Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Mark and Gaz
Last Saturday the urge to visit a plant nursery was very strong but somehow it still felt too early in the season to see the best of what most nurseries have so we left it hanging. Not knowing now what to do on that day I checked out our blog to see what we did around the same time last year and there it was, a visit to one of our top favourite places to buy plants: Beeches Nursery. Blogs are great like that, an online diary that you can reference to remind yourself on things you have done before.
So if we visited this nursery around the same time last year and we came home happy then it shouldn't be too early to visit it then, and so Saturday became a Beeches Nursery day!
We've blogged about this fabulous nursery several times before and have sung them many praises. Our general opinions about the place still remains the same: that it is a very well organised nursery that are of full rare and unusual plant treasures! A 'Cornish Nursery' in the east of the country!
Anyway on to the shopping!
As usual we spent hours browsing through their rows and rows of plant sales tables, polytunnels and their large greenhouse which contains some of the more obscure plants they have, as well as tender ones.
 |
| Gorgeous, touchable plant originally from Cyprus - Sideritis cypria. Will need a sheltered spot though! |
 |
| A Dan Hinkley collection, the hardy Begonia emeiensis |
 |
| They have a good selection of Impatiens, most are hardy too |
 |
| Not so rare but looks great with its stressed flush - Mahonia nervosa |
 |
| Ribes speciosum |
 |
| Major want! Two came home with me - Trachelospermum jasminoides 'Waterwheel' |
 |
| Woodland plants selection |
 |
| The great Astilboides tabularis - highly recommended! |
 |
| Veratrum selection |
 |
| Trillium selection |
 |
| Podophyllum and other woodland plant selection |
 |
| The wonderful Pelboykinia watanabei - another woodland plant we highly recommend and we're fortunate enough to have it now self seeding in our garden |
 |
| I liked this one a lot but decided to leave it for now - Euphorbia characias 'Black Pearl' |
 |
| Dainty airy foliage - Sophora molloyi 'Dragon's Gold' |
 |
| This is one of their display containers with mixed planting which highlights how lovely and exotic looking Beesia calthifolia (left) is. |
 |
| Just loved the foliage of these two Tasmanian beauties and one of each came home with me... |
And what did we came home with? A good lot as usual, consisting of understory and woodland plants, shrubs, and small trees which includes two replacement plants, Aesculus parviflora which we inexplicably lost last winter much to our great surprise and a Piptanthus nepalensis which we lost in the garden fire. Our other purchases were:
 |
| Several ever reliable Epimedium and you can also spot in the middle Gunnera perpensa |
 |
| Supposed to be an Agastache rugosa 'Golden Jubilee' but I'm very doubtful as the leaves look very different from the Agastache that I'm familiar with. The description of having large and ornamental leaves seems spot on though... |
 |
| Whatever it is, I like a lot! |
 |
| Ozothamnus rosmarinifolius 'Silver Jubilee' - just realised on this lot I took home a silver and a gold jubilee! |
 |
| Ozothamnus 'Threave Seedling' |
 |
| Polygonatum humile |
 |
| Try and try and we might succeed this time - the should be easy but for us it isn't Gunnera magellanica |
 |
| Impatiens omeiana 'Pink Nerves' |
 |
| Thalictrum ichangense |
 |
| Not much to look at now but it will quickly look much better. The not so hardy but so exotic looking, with its potentially huge and glossy leaves Pseudopanax laetus (syn. Neopanax laetus) |
 |
| And finally, it's been on my wishlist for quite some time and for some strange reason remained elusive until now. The much hardier Pseudopanax arboreus (syn. Neopanax arboreus). If you like the look of P. laetus but want a much hardier plant then this is the one to go for. This plant has toothed leaf margins while P. laetus tends to have smooth ones. |
Another fabulous haul and most satisfying visit it was to Beeches Nursery!
Mark :-)
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
Some great plants came home, and as usual with your posts (in your more mild climate) I have several plants to research -- many won't be cold-hardy enough for me I suspect, but still fun. That Ozothamnus rosmarinifolius for instance: so nice! Oh, and that's definitely not an Agastache of any kind.
ReplyDeleteI thought of you Alan when I read the label Agastache as I remember you asking us in Portland if we grew it. I wonder what plant could this be, hmmm...:)
DeleteWhat a cool nursery! You brought home some wonderful treasures!
ReplyDeleteIt is Peter and really pleased with our haul :)
DeleteIt is my favourite nursery too. I always spend far too much when I go there. Last time I bought some of their own Epimedium seedlings and also some of their Dactylorhiza hybrids. You have made me want to visit again.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to whenever you get the chance Chloris :) there's always some treasure to see at any time of the year!
DeleteWow!!! lots of great plants! We don´t have nurseries like this here in Madrid. Because of that I've had to buy lots of seeds and will try them now. You bought really nice plants :)
ReplyDeleteStarting from seeds are good too Lisa :) and hopefully you can go on a plant buying trip in the UK soon!
DeleteThat would be great!! I should plan one :)
DeleteI know you will discover how to tame the Ozothamnus, so I hope you will share that info. Mine gets ungainly after it blooms.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be pot grown Ricki, that may curb it a bit but if not I may have to resort to periodic replacement :)
DeleteLooks like a great nursery! And you came away with some wonderful plants. I've been considering Ozothamnus for my own garden. Your not-Agastache looks like it could be a Rodgersia, or something like that. Rodgersia doesn't quite seem right, but it's hard to tell from the photo.
ReplyDeleteIt is Evan :) I'm really intrigued what that plant is...
DeleteGreat haul! I love that Ozothamnus. I have Euphorbia 'Black Pearl' in my garden but the foliage on mine is far darker than the one Beeches offered - I wonder if it's the same plant or just a coincidence in naming.
ReplyDeletePossibly the difference may be due to your warmer weather there Kris :)
DeleteI haven't been there for a few years but drive past often as it's only a few miles from our house. You could have dropped in for a cuppa! My favourite nursery is Pauger's Plants - brilliant value and great quality plants I always come home with a car boot full!
ReplyDeleteHi Celia, didn't realise you were in that neck of the woods :) have taken note of the other nursery you have mentioned. Next time we're round that way we'll give you a nudge!
DeleteWow, that's quite a haul for thinking you wouldn't even go to the nursery. I love the Ozothamnus rosmarinifolius 'Silver Jubilee' (and what a great tie in to my silvers post yesterday and your comment!). I adore Pseudopanax laetus (bought one at one of the garden shows this spring) and the Pseudopanax arboreus is very interesting. Sean was telling me about a hardier Pseudopanax he's growing on, maybe it's this one...
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I read your silver post I immediately thought of mentioning the ozothamnus Loree. And I remember you buying the laetus a couple of months ago too! Now I wonder what that hardier Pseudopanax Sean is growing could be, hmmmm.... :)
DeleteIts so lovely when you find a really special nursery, they are few and far between!!!
ReplyDeleteIndeed Libby :) I do wish they stocked lots of succulents too though!
DeleteThere's nothing like visiting a good nursery after a long week. Your "Agastache" looks a bit like Heracleum to me.
ReplyDeleteMax P.
Funny enough Max that thought came to mind too, that it could be a hogweed....
DeleteHi guys - good to see you again last weekend and, yet again many thanks for your coverage and comments. Now the red faces...!! Dead right no way an Agastache r. 'Golden Fortune' but, I suspect a self sown seedling of Heracleum dulce - a form of Giant Hogweed - happily growing away in a pot of the former. Something we should have spotted and most certainly would have when the Agastache are moved from their overwintering quarters in the greenhouse back to the retail area. In defence the Heracleum dulce in the retail area are correctly named but are less than half the size of that in your photograph - hence my speculation. Despite the antics of the 'self sower' - suspect mouse - the nearest flowering plant last year at least 400m away! Knowing your liking of large, architectural plants I think you will like this 'beasty' - 2m+ of thick, spiny stems, large umbels of white flowers and huge leaves. Perhaps time to acquire a Brown Bear who use it as a convenient back-scratcher! - oh and the neighbours may not be too happy if you let it seed!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you and thank you for the clarification! It was a pleasure to visit as always!
DeleteThe plant is even more interesting now with its ID :)
It never ceases to amaze me, how many plants you manage to buy and then somehow squeeze into your garden! And I'm miffed. I've just come back from Norfolk and must have passed within a couple of miles of Beeches Nursery. I'll definitely make a detour next time I go up. Dave
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to David, you'd love all the goodies you'd see there :)
DeleteOoh, plants that even dry SoCal can grow, like the euphorb, sideritis and ozothamnus. The sophora looks interesting too. What a great selection.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting to hear Denise, and pleased to know that some of the plants they have are fine for there too :)
DeleteIt is great to have a nursery at hand with such interesting plants. You made some great selections. I agree your mystery plant does not look like agastache, but it is wonderful, whatever it is. I always feel such a boost when I arrive home with new plants. In fact, this past Friday I visited a great nursery that is about a two hour drive - so not one I visit often. It was a fun day, and I brought home some plants that had been on my wish list. Yesterday I got them all planted. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debs and plant shopping is always a pleasurable activity :)
Delete