Heuchera Marmalade

Special Plants, near Bath is a mecca for gardeners looking for unusual plants.  They sell an amazing range of hardy herbaceous and rockery plants as well as many tender perennials for terrace and conservatory. The adjoining garden (well worth a visit) is open on Wednesdays in July, August and September. Owner, Derry Watkins, has introduced many new plants from her plant collecting trips to South Africa and elsewhere. She also teaches one-day gardening courses at the nursery.

Special Plants © Charles Hawes

Digitalis grandis thrives in shady places

A shady bank of Chaerophyllum hirsutum

The verges were as enticing as the meadows with shady and sunny habitats providing a wonderful diversity of plants.  In the shade, the soft yellow digitalis grandis was just  coming into flower, while carpets of alpine strawberries providing snacking opportunities and pink chaerophyllum hirsutum, so desirable in our gardens, defeated ranker plants to become the feature plant on a shady bank.  It is so exciting to see what we regard as choice plants in their natural habitat.  I found a clematis alpina growing among rocks and nearby a patch of  large-flowered blue aquilegia.  On the sunny side of the street, so to speak, there were campanulas, thymes and salvias all thriving in the free-draining soil.  When we see plants in the wild, it helps us to provide similar conditions in our garden and grow better plants.  Keith Wiley of Wildside Plants is a great proponent of this and  you can read  about his methods in ‘On the Wild Side: Experiments in New Naturalism‘. Dove Cottage Nursery is an excellent source of plants for naturalistic planting.

So much more peaceful than a strimmer.

Entrance to the adjoining garden, which really is a must, is £2.75.

Nurseries don’t come much better than Marchant’s Hardy Plants at Laughton, near Lewes in East Sussex.  It is an enticing place to visit, set against the backdrop of the South Downs, and the selection of herbaceous perennials and ornamental grasses is a distillation of all the best forms available. Graham Gough is the presiding genius. He sings as he works and grows a fine plant. This year the nursery is open until Saturday 23rd October Wednesday – Saturday from 9.30am – 5.30pm.  Definitely worth a pilgrimage, especially as there is no mail order. www.marchantshardyplants.co.uk

Stillingfleet Lodge Nursery just south of York is a place that those in the  know  will make a large detour to visit. The garden that surrounds the 18th century farmhouse features superb cottage garden planting and there are also long herbaceous borders, a wildflower walk and a natural pond.  With so much to inspire it will be hard to resist picking up something for your own garden from the nursery which specialises in unusual perennials.  Take note though that they only accept cash or cheques – no credit cards.

Farmyard Nurseries at Llandysul in Carmarthenshire is a magnet for Welsh gardeners in search of unusual plants especially hellebores, herbaceous and perennial plants, shrubs, trees and alpines. Last year, at their first time at the Chelsea Flower Show, they won a well-deserved gold medal. Set in the rolling hills of West Wales, the nursery is well worth a visit, but if you can’t get there, they also have a mail order service. www.farmyardnurseries.co.uk