Garden Time Savers

The backbone of any easy-care garden is shrubs. It saves time as you only have to design and plant an area once and it can last for years with little more than the occasional pruning. You want to look for plants that are attractive over a long period of time and ideally non-fussy plants! Choose a range of sizes, shapes, leaf and flower colours for maximum impact. The easiest way to ensure you have year-round interest is to visit your garden centre monthly or quarterly so that you see what plants are in flower at that time.

Today's recommendations are evergreen shrubs. These are shrubs that keep their foliage all year round. Take this list along with you when you go to your garden centre.

- Choisya (variety pictured is Ternata)

- Escallonia

- Fatsia

- Hebe 'Red Edge'

- Hebe pinguifolia 'Pagei'

- Holly (Ilex)

- Viburnum davidii

All these plants are available from St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres in Exeter. Just ask the planteria staff for help in selecting the best evergreen shrubs for your garden, they'll be pleased to help.

They've hatched!

The duck family that set up residence in the herbaceous perennial department of St Bridget's production nursery hatched 5 ducklings on Sunday. The staff at St Bridget's made a small 'pond' made from a large trough and it comes complete with ramp! Here is a photo of Mum taking the kids out for a dip!

JUST IN!

St Bridget's have just put out their home-grown Dahlias for sale. There are three varieties available:

Bishop of Llandoff - an old favourite and a great variety for bedding and borders. It is an opulent plant with dark bronze-green foliage and vibrant vermillion semi-double blooms. 'Bishop of Llandaff' is valued for its late summer colour, which extends well into autumn and is a popular cut flower

Fascination - A half-hardy perennial that grows to 1m tall with divided leaves and semi-double flowers. Strong purplish-pink florets and a red-brown centre.

Moonshine - A golden yellow flower with orange centre. As stunning as a sunflower.

All Dahlias are in a 2 litre pot and cost just £3.99 each.

Squirrels!

Do you find you have problems with squirrels eating all the nice food you buy for the birds? They are very clever animals but I have found that my metal 'cage' like bird feeders keeps the squirrels out despite their best efforts! They may get one or two token seeds but the tits can happily go inside and feast away! There is a huge range of bird feeders at St Bridget Nurseries Garden Centres. You can get wooden ones, plastic ones, seed feeders, peanut feeders, fat balls, fat packs, seeds of all kinds plus these great squirrel proof feeders. St Bridget Nurseries garden centres are in Old Rydon Lane, Exeter and Sidmouth Road, Clyst St. Mary, Exeter.

Osteospermums are simply gorgeous and add so much colour to your garden and planters. Commonly known as Cape Daisy they were originally from South Africa. Osteospermums need a sunny aspect, so a sunny patio is ideal.
Water regularly to avoid the plants from drying out. Keep well watered, especially during the first two weeks after planting and perhaps use water retaining compost to retain some mositure in the soil. For best results, feed your Osteospermums regularly with a general fertilizer such as Phostrogen. This will help promote flowering along with deadheading. Remove wilted flowers on a regular basis to prolong flowering.
Cutting back Osteospermums won't harm them. On the contrary. They will grow new fresh side shoots in no time! Pruning is most beneficial to the so called hardy types of Osteospermum. It's best to cut them back in early spring or in the autumn. Since most Osteospermums are not hardy it is recommended to over winter your plants. Therefore bring your plants indoors or even better, take cuttings and grow more for next year. Osteospermums can be purchased in a variety of beautiful colours. St Bridget Nurseries have many on sale all under £3 a plant.

Long Service Award Winner

At this year's Devon County Show (held May 17th-19th), one of St Bridget Nurseries' staff won a long service award. The award was presented to St Bridget's propagator Gary. Gary has been working at the nursery for over 30 years and was awarded his certificate and glass tankard by the show's president, Nigel Lindsay-Fynn. The long service awards, run by the Council of the Devon County Agricultural Association, are open to men and women who have completed more than 30 years in agriculture, horticulture, or forestry. Gary is one of several staff from St Bridget Nurseries to have won the award over recent years.

VOTE for St Bridget Nurseries!

If you've been impressed with the service you have received at St Bridget Nurseries the staff to win 'The Greatest Awards'? Your vote could win you £50 of National Garden Gift Tokens! There are three categories we that you can vote for: The Greatest Planteria Team, The Greatest Garden Centre Team and The Greatest Garden Centre Catering Team. You can vote online at http://www.gardenradio.co.uk/publicvoting.asp or via voting slips that will be available in St Bridget's garden centres or by sending a text message from your mobile phone. For every text vote, which costs 50p plus normal call charges, at least 23p will go to The Greenfingers Appeal who create gardens for children's hospices. To vote St Bridgets for the Greatest Planteria team, text PLANT ST BRIDGET NURSERIES and send to 87023

to vote St Bridgets for the Greatest Catering Team text FOOD ST BRIDGET NURSERIES to 87023 to vote St Bridgets for the Greatest Garden Centre Team text GARDEN ST BRIDGET NURSERIES to 87023.

It's show time!

It's that time again when all the regional horticultural shows start. Tomorrow it is the opening of Devon County Show at Exeter's Westpoint showground. Exhibiting at the show will be St Bridget Nurseries who are also sponsoring the event. You can see their beautiful display of trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials in the flower marquee. PLUS there is a limited number of plants on sale. For further details visit: http://www.devoncountyshow.co.uk/

Lavender is a really easy plant to grow and a good plant for children to grow.

All Lavenders are evergreen shrubs. They should be treated like a Mediterranean plant with as much sun as possible, especially the more tender varieties. Plant in a fairy dry and well drained soil, preferably sandy, loamy soil. If you have unsuitable soil Lavender look fantastic grown in pots. When flowers turn brown cut them off and cut the whole back back in autumn to avoid too much woody growth. As a general rule the hardiest variety to grow in the UK is the English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia). As a native plant this will also attract lots of wildlife.
Each type of Lavender has a different scent. To us, the best is that of the old fashioned Lavender, – strong, evocative and sweet smelling.
Grow lavender at the edge of a border so that you will brush it as you walk by, this realeases its oils and gives a beautiful welcoming aroma. You can also dry flower heads to create Pot Pourri. St bridget Nurseries grows 16 varieties of Lavender and local residents to the garden centres may wish to grow the variety Lavandula stoechas Devonshire! Prices start from £5.99 and a Lavender is a great choice for the garden of the future.

Beautiful Non-Stop Begonias!

Non-Stop Begonias will assure you a continuous parade of gorgeous sparkling colour for your garden planters and hanging baskets all summer long right up to the frosts of Autumn. They're so easy to plant and grow. Add brilliant colour to any spot where you'll see their special beauty. Enjoy a spectacular colour burst of whites, pinks, yellows, oranges and reds. Non stop Begonias are available from St Bridget Nurseries at just £3.30 each.

Marguerites

With bright and cheerful daisy-flowers, marguerites are tender perennials that flower prolifically from late spring to early winter. With just a small cluster of two or three plants a gap in a border will be lifted with colour and they look fantastic in pots. Plant into a well-drained, well-conditioned soil in a warm, sunny position. If planting in pots the plants may require a weekly liquid feed after 6 weeks or so. To keep flowers blooming, deadhead old flower-heads and some of the stem tops. Move the plants into a frost-free greenhouse or conservatory in the autumn, cut back the stems and reduce watering. The colder it is, the less water they will need. Easy to grow and easy on the pocket. Coloured Marguerites are now in store at St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres. Plants are just £3.99 each.

It's lunch time...

So I'm thinking of my stomach again but hey there is a plant link! The best ingredient for any good meal is fresh food. It's the secret of all the top chefs and one of the most versatile and zesty ingredients you could add are herbs! Easy to grow and fantastic flavour to eat.

There are numerous herbs you could grow in your garden and some of the best value ones are perennial herbs. Perennials live for several years and they grow into larger plants. Herbs you could invest in are:

Thyme - used widely in the Mediterranean and great for flavouring meat, cheese and pasta sauces.

Oregano (also known as Marjoram) - try adding to home-made burgers for your barbecue.

Mint - a great addition for a summer cocktail or Pimms!

Chives - snip onto a salad or jacket potato for some lovely subtle flavour

and Rosemary (as pictured). Rosemary is a traditional accompaniment for roast lamb. Buy some rosemary plants from your garden centre now and place in a sunny, sheltered position in well drained soils. Rosemary particularly likes chalky soils. If you are growing Rosemary in a container then add some grit to aid drainage. Once plants have finished flowering trim into shape. You can pick the leaves all year round , common rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is the hardiest and most used in cooking.

Butterfly Magic!

Adult butterflies visit flowers to obtain nectar. They make use of a wide range of flowers and other sweet substances, such as the juices of over-ripe fruits.
The butterflies most likely to be seen in gardens are the large cabbage white, small cabbage white, green-veined white, brimstone, small tortoiseshell, peacock, comma, painted lady and red admiral, as shown here on a beautiful Lilac.
The numbers of painted lady and red admiral butterflies can vary considerably from year to year since they are migratory butterflies which breed in Britain but generally do not survive the winter.

To help support butterflies in your garden make sure you have lots of plants that attract butterflies and plant them together in clumps. Nectar-providing flowers are also used by other insects, such as bees and moths. Suitable plants include:
Marjoram (Origanum vulgare), Scabious (Knautia arvensis and Succisa pratensis). Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), African marigold (Tagetes erecta), Ageratum (Ageratum houstonianum), Alyssum (Lobularia maritima and Aurinia saxatilis), Stocks (Matthiola incana and hybrids), Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus), Verbena (Verbena rigida)Wallflower (Erysimum cheiri), Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii), Golden rod (Solidago species), Ice plant (Sedum spectabile - dark red cultivars are less attractive), Phlox (Phlox paniculata), Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus), Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii, also B. globosa, B. alternifolia),Caryopteris (Caryopteris x clandonensis), Heather (Erica species, Daboecia species, Lavender (Lavandula species) an Thyme (Thymus species) to name ony a few.

The plants listed above will attract the more common species of butterfly, but most are unsuitable as food plants for the larvae. The caterpillars eat leaves and often have a narrow range of suitable host plants often wild plants. Stinging nettles Used by peacock, red admiral, comma and small tortoiseshell. Needs to be grown in a sunny position to encourage egg laying. Prevent seeding by cutting down in mid-summer after the first brood of the small tortoiseshell has developed.
Thistles - Painted lady lays eggs on plants such as welted thistle and creeping thistle.
Cabbages, other brassicas and nasturtiums - Large cabbage white and small cabbage white butterflies.

We know that having an entire wildlife garden is not to everyone's taste as it is commonly seen as too wild and messy but just a patch of your garden left to nature can support hundreds of wildlife species, potentially endangered ones too. St Bridget Nurseries in Exeter is devoted to using nature as a gardener's friend. Both garden centres are approved by the Devon Wildlife Trust so to find out more about encouraging wildlife into your garden, give them a call today.

Bearded Irises

Irises are stunning and very useful upright herbaceous perennials. They come in a wide range of colour range from rich blues to flashy yellows and extraordinary combinations such as butterscotch yellow and violet. Many also have beautiful, intricate patterns such as this stunning Bearded Iris - Kent Pride that came into flower yesterday.
Botanists put irises into two key groups: the rhizomatous, which have rhizomes on or just beneath the soil, and those that grow from bulbs. The first group divides into two further sections, the beardless and bearded (with a distinctive little beard in the flower centre like this Kent Pride). This Iris was bought as a perennial plant for £5.25 from St Bridget Nurseries this year. The garden centre stocks 10 varieties of Iris and then gets bulbs in during the bulb season. It should be noted that all Irises are harmful if eaten - though let's face it who would want to eat such a beautiful flower?

Nursery Tours Great Success

The Tours around St Bridget Nurseries' production nursery were extremely well subscribed to. A total of six tours were held in aid of Children's Hospice South West. Visitors were asked to give a minimum donation of £2.50 for their tickets and so far over £150 has been raised for the charity. The tours lasted 2 hours and were led on foot by St Bridget's Nursery Manager, Jason. We began with a look at how the nursery prepares for its entries into horticultural shows, such as Devon County Show. Next stop were the greenhouses and a look at the bedding plant production unit and propagation techniques. The inspirational micro-propagation laboratory was a particular highlight - plants growing in effectively jelly! The tour then proceeded through the many container plant beds, the potting department and the tree fields. Everyone who attended the event thoroughly enjoyed it and everyone agreed they had no idea how much care and detail goes into producing the plants at St Bridget's. If you missed the tours but would be interested in attending future events at St Bridget Nurseries the send your details to join the company's mailing list - marketing@stbridgetnurseries.eclipse.co.uk

Roses

Usually roses don't tend to flower until later in the month and throughout summer. Gardens, including those at St Bridget Nurseries, are already seeing roses in full bloom. Roses need plenty of feeding if they're to produce dramatic displays, so give them a diet of granular rose fertiliser. A feed now and then another in mid-July should bring a profusion of perfect blooms. Check regularly for pests, blackspot and other diseases and treat appropriately. You can pick up all you need for a local garden centre like St Bridget Nurseries.

PLANT PROFILE: Pulsatilla vulgaris
Common Name: Pasque flower.
Likes a sunny position in well drained soil. This plants grows about 20cm tall and has a spread of 20cm. The pretty spring flowers are followed by fluffy seed-heads. The Royal Horticultural Society has given it their prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in recogntition of its outstanding excellence. Pulsatilla takes a while to get established and does not like to be disturbed, so plant it in the right spot and leave alone. If happy, plants will self-seed, so leave the seedheads to allow colonies to build up.