A great night at Chigwell Nurseries last night. At Hillier we are delighted to supply Chigwell (http://www.chigwellnursery.co.uk/) with shrubs and perennials – this nursery/garden centre is a traditional plant based business with a fantastic selection of hardy plants from small alpines and herbs, to giant specimens for instant impact. Veg and grow your own is well represented – even with the addition of chickens and bees in the near future.
Over 100 people came along to my talk about hardy plants to help kick off the gardening season. After a hard early winter I’m pleased to say that gardeners are looking forward to Spring and are raring to get going in the garden.
Jill, Pauline and the team had done a fantastic job setting up with super displays of lovely Hillier plants. They used similar colour themes to those I used at our Open Days for wholesale customers earlier this year; these tie in with the Chelsea theme: ‘Feel Good About Gardening’.
The majority’s favourite was a lovely silver and mauve blend of as
telia, heuchera, hellebore, syringa and eucalyptus. Astelia ‘Westland’ looked particularly good with Heuchera ‘Plum Pudding’ – I teamed those with some trendy silver-grey shiny pots. 
From the green and white theme Ribes ‘Elkington’s White’ was particularly popular. I am really pleased that this plant has been embraced by gardeners. It’s a good performer, easy to grow and a great mixed with easy, tolerant shrubs like choisya, variegated euonymus and Viburnum davidii. Plants that flower early on their bare stems are always a joy and a sign that winter is over and warmer, sunny days are on their way.
Last night was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to talk to people about Meadow anywhere – our wildflower, meadow grass mix in association with Habitataid. A £1 donation from the sale of each pack is split between Butterfly Conservation and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Lots of customers bought it, many with the intention of growing it in patio planters – and that’s the whole idea – you can have a meadow anywhere!
It was a great evening –I hope the customers enjoyed it as much as I did. That’s the great thing about gardening – we all get just as much out of talking about it as e do doing it. I came home with a lovely big tree heather which will have pride of place in my garden. Thanks to all at Chigwell – hope to visit again soon. Now I better get on with some more Chelsea planning....................
Over 100 people came along to my talk about hardy plants to help kick off the gardening season. After a hard early winter I’m pleased to say that gardeners are looking forward to Spring and are raring to get going in the garden.
Jill, Pauline and the team had done a fantastic job setting up with super displays of lovely Hillier plants. They used similar colour themes to those I used at our Open Days for wholesale customers earlier this year; these tie in with the Chelsea theme: ‘Feel Good About Gardening’.
The majority’s favourite was a lovely silver and mauve blend of as
telia, heuchera, hellebore, syringa and eucalyptus. Astelia ‘Westland’ looked particularly good with Heuchera ‘Plum Pudding’ – I teamed those with some trendy silver-grey shiny pots. 
From the green and white theme Ribes ‘Elkington’s White’ was particularly popular. I am really pleased that this plant has been embraced by gardeners. It’s a good performer, easy to grow and a great mixed with easy, tolerant shrubs like choisya, variegated euonymus and Viburnum davidii. Plants that flower early on their bare stems are always a joy and a sign that winter is over and warmer, sunny days are on their way.
Last night was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to talk to people about Meadow anywhere – our wildflower, meadow grass mix in association with Habitataid. A £1 donation from the sale of each pack is split between Butterfly Conservation and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Lots of customers bought it, many with the intention of growing it in patio planters – and that’s the whole idea – you can have a meadow anywhere!
It was a great evening –I hope the customers enjoyed it as much as I did. That’s the great thing about gardening – we all get just as much out of talking about it as e do doing it. I came home with a lovely big tree heather which will have pride of place in my garden. Thanks to all at Chigwell – hope to visit again soon. Now I better get on with some more Chelsea planning....................
