This months pick of the Independent Nurseries

Camellias are just coming into prime flowering season, so it is the perfect time to go and choose one for your garden. Coghurst Camellias is a specialist grower, between Hastings and Rye in East Sussex, with a wonderful range of camellias to choose from.  They have plants in a range of sizes, depending how impatient you are, and at this time of year they are all in polytunnels so that the flowers will not be spoiled by extreme weather.  My favourite purchase from them has been ‘Quintessence’ a slow growing spreading variety with wonderful fragrant flowers. www.rotherview.com

Harvey’s Garden Plants is a family run nursery in Suffolk that grows a wonderful range of hardy herbaceous plants, specializing in perennials not commonly found in garden centres. There’s a wide range of woodland plants including Helleborus, Epimedium, and Anemone as well as Euphorbia, Monarda and Grasses. They have developed a new strain of helleborus called Bradfield hybrids. Since they moved to their current site a few years ago they have started to develop extensive gardens.  Talks and events are held in The Orchard Room which is also the venue coffee, lunches and afternoon tea on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. www.harveysgardenplants.co.uk