Happy New Year

A happy new year to everyone who comes across this page. And two days in to 2012, what a variety of weather we’ve had so far. Yesterday torrential rain, such that Rob despaired of doing anything and opted for a drive along flooded roads to deliver an order. And today one of those lovely winter days, just a hint of chill and wall to wall sunshine. Who knows what lies ahead for the rest of the winter?

The arrival of a new year provides a good opportunity to look back over the old one, and we have just been reviewing the stats on the Paddock Plants website in 2011. 27500 visits in the last twelve months is pretty impressive, well over 2000 a month on average. We feel flattered that there is so much interest out there! It’s interesting to see how people found our site: Google certainly has the edge over Bing in terms of search engines, by a factor of 8:1.

The most searched-for plant was, interestingly, the grass Pennisetum Fireworks, and by some margin over the nearest contender, Echium Russicum. The latter did, however, feature in quite a few other sets of search terms. The remaining plants in the search top five were Eucomis Sparkling Burgundy, Eryngium Jade Frost and Beschorneria Septentionalis. There were some unusual search terms: how “Plant encyclopaedia”+”well-drained” managed to find us, we can’t quite work out, and much the same goes for ‘three feet or more plants’.

But, however you found us, we’re really glad you did, and we hope you will come back and visit us again in 2012!

Crocosmias for Christmas?

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

Yes, it has been a bit more like winter the past few days and nights, but we haven’t really suffered very much as yet, it has to be said. Still, it was a bit of a surprise to find a group of Crocosmia Emily McKenzie looking very floriferous for the time of year. Elsewhere a Stokesia Blue Star was also looking rather pleased with itself.

On another note, we have started giving the website its winter overhaul, deleting those items that we won’t be growing next season and then uploading details of all those new plants that we will be growing. And perhaps we will get round to keeping our promise, made in September, of featuring at least some of them here!

Rob & Joanna – December 2011

Catalogue Listing 2012

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

Well, it’s that time of year again when we feel pretty much confident enough to make a declaration of intent for the next season. Having to tell the RHS Plant Finder by the end of December what will be on offer certainly helps focus the mind on such matters.

64 new plants find their way on to the list. [Oops! It's actually 65, as we left Deschampsia Northern Lights off the list!] This number is admittedly offset by plants being taken off it, but it’s still pretty exciting to think of all those new additions, some of them quite rare or unusual. Over the winter we will try to feature some of them on these pages. Anyway, here’s the list …..

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Rob & Joanna – December 2011

Two Tasters for 2012

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

That’s a rather alliterative title which serves simply to introduce a post about two new plants we are offering in 2012. That’s the joy of this part of the year, through autumn and winter, anticipating all sorts of excitements in the following season!

Well, the first excitement is a  relative newcomer among the Brunnera family, namely Emerald Mist. Now, that’s a nice name for starters, but the reality is even nicer. The heart-shaped leaves are barred with silver in such a way as to create a collar effect around the outside margins, with a lighter dusting of silver over the whole extent of the leaf. We love the Jack Frosts and Looking Glasses we have cultivated over last few seasons, but Emerald Mist does promise to be pretty special.

Next up is a beautiful new grass in the form of Hakenochloa Macra All Gold. Like the Nicholas we used to do, this is a mound forming grass with a graceful arching habit, but on this one the foliage is, err, all gold. The name does rather give it away! It will need sun to look its best, tending to go more chartreuse in the shade.

More news of new plants for 2012 in the coming weeks …..

Rob & Joanna – September 2011

Not going out

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

Well, that’s it for 2011. No more going out on the road for this year. We did our last Shootash and Bursledon 3 weeks ago, then 2 weeks ago on the August bank holiday we resided for three days in the splendid surroundings of Kingston Lacy. A bit windy for our liking (and the plants, which get a bit blown about) and with some squally rain, especially on the Saturday, which dampened our spirits a little but not too much. Much rain beforehand made the entrance really boggy – we passed up on being towed and just parked up & carried stuff on site. Muscles well developed as a result.

Then last weekend we travelled just up road really to Hamptworth Lodge, which was staging a plant fair for the first time, in conjunction with an open garden day. Not a huge affair, as the photo (left) shows, but a good selection of nurseries and some really nice people who didn’t just look at our plants and say nice things about them, but actually bought lots of plants. As a consequence we had our best single day since June, which made up for getting absolutely soaked when setting up in a downpour!

Despite it being pretty local, we had never been to Hamptworth estate before, the nearest being the golf club up the road to which we delivered some plants a couple of years ago. All we can say, it is certainly worth a visit – see the website for details.

And now we can settle back for the close season, with no more early mornings, to plan for a wonderful 2012.

Rob & Joanna – September 2011

And as usual, something different

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

Not as contradictory as it sounds, as we do like our oddities as a matter of course. Recent potting on has included a couple of nice ones that you won’t find on offer too often. First up, Pollia Japonica, a native of eastern Asia – and, as you might guess, Japan for this species. It’s a perennial that gets up to 3 feet max, with whorls of pointed leaves that boast a shininess that makes you question whether they are real. In late summer it pokes up stalks bearing white flowers that are followed by blue berries. As a woodland dweller, it likes a bit of shade and will clump up nicely if you plant it in the right spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there is Sphaeralcea Childerley. Sphaeralceas are relatively small, upright, evergreen or semi-evergreen shrubs that just cover themselves in mallow-like flowers seemingly right through the season. They need a sunny, sheltered position, but – given that and well drained soil – they are hardy enough. We have grown the splendidly vibrant variety Newleaze Coral for the past few years, but have just potted up a batch of a different variety, Childerley, for next season. This one has flowers in a rather distinctive and distinguished orangey apricot shade. So keen is it to flower that we found ouselves having to cut off flowers from the rooted cuttings we were planting up! Let’s hope it is just as impetuous when it’s ready to go next spring or summer.

Rob & Joanna – August 2011

Who knows where the time goes?

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

….. as the wonderful Sandy Denny used to sing. It’s been a very long time since the last update, and that was before the season had really got underway. So much has happened since then and we have been very busy, with a very successful show season and lots of orders coming in on the website. The best single day shows were, predictably, Bishop’s Waltham (dry this year!) and the Solent Fayre (not so dry!) but we had some great days elsewhere, and we are grateful to all those people who came and talked to us or even bought some plants.

The first show, three days over the Easter weekend, saw the demise of our long-serving gazebo due to the gusty breezes, so we treated ourselves to a lovely new sturdy (but very expensive!) model which can be glimpsed in the photo above, taken on another very breezy day at the Solent Gardeners’ Fayre in Eastleigh.

Most of the plant fairs happen in May and June. We did the Ellingham Show in mid August last year, but Rob’s determination to delay writing out a cheque for a pitch reservation as long as possible led to our missing out this year. Well, he is half Scottish ….. So just three days at the end of August at Kingston Lacy left on the calendar, although you might find us at Shootash on the odd Saturday, and Bursledon on the odd Sunday.

Rob & Joanna – July 2011

Looking good in early April

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

The spring has certainly been a kind one in recent weeks, with very little in the way of frost and quite a bit of sunshine. The gentle start to the season has meant that some plants have rather got ahead of themselves! The dicentras, for instance, which might be expected to be on top form in, say, early May have been going full throttle since early March. The geums such as Leonard’s variety and Flames of Passion are simply covered in buds just about to break. We even spotted buds at the base of the Echium Russicum, which is way beyond schedule.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also looking good, and for some time now, have been the delightful but rare Primula Maximowiczii, pictured above along with some Dicentra Spectabilis. But there is still so much to do on the potting up front, and we will be busy with that for the coming week or two, panicking about the start of the show season at the end of the month. And, just to keep us even busier, the orders are coming through thick and fast on the website, even though there is still a lot to be added to the listings once things become ready. Thanks to everybody who has already ordered, and we look forward to hearing from others as the season progresses.

Rob & Joanna – April 2011

Emerging into Spring?

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

Well, the last post had us in the depths of winter, but latish February is a rather nicer place to be. A bit damp, maybe, but not too cold and with the hope of better things to come. That’s not to say we can’t get a bit more frost and ice before we reach the balmier shores of May, but by this time of year there’s no harm in a bit of optimism.

February is a month for potting things on and this year we have been able to do some of that, unlike last year when it was just too freezing cold (!) and things got about 6 or 8 weeks behind. We always enjoy this part of the cycle, as the emerging life in the plants reminds us of all that there is to look forward to.

Among all the nice plants that we have been potting on recently, the Euphorbia x Martinii Ascot Rainbow (bit of a mouthful, that!) have caught our eye as looking rather lovely even at this stage of their growth, with their combination of cream, green and blue along with some red and pink shades at the growth points. We have a feeling they won’t linger long once put on display when they are bigger and bushier!

Rob and Joanna – February 2011

In the depths of winter

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ferns, grasses, hampshire, nursery, paddock plants, perennials, shrubs, southampton

Well, we really have had an early start to the winter cold this year, so not much has been happening. But it’s amazing how resilient plants can be. Despite two heavy snowfalls and weeks of frozen soil, these Lobelia Butterfly Blue have been trying very hard to retain a hint of blue (despite their herbaceous nature!). This photo was taken on December 29th through the mist.

But things have eased up a bit temperature-wise, so Rob intends to take advantage of the window of opportunity to pot up some of the bare root stock that has been languishing in big containers for the past few weeks. Be nice if the drizzle stopped, though …..

Rob and Joanna – December 2010