Weekly catch up with garden & propagation

Propagation Team

with Rob

What a glorious blue-sky week it has been! And it all started with the gang adding some fresh flare to the nursery!

We called in the muscle. Big Ned arrived with some metallic containers, which he and Emily preceded to fill with sand. Into these Emily planted a selection of plants whose progress we will be following keenly. This is the second group of containers we have planted up this way, with the original few absolutely thriving!

Into the new containers Emily has experimented a little further, testing a new cohort of varieties, including, Aethionema grandiflorum, Tulbaghia 'Purple Eye' and Tanacetum densum subsp. amani. We continue to push ourselves in tackling emerging challenges within horticulture, and trialing initiatives in drought tolerant, urban planting, using a variety of gorwing medias and plant genus is one we are making great strides in.

Annie joined Ned and Emily on the nursery displays and topped our benches with bark, before adding some gorgeous splashes of colour, which we hope you enjoy when visiting us.

The potting team have been in full swing and we have a plethora of new treasures now putting down roots. Artemisia ludoviciana 'Valerie Finnis' is just one of these jewels, a plant gifted to Beth by Valerie Finnis many years ago! It's highly valued for its new young shoots, terminating in large rosettes of startling whiteness, like silver flowers.

Myself, Tina, Kisten and Mel have been beavering away, keeping our growing areas in top condition and sending those plants whose roots have reached all four corners of their pots over to sale. One of these being the sublime Phlomis chrysophylla. This is a rounded evergreen shrub with grey-green leaves initially and typical yellow flowers in the summer. As the year progresses and with the summer's heat, the foliage ages to a beautiful golden colour, often holding well into winter. 

Pete, Callum andJack have been busy picking and packing your orders, making sure all our plants travel safely to their new homes.

Garden Team

with Mattie

We have been treated to many glorious days of spring sunshine, and the garden is now bathing in all these spring delights.

In the Water Garden, Lunaria annua 'Rosemary Verey' lights the way down to the ponds where ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) stretch their necks out of the soil. While in the Reservoir Garden, rich pink blooms of Cercis siliquastrum, delightful blue spires of camassias, and the large purple jewels of alliums are about to pop.

Along with all the gorgeous quilt of flowers, the weeds have been claiming their space too, so we've been tackling those all over the garden. In a newly planted area made in collaboration with the Dan Pearson Studio, the plants are settling in very nicely, so we've been making sure we're on top of the weeds and giving it a mulch to lock in moisture. 

Across the road on the Chattowood Estate, it was also weeding time. Although the sand forms a crust which makes it harder for seeding to take place, weeding is a key part of the maintenance as well as giving the areas a spruce up for the residents to enjoy. 

Warmer weather means returning Beth's boat back into the ponds after a good wash, sand and varnish. Cathy and Malin braved the waders and anchored her back in her prime spot. We also replanted our agaves back into the Gravel Garden after overwintering inside. We separated out their babies to create little families of agaves spiralling out of the gravel. 

It's been a great week of meeting gardeners, and we love welcoming them to Beth's. We had a lovely visit from gardeners William and Ruth from Marks Hall Estate who came to have a tour of the gardens and nursery. And we've also been joined by Peter from RHS Bridgewater Woodland Garden as our intern this week. We've learnt so much from Peter and we love being able to have this cross-collaboration between places. 

Have a lovely spring weekend!