Weekly catch up with garden & propagation

This week in propagation with Rob

As February draws to a close, the sun teases what gold awaits ahead, and with it, deep in the heart of our propagation department, many treasures are taking shape!

Mel, Kirsten, Angela and myself have been making a few improvements to the layout of the nursery. Whilst Tina, when not checking the health of our overwintering plants, has been stocking up where needed. Mel was particularly pleased to see Fritillaria imperialis 'Orange Beauty' coming into bloom!

Annie and I headed down to the stockbeds in search of Sanguisorba tenuifolia, an unusual tall perennial, which prefers some extra moisture, especially when in full sun. Ferny foliage above which arise wiry stems of pink bottlebrush like flowers. We lifted, split and then potted this rhizomatous marvel, making sure we had plenty of root to match the shoots. We look forward to watching its progress.

Emily and Miya popped over to our visitor centre, where from the gravel they lifted several seedlings of Galactites tomentosus. Emily will also be sowing seeds of this electrifying plant soon. By propagating from both lifting seedlings and sowing seed, it allows us to have top quality availability for a greater period throughout the year.

Emily, this time with Steve, then popped over to Fullers Mill for a glorious Snowdrop Day!

Debs and Kirsten have been beavering away at the cuttings bench. I spied a nice plug tray of Erysimum 'Pastel Patchwork' in the works. Potting Queen Kathy has been in her element once more, getting her fingers and varieties such as Anemanthele lessoniana, Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii, and Helichrysum stoechas 'White Barn' all into 1 litre pots!

The latter of which takes its name from the original appellation for the land Beth Chatto's Garden sits on today.

Pete has been gathering our pre-orders, some of which begin their journey to your homes in March. Thank you as always for bringing a piece of Beth's garden, into yours.

Until next time,

This week in the garden with trainee Mattie

Spring is finally here and we've been soaking up every sun ray after our very wet, dark winter. It's been our last bumper week in the Gravel Garden, cutting back, raking out leaves, weeding and topping up with gravel. 

The micro-weeding is a surgical task, taking out tiny seedlings before they run rampant. We allow self-seeders like poppies and verbascums, but thin them out imagining what they might be like when summer comes around.

We've been joined by gentle bumblebees hungry for the first nectar of the season on the Crocus tommasinianus, Helleborus argutifolius and Anemone pavoninas. Ladybirds have been waking up from the slumber in the grasses and getting ready to take flight soon.

It's often easy to miss the spring delights in other areas of the garden, but on our morning chores we walk through the woodland which is blooming with butter daffodils, delicate snowdrops,  and lilac cardamines. The Cornus mas across the garden are awash with yellow jewels of flowers. There are purple carpets of scillas, velvet irises unfurling, and elegant hellebores popping up. Our phones can never quite capture the ephemeral spring gems.

We hope you've enjoyed the return of the sun as much as we have!