Plant Of The Week

Last week I spent most of my time in the Birmingham area. One of the biggest trade shows for Garden centre buyers is held this time every year at the NEC. Over 3 days you can see everything imaginable from seeds to log cabins & anything in-between! Look out for some of the products we found coming into the centres over the next few months.

I spent a fourth day visiting our new Garden Centre in Studley which is in the same neck of the woods. It’s a lovely area which I am looking forward to getting to know better over the next few months.

Our plant of the week this week is ‘Echinacea Tomato Soup’. Flowering in the late summer & early Autumn it is a recently introduced cultivar offering a really strong red colour to any sunny & well drained border. I think the flowers would look especially lovely dancing about with some medium height grasses (Try Pennisetum or Stipa varieties) as an airy backdrop. Yum!

Plant Of The Week

  

In the centres this week we’ve been refreshing our compost knowledge – There’s more to muck then you’d think! A lot goes on under the soil that we don’t see & using the right type for the plants you’ve chosen in pots or improving what you’ve got in the garden can make the difference between lush healthy plants or sad looking specimens that just refuse to grow. The next time you’re in one of our centres try quizzing one of our plant teams to see how your choice of compost could improve your plants performance.

My plant of the week this week is Belamcanda. Beautiful orchid like orange flowers speckled with crimson spots are a real talking point. Surprisingly easy to grow just give this member of the Iris family a well drained soil in a sunny spot to bake its rhizomatous roots in & enjoy. Available from our John Browns centre.