Go wild in the garden...

Native wildflowers will attract plenty of wildlife to your garden and are unusual additions to borders and contaners. Here are some of the best:

For sunny borders try Lythrum (Loosestrife). Lythrum can grow to 1.2m tall on moist soils so works well at the back of a border, plants are also the caterpillar food plant for two species of hawkmoth.

For a shady bed choose Digitalis (foxgloves) which are good in sun or shade and reach a stately 1.5m when they flower in June. Lamium galeobdolon Variegatum (Yellow archangel or Dead Nettle) can be invasive BUT the whorls of yellow flowers are loved by bees.

For some edible fruit try planting wild strawberry, a mini version of the cultivated variety that look great at the edge of a border.

Wildflowers are easy to grow. Sometimes it is difficult to cultivate from seed but you can get a large selection already cultivated as plants. Have a look in the herbaceous perennial department at St Bridget Nurseries for some great additions. For wildflowers native to your particular location visit the Natural History Museum website at www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/plants-fungi/postcode-plants

Following on...

from the post about garden time savers we previously listed great evergreen foliage shrubs. Today we are going to list great flowering shrubs that will bring colour to your garden with minimum care needs.

- Amelanchier canadensis (Snowy Mespilus)

- Brachyglottis (also known as Senecio)

- Camellias

- Ceonothus

- Ceratostigma

- Chaenomeles

- Erica (Heathers)

- genista hispanica, G. Lydia

- Hypericum 'Hidcote'

- Olearia

- Perovskia

- Potentilla fruticosa

- Spiraea japonica

- Syringa micropylla

- Viburnum plicatum

Plus don't forget scented flowers like Abelia, Lavandula, Mahonia, Osmanthus and Viburmum x bodnatense to name only a few.

The secret is out...

Mrs S. Crowys from Tiverton, this weekend won St. Bridget Nurseries’ Poinsettia Competition.
Poinsettias are traditionally sold in winter as a Christmas houseplant. The showy part of poinsettias that most people think are the flowers are actually coloured bracts (modified leaves) and these can be pink, white or the traditional red.
Whilst very beautiful, Poinsettias do not travel well and are sensitive to rapid temperature changes. Most poinsettias offered for sale in this country have been grown abroad and travelled through several countries to make it to various shops. At St. Bridget Nurseries, however, they grow their own poinsettias to a very high standard locally on their nursery in Exeter. This ensures that customers get the best plants, which have only had to travel two miles at the most to their garden centres. If cared for Poinsettias can give years of satisfaction in the home. In fact at St. Bridget Nurseries, they have customers who time and time again tell them how good their poinsettias are in their homes in mid summer! For this reason, St Bridget’s started the Poinsettia competition and challenged local green fingered gardeners to produce the best looking poinsettia from their Christmas 2006’s purchase.
The competition was judged on Saturday 2nd June at St Bridget Nurseries’ garden centre in Old Rydon Lane by Gordon Newton from Exeter University. Prizes were awarded to plants with the best shape and colour.
First prize winner was Shirley Crowys from Tiverton, and her beautiful red poinsettia was a clear winner. Shirley won £25 of St Bridget Nurseries gift vouchers, which she put to immediate use on buying plants for a new hedge. Shirley said that her secret to success was not using tap water. Instead, Shirley boils her water, lets it stand and cool in the room before watering the plant.