Forever changing seasons mean our displays are always changing, it’s best to visit garden centres at least once in every season to get plants for interest throughout the year.
Spring- some of our favourites for the best spring blossoms:
Ribies- Flowering currant
Ribes (Flowering Currant) is a medium-sized, bushy deciduous shrub noted for its abundant showy flowers in early to mid spring, drooping clusters of 10-30 small, pink to deep red flowers occur along the length of the stems.
Forsythia
The bright yellow blooms of forsythia are a sign that spring is here. Traditional types are taller and best pruned after flowering to keep compact. Newer varieties are more compact for smaller gardens and reduced pruning requirements.
Fruit and Ornamental Tree Blossom
Some of the best spring flowers bloom from the branches of cherry trees and crab apples. Crab apples also have fantastic colour crabs in late summer which are ideal for looking after our native birds.
Syringa- Lilac
These beautiful blooms are now available to all gardeners on dwarf multi stem shrubs, dwarf trees and the more traditional larger plants with their recognisable large, highly scented flowers.
Sarcococca
Another beautifully scented shrub. Christmas box or sweet box, should be planted somewhere you can make the most of its fragrance. It has narrow evergreen foliage with clusters of creamy-white flower. A good low-maintenance option for part shade but will tolerate a wide range of soil conditions.
Cyclamen coum
This is winter flowering species of cyclamen is great in dry shade under shrubs or trees, or lovely intermingled with snowdrops. Standing only a couple of inches above the ground, these bulbous perennials are small but stand out wonderfully with their pink and white flowers that will spread over time.
Summer- examples of plants we stock for summer blooms
Hibiscus
Hardy hibiscus loves full sun and attracts butterflies. It starts blooming late in the summer producing huge flowers in shades of red, pink, blue or white. The main hardy garden form, H. syriacus, is useful free flowering garden shrub, eventually growing to 10ft (3m) or more. Available in a wide range of colours, with both single and double flowered varieties.
Coreopsis
Coreopsis has sunny daisy-like flowers that bloom in a variety of colors, such as yellow, pink, red or bi-color. The flowers blossom early summer to midsummer. Deadheading spent blooms will increase bloom time. They attract birds and butterflies. Grows about 1 to 3 feet tall depending on variety
Lavender
Lavender is an absolute mustfor its wonderful fragrance. It’s a great border plant and likes well-drained soil. Plant in full sun. It’s deer and rabbit resistant and attracts butterflies and bees. With thousands of varieties available in shades of white, pink, purple, blue and purple every garden should have at least one Lavendar.
Rudbeckia- Black-eyed Susan
This perennial is a must for the summer garden. It blooms from July to first frosts, fantastic for attracting all kinds of beneficial insects to your garden. Plant in full sun, and be sure to remove spent blooms for more flowering.
Hydrangea
In summer through autumn this shrub produces masses of flowers. Perfect for a large container or just about any landscape spot. There are thousands of varieties with varying heights, flower colours, stem colours and leaf shapes meaning there’s a hydrangea for everyone.
Roses
This is a vast family of plants, from climbers to ground cover. From enormous blousy blooms to tine open flowers that are great for visiting insects and bees. There’s a colour and growth habit for every garden. Roses are sometimes classes as high maintenance but when provided with lots of food they will stay happy and healthy for many years.
Autumn- examples of plants we stock for autumn foliage
Physalis- Chinese Lantern
These colourful autumn plants are firm favourites once the season changes, with delicate orange fruit cases that resemble tiny hanging pumpkins. They're the perfect choice if you're looking for a chic way to incorporate a Halloween theme in your home in late October.
Chinese lanterns typically flower between July and October adding a bright pop of colour to your borders.
Kniphofia- Red Hot Poker
Known for their fiery colours these repeat flowering perennials provide fantastic upright structure to any border, mimicking the shades of autumn foliage.
Callicarpa ‘Profusion’- Beauty Berry
This shrub is becoming more and more popular due to its violet berries team with flaming foliage in autumn, both held on the plant for several months. It likes fertile, well-drained soil, and sun position.
Winter- examples of plants we stock for tassles and berries
Cornus- Dogwood bold winter stems
Grown primarily for their bold colourful stems over winter these shrubs are available in many different colours, from bright lime green, to palest orange, to rich shocking reds. Cornus are attractive planted as a solo shrub but they are astounding when planted in groups. Tolerant of shade and damp these shrubs require hard early summer pruning to create the freshest boldest stem colour later that year.
Hamamelis- Witch hazel
This shrub is deciduous and has interesting highly scented spidery flowers which form ahead of the leaves (like forsythia). The flowers are usually red, orange, yellow or mauve, with Arnold Promise being the most vivid yellow. Hamamelis are slow growing and look good in a woodland setting or as a solitary tree.
Edgeworthia chrysantha- Paperbush
The strong fragrance of Edgeworthia evokes springtime in the depths of winter. This deciduous, multibranched shrub drops its leaves in mid-December to reveal a bare silhouette of beautiful bark and flower buds. The white and yellow clusters bloom late winter to early spring.
