FERNS

A selection of pretty and often handsome ferns to add interest to any garden. Give your ferns a little attention… water and feed and in 2 or 3 years you will have specimens to relish and show off. As I look around the January garden, the wintergreen varieties are looking splendid and are a wonderful companion for emerging snowdrops.

ASPLENIUM trichomanes Maidenhair Spleenwort The attractive small fern, found on old walls. Small leaflets, black midrib...£4

BLECHNUM penna marina cristate …Falkland Island Little Fern. Leathery leaves that grow well in dry stone walls and work well alpine plantings…£4

DRYOPTERIS erythrosora 50cm A neat, pretty fern. Bronze young fronds open glossy green.....£4

MATTEUCIA struthiopteris 1.5m Ostrich Fern

Great fern; intriguing emerging crosiers opening to plume-like open fronds Strong and unique..£5

ONOCLEA sensibilis 50cm Sensitive Fern. Arching fronds, never lots, just enough. Mobile stems segmented leaves and wavy edges.... £4

POLYPODIUM vulgare Native Polypody 25cm A splendid fern for dry positions. Neat ladder rung leaves; black stems. Wintergreen..£4

POLYSTICHUM setiferum 60cm Shield Fern. Beautiful croziers of growth emerge from last years leaves and open to elegant fronds. For me, the loveliest of ferns…. £4

GALANTHUS …Snowdrops

Atkinsii Very distinct a taller type with lovely slender petals. One of the first to flower …..£3

Benhall Beauty Tall elegant snowdrop; green crescent shape, marked exceptional scent…..£10

Brenda Troyle Large outer petals and well marked inner petals. Early and fragrant …..£4.50

Caucasicus Handsome grey leaves and well marked flowers. Beautiful…..£5.00

Dionysus Early flowering double. Outer petals with green horseshoe mark …..£6

Finale Large leaves and a beautiful large flower. the last to flower and in a cool spring it hangs on and on. Name unsure….. £3.50

SORRY SOLD OUT

Hippolyta A neat late flowering double. Outer petals curve under the inner green rosette …..£5.00

Lady Beatrix Stanley Very early flowering. Upright glaucous leaves and neat double form, white double petticoats edged green…..£5

Magnet Taller snowdrop. Large flowers, crescent shaped mark, arching pedical. Favourite…..£3

Plicatus Very vice larger variety; handsome upright leaves. Increases well …..£3

Ophelia Large double flowers. Perfect green edged hooped petticoats…..£5

Sam Arnott Substantial lovely variety. Rounded petals delightfully fragrant …..£3.50

Warham Large leaves with an attractive central silver stripe. Large flowers; late flowering …..£4

Galanthus nivalis Common snowdrop in pots of 10 …..£3

GENTIANA The Gentians.

Gentians speak of alpine slopes and cool Himalayan valleys. Perhaps why they do so well in the Highlands.

asclepiadea Willow Gentian 30 cm A splendid perennial which, improves year on year. Willowy stems with large deep blue gentian flowers along their length…..£3.50

asclepiadea Pink swallow A lovely dusky pink variant...£3.50

lutea 1m Giant Yellow Gentian. Large lily-like leaves; tall stems with whorls of yellow flowers nestling in green bracts.....£4

Autumn Gentians As autumn colours hot up these pools of blue are wonderful. Grow them with autumn flowering Sedums for a necklace of colour Lovely in a trough or gravel bed.

Cairngorm 10cm Bright blue flowers...£3.50

Sino ornata Brilliant blue, later flowering...£3.50

Strathmore Mid Blue.Grow with autumn flowering Sedums for a necklace of colour. Lovely filling a trough or in a gravel bed…£3

GERANIUMS

The hardy Geranium species are an asset to any garden. Some are glamorous; others are workmanlike, doing the job when nothing else will. Some make elegant specimens; others look good in a crowd. Discover one or two and experiment with 3 or 4.

albanum Makes good strong clumps…trails of startling pink flowers, veined magenta….£3.75

Ann Folkard An outstanding cultivar. The young foliage is glorious golden-yellow, the flowers a silky, dusky purple with black veins and eye ...£4

Blue Blood 40cm Excellent new hybrid.. Deep true blue with purple/black veins …£4.50

SORRY SOLD OUT

Brookside 40cm. Clumps of fine leaves and bowls of blue flowers for months. Splendid .....£4

x cantabrigiense Cambridge A neat attractive variety; soft mauve/pink flowers over pretty evergreen leaves. Good in dry situations under shrubs and trees…£4

x cantabrigiense Westray 20cm bright pink blooms over compact evergreen foliage .....£4

Elizabeth Ann 50cm Dark leaves early flowering geranium. Bright pink flowers, contrast well….£4

endressii 30cm A compact selection with good blossom pink flowers. One of the best ground coverers of all and several months in flower....£4

himalayense plenum 50 cm A sheaf of palmate leaves and very pretty violet/pink double ....£4

Jolly Bee 40cm Bright blue white centre, Large flowers with an excellent long season…£4.50

macrorrhizum Bevans All the macrorrhizum plants have attractive scalloped, aromatic leaves and make excellent ground covering plants. Sun or shade. ...£4

m. Ingwersen’s Variety 30cm The nicest. . Fresh, green, apple-scented leaves and soft pink flowers. Lovely with London Pride….£4

m. Pindus 20cm half the size of the other varieties; red bracted magenta flowers…£4

Mrs Kendall Clark 50cm Beautiful cranesbill, pale lilac flowers striped with blue….£4

orientalitibeticum 20cm Marbled foliage, no one leaf the same as the next; pink flowers.....£4

x oxonianum Julie Brennon 80cm rich pink with good dark veining .....£4

x oxonianum Rebecca Moss 80cm Great ground covering geranium. Olive leaves and white flowers, flushing pink in summer …£4

x oxonianum Southcombe Star 60cm Strong growing plant, star like rose flowers £4.

Patricia 80cm Great new perennial; tall vigorous plant magenta pink, dark eye long season…£4.50

phaeum Margaret Wilson 40cm Superb yellow variegated foliage and light purple flowers. Fantastic in shade…£4.50

phaeum Samobar Striking foliage plant for shade. The leaves are heavily marked with chocolate brown.Purple phaeum flowers £3.75

pratense Summer Skies Lovely sky blue double. Neat plant…£4

pratense violacea plenum 20cm Lovely violet blue double. Exquisite with roses…£4

procurrens a great creeping geranium; flowers; July through Autumn;. Purple, black eye..£4

pyrenaicum 25cm spreading. One of the fastest spreading plants I know, but it never seems to be invasive. Neat scalloped leaves erupting into a foam of small purple flowers all summer. Great in new borders….£3

pyrenaicum albiflorum 25cm White form…£3

Salome 30cmA looker; violet purple flowers with a black eye. Trails a little…£3.75

Sanguineum 15cm small and magenta ..£3.50

Sanguineum album White varient ...£3.50

Sanguineum striatum pretty pale pink with violet stripes. Lovely plant…£3.50

versicolor 30cm This native species scrambles through a border. Masses of tiny white flowers exquisitely veined purple. Wonderful…£3

wallichianeum Buxton’s variety 15cm Great favourite. Mottled foliage and china blue flowers, white eye…£4

yoshinoi 25cm Attractive species. Well divided leaves and white, purple veined flowers…£3.50

GEUM The Avens

Over the last 2 years we have aquired some lovely new varieties to complement older classics

Bell’s Bank A Geoffrey Smith hybrid. Large fat double bright pink flowers fading to stripes..£4

borisii 25cm x 40cm Early orange/red flowers. Often repeats in autumn. Neat clumps….£3.80

Dingle Apricot Compact. Apricot yellow..... £3.80

Dolly North 30cm strong clumps of rough green leaves with splendid tangerine flowers..£3.80

Mandarin 15cm Large coppery orange..... £3.80

Marmalade New marmalade orange.….£3.80

Mrs Bradshaw Old fashioned double red…...£3.80

Mrs W Moore Cream, flushed pink semi double. Lovely…...£3.80

Nordek Open cups of brick orange…...£3.80

Primrose Pretty primrose yellow …….£3.80

Pink Frills Lovely pink; ruffled petals….£3.80

Prince of Orange 80cm excellent flowers; lovely soft orange with a green eye. Scarce…..£4.50

Werner Arends 30cm rich orange red ……£3.80

 

GRASSES and SEDGES

Grasses are great. There are lots of ways to use them in the garden. Here are a few of my best ideas.

• Use in a mixed border, they are a great change of texture and a cooling colour.

e.g. Miscanthus; Pennisetum; Millium

• Grasses look great in “designed plantings “among rocks and large gravel.

e.g Stipa; Miscanthus; Cortaderia; Carex

• Some grasses look fantastic as potted specimens.

e.g. Stipa arundinacea; Hakenochloe ; Carex

• Try some annual grasses with poppies .Fabulous

e.g. Hordeum jubatum

CAREX buchanii 40cm erect tussocks of copper bronze. A great contrast plant…£3.60

CAREX pendula 2m Elegant wands of brown brush-like heads from tussocks of foliage. Very effective by water with Irises and candelabras....£4

Chionochloa conspicua 2m in flower. An impressive tussocky grass from New Zealand, with airy, elegant plumes….large pots....£4.50

CORTADERIA richardii Toe Toe You will see this along the coast line of New Zealand and in many Scottish coastal gardens. Tossing plumes of flower over the mounds of ribbon leaves. Gale and salt proof…..£3.50

ELYMUS magellanica 20cm Silvery blue icicles of leaves colour best when hot and dry...£3.60

MILLIUM effusum aureum Bowles Golden Grass. 40cm Soft straps of golden leaves opening into golden oat like flowers. All parts are golden . Amazing with Meconopsis …£3.60

Miscanthus sinensis Morning Light Wonderful upright grass, that catches the low light of autumn beautifully. Silver striped... £5

MISCANTHUS sinensis Zebrinus 1m a touch of the jungle Yellow horizontal stripes...£5

Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens 25cm Technically in the lilly family, but the black leaves are grasslike with purple berries, turning black. Wonderful for painting garden pictures. Eden Court Theatre in Inverness has a 'river of Ophipogon' amidst large white pebbles. Wonderful.....£4.50

STIPA arundinacea 90cm A very glamorous grass. A fountain of richly streaked leaves; red, yellow, bronze; the colours intensifying in drought and cold. Makes a fantastic large pot….£3.60

Stipa gigantea 2m one of my desert island plants. Imagine lying, looking at blue sky through the wonderful oat-like flower heads....£3.60

Stipa pulcherrimum A rare and beautiful Stipa; late summer stems with loose golden flowers..£4

Stipa tenuissima 60cm. Sometimes called pony tail grass, with the swirl and texture of a long soft tail. Lovely to stroke. It lasts as a feature all year and can be cut down in spring….£3.50

HELIANTHEMUM Rock roses

It is always advisable to please name some alternatives to your order

The Helianthemums are second to none for rapid foliage in a dry, poor soil; ever-grey and evergreen. Midsummer gives a great display of primary colours or soft pastels. Excellent value.

Ben Fhada Good bright yellow, orange eye.

Ben Lomond Rich, dark pink with a white eye.

Ben Macdhui Rich single blood red. Rare

Ben Vane Yellow ochre with orange centre.

Double Apricot Double apricot.

Firedragon (Mrs Clay) Brilliant flickering orange/red

Georgeham Crimson/pink with a pale centre.

Henfield Brilliant Vibrant brick orange, Excellent grey foliage.

Jubilee Excellent double lemon yellow.

Laurensons Pink Vigerous rose pink, green foliage

Mrs Hays A soft salmon pink , green foliage

Sudbury Gem Rich rose pink with flame red centre.

ALL HELIANTHEMUMS ......£2 EACH.

Helianthemums are second to none for fast growth and early flower; hence great for new plantings. Particularly useful for dry soils.

To encourage you to try some new varieties

We are offering the following collections.

(collections may have 2or 3 of a type )

THE BENS 10 mixed Helianthemums named for Scotland's highest and well loved mountains. Bright and tough.

SORRY SOLD OUT

HOT COLOURS 10 red and orange, hot pink or yellow varieties, that will vibrate and dance above the ground on a bright summer day

MIXED Our choice 10 mixed, always something special

All collections or 10 mixed (our choice) at the exceptional price £16.00 plus postage

HELLEBORUS

ericsmithii 40cm It is good to offer this excellent hybrid. Large white flowers, flushing pink as they age, which last from mid-winter until May. Dark pewter foliage. fantastic plant...£5.50

Orientals hybrids Some marvellous new Lenten Roses. Single colours and doulbles. Absolutely fabulous

orientalis Ashwoods ..Vigorous hybrids. Flowers white with attractive spotting…£5.50

Blue metallic Lady Pewter blue flowers....£5.50

Dark Pink Excellent dark pinks.... £5.50

Mixed Doubles amazing mix of pale and darker pink, purple doubles ... £5.50

Red Lady Fine dark red, black stamens .. £5.50

sternii Blackthorn Strain 40cm beautiful marbled foliage and cups of apple green pink flushed flowers through to summer….£5

HEUCHERA

I am sure you have seen some of the gorgeous new Heuchera varieties. This selection is some we have grown on the nursery.

Can Can 20cm ruffled leaves/skirts and purple leaves marked silver. Good in the garden too.... £4

Caramel Lovely caramel coloured leaves with p[ink flush. Great in pots as it is beautiful…...£4

Venus Silver veined purple. Another beauty... £4

HEUCHERELLA

Kimono Elegant long pointed foliage and dark centres to the leaves...£4

HOSTAS

It is a great shame that many people don’t grow Hostas because they fear slugs will eat them. Our experience is that slugs are a minimal problem, even with our late, wet springs. Hostas settle well and by their 3rd year, are wonderful garden features, their bold leaves giving interest and structure, especially in shade. Do discover or rediscover them. We grow several in stylish terracotta pots to show them off. Masterpiece.

Big Daddy 1m Fantastic thick blue leaves. Slug proof and it makes a fine feature….£5

Bold Ribbons 40cm arching, slender olive green leaves , white margin. Part shade.... £4.50

Brim Cup A neat small Hosta,green leaves rimmed with chartreuse yellow. Good plant…£4.50

Coquette Long spoon shaped leaves, white edge. Establishes well..£4.50

Devon Gold Small neat Hosta . Butter yellow leaves..Purple flowers Good garden plant…£5

Fragrant Bouquet 60cm Green leaves, edged golden. Fragrant lilac flowers…£4.50

Fire and Ice 60 cmA very striking new variety. White centre, curving olive leaves..... £6.50

Halcyon 30cm. Classic blue Hosta. Thick, lance-shaped blue leaves, beautiful lavender-grey flowers. Best in part shade….…£4.50

Mildred Seaver 30cm Heart shaped leaves, dark green centre and cream edge…….£6.50

Patriot Excellent hosta for a pot; shiny olive green leaves, Irregular white margins …£5

Serendipity Neat blue. Purple flowers Good..£5

sieboldii elegans A lovely big Blue. Handsome paddle shaped leaves make a large mound....£6.50

Tiny Tears Miniature; blue/green tear drop leaves. Adorable plant; neat in pots…£6

Tokudama True Blue I first saw this as a fine specimen at Inverewe. An excellent blue, corrugated leaves, medium clump.... £6.50

Wide Brim 40cm Good clump forming plants. Green with irregular cream/yellow rim…£4.50

Wolverine 30cm Very smart narrow leaves, green edged cream. Good lilac flowers....£6.50

As an introduction to Hostas Our selection of 3 Hostas….£14 Something special in each parcel