Weekly catch up with garden & propagation

Propagation team

There's no ambiguity about what season we're in now! A real blue toned week, marred by grey skies, with the damp hanging onto any surface it can find. Yet, amongst it all, bursts of flame from autumnal hearths, inviting leafy beacons lighting our chosen paths through the garden.

On such travels, Debs headed down to Beth's patio area to take cuttings from some of the many half hardy plants which have gifted much colour and delight throughout the summer. Debs and Emily have been on a quest this week to get as many cuttings as possible of these delicate blooms, with a host of salvia, argyranthemum, fuchsia and more now growing on in our propagation house.

Another two plants which cuttings were taken from this week, and I find are of particular interest, are Amicia zygomeris and Sparmannia africana. The amicia is a rather woody perrenial, which sports whimsical pairs of heart-shaped leaves and in the autumn unusual pea-like flowers. Emily loves to see them used in pots, which is why cuttings from this beauty are now growing on. We also have, sparmannia, a rather strapping evergreen shrub, which can hit heights of over 6 metres, with gigantic leaves and clusters of white flower. Beth loved to use this plant to bring height to her patio pot displays, but of course 6 metres would be a little too obtrusive, so growing on these cuttings now means next year the right height for the display can be maintained.

Tina, Mel and Kirsten have been working on our overwintering plants, bringing them inside, where they are cut back and receive a new topping of bark to help maintain good hygiene. Whilst Miya, Sean and our fabulous interns Marina and Emma got busy weeding and cutting back in our infamous stockbed, aptly named 'The Battleground'.

The rest of the team have been potting established plants propagated by both cuttings and seed earlier in the year, as well as picking and packing a wonderful amount of plants which have proven to be popular in our current autumn sale. There's some great discounted plants available and worth checking out on our website if you have chance.

Garden Team