Hydrangea's for August/ Sept

Hydrangea Paniculata Grandiflora,

Kyushu AGM,

Limelight,

Pink Diamond,

Are all varieties of Hydrangea that flower in August /early Sept they have big flowers in various shades of white/Pink colours.

To get the best flowers they have to pruned in a different way to the other Hydrangea varieties.

Prune them hard to approx 20-30cm in March just before they start to come into growth and they will produce lovely big flowers on the growth they make that same spring/summer. This will also keep them to a compact size of approx 1 metre.

St Bridget Nurseries sell the above varieties for £8.25 each

Hibiscus Red Heart

August can be a month in the garden when flowering shrubs are not so abundant, one that flowers throughout August and into September are Hibiscus.

They flower over a long period in a wide range of colours blues ,whites , pinks , reds and bicolours.

Hibiscus are deciduous so will loose their leaves in the autumn and are late coming into leaf in the spring.

St Bridget Nurseries graft their own plants in the winter and below are a list of varieties we grow.

Priced from £10.00

HIBISCUS
syriacus Ardens

Blue Bird AGM

Duc de Brabant
Elegantissimus
Hamabo AGM
Meehanii AGM
Purpureus Variegatus

Red Heart AGM
Totus Albus
Woodbridge AGM

Planting for bees...
You've probably read in the news that honey bee and bumble bee numbers are in decline. Much of this is due to new plant cultivars in gardens (more double blooms and cultivars with little or no pollen or nectar) and changes in agriculture (decline in flower rich hay meadows for example).
bees urgently need your help and considering bees help you (Einstein was reported to have said: "if something eliminated bees from our planet, mankind would perish within 4 years") then there's no excuse!
Plant early flowering plants to help the Queen Bee lay more eggs. Salix spp (Willow), Chaenomeles speciosa (quince) and Corylus (Hazels) are all good options. Then plant something for June when the colony has peak numbers, something like rosemary, Sambucus Nigra and Raspberries. Finally for Autumn when bees build up fat and protein to survive winter, try Agastache foeniculum, Lavandula Angustifolia (English lavender) and solidago (Golden Rod).
Further suitable plants can be found at St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres in Exeter and you can pick up a free advice leaflet.

Now's the time to prune your rambler roses, cutting out a third of flowered stems at their base.
Also prune established wisteria plants cutting new shoots back to 5 buds. Tie in where necessary.

Tomatoes continue to grow and ripen thanks to plenty of sun and strong green leaves - these convert nutrients in the soil to vital energy. To encourage the fullest flavour, feed every 10 days with Tomorite. It's full of energy, magnesium and seaweed extract to give you top quality tomatoes - that's why it's the country's No.1 best seller. Tomorite can be purchased from both St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres in Exeter.

HOT off the press...

This Friday buy a copy of the Sidmouth Herald and on the front page there will be a token for a free rose bush from St Bridget's! The only catch is that you have to be one of the first 85 people to claim a rose at each centre. Once the 85 have gone, they're gone!

This offer is part of the 85th anniversary celebrations at St Bridget Nurseries.

Where has the summer gone, we haven't seen alot of the sun this week but with the weather warm and some moisture in the ground there are plenty of plants that can be put in now.Shrubs , perennials and container grown roses can be planted as long as they are well watered when planted and when there are dry periods in late summer and autumn.

Don't forget to dead your summer bedding and hanging baskets to prolong the season and keep feeding them every couple off weeks.

As August approaches get in amongst your perennials and dead head them, not only just to tidy the borders up, but you may even get a few more flowers in mid/ late September.

Watch out for mildew etc on autumn flowering Asters

As the flowers go over and your borders begin to look a bit tired look out for different plants to flower in late summer /autumn, Sedums and Rudbeckias and Japanese Anemones to name just a few.

Invasive ladies...
Our office was swarming with these nasty critters last year. They are Harlequin Ladybirds. On a plus they do eat aphids BUT so do our native ladybirds and these are the ones who are under threat.
In general Harlequin Ladybirds are larger and have more spots that our native ladybirds.
Think you've found one? The University of Cambridge, CEH and Anglia Ruskin University are doing a survey of Harlequin ladybirds. You can use your mobile or the web to record your sightings. Just click here to find identification sheets and more info. Another great site for native ladybird fans is http://www.ladybird-survey.org/

Attract some wildlife to your garden, bees and butterflies love Buddlejas, there are numerous varieties to choose from,whites, purples, blues and reds.

To keep them to manageable size prune them hard every spring just before they come into growth to get a nice bushy plant, they get tall and woody if not pruned every year

St Bridgets grow the following varieties-a good selection of flower colours and foliage.

BUDDLEJA
alternifoiia AGM £8.00
davidii Black Knight AGM £7.00
Camberwell Beauty £7.00
Empire Blue AGM £7.00
Harlequin £7.00
* Marbled White £7.00
Nanho Blue AGM (Mongo) £7.00
Royal Red AGM £7.00
White Bouquet £7.00
globosa AGM £7.00
Lochinch £7.00
Pink Delight AGM £7.00

Give your south facing sunny wall an exotic look by planting a Passion flower.

They come in various colours and are interesting flowers to look at and children will be fasinated by them.

Plant them where they will get winter protection outside or in a cold greenhouse or conservatory.

St Bridgets grow a good selection from Caerulea which will generally survive outside in the south west through to varieties that need winter protection.

Prices range between £7.50-£7.75.

PASSIFLORA (PASSIONFLOWER)
caerulea AGM £7.50
Constance Elliot £7.50
rubra £7.50
Eden £7.75
x exoniensis £7.50
Lavender Lady (Amethyst) £7.50
mollissima £7.50
x violacea Victoria £7.50

Give the lawn a quick-acting summer feed, especially if a spring feed was not done.

Find suitable products in both St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres, you can get granular feeds or liquid ones. Remember if you apply feed by hand always wear gardening gloves.

Summer Sale coming soon...

Hot off the press - St Bridget Garden Centres in Exeter are going to be having a furniture frenzy and summer outdoor living sale starting this Friday (23rd).

There are some fantastic offers on furniture including some beautiful benches. Plus there's going to be 25% off chimeneas.

Why not visit today and start planning what you will buy this weekend?

An easy to grow, summer flowering shrub for July is Perovskia Blue Spire, it flowers for a long period between July /August.

Grows to approx 1 metre tall.

Prune hard to about 30cm in Feb/ March and you will get masses of blue flowers during the summer.

Available at St Bridget Nurseries garden centres priced at £6.65 each

Another job that can be done is to cut back Lavender flowers that have finished flowering to keep the plants bushy and prevent them getting woody stems.

Unseasonably blustery again today for July, don't forget to stake your tall growing late flowering perennials and dahlias etc before they blow over, don't wait for them to be blown flat on the ground just as they come into flower.

Keep an eye on your peas, beans and outdoor tomatoes which can also get damaged with summer gales.

HERBACEOUS BORDERS FOR SUMMER COLOUR

July and August are the best months for herbaceous borders but there are perennials you can plant for colour from late winter right through the year to late autumn..

A few to look out for in July, are Liatris, Phlox and Coreopsis all flowering over a long period look out for them at one our 2 garden centres.

Another blustery and showery morning here in Exeter, Roses don't like the damp wet weather so those flowers that have finished flowering should be dead headed, prune them to a bud and you may get a second flush of flowers late August / Sept.

St Bridget Nurseries rose field is open for you to view our field grown roses, which is much better than looking at pictures in book and you can smell the scent as you walk around.

They are at our Clyst st Mary garden centre on the Sidmouth road just outside of Exeter.

They are open daily 9-5 Mon - Sat and 10.30 - 4 on Sundays.

We're back!

Yes it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry. Truth is that this blog was never written by an android, there is a person behind the words and that person had a baby. But, the person is now back and I'm going to be accompanied this time by a fantastic horticulturalist so you'll get more variety, more information and hopefully more blogs!

To celebrate we've changed the format a bit - hope you like the new design?!

It's raining today in Exeter and is a more typical English summer day! It's a day for indoor gardening and what better job than sorting through all those half used packet of seeds? We've all got them - admit it. Somewhere in the shed or under the kitchen sink they're lying there with the end rolled over. Get them out and check sow by dates then put them in an air tight container. At St Bridget's, there is now 50% off all Suttons seeds until the 21st August so why not stock up now?

PUMPKINS

St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres have some lovely BIG pumpkins for sale. I reckon that you could definitely feed a family for days using the contents and of course then use the pumpkin as a Jack'o'Lantern this Friday for Halloween!

In the office we started to think of all the meals you could make with pumpkin, the favourites being pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie and pumpkin cake but then we started to look around the Internet at recipes and our mouths started to water when we read about...

pumpkin pickle, pumpkin curry, roasted pumpkin seeds, baked pumpkin with apples, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cheesecake even pumpkin bread! With all these ideas one pumpkin will definitely give you a starter, main course and dessert!

Giant pumpkins are £4.99 at St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres, Exeter. Call 01392 873672 or 01392 876281 for further details.

GET FRUITY!

Soft fruit plants are now in stock at St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres Exeter. Visit either Old Rydon Lane or Sidmouth Rd, Clyst St Mary, Exeter for a great range of raspberries, blackberries, currants, loganberries plus strawberries, gooseberries and blueberries!