Helleborus Niger Helleborus Niger better known to some as Christmas Rose is one of the few herbaceous perennials that will flower through the mid to late winter.
hey will keep their leaves throughout the winter but you can always thin some leaves to show the buds and flowers.
They need a good open well drain soil with plenty of organic matter Incorporated into it when planting and a regular mulch annually , should encourage plenty of flower and buds through the winter.

St Bridget Nurseries would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Why not spend some of the Christmas holidays planning for 2011, thinking about seeds and bedding and new borders to plant in Spring.

Bare root ornamental and fruit trees can be ordered up to mid March, pick some fruit from your own garden next year.

Enquires for availability can be made from either of St Bridgets 2 garden centres.

Brighten up your winter garden with some more scented winter flowering shrubs.

"Lonicera fragrantissima" is a bushy, spreading, deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub with dark green leaves and, in winter and early spring, fragrant, tubular, creamy-white flowers.

"Viburnham Bodnatense Dawn" is a fast-growing, deciduous shrub with clusters of fragrant, pale-pink flowers from late autumn through to spring.

Both available form St Bridget Nurseries Garden Centres, give a plant as a present this Christmas

Cold weather forecast,

If you have tender shrubs in your garden and lost them last winter, be prepared for the 2nd cold snap of the winter,

Protect them with fleece or bubble wrap or if they are in pots move them to a greenhouse, conservatory or a sheltered position in the garden.

Plants will be OK in a garage or shed for short periods of time in winter but move them out when weather permits as plants need light.

Plants like Tree fern (Dicksonia) can be wrapped up in straw to protect them, be prepared and protect you treasured tender plants so they survive to give you pleasure next spring / summer.

Fleece and bubble wrap are both available from St Bridgets Nurseries garden centres.

Winter flowering shrubs

Winter flowering shrubs including varieties of Camellia sasanqua will give colour through late autumn and winter and Sarcococca and mahonias also give winter colour and give a lovely sweet scent to your winter garden.

St Bridgets garden centres sell varieties of them all so come and pay us a visit and give a bit of scented cheer to your garden in winter.

Sledges... Get ready for the next band of snow with a proper sledge - far grander than a baking tray! The ones at St Bridget's are so popular even the teddies had a go when the shop was shut. Available in red or blue they make lovely Christmas gifts. Available from both St Bridget Garden Centres in Exeter, Devon.

Brrrrilliant!
It is very cold outside and with a scatter of snow around in Exeter these little penguins have wandered into the Sidmouth Road (A3052) St Bridget's garden centre! They are soft and cuddly and perfect for the young and young at heart.
Pop in to do your Christmas shopping, there's more than plants to look at!

If you think it cold at the moment, why not think towards next Spring and summer .


Have you a warm sunny wall or fence in your garden, why not plant a Peach or Nectarine or even an Apricot and pick some fruit late summer next year.


St Bridgets sell 2 varieties of Peach Peregrine and Rochester, Nectarine named Lord Napier and the Apricot Moorpark.

They have lovely blossom in the spring but protect the blossom if late frosts are forecast.

They are best grown as fan trained against a wall or fence rather than free standing make sure the soil is well prepared so it holds water through the summer.

Secure the branches to wires that are fixed to the wall.

Maiden 1 yr plants can be ordered from St Bridgets for £20.00 which can be be trained onto a wall.

If its a new herbaceous border, a mixed border or shrub border you are looking to plant, St Bridgets have all the plants you will need with something to give colour of some sort right through the year.



Perennial borders can be planned now putting all the taller growing varieties you like at the back of the border and mid sized ones in the middle and shorter ones right at the front, pick plants that flower right through the seasons spring ,summer and autumn and you will always have colour for 9 months of the year.


If you are not to sure just ask when you visit one of St Bridget's 2 garden centres and the staff will be only to happy to advise you of what plants flowers at which time of year

TREE PLANTING

With the autumn storms arriving, get out into the garden and check stakes and ties on trees and large shrubs etc to make they don't suffer from wind damage.

When planting new trees make sure you are prepared before hand and you have a good stakes and ties you have made the hole big enough so you don't have to dig out more when the tree arrives.

Dig in plenty of organic material into the bottom of the hole and the soil you are back filling with.

If you are buying trees at this time of year from St Bridgets there is a good chance that they will be bare root so take precautions to keep the tree free from frosts and make sure the roots don't dry out.

After planting if you are planting in grass keep the area around the tree clear of grass to give your tree a good start and keep it well watered in the first year.

In spring mulch around the base of the tree to conserve water in dry periods of spring/ summer.

St Bridgets Nurseries sell everything you need to give your new tree a good start in it's new surroundings

Countdown to Christmas The Christmas lights are being turned on in Exeter tomorrow and so the countdown to Christmas begins. St Bridget's Sidmouth Road, Clyst St Mary garden centre has some great alternatives to chocolate advent calendars including advent candles, wooden advent trains, felt advent Christmas trees and these fantastic blackboards only £2.25!

The above text reads:
The nursery department is currently busy in the field digging up new season roses.
Roses at this time of year (upto Christmas) can be purchased as bare rooted.

Benefits of buying roses bare rooted:
Price—Hybrid Teas and Floribundas are £1 below the listed price and Climbing, Rambling, Ground Cover and Shrub roses are £1.30 below the listed price.
Cheaper packing & Carriage -
As the roses are lighter than containerized ones, carriage is cheaper. Carriage charges for bare root roses are:
1 to 5 roses* £6.45
6 to 12 roses* £9.40
13 to 18 roses* £11.70
*excluding standard roses
Establish easier—
The roots don’t have to struggle growing from one type of soil into another they are planted in one type from the beginning.
Greener—
No plastic pot!

VIP OFFER
As you are a loyal customer, we would like to offer you an additional 50p off each rose ordered before 24th November. This is on top of the standard bare root price (see price above). Full terms and conditions below.

Terms and Conditions: Offer applies to all new rose orders placed between 10th November and 24th November inclusively. A total reduction of £1.50 off the listed price of Hybrid Teas and Floribundas will be made and a total reduction of £1.80 off the listed price of Climbing, Rambling, Ground Cover and Shrub roses. Prices are based on the 2010 St Bridget Nurseries Price List (85th anniversary edition). No discount off packing and carriage charges. Offer cannot be used with any other discount or promotion. Orders for containerized roses will have a 50p price discount if ordered by the 24th November.

To order or request a rose list please e-mail sales@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk or call 01392 873672.

St Bridget's will be starting to lift our field grown stock in the next few weeks, ready for
delivery or collection.

If you want some new roses or a tree for that special place in your garden, visit one of our garden centres and get your order in now, you will get expert help to assist you in choosing the right plant for your garden.

We have large trees for those with a larger garden and small trees that are suitable for those with
smaller spaces.
If its foliage colour or flowers there is a tree to suit everyone.

GIFTS FROM ST BRIDGETS

St Bridgets are have lots of different gift ideas, the is something for everyone.
Browse the shops and you will find gifts for the Bird lover, something special to give to someone special for birthdays and Christmas, we have a range of pickles and chutneys, jams and sweets too.
You can also pick up one of the ready made gift packs which are already wrapped and ready to give as a present.
There is something to suit every ones pocket.

Introducing Emma's Soaps....

St Bridget's Old Rydon Lane, Exeter Garden Centre is delighted to welcome Emma's Soaps to its Gift & Leisure range. Emma's soaps are hand made in Devon, wrapped in Organic fair trade cotton. They do not contain petroleum, mineral oil, palm oil, sls's or slr's, artificial colours or fragrances or parabens. In a nutshell they are delightfully natural, beautifully packaged and great for all skins. Here in the office we've decided they'll make great stocking fillers. Fragrances include Jojoba oil, rosehip oil, avocado oil, shea butter and cocoa butter. Each soap is £3.20(working hands soap is £3.50) or you can buy two for £6.00 (working hands £6.50) plus we've olive wood soap dishes, sea sponges. These items are currently only stocked at the Old Rydon Lane Garden centre.

PUT YOUR GARDEN CLEAR UP TO USE THIS AUTUMN

Leaves fallen in the autumn can become a nuisance to clear up, but they also have their uses,

Make a small compost heap somewhere in your garden and put all the fallen leaves there,cover them lightly to avoid them them blowing around again and undoing your hard work of clearing them up.

As long as they are open to moisture they will rot down to a lovely leafy compost ideal for improving your garden soil and as an aid to improve soil conditions when planting new plants , trees etc.

Make the most of natures waste and use it to improve your garden.

A Quick How To...measure for pond liner

We frequently get asked how to calculate pond liner. Having dug your pond hole, whatever the shape, measure your pond’s…
Maximum length (L)
Maximum width (W)
and Maximum depth (D)

Pond liner required = (L + 2D) x (W +2D)
E.G. L=3m, W=2m, D=75cm (0.75m) Pond liner = (3+1.5)x(2+1.5) = 4.5m x 3.5m

Our Clyst St Mary Garden Centre sells PVC and rubber pond liners both in pre-cut packs and off the roll, plus pond underlay and pre formed ponds. For further help or advice why not visit or call 01392 876281?

One of the best times of year to plant is autumn, as there is generally moisture in the soil and the soil is still warm from the summer.

St Bridgets have a vast range of plants all ready to plant in your garden.

Trees, roses, shrubs, fruit trees and soft fruit and perennials.
Call into one our 2 garden centres at Old Rydon Lane, Exeter or Clyst St Mary to see what you can plant to make the most of your garden next year.

Winter Hanging Baskets.

If your summer hanging baskets are now looking sorry for themselves after the first frosts of the autumn, you can still have some colour through the autumn and winter.

Replant them with PRIMROSES, PANSIES, VIOLAS with some IVIES around the side and plant with some early flowering spring bulbs.

You can also replant your tubs and troughs the same way to give colour in the milder spells though the winter

St Bridgets sell everything you need from wicker baskets, traditional baskets and troughs and tubs and the compost to and a vast range of spring flowering bulbs.

AUTUMN IN THE GARDEN

There is plenty to look out for in the garden in the autumn and winter, lots of trees etc have berries and fruit which attract the birds in the colder months Sorbus, Malus, Crataegus all have various colours from reds to yellow and oranges.
There is also autumn colour from Prunus, Acers and Oaks and plenty more too, and when the trees are bare of leaves there are trees with attractive bark, Betula varieties, Acer Griseum, Prunus Serrula which all have attractive stems with pealing bark to keep the interest in the dull dark winter days.
St Bridgets grow all these trees and have them in the nursery tree fields for lifting from November onwards.

PLANTS BY MAIL ORDER

St Bridgets can send roses, shrubs or perennials by mail order, so if you have a spot in your garden and you want to received a good quality plant straight to your door, why not look through our plant list on our website.

http://www.stbridgetnurseries.co.uk/veitch_garden_centre_news.asp?PK_cats=7

Look through the list and contact us for a delivery quote, we can send mixed parcels with either perennials , roses or shrubs, or if you find something you can't find anywhere else and live to far away to collect yourself we can send just one plant.

Plan your new border from the comfort of your own home on one of the long dark cold nights that we will be getting over the coming months and have it delivered to your front door.

We generally send out on a Tuesday so your orders should reach you just in time for the weekend.

Email sales@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk for more information.

Yummy yum strawberries
Strawberry plants are only at their best for three to four years, so think about starting a new patch. Firstly clear out the old and add good organic matter before planting the new plants. St Bridget Nurseries Garden Centres in Exeter sell certified stock at £1.45 each or £13.00 for ten plants. Varieties include Albion, Calypso, Cambridge Favourite (AGM), Elsanta, Florence, Honeoye (AGM), Pegasus and Symphony (AGM). AGM stands for the RHS award of garden merit.Plants can also be sent by mail order. Please cal 01392 873672 for carriage prices.

GIVE A ROSE FOR THAT SPECIAL OCCASION.

St Bridget's grow all their own roses, why not give a rose for that special day. Wedding, Birthday or special Anniversary there is a rose for most occasions.

Climbing Rose Wedding Day
Floribunda Rose Birthday Girl
Floribunda Rose Golden Wedding
Floribunda Rose Many Happy Returns
HT Rose Congratulations
HT Rose Diamond Jubilee
HT Rose Loving Memory
HT Rose Remember Me
HT Rose Ruby Wedding
HT Rose Special Anniversary

We will starting to lift our roses from our rose field later this month so contact our Garden Centres and they can be ordered for collection or delivery from Early November.

St Bridget's grow a wide range of Ornamental and Fruit trees at our Old Rydon Lane Nursery.

If you would like to view the trees and pick your own and collect it or have it delivered later.

Contact

Phil by email sales@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk or Phone 01392873672 to make an appontment..

If you would like a full list ring our office for a price list.

As the summer bedding has now gone past its best, fill your tubs and troughs up with winter/spring bedding primroses, polyanthus, pansies and violas and spring bulbs.

Wall flowers are can also be planted now for spring colour with bulbs all which are currently in stock at St Bridget Nurseries Garden Centres.

Plant some small tubs up for that drab corner to brighten things up on a dull winter day or buy one ready planted up, St Bridgets have a good selection ready to take away at prices to fit every ones pocket.

Malus

Malus or crab apples as they are sometimes better known give a fantastic display, some varieties twice a year.With blossom and fruit

In the spring they have a lovely mixture of blossom colours from light pink, dark pink through to deep burgundy red flowers depending on variety and in the autumn fruit varies from small on varieties like Golden Hornet up to large red on varieties like Dartmouth

Varieties grown at St Bridget's are the following

MALUS (Crab Apple)
floribunda AGM
hupehensis AGM
x magdeburgensis
x moerlandsii Liset OG
Profusion Improved OG
Royalty OG

tschonoskii AGM
Van Eseltine

Fruiting varieties ( Zero-rated VAT)
pumila Dartmouth
Evereste AGM OG

x zumi Golden Hornet AGM OG

John Downie AGM OG
Pink Glow
x robusta Red Sentinel AGM
Sun Rival
Veitchʼs Scarlet
White Star

Please enquire for sizes and prices available at sales@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk

or Tel. 01392873672.

CORTADERIA PUMILA

Better known to most people as PAMPASS GRASS is now beginning to look its best with large white plumes standing proud above the tough strap like foliage.

It makes a good stand alone plant in middle of the garden, but to keep it tidy cut back back the old foliage at the base and dead head the flower plumes when they have gone past their best to stop them seeding over the rest of the garden.

Autumn Colour

With the evenings getting longer and the nights getting cooler the leaves on the trees are changing colour, some turn yellow others change a wide range of colours from reds / oranges and golden yellow.

This can give a fantastic show in the autumn, so look out as you are out and about this autumn .

There are some good places to visit to see autumn colour one of the best known being Westonbirt in Gloucestershire.

There ares several ornamental trees and shrubs that you can plant in your garden like ornamental cherries (Prunus), viburnum to name a few.

Look out in gardens and woodland in your area to see a free show of colour and maybe plant something in your garden.

Try the woodland trust website to find your nearest wood and go and look at the autumn colours on the trees.

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/our-woods/Pages/woodland-estate.aspx

Wallflowers

St Bridget's own field grown wallflowers are available now, in various colours and some good mixtures of colours too.

They give a lovely early splash of colour in spring with the bulbs and give a good scent too.

Persian Carpet contains many of the beautiful colours seen in Persian Carpets including cream, apricot, orange, rose, purple and gold,very fragrant.

St Bridget's have the following varieties bare root,

Bundles of 10 for £2.10

Fire King

Scarlet Bedder

Golden Bedder

Giant Pink

Persian Carpet

Bedder Mixed

Harlequin Mxd in 12 Packs

Brighten up your window sills

Put a bit of colour on your window sills this autumn,

Miniature Miracle CYCLAMEN will flower for months if you keep dead the old flowers once they have finished, if you look into the centre of the plant you will see all the new buds all waiting to appear.

They prefer a cool light situation out of bright hot sunshine and will even be ok outside until the really hard frosts come.

Coming in a large variety of colours there is a colour for everyone from whites reds pinks Burgundy and bicolours too.

They are an easy to look after plant for the cool window sill.

St Bridget's have good selection in our garden centres fresh from our nursery.

As autumn approaches and the weather is damp and wet, the summer bedding has normally gone past its best.

Brighten up your garden, pots and even hanging baskets with some pansies and violas.

They flower for months until the frosts come and normally again in the spring, just keep dead heading and the flowers will keep coming.

St Bridget's have lots to choose from in 9cm pots in good selection of colours and 6 packs in mixed colours.

Feed the Birds Let's face it when it rains we don't really like to go out for food -why should birds? With the weather getting cooler and wetter it's time to stock up on bird food to help our garden friends through the autumn and winter. St Bridget Garden Centres love wildlife and have everything you may need such as bird tables, stands, feeders, houses, seed, peanuts, fat balls, fat blocks etc! Plus there are some excellent savings on many products so stock up now. Remember to pick up a selection of food as not all birds eat the same things e.g. Robins and Blackbirds like to feed on horizontal tables/trays and eat seed and meal worms. Tits like most food but woodpeckers love peanuts!

Grow a Hardy Palm in your garden

Trachycarpus Fortunei-

One of the most popular and suitable palms for the UK. The Chusan palm from China tolerates temperatures down to -12°C without problem, so hardy in the normal British winters even the cold spell we had in January 2010, so they should be looking equally good in summer or winter.

Trachycarpus fortunei should not be planted in very windy locations as the leaves can get to look untidy. Large green, fan leaves grow from a hairy, matted trunk that can grow between 10-30cm a year at maturity, although much slower when younger!

Fully grown height can be up to approx 4-5 metres over time

St Bridget's have 2 sizes available

2 Litre pot size @ £9.50

4 Litre pot size @ £11.50

Contact our garden centres for more details.

Bulb-tastic!

Spring bulbs are filling up both St Bridget Nurseries' shops! There are hundreds of different varieties to choose from and some great bargains. Buy now for the freshest bulbs and the best choice.

Some of the bargains at the Old Rydon Lane garden centre include:

British Daffodils & Narcissi in 5kg sacks. £7.99 each or any 2 for only £14. Great for naturalising.

Plus large value spring bulb packs only £4.99 each or 3 packs for £12.

Be wary of cheap bulbs you may find in supermarkets - if you look closely, bulbs may not always be of the same quality/size.

Pyracantha Cadange

A glorious sunny September morning, look around you as you go about your daily life and see the variety of berries there are about in peoples gardens.

Pyracantha, Cotoneaster to name a few in various colours red, yellow and orange .They will normally stay on the plants until the weather gets cold but are then generally eaten by birds so they can give autumn colour to the garden and also supply a food source for wild birds.

Devon Wildlife Trust - visiting If you are interested in wildlife or want to know how you can attract wildlife into your garden then come along and ask the experts. St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centre in Old Rydon Lane, Exeter (EX2 7JY) will be welcoming The Devon Wildlife Trust on Saturday 18th September (10am-4pm) and Sunday 19th September (11am-4pm). In addition you can find out more about the Trust, the essential work they do and how you can become a member.

August Bank Holiday

With a wet ending to August, why not start thinking about autumn,

St Bridget's now have their own grown Brassica and lettuce plants in 12 packs,and pansies in individual 9cm pots and 6 packs now ready for sale fresh from our own nursery.

We also have Ornamental brassicas and Hollyhocks all ready for sale now.

Field grown Wallflowers will be available from mid Sept with trays of mixed Wallflowers in packs of 12 available now.

Sedums

Sedum give a long display of colour during late August / September and are very easy to grow.

They can be planted at any time of year, if planted in winter you will need to cut off all the previous summers growth that has died back if it has not done already.

In March it will start to shoot and will get up to 0.75m tall in good soil conditions with plenty of moisture and can become top heavy when in full flower, the best solution for this is to cut back some of the shoots in May known by some as the Chelsea chop and this will encourage the plant to produce a more compact plant and will extend the flowering season as the pruned shoots will flower slightly later.

Sedums also encourage masses of bees and butterflies into the garden.

St Bridgets grow the following varieties.

Autumn Joy AGM (Herbstfreude)
erythrostichum Frosty Morn
spectabile Brilliant AGM
telephium Matrona

Ruby Glow

AGM is a plant that has been awarded the RHS AWARD OF MERIT.

Butterflies

Most people love to see butterflies in their garden, encourage them with plants which will make them them stay for you to enjoy watching them.

A lot of butterflies like to feed on weeds as well as garden plants so maybe leave a small area to nature for them to enjoy.

Buddlejas, Sedums, Verbena Bonariensis are just a few plants that encourage butteflies later in the summer.

Plant your butterfly garden in a sunny location, but sheltered from the winds. Butterflies need the sun to warm themselves, but they won't want to feed in an area where they are constantly in the wind. It is also a good idea to place a few flat stones in your sunny location so the butterflies can take a break.

CROCOSMIA


A good plant that gives masses of flower throughout August is Crocosmia, they come in various colours of yellow, red and orange, They grow from corms and can be late coming into growth in the spring so remember them when tidying your borders in the spring.


The new varieties are not so invasive as the old orange types which people might know better by the old name Monbretia.


Within a few years of planting you should have a nice clump that will have masses of flowers over quite a long period of late summer.





St Bridget Nurseries grow the following varieties.


Crocosmia Emberglow -Red

Crocosmia George Davidson - Yellow

Crocomia Emily Mckenzie -Orange with a dark centre blotch

Late autumn is probably one of the best times of year to plant fruit trees, so August is a good month to sit in the garden thinking about which type of apple you would like to be eating straight from your garden in years to come and what space you have.

St Bridgets sell their apples on a dwarf rootstock M27 and a semi dwarfing rootstock MM106.

St Bridget Nurseries have large selection of Apple varieties growing in our fields and this year looks like it could be a good year for bumper apple crop as there seems to be a lot of apples around on the trees.

Fruit trees are normally sold in different forms starting with bush, half standard and standards there are also the trained forms- cordons, fans and espalier.

APPLE ALLINGTON PIPPIN
APPLE ASHMEAD KERNAL
APPLE BLENHIEM ORANGE
APPLE BRAMLEY ORIGINAL
APPLE BRAMLEY SEEDLING
APPLE BOUNTIFUL
APPLE CHARLES ROSS
APPLE CHIVERS DELIGHT
APPLE COX'S ORANGE PIPPIN
APPLE DISCOVERY
APPLE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE
APPLE EGREMONT RUSSET
APPLE ELLISON'S ORANGE
APPLE EXETER CROSS
APPLE FIESTA
APPLE GALA
APPLE GOLDEN DELICIOUS
APPLE GREENSLEEVES
APPLE GRENADIER
APPLE HOWGATE WONDER
APPLE JAMES GRIEVE
APPLE JUPITER
APPLE LANES PRINCE ALBERT
APPLE LAXTONS FORTUNE
APPLE LAXTONS SUPERB
APPLE LORD LAMBOURNE
APPLE NEWTON WONDER
APPLE REV.WILKS
APPLE SPARTAN
APPLE STURMER PIPPIN
APPLE SUNSET
APPLE WINSTON
APPLE WORCESTER PEARMAIN

Picture showing St Bridget's tree propagator budding an ORNAMENTAL CHERRY TREE

Ornamental and Fruit trees.

At St Bridget Nurseries we propagate the vast majority of our trees on our nursery by budding or grafting, most of the budding is done during the summer and grafting normally during the late winter.

Budding is a method of propagation which involves putting a small bud of the variety of tree you want to propagate onto a rootstock,it is normally done with varieties of fruit trees and ornamental trees,the rootstocks are normally a common variety of the same type of tree which is a lot easier to propagate.

It will normally takes between 2-3 years to get a saleable size tree from budding and they are grown on to make half standard, standard ,cordons, fans, espalier fruit or feathered, half standard and standard Ornamental trees .

Contact St Bridget Nurseries for a copy of our price list and a full list of trees we sell or to visit the tree fields contact us to make an appontment.

Today's fact...

Plants can relieve everyday symptoms.

Plants can reduce stress levels.

So plants are vital to healthy lives.

So for first aid, try plant aid!

Make sure you have plants in the house/workplace as they are proven to aid concentration, clean the air, reduce headaches and reduce dust particles. If nothing else they look very pretty!

St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres have a lovely selection of indoor plants and colourful containers to brighten any indoor space.