Monkton Elm News, Events and Tips Blog

Andrew Pitman, our leading plantsman, talks about his favourite plant for February, the Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis Rosea’. 

Brighten your garden with easy colour in 2016, plant spring flowering bulbs. Now in stock.

Help insect pollinators this autumn by planning a late-flowering border. 

Pest watch During the warm, dry days of summer, pests like red spider mite, aphids and whitefly and diseases like mildew can really take hold and get out of control.

HOW THE POINSETTIA BECAME THE OFFICIAL CHRISTMAS PLANT This ever popular Christmas plant has an interesting history. A native of Mexico, it was introduced into the United States of America by Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first minister to Mexico, in the 1820's. In the wild it can reach 5 metres or more, and was once harvested as an important crop by the Aztecs during the 14th to 16th century, when its sap was collected and used to control fever, and the red bracts made a reddish dye.

Our choice plant of the month for November is the beautiful indoor Cyclamen persicum.

Conifers were very popular in the seventies where unfortunately it was almost overkill with conifers dominating many gardens, combining this with commonplace Leylandii monster hedges, they all got tarred with the same brush, “not suitable” or “old fashioned”.

Japanese Anemones – full of Eastern Promise The elegant Japanese Anemone ( Anemone hupehensis and A. x hybrida) always seems so delicate near the back of the herbaceous border, with pretty pink to white flowers held upon wiry stems. But this late bloomer is really as tough as old boots, making large clumps to enliven the Autumn gardens. Its strong stems need little if any support, often reaching over 1.5m high.

August can be a month to kick back and relax but if you want to get ahead for the new season then there are plenty of tasks that you could be doing. Here are a few tips from our horticultural experts.

Also known as the sweet scent of summer, this evergreen, exquisitely scented climber is a fantastic addition to any garden.

This month we are really busy starting work on our Taunton Flower Show display. The event is at Vivary Park in Taunton on Friday, August 1 and Saturday, August 2nd. Why not come along?

Our Plant Advisor, Will Michieli, recently attended the Chelsea Flower Show as part of his prize for being a ‘Westland Rising Star’. Will was named ‘Westland Rising Star’ in January in the Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) and Westland Horticulture’s Rising Stars programme. 

Drop in and see us this month if you’d like some free advice on how to create red, white and blue bedding plant baskets and tubs in time for the Commonwealth Games, Wimbledon, the World Cup or even to commemorate the 100 th anniversary of the start of WW1.

Darcey Bussell (Ausdecorum) June heralds the start of the main flowering period for Roses. Here at Monkton Elm we are proud to stock David Austin English Roses.

We have had our most successful year at the major flowers shows, gaining our 24th Gold Medal at Chelsea 2013 and a further 12 RHS Gold Medals. This year would see a major mile stone reached, if we could win our 25th Gold Medal at Chelsea this year.

This year we are pleased to be introducing three new English Roses for the 2014/15 season. Our new varieties are ‘Olivia Rose Austin’, a great all-rounder that combines beauty and fragrance with superb health and ‘The Lady of the Lake’, which is only the fourth repeat flowering rambler to be added to our English Rose collection. We are particularly excited about our third new rose, ‘The Poet’s Wife’, as it is the first yellow rose we have introduced for over 10 years.

Hillier Nurseries hope to secure a 69 th consecutive Chelsea Gold Medal with a garden exhibit recounting the story of Hillier: the plants, the people, the passion.  

The Choisya – The Mexican orange blossom family Why not fill your garden with the wonderful scent of a Choisya. They are tough, easy and reliable, a bit like our plant area staff! Choose from...   Choisya ‘Ternata’

You are welcome to attend a free talk held by our Plant Manager, Andrew Pitman on Tuesday 6th May as part of our monthly Gardeners’ Group .