Tropical Fish are swimming our way...

We're very excited that our coldwater fish are going to have some new friends namely freshwater tropical fish like guppies and the beautiful Siamese Fighters. Our aquatic centre at Clyst St Mary is making space for the tanks due to arrive in a fortnight and so we hope to be selling the fish by the end of October. The team are very excited and with expert Darren leading the way it's set to be a great addition to the garden centre.

Plants for difficult situations

If you have a spot that you find difficult to get plants established here are a few ideas.

Dry/Sunny sites
Cistus (Sun Rose)
Euphorbia Wulfenii
Olearia
Fabiana
Phlomis
Hibiscus

Here are a few ideas for that Shady spot in the corner of your garden
Crinodendron
Euonymus
Hydrangea Macrophylla
Lonicera Pileata
Vinca Varieites
Pachysandra

If you have Alkaline (Lime) soil in you garden here are a few suggetions.
Deutzia
Kolkwitzia
Santolina
Philadelphus
Osmanthus

For more information on finding a plant for that difficult spot, ask at our garden centres,who should be able to show you and give you more information.

Opening Times

Winter Opening Times

So it would seem that summer in our eyes has been (did it?) and gone! We've reverted to our winter opening times so our garden centres are now open Monday-Saturday 9-5 and Sundays 10.30-4.30

St Bridget's Rose(s) of the Year

After a fantastic turnout to our rose field tours last Friday and Saturday, we asked visitors to vote for their favourite rose. We have never received such a spectrum of results. 46 varieties received at least one vote each! Infact, there wasn't a clear winner but a tie between Leonardo de Vinci (shown) and Sexy Rexy. Congratulations to Ms Walton from Bovey Tracey who won her favourite rose ' Lady Penelope' in our prize draw.

If you want to see all the varieties that we grow in Exeter, please click here.

Salvage Garden Competition

I've just got back from judging this year's Devon Wildlife Trust's salvage garden competition (well done Paul Martin for organising it). Seven primary schools took part this year, which is fantastic but meant that judging was more difficult. Indeed it was so close I decided to add an extra prize and award a second/runner up!

There were some fantastic ideas and indeed if you mixed elements from each garden I think you'd have the pefect one - the plants from Clyst Heath, the creativity and design from Pinhoe, the colour and signage from Whipton Barton, the inventiveness of Stoke Hill with the frying pan bird bath, the recycled bath and beatiful verbenas from St Michael's, the water feature of Countess Wear (a sunken sink) and Topsham's colourful recycled jubilee paper cups. All stunning.

Well done to everyone involved. Take a look at the winner's on Devon Wildlife Trust's blog and check out their great wildlife gardening webpage. Remember many of the plants we sell are wildlife friendly. Ask for our wildlife gardening leaflet or ask staff to help you choose plants wildlife love.

Herbaceous Perennials

Come to St Bridget's and pick some perennials to give a fantastic summer border display..

We have a large range in flower now and can be taken away and planted now to give instant impact.

Perennials flowering now include-

Hemerocallis,Verbena Bonariensis, Hardy Geraniums (Cransebills), Tradescantia,Leucanthemum and Phygelius to name a few.

Be the first to see our online video... this is the official launch

Jubilicious Weekend Offer

To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, the nursery team have reduced a few bedding plants. The offers below are valid only from Saturday (2nd June) until Tuesday (6th June) in both St Bridget's Exeter Garden Centres, while stocks last.

Begonia Semperflorens 6 pack £2.99 - Buy one pack and get another one free

9/10cm Patio Plants £1.99 each or buy 5 plants for £8 or buy 10 plants for £12! Offer excludes geraniums.

Why not pick up some plants to jazz up your doorstep so you can enter our doorstep challenge and win a further £50 worth of plants?? See previous blog post.

Jubilee Doorstep Challenge - WIN £50 of St Bridget's plants

It's getting all red, white and blue in our garden centres in preparation for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. The Olympic torch passed through Exeter last Sunday and the sun has shined on us since!

We've got a FANTASTIC competition to help celebrate these two events and to brighten up the doorstep of either your home, school or workplace.

All you have to do is create a patriotic floral display by your front door, photograph it and send St Bridget Nurseries your entry by the end of June. They will then display your entry in both their garden centres for a public vote ending on 25th July. The winner of each category will then win £50 of St Bridget's plants and go on to national judging (winners will be annunced in September). For further details on how to enter check out the events page of the official website.

It's wheelie wheelie tough!
Today at St Bridget's in Old Rydon Lane we welcomed Alan Murdoch from Fermoys in Newton Abbot who is cycling on a tandem all the way to the Chelsea Flower Show. If that in itself sounds tough try pulling a planted wheelbarrow along too!
Alan is doing this 247 mile cycle for charity raising money for Greenfingers and Gardening Leave.
Various people are stepping in along the way to join Alan on the back on his bike. After leaving us at 11am this morning Alan was heading to the Devon County Show and tomorrow he heads for Dorset.

If you would like to donate to the 'Barathon Marathon' please visit http://www.justgiving.com/wheelbarrow-ride

2012-2013 Plant Finder Out Now!
The Royal Horticultural Society has released the new 2012-2013 Plant Finder Book with a special £3 off . The plant finder is essential reading if you are planning a new garden or landscape project as it tells you where you can find specific plants. St Bridget Nurseries' plant list is included so you can see what we grow and be surprised that for several plants we are the only nursery in the UK that grows them.

Do you know your plants?
If you live near Exeter and can identify hundreds of different trees, shrubs, roses and herbaceous perennials plus give sound planting and care advice then you could be what we're looking for!
We have a vacancy for a plant area assistant - full time (5 days a week) on a permanent contract but you must have sound horticultural experience or qualification(s). If you fit this and want to know more then please call 01392 873672 or e-mail marketing@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk

Spring has arrived,

Even dogs enjoy looking around St Bridgets garden centres with their owners.

Every day there is something else coming into flower at this time of year.

Magnolias, Camellias, Flowering cherries (Prunus) right down to small early flowering alpines.

Every time you visit you will find something that will tempt you, mostly grown on our own nursery in Exeter.

Visit our website to find out more

The children's charity competition didn't disappoint. The gardens raised £62.90 from voting donations which brings our grand total for Greenfingers (making magical gardens for children's hospices) to £146! Thank you to everyone who donated.
The winner of the under 7s was Tom Beynon (age 6) with his lovely traditional garden complete with bench and duck pond. The winner of the 7-13 yr old category was Naomi Sinclair (age 11) with her Easter inspired garden. Well done you two and also to the other children who put so much work in. The school prize went to St Peter's Prep in Lympstone who raised the most money from their collective entries, they win either a tour around our nursery or £50 of plants.
Thank you again to everyone who took part - you're all stars!

Children's "Garden For Mum" Competition this weekend

I'm sooooo excited. I've just collected some entries for our Garden For Mum competition from a local school and they have gone over and above anything I could possibly have imagined. The beautiful miniature gardens have been made in simple seed trays. Children as young as 4 have submitted entries and they are fab, fab, fab!

Remember if you are taking part, the main drop off for entries is this Saturday (17th March) at St Bridget's Old Rydon Lane between 9am and 11am. Your entry will then be displayed for visitors to vote for a winner over the weekend.

PLEASE PLEASE can everyone who visits the garden centre this weekend dig deep into their pockets and donate some coins to your favourite garden entry. All the money donated will go to Greenfingers, the charity who make magical gardens for children's hospices. Additionally, the two gardens (one from the 7-13yr old category and one from the under 7s) who raise the most money will gardening goodies from us plus the school that raises the most money from their combined entries will win either £50 of plants or a tour around our nursery for one class. So by giving a little you will be making lots of children happy!

Entries can be collected from 3pm on Sunday 18th March and prizes will be announced at 4pm.

Watch this space for photos!

Garden Re-Leaf Day - Tuesday 13th March

It's the first National Garden Re-Leaf day this 13th March and St Bridget's are joining in the launch of the new gardening year combined with raising money for the industry charity "Greenfingers" who make magical gardens for children's hospices.

The first event takes place on Tuesday 13th March at 11am and 2pm. For £2.50 (all money going to Greenfingers) you can go behind the scenes and into the propagation departments at St Bridget's Old Rydon Lane nursery (EX2 7JY). You will meet the experts with decades of experience, see how they grow plants from seed, plugs and cuttings, ask questions and pick up tips for your use at home. Plus you will get 2 free growing trays - perfect for your own seeds or cuttings!

The second event is just for under 13s. Make a garden that you think a Mum would like but make it in a seed tray! Be creative and use whatever materials you like. Then bring your entry along to St Bridget Nurseries in Old Rydon Lane (EX2 7JY) between 9&11am on Saturday 17th March. Your entry will then be displayed over the weekend and people will be asked to vote for their favourite using their money (all money going to Greenfingers). The two entries (one from the under 7s and one from the 7-13 yr olds) that get the most votes (raise the most money) will WIN fabulous prizes - Gruffalo gardening tools for the under 7 winner and Gardening Apprentice Tools for the 7-13 yr old winner. Prizes will be announced at 4pm on Sunday 18th March and children can collect their garden to give to their Mum from 3pm that day.

It's all for charity so please support these events. Look at the main website or call 01392 873672 for further details.

Demonstration Event - How to grow seeds from beginners to experts

Saturday 10th March at St Bridget Nurseries Old Rydon Lane (10am-12pm) and Sidmouth Road, Clyst St Mary (2-4pm), Exeter Devon, UK.

Tom Sharples, Suttons Seeds Senior Horticultural Manager, will be doing a demonstration and talk that will cover the following topics followed by a question and answer session:

Sow and grow - how to use the 16 Jiffy 7 propagator and pellets

Speedy Veg sowing for beginners

Seed tapes and mats how it's easy to grow even if you are a beginner

This will be a brilliant opportunity to get all the advice you need and products to get your seed sowing off to a perfect start. Hope you can make it. For more events at St Bridget's Garden Centres please visit the main website http://www.stbridgetnurseries.co.uk/index.cfm/information/noticeboard

Flowering Cherry (Prunus)

Crab apple blossom (Malus)

Tree Fields
If you want to plant bare root ornamental and fruit trees this winter, time is beginning to run out, contact our Garden centres to order as soon as possible, as mid March is about the latest we can lift bare root trees,this is weather dependant and varies according to the season.

We also have a selection of field grown roses still available but for varieties not available in the field we have containerised ones.

Any enquiries contact our garden centres on 01392873672 or email sales@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk

Winter flowering shrubs.

When the weather is cold and wet in January you can still find something in flower in the garden,

Winter flowering Honeysuckle (Lonicera Fragrantissima), Chanaenomeles, Camellias and Hamamelis (Witch Hazel), winter flowering heathers and Sarcococca to name a few all give a great show and some give a fantastic scent as a bonus

With early spring bulbs beginning to flower as well, get out in the garden and visit some of the large gardens open to the public and get some inspiration for your own private garden.

Herbaceous Borders create a great display of colour throughout the year, starting with Heleborous in early spring and the bright yellow of Doronicum, summer perennials such as Lupins and Delphiniums give tall spike like flowers that can be planted in amongst shrubs in a mixed perennial and shrub border, late flowering species such as Anemones, Rudbeckia and Verbena Bonariensis give a mass of colours when others are finishing.
There is something to suit everyone and St Bridget's have a large choice available, so come and visit to see what we have or visit our website for a full plant list including trees,shrubs, and fruit as well as perennials.

http://www.stbridgetnurseries.co.uk/
Tel. 01392 873672

Camellias

St Bridget Nurseries have a large selection of Camellias in stock in the nursery and both our garden centre in Old Rydon Lane and Clyst St Mary.

(see clip below for a selection of colours available)

There is a good range of varieities and colours available, come and visit and make a dreary January / February a lot brighter with colours ranging from white,pink deep reds and bicolours.

There are also some for those special occasions.

Contact us on 01392 873672 or email sales@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk for a full list

Plants for hire

Did you get engaged at Christmas and already trawling through bridal magazines for ideas? Want to be like Will & Kate and have trees lining your church? Well St Bridget Nurseries is the place to go if your wedding is in Devon.

St Bridget's offer a plant hire service where you can hire plants by the day for a small fee. It's roughly 20% of the full price cost to buy plus a small charge for delivery and collection (if needed) but for an exact quote get in touch with your requirements. The nursery team are used to working with themes and have previous experience with "A Midsummer Night's Dream" "Jungle" and "Natural Romantic"! Similarly, plants can be hired for exhibition stands, balls etc with trees, shrubs and planted containers all available for hire. So get in touch with the nursery manager on 01392 873672 or sales@stbridgetnurseries.co.uk

Happy New Year to all our regular readers (and new ones)!
We're all set at St Bridget's for our first ever Winter Sale which begins at 9am tomorrow morning. Not only are there numerous products that have 50% or more off but for the first two weeks we'll take 10% off everything not already reduced. Plus we'll be adding items from the nursery later in the week such as open ground trees and clipped buxus (box plants). Just think you can stock up on presents and bits for the approaching growing season now at bargain prices and with easy free parking we take the stress out of sale shopping!
See you tomorrow!