These are blog posts that Wisley Plant Centre has made.
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With the milder spell of weather our fabulous plants are at last exploding into leaf and flower. To celebrate we’d like to offer you all free gift wrap for any houseplant - including potted bulbs - bought on Saturday 13th February and on Saturday 13th March. The less sentimental amongst us may need a gentle prompt that Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are just around the corner. We have a fantastic array of houseplants and potted bulbs including some gorgeous orchid plants for that perfect valentine’s gift.
And it’s almost time for our annual homage to Hellebore Heaven, our yearly festival for these gorgeous plants lead by hellebore gurus Hugh Nunn and Richard Bramley. Please join us on Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 February when we’ll have talks at 11am, 1.30pm & 3pm and informal question-time throughout the weekend (with Hugh on Saturday and Richard on Sunday).
The event is free and we challenge you to resist the out-of-this-world collection of hellebore varieties we have for sale! With all your hellebore questions answered you can be sure of a long and happy relationship with these most beautiful garden plants. Look out for the Helleborus ‘Party Dress’ – we don’t get them very often!
Here's Suti with Helleborus ‘Ruby Glow’, and H. 'Harvington Smokey Blues' one of Hugh Nunn's gorgeous hellebores.
Click here for events information and for more about Wisley Plant Centre.
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Wisley is looking beautiful in these snowy conditions. Here in the Plant Centre we’ve cleared the snow and we’re ready to greet you so come and check out our further reduced sale items.
Our sale gifts, lighting and decorations are now 75% off and with many gorgeous plants offered at a massive 50% discount you can’t afford to miss it! I’m going to treat myself to a fabulous glass garden oil torch, reduced from £50 to £12.50.
We’re also clearing the snow for our Snowdrop Splendour weekend event on 30th and 31st January. Donald Palmer, who has been collecting snowdrops (Galanthus) for more than 20 years, will be giving talks about these delicate and dainty winter flowers at 11am and 2.30pm on both days. Here's Donald enthralling our audience last time he was with us..
We’ll have a fantastic theatre snowdrop display by the Lockyer family, Chelsea medal winners, and there will be over 80 varieties of snowdrop to buy, many rarely available. Here is a sneak preview of what we hope to have for you that weekend. Snowdrop list
And here is more about Wisley Plant Centre
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Last night we hosted our ‘Make Christmas Special’ Christmas launch evening, where we greeted more than 350 invited guests with glasses of wine and mince pies.
The place looked stunning, with many seasonal plants, decorations and novel gifts for sale. Our team created an inspirational display of Christmas front doors and gardens to demonstrate traditional, modern and cottage styles. They wouldn’t have looked out of place at Chelsea!
Our sought after prize draw for the evening went to Mary Humphreys who wins £100 to spend with us at a time of her choosing.
If you’re interested in coming to this event next year please email Tina at wisleyplantcentre@rhs.org.uk and she’ll put your name on the list.
More about Wisley Plant Centre
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. . . . it’s the time of year to plant your hedging. We have bundles of hedging plants which must be planted now, while they are dormant. They are field grown, lifted and bundled for your convenience, and they must be planted out immediately before they spring into life. Autumn is the best time as the soil is moist and it promotes root growth so your hedge gets off to a flying start.
This year we are proud to have in our range a mixed native bundle, ideal for making a natural looking hedge that is great for attracting wildlife.
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Are these the first words to spring to mind when you think of conifers? Yes! Because conifers are a wonderful way of adding colour, shape and style to your garden.
They’re easy to grow and visually stunning. Many change colour during the year so you can have fabulous splashes of orange, blue or purple in autumn or winter just when it's needed.
Come and see our large selection of conifers. Small, slow-growing, medium sized or giant, they are incredibly versatile – some are perfect for growing on patios and balconies, others are great for giving height to borders. The Cryptomeria japonica ‘Rasen-sugi’ rising out of my small fern bed gives an almost prehistoric look with its braided curls of twisted green foliage lit up against the strong, red bark of its narrow trunk. Or you can try a pair of formal Cupressus sempervirens either side of a door for an arresting, stately look.
If you’d like to see conifers in situ, visit the Pinetum, Rock Garden and Conifer Lawn at the RHS Garden, Wisley and then come in to us (through the gate in the Mixed Borders) and see what we can offer you. Alternatively, come through our main entrance, there’s no charge. And as National Conifer Week runs from 3-11 October, we’ll have lots of special stock to inspire you to garden with conifers.
Please click Wisley Plant Centre for more information about us.
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First, our congratulations go to Mr Musk, the winner of the raffle held on 29th July at our Scents of Summer open evening. Mr Musk wins £100 of RHS vouchers and we hope very much he will enjoy spending them with us!
And now - the autumn bulb planting season is upon us.
Don’t get confused by one particular autumn bulb. Colchicums are surprising and very clever. They come up already in flower, before the leaf shows, looking fantastic as they emerge from the ground. They’re excellent for naturalising in grass. Plant the bulbs now and they’ll flower this autumn.
The more conventional autumn planting bulbs that give a delightful spring show are with us in colossal variety. To get you started how about our Select Collection offer on a range of Crocus and Narcissi, any 4 packs for £10.00.
And, dare I say it, have you thought about pot planting Prepared Hyacinths for a fantastic table display at Christmas? We have them in blue, white or pink at 65p each or 5 for £2.50 and they need to be potted and in the dark in September. Please ask for one of our cultivation leaflets to ensure your chosen variety is flowering on the day!
To find out more about us please click Wisley Plant Centre
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What we need is busy lizzies to brighten our gardens! If you visit RHS Wisley this summer you can’t help but notice the two fabulous towers of colour on the terrace at the entrance into the gardens.
These plants look like New Guinea busy lizzies but in actual fact they are not! They are a new hybrid of Impatiens called Sunpatiens which are much more suitable for growing in our climate.
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We’re really looking forward to the RHS Berrylicious Weekend. We’ve plenty of delicious strawberry, blueberry and raspberry plants in stock. Some of the strawberries are in hanging baskets so can be hung up immediately. Nibble at those plants with fruit, then tend them for another crop.
My hanging strawberry basket is still prolific – it’s in its third year now – and I still get a buzz from growing my own and seeing them trail down the sides of the basket.
Blueberries are especially good in containers, particularly if you do not have acid soil (ask our staff how to test your soil).
Strawberry plants start at £1.49 with favourites such as ‘Hapil’ & ‘Cambridge Favourite’.
Hanging baskets from £6.99.
We even have alpine strawberries grown in our popular, biodegradable “hairy” pots from £1.69.
Blueberries start at £9.99 (for a 2 litre pot).
We have an early release new variety of Raspberry called ‘Autumn Treasure’ which is thornless. Plant now for fruit next year. £9.99 (for a 2 litre pot).
….and of course there is a daily selection of berries from the Garden on sale, but don’t delay as these always sell out quickly.
Click on Wisley Plant Centre for more information about us.
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Exciting News . . . At the Garden Retail Awards for the best people in the industry, our Wildlife Team have captured the Greatest Wild Bird Care & Wildlife Team Award for 2009. Here they are at the Awards Ceremony and showing off their truly well deserved plaque and certificate. Well done everyone. Next time you’re visiting Wisley Plant Centre, come in and look at our trophy.
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We are positively bursting with colour at the moment. This fabulous sunny weather is encouraging all the flowers to open. We have a superb selection of flowering roses, especially the gorgeous David Austin types with their large double blooms – just follow your nose, the scent is awesome.
We have a great range of Penstemons just coming into flower. Here are a couple of pictures of Penstemon Pensham Czar (blue) £7.99 in a 2 litre pot and Penstemon Amelia Jayne (red) £6.99 in a 2 litre pot, just to wet your appetite.
If you want bright colours then how about this fantastic Phygelius – it’s called Somerford Funfair Wine and is £7.99 (2 litre pot). There is a range of really hot colours in this series - coral, cream, orange and yellow.
We have so many lovely plants and our displays illustrate those that will grow well together. With the help of our knowledgeable and friendly staff (here’s Freddie) you can re-create what you see here in your own garden.
Please click on Wisley Plant Centre for more about us and let us know if you would like to join us for this Wednesday evening’s event, ‘The Scents of Summer’, at 7pm. We’ll greet you with a glass of wine.
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