pinks and blues to give you weeks of colour, scent and food for the pollinators.
Actaea simplex ‘Pink Spike’
Shorter than A. ‘Brunette’ but equally stunning and with the sweet scent, this variety has, pale-pink bottlebrush flowers to 1.2m. Very attractive to pollinators and especially hover flies this striking plants and its other dark leaved varieties are well worth growing. Plant in partial shade and moist soil that doesn’t dry out. Not available in the nursery but we do have some A. ‘Brunette’ left.
Aster ageratoides 'Asran'
A clump-forming aster which produces clusters of pale purple-blue, daisy-like flowers with yellow centres in autumn. A new one to us and so far it is doing well in pots in the stock beds. It has an unusual leaf shape for an aster which adds interest. Plant in full sun and moist but well drained soil. Great for bees and butterflies. H 60cm, S 50cm.
Lilium ‘Stargazer’
A stunning, reliable variety, easily found to buy in bulb season. Heavily scented, it dominates the late summer borders with its ridiculously big, colourful flowers and it is attractive to bees. Plant in sun and well drained soil, want to grow them with the other plants featured here? Plant them in a pot and sit it on the soil in amongst the other plants so that they pop up in summer complimenting their surrounding plant companions. H 90cm.
Lythrum salicaria ‘Zigeunerblut’ (Gypsy blood)
Deep carmine-red flowers in mid to late summer which really pop in a border. One of the best perennials for a strong vertical accent it goes well with grasses, Leucanthemums and euphorbias. Plant in moisture-retentive soil in full sun. H 1.2m, S 45cm
We had a great day out for all the team at Four Oaks trade show today. Lots to think about and interesting things to see. Good banter and chat on the drive there and back with David, Isabel and Fiona.
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Not long now until our herbs go away for winter, so if you still want to pick some up for pots or your herb garden then come along and stock up soon.
They are all propagated from our own herb garden which was started in winter 2016 so that David and I could be married there in August 2017. Leading neatly on from our last Throwback Thursday post which featured the scented garden (our aisle that I walked up to be married) here is the creation of the herb garden.
Having looked around and been flabbergasted at the cost of wedding venues and wanting something a bit different and personal we decided to get married in the nursery gardens and built two gardens for this very purpose. So on 11th August 2017 I walked up a scented “Aisle” and we were married in the herb garden with our wonderful family and friends around us.
The herb garden is split into culinary, medicinal and household herbs in a series of formal beds. You can learn more about what we are growing on the herb garden page on our website. We plant annuals in the beds to compliment the perennial herbs that live there all year round. In mid summer it is full of flowers and insects, you can sit and enjoy the scents of herbs. Its one of my favourite gardens for many reasons. I just need time to use all those herbs.
Amazing to be featured in The Scotsman article about gardens and green places to visit this month along side all those great gardens also featured. Thank you 
Its all yellow…………….. as we drift into Autumn and the colours in the garden shift up a gear to the hotter end of the colour palette I thought I’d look at yellows today. It along with orange are the two colours people seem to dislike most in flowers. When asked if there’s any colours they don’t want in the garden its always either yellow or orange or both.
So here are some ideas to introduce a pop of yellow into your garden all year round, at this time of year or in spring (when yellow is abundant).
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| A bowl of Nasturtiums |
The highly scented flowers of my fish bone cactus have started opening. They are at least a month early this year
On Monday we had a trip to Floors Castle today to drop off an order for the gardens from Quercus (exciting). Lovely to meet Kate at last and see where our plants are going in the gardens. We had a walk round and finished off with a lovely lunch in the café.
From a day out to one of the main horticulture trade shows to working through the propagation list, helping customers and donating plants to national collections its been a busy week. We’re still struggling to get our heads around its September already and we have 7 weeks left to get everything done before we close for winter.
On Wednesday we all went down to the Four Oaks Trade show, a great day out together, seeing new things, talking to suppliers and having a great chat and banter on the journey. I think we all got a lot out of the day.
We’ve had orders being collected, more orders being placed and on Monday David and I delivered an order to Floors Castle walled Garden which was great. We had a wander around the gardens, met Kate who works there and enjoyed a lovely lunch sitting out on the café terrace.
Fiona, Isabel and I have been working through the data base propagating and potting everything needing bulked up for next year. Our aim is to have enough of the popular plants and enough of everything else, always challenging when it sells as quickly as we can pot up.
We’ve posted an artemisia to the National collection of Artemisia down in Devon which is very exciting. This is the second time we’ve contributing to a National collection.
I’ve also bee assessing the gardens, re-planting plants that have dies, usually in a different place where they will hopefully be happier. I’ve also been planting new plants and thinning out some of our more enthusiastic plants.
There’s still lots of colour and interest in the gardens so well worth visiting if you want to squeeze another visit in before the end of the season and of course still lots to buy in the stock beds and sales area. Many plants are taking on their autumn colour so if you are looking for a plant with autumn interest now is a good time to come and see them and choose. I’d recommend Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Viburnum ‘Charles Lamont’ and Berberis vulgaris which are looking great at the moment.
We’ve one water lily left if you are still planting up a pond and a few marginals and oxygenators available. This is the last until we re-stock next April.
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