There is nothing nicer on a sunny warm Saturday than visiting an excellent nursery especially when you are accompanied by a very knowledgeable plantsperson as I was with the company of Rob Stacewicz today. We decided on a whim about a week away when chatting on twitter to visit Cotswold Garden Flowers this weekend.
For those of you who don’t know the owner of this nursery, Bob Brown, has a huge reputation in the UK as a plantsman who introduces new plants and is incredibly knowledgeable. The nursery rarely disappoints and I particularly like the way you can see most of the plants growing in the stock beds. At the top of each bed is a list of the plants in it in order going away from you; as long as you can already identify one or two it isn’t that hard to work out which plant is which. Then there are 7 polytunnels to explore for plants to buy as well as outside sales area.
The other thing I like about the nursery are the quirky labels. If you look at the catalog on line or in print you will see Bob’s personal opinion on most plants and many of these are repeats on the labels. Things like ‘So whats not to like’ which do make you smile – and surprisingly buy the plant!!
I think I was quite restrained in my purchases. I could have spent loads but I know that firstly I couldn’t afford it and secondly I needed to have somewhere to plant the plants. Also as its only just under a pleasant hours drive from my house I can always go back for more! So what goodies crept into my car. Well a Crocosmia ‘Hellfire’ which is a dark red and much darker and richer than Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ – when it flowers I will post a picture. Also Saxifraga ‘Silver Velvet’, Geranium ‘Salome’, Allium sikkimense, and Pileostegia Viburnoides. I wouldn’t normally buy geraniums as I have so many already but the colouring of the flower (see below) just won me over.
We then went on to have a niceish lunch at the Fleece Inn before a visit to Hidcote Gardens which was also good. So a good day was had by both of us.