Find out what the propagation and garden teams have been up to this week.
Weekly catch up with garden & propagation
POSTED 21st August 2025
Garden Team
With more bearable temperatures this week, we’ve taken on weeding the Scree Garden, joined by intern Dirco Kok, landscape architect from the Netherlands.
This area of the garden by Beth’s house is exposed and sunny, making it an ideal location for alpine plants. The focus being on showcasing smaller plants and their detailed attributes among the rocks and gravel, we make sure that the weeding is as thorough as possible, including on the paths. Creeping and annual thistles are an issue in some beds where careful digging is required, while in other areas micro weeding of self seeded grass becomes a patience game.
At this time of year, we also deadhead a few plants such as the lavenders, santolinas and armeria, and where needed, we collect the seeds for the propagation team.
With its compact plants, I find the scree is a great place to take inspiration for pots and container displays. Right now, Verbena rigida, Epilobium canum ‘Ed Carman’ and Eriogonum allenii ‘Little Rascal’ are putting on a great show, while Erigeron karvinskianus and Eschscholzia californica have been flowering in succession since May.
The scree slopes transitioning between the water garden and the scree are showcasing a great range of Mediterranean plants cascading in a pastel colour palette. Although a showstopper at the moment, the bronze fennel, Foeniculum vulgare 'Smoky', self-seeds prolifically and needs to be weeded out in places, while forget-me-not seedlings will be kept for next spring display to complement the pink bergenia flowers.
We’ve also been back at Chattowood, the neighbouring housing development we planted in sand. Our monthly visit is to keep on top of the weeds and check on the establishment of the newer planting. The grasses, oenothera and artemisia are looking fantastic this month and everything is settling in nicely given the hot and dry season. We’re even starting to see some plants self seed, which will bulk up the planting over time and provide succession for the following seasons.
Everywhere else in the garden, asters are starting to come out, marking the transition from high summer softer tones to the start of a new colourful explosion, which we await with anticipation.
Propagation Team
A little chillier this week down in the growing department, but that didn't stop Tina getting out for a wrestle with our vitis varieties. Such super plants, but when growing close together can become a tangle. Tina, who is known as the Queen of Rock and Roll here at Beth's is the oracle when it comes to plant care and management. Tina has been working in horticulture for several decades, (you heard it through the grapevine) and there's no safer hands for a plant in need of a little TLC.
Elswewhere, Kathy, our queen of potting, got busy potting some Veratrum album. It takes 5-7 years to produce good plants from seed! Fat buds produce clusters of hosta-like leaves, finely pleated, like a fan (guard them from slugs!) In mid summer a tall flower stem emerges, carrying a branched head of densely set flowers, little white cups, shadowed with green. Miya headed down to the stockbeds to get a picture of our super veratrum stock plants in flower. It's worth the wait!
Myself, Mel, Hollie and Angela have released a lot of treasures onto the nursery and website, including the fantastic Euphorbia myrsinites. In the spring they will bless us with lime green flowers, but as you can see the foliage is incredible and the true star throughout the year.
Elsewhere, Emily, Freya and Sybille focused on a range of seedlings, whilst, Debs and Kirsten have been focusing on a new range of cuttings.
Pete and Callum have been diligently picking and packing your orders, which as always, we are truly thankful for.
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