Plant Haul from Urban Jungle

In our post yesterday we featured our visit to Urban Jungle last Saturday. As with any nursery visit, it was inevitable that we brought a few goodies home with us.

First, the pots. For the first time ever we brought home more pots than plants! I'm pot crazy at the moment and they have a wonderful selection there of pots with interesting texture and patterns. Here's just a few of them....

Now on to the plants. First of the lot is plain green Aloe arborescens as I didn't have one prior to this. The only one I had before was its variegated version.

Then a Ficus carica 'Ice Crystal'. Now this fig we have already growing in front of the jungle hut for many years now but the beautiful leaves were calling out to us so just had to get another one.

Next is the Chinese Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus henryana. A climber that we had before but lost during the garden fire a couple of years ago. The leaves remind me of Impatiens omeiana or a climbing version of it.

A hydrangea with large and purple coloured leaves, Hydrangea aspera 'Hot Chocolate'.

But my favourite of the lot is this variegated fern. It's not usual to see variegated ferns, (one of which is Arachnoides simplicior) beyond the Japanese painted types so when I spotted this I just had to bring home two. The lovely Coniogramme japonica 'Flavomaculata'.

Nice fern isn't it?

Mark :-)

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Urban Jungle

Last weekend Mark and I along with our friend Don, paid a visit to Urban Jungle over near Norwich in Norfolk. Although a couple of hours away we tend to visit every summer and usually make an occasion of it. We tied this trip in with an over night stay at the coast and then a trip to Will Giles Exotic Garden in Norwich, but more of the garden visit soon.

Urban Jungle has a great selection of the exotic and tender plants as well as hardy unusual trees, shrubs and perennials. After the poor winter in 2010 we added a number of hardier plants from Urban Jungle to our garden and I suspect many other exotic gardeners also had the same plans.

One of the thoughts that always crosses our mind when we visit is just how clean and tidy everything is at Urban Jungle, not just the plants, but the pathways, beds and display areas. Somebody puts a lot of effort into making sure the nursery is just perfect every time.

In amongst the plants are lots of places to sit, relax or take a cup of coffee (and cake, as they now do the most fabulous cakes!)

  A tranquil place to relax, and not a leaf out of place.

Ficus Carica 'Ice Crystal' - we already have this in out garden but this was too good a plant not to take home.

I did mention the cakes, right? well it would be rude not to enjoy a drink and cake sat in the greenhouse with all the exotics around us.

A great selection of yucca, palms and agaves. I suspect the canna may be an interloper.

Within the large greenhouse is also a koi pond, crystal clear water and healthy looking fish. We spent quite a while just watching the fish.

So what did we buy.... well you may have to wait and see, but the fig above does now have a new home!

Gaz :)

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Went Out For a Pot, Came Home With a Plant

Just typical isn't it? Especially if you're a plant lover and spot a bargain!

So today we went out in search of several tall glazed pots to go on the top patio. Not finding any suitable ones at a couple of garden centres near us we went further ahead to Savin Nurseries to see what they have at the moment.

Now this nursery we enjoy visiting regularly for their reasonably priced plants and ability to spring surprises, to suddenly have some rarities for sale with great prices too. And it proved to be just like that again on today's visit.

We may have been looking primarily for pots this time but since we were there we might as well peruse the plant polytunnels. And whilst browsing we spotted them by the corner. There they were, a group of large Agaves with prices that are very reasonable.

It's still quite rare to see large agaves for sale here so to see them there of all places was an extra treat and a surprise! Which ones should we go for when they are all very nice?

There were some minor flaws on all of them due to being transported to the nursery from continental Europe but overall they were in great condition. We didn't have the camera with us so only took photos using my phone.

I recognised the agaves as follows: A. ovatifolia, A. potatorum, A. tequilana, A. desmettiana 'Variegata', A. mitis, and A. geminiflora. One of them I couldn't recognise so perhaps anyone out there would hazard a guess?

The ovatifolia was very blue, almost white and was beautiful! Had to leave it behind though as it was heavy and had nowhere else to put one at that size. The potatorum was great too and just as beautiful but being a more tender agave it will need shifting under cover in the winter and at such a size would be a difficult thing to do. But there were two geminiflora there and one of them I was instantly smitten with...

Can you see the 20p coin for scale? Agave ovatifolia

And was the one I went for and took home with me. It is big but the leaves are pliable and would be much easier to shift in the winter. The way it was trimmed for transport and sale it looks more like a Dasylirion at the moment, which is nice in its own right too.

Agave geminiflora

So did we buy any pot? Nope, they didn't have what we were looking for either. But that agave more than made up for the effort of going there. Come to think of it I don't think we need but those pots now. All worked out well in the end!

Mark :-)

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Beeches Nursery Day!

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!

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Fling 2014: Cistus Nursery

Before we went to Portland we already knew of the reputation of Cistus nursery, so getting to visit whist on the Fling was something we were particularly looking forward to. Cistus is a dream location for anyone interested in the usual, the unique and interesting with plants from all over the globe, such as these fabulous field grown yuccas.

Mark and I were fortunate to visit the nursery a couple of extra times whilst in Portland, so many of the photos in the post were taken when the nursery was quieter rather than packed with a coach load of fellow bloggers.

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The Wonderful Urban Jungle

On our post yesterday I mentioned that we had a weekend away in Norfolk in which we managed to visit a nursery and a couple of gardens. We were actually intending to visit a couple more to that didn't managed to as it quickly dawned on us that the time we allocated to see them all was simply not enough, hence only managed to see three places (plus the seaside town where we all stayed overnight).

Of the three places we visited our first stop was Urban Jungle, a nursery specialising in the rare and unusual as well as plants that can help give a garden an exotic feel. If you like exotic (and not so exotic) plants this a nursery that is a must to visit. They have a wide selection of plants available, from the staples to the more unusual ones, lush and leafy to the spiky, backbones to the bedding plants, and more importantly lots of plant options that are winter hardy for most parts of the UK.

Now let's take a look, first from the outside as we walk out from the parking area...

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Cotswold Garden Flowers

A couple of weekends ago we paid Cotswold Garden Flowers a visit to see what treasures they have for sale in their nursery. It is owned by well known plantsman Bob Brown and although the nursery itself is leaning more towards cottage style of gardening they have an extensive catalogue of plants which includes many new, rare and unusual ones, most coming from exotic locations. Fortunately the nursery owner is an extensive collector of plants, enterprising, and always on the lookout for the newly sourced and introduced hence a nursery that has a treasure trove of botanical gems.

The stocks and what's on offer in this nursery are ever changing and you're bound to find something new each time you visit. If only it was much nearer to us! We try to visit at least once a year and catch them in some of the plant fairs they attend. Our visit was certainly rewarded and we saw so many gorgeous plants

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From Australia With Love

And here they are, from Australia with love!

Tree ferns from Down Under! Seagrave Nurseries

Finally more tree ferns, Dicksonia antarctica have arrived to satisfy the ever increasing and persistent demand for them here in the UK.

There seemed to be a shortage of them this spring, because of some rule changes that bought about delays in their arrival. I haven't really explored yet what these rule changes were that caused the delays but it seemed to be about the way they are shipped here. Along the lines of less frequent shipment but in bigger batches. I'm not sure if this will cause any long term shortage as such as in theory it should even out but with the delay it certainly felt like it.

Several sizes were available, in this photo you'll see sizes from two to six feet

Eight feet ones

Especially as we're extra conscious about the supply this spring as we're after several as part of the replanting and makeover of our jungle area was affected by fire last year. We were hoping to get tree ferns last Easter Bank holiday as usually by that time most exotic nurseries here have them already in stock. Very few had any then. And we continued ringing nurseries around but they had very little to nothing in stock. It didn't help that we were after particular sizes either.

Pre-ordered tree ferns ready for delivery

All of them did mention about shipping problems, that there were delays. Nothing to do then but wait.

And finally they have arrived. First ones to receive their order was the Palm Centre. A week or so later was Seagrave Nursery. Actually their shipment only arrived yesterday and we paid them a visit today.

The sight of all those trunked Dicksonia antarctica stacked and grouped together were mesmerizing! We were both like children in a sweet shop, albeit the sweets were mostly just one kind but came in different sizes.

Gaz making a choice and checking out the height

Decisions, decisions!

Wrapped up and ready to go home with us

We made our choices and arranged for delivery. Two did come home with us and are currently soaking in water to hydrate them and get them primed for planting.

Thoroughly hosed with the base in a bag full of water

Another one left to soak for several hours

Where the tree ferns will go

Tree ferns will be the main planting and provide structure to the jungle area/fernery and with their arrival we can finally move on and truly sort out this section. It will be heavy work but I'm excited and can't wait to get them planted!

Mark :-)

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Beeches in the Spring

Every spring, almost like a tradition we head down to Beeches Nursery to check their beautiful plants on offer. And year in and year  out they never disappoint.

This sign of theirs along the pathway towards the entrance made me grin from ear to ear. Any gardener of precious plants would understand!

A glimpse of their display planting by the entrance

On our previous features (2011 and 2012, I didn't manage to blog about our 2013 visit) we have mentioned how pristine and well presented this nursery and I'm glad to say it has remained as such. The plants are grouped together by type and alphabetically arranged for ease of browsing.

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Rare For You, Not For Me

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you'd hear a fellow plant lover remark that a plant is so rare and elusive to him, and yet you actually know where to find it,  not just from one place but several??

Podophyllum delavayi - A Sunny Day at Hardy Exotics

For anyone who has followed our blog for quite some time would have noticed by now that we do love plant shopping and visiting nurseries. In fact we thrive on this activity as much as developing our own garden! Well one can surmise that part of developing ones garden is going out there looking for new plants. And this activity is even more appealing if you love plants, love collecting them, and find the prospect of seeing new plants very exciting...just like we do!

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