Posts by Emma Emmerson
Mini Green Grocery Launches at Woodside
We are delighted to launch our own mini green grocery at Woodside this weekend. This is set up in association with Down to Earth of Selkirk who will be supplying us with a range of seasonal vegetables and fruit. We are also harvesting here at Woodside – some of the produce will be made into soup in the tea room and some of it will be sold in the green grocery too.
Down to Earth is a high street green grocers based on Selkirk and supplying across the central Borders. Their aim is to sell vegetables and fruit grown locally, reducing the food miles, supporting local producers and ensuring you, the customer get fresh and tasty fruit and veg. Read more about them here.
This weekend’s highlights include tomatoes grown in the Borders, UK grown Cox’s apples, potatoes, mushrooms, leeks, parsnips, and plump green grapes from Italy, crisp Pink Lady apples from New Zealand, juicy easy peeler oranges from South Africa and much more.
We’re also beginning to stock a range of dried food products such as lentils, split peas, and broth mix. It’s so much nicer shopping for these items at Woodside, instead of battling round a supermarket, and I’m sure you’d all rather support a small local business rather than a big multi-national company, and you’ve the added bonus that you can buy fruit, veg, plants and cake all in the same shopping trip!
Autumn Planting
Mini cyclamen are now in stock and make a lovley splash of colour in your tubs and baskets. Autumn bedding plants are also available, choose from pansies, violas, myosotis and primulas.
Now is also a good time to start preparing for spring, with our range of spring bulbs and wallflowers.
For late garden colour the dwarf asters are just coming into flower and provide an excellent late nectar source for bees and butterflies. We still have some Phlox and Rudbeckia in flower for you to buy and plenty of plants and shrubs that have finished flowering but still have interesting foliage – plant them now for your summer borders next year. For winter interest why not choose the contorted willow, the twisted stems are very attractive in winter when they are most noticeable.
Keep Warm this winter
As the evnings are getting chillier and night longer you might have started lighting your fire (we have). We now have local logs and kindling for sale and will soon be stocking eco-friendly “coffee logs” made out of recycled coffee grinds.
Spring Bulbs have arrived!
It’s been busy in the plant shop with boxes and boxes of Spring Bulbs arriving. We are working to get them ready to sell this weekend. Varieties include daffodils, crocus, snowdrops, hyacinth, alliums, miniature iris, and much more.
Tips for planting spring bulbs
Now is the time to get spring flowering bulbs, planted either in the ground or into pots to give cheerful spring colour next year.
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- If planting in pots I’d recommend using specialist Bulb Fibre, supplied to us this year by bulb experts, Taylors Bulbs
- plant several different types of bulb in one pot to give a succession of flowering times and a variety of heights.
- Plant autumn/winter bedding plants over the top, such as pansies, violas, forget-me-nots or primroses to give an even brighter and longer display. Wallflowers should be ready in a couple of weeks, and we are taking orders for these just now.
Other New Stock
We’ve also got some new plants in stock just now, including:
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- a beautiful new Astrantia called Burgundy Manor, which is a lovely wine red colour;
- 4 different varieties of candelabra primulas which are huge plants and look set to produce masses of flowers early next summer;
- hardy ferns suitable for damp and shady spots in the garden, or for planting in tubs and pots
in a cool place. We have a good variety of leaf textures, heights and shapes of this interesting group of plants. - More statues and garden ornaments are due in from two different suppliers, following the success of last week’s delivery which sold very quickly.
- More wild bird food and feeders are also due in.
New Range of Ornamental Garden Pots
We are all looking forward to the release of the new seasons range of ornamental garden pots. The local rep for these is visiting next week with a brand new catalogue and I’ll be placing an order for immediate delivery. I’ll let you know when this comes in.
There is plenty to look forward to in the garden, and with all our plants being container grown, you can plant all year round as long as the ground conditions are suitable. Just now conditions are perfect, with plenty of sunshine to warm the soil and lots of rain to keep new plants well watered!
Best wishes to you all, and hope to see you over the next few days to enjoy our selection of bulbs – browsers in the shop are most welcome!
Autumn and Winter Bedding Plants
We now have the first batch of autumn and winter bedding plants for sale. Coose from Violas, Pansies, Myosotis (Forget-me-not) and Primroses which are ready to be planted out now in tubs, baskets and in beds to give colour over the next few months. If your summer bedding plants are all beginning to look tired then now is the time to replace them.
Underplant winter displays with Spring flowering bulbs for extra colour and interest.
Our packs of bedding plants are £3.45 each or 4 for £12 and you can mix and match varieties.
GET A FREE PACK OF BEDDING WITH A FULL LOYALTY CARD until 30th September 2020. Offer limited to 8 packs (8 full cards) per transaction.
House Plants for Sale
Following many requests from customers we now have house plants for sale here at Woodside.
We are now proud to stock plants grown by the award-winning Dibley’s Nursery, based in Wales, who specialise in Streptocarpus (Cape Primrose) plants, along with a range of other easy to grow but interesting house plants. They are regular exhibitors across the UK at RHS Flower shows (all of which are cancelled for the year), and have won an astonishing 26 Chelsea Flower Show GOLD medals.
Cape Primroses for sale
One of their most popular and spectacular Streptocarpus is “Polka Dot”, pictured above, and we are pleased to have these available along with a selection of other named varieties. Streptocarpus are fairly straight foward to grow, and can be addictive – once you start collecting you can’t stop – so be warned!
They do best on an east or west facing windowsill, which avoids the hot middle of the day sunshine, and should be watered sparingly being careful not to over-water. They readily produce plenty of showy flowers in a variety of colours, many with attractive markings.
Foliage Begonias
Dibley’s are also well known for their foliage Begonias, and we have a good selection of these available, as named varieties. These make excellent houseplants and have a wide range of different foliage shapes, patterns and colours to give all year round interest to your house-plant display.
We’ve also got Curly Spiderplants (Chlorophytum), and an unusual Tradescantia called Bridal Veil which is a trailing plant with masses of white flowers and curious leaves with purple undersides. Both of these are suitable for hanging pots as they have a lovely trailing habit. Finally, we also have Nematanthus in stock, which is an attractive evergreen houseplant, sometimes known as the Goldfish plant, although I have no idea why – perhaps one of you can enlighten me!
Trees now in stock
Our delivery of trees has arrived as planned with a good selection of fruit and ornamental trees now available. Looking particularly good are the Cotoneasters and Crab Apples (Malus) which are both full of fruits and berries. As our trees are all container grown you can plant all year round. I’d recommend planting in a good compost with added fertiliser and rootgrow. Taller trees will need staking and securing with a tree tie, and we can show you how to do this – just ask in the plant shop.
Apart from our excellent range of trees, we also have a good selection available of shrubs and herbaceous plants, including Pieris, Skimmias, Salvias, heucheras, Cotinus, grasses, and much more. New stock is still arriving each week, to keep our selection fresh and interesting, with a new batch of herbs arriving later this coming week.
Compost
After earlier problems with compost supplies, we now have good stocks of:
- Multi-purpose compost
- General Purpose Wool Compost
- Wool Compost for salads and vegetables
- Lakeland Gold Claybreaking compost.
All the wool composts are peat free and certified organic.
We are expecting a delivery this week of both Ericaceous Compost for all your acid loving plants such as Pieris, Skimmias and Rhododendrons and Farmyard Manure for improving vegetable gardens and to feed and mulch a wide variety of plants.
Face Coverings
As the use of face coverings now becomes more widespread we are pleased to be able to offer you a choice of attractive designs. So if you’re fed-up looking like you’re about to start surgery, or looking like a bandit, we now have a selection of “pretty” face coverings at just £4.99 each. Designs include rainbows, bees, flowers and birds, and our face coverings are available to purchase from both the tearoom and the plant shop.
We also stock re-useable face shields (the clear plastic visors) which have been made by the local “Men’s Shed”. These are in packs of 5 and are £15 per pack (£3 each), to cover costs, and the cash for these goes directly to the Men’s Shed to enable them to make more. So if you would like to get a pack and distribute them around friends and family, this is a handy way to do this.
Recommended Plants for this Weekend
We hope you are enjoying the summer and embracing the recent rain as the gardens did need it! We have plenty of plans for the rest of the year, including workshops, so please sign up to our newsletter if you haven’t already done so to find out more. In the meantime we are still getting more plants in to brighten up the summer and autumn. This weekend’s highlights are:
Penstemons available in 2 litre pots £8.49 each. Choose from Huskers Red, Heavenly Blue, Garnet, Purple Bedder, Sour Grapes and Snowstorm.
Patio Dahlias – ideal for brightening up tired looking planters and borders. They come in various colours – Pink, Orange, Red & White, Pink & White, Pink & Yellow or Yellow, and are in bud and flower and looking very colourful. These will now flower non-stop until the first frosts of the winter, so will keep going for ages yet.
Please feel free to enjoy the space here in the walled garden and perhaps have some refreshments from the tea room. The herbaceous beds are attracting a lot of butterflies, so lovely for a wander.
Next week we will have more herbaceous plants ready and hopefully more garden furniture in stock. And at the beginning of August we will have a new batch of fruit trees available.
More Outside Seating
It has been a pleasure to see you all enjoying sitting outside in the garden tucking into our scones, cakes and sandwiches. Even if it is raining you can still enjoy the refreshments as we have put two gazebos up to keep you dry. We’ve a new seating area near the wildlife pond which is nicely tucked away, so if the seats in the main garden are full it’s always worth checking this “secret” area for space! You are very welcome to bring your own outdoor seating if you prefer.
New Herbaceous Plants in Stock:
- Ajuga Black Scallop – dark purple leaved ground cover
- Coreopsis – bright daisy like flowers above pretty foliage
- Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker) Nancy’s Red or Tawny King
- Crocosmia (Montbretia) George Davison (yellow) or Walberton’s Miss Scarlet
- Papaver (Poppy) Patty’s Plum – a very popular pinkish purple form
- Sedum Red Sparkle or Herbstfreude – great later summer flowering plants for bees
- Aster (Michaelmas Daisy) Jenny or Marie Ballard – another good late summer plant loved by butterflies
- Salvia Love and Wishes – beautiful flowers and looking lovely just now
- Tiarella Sunset Ridge or Sprin Symphony – similar to Heucheras but more dainty and green leaved
- Hardy Geraniums – Bob’s Blunder, Rozanne, Buxton’s Variety or magnificum
- Monarda (Bergamot) Cambridge Scarlet or Scorpion.
- Nepeta faassenii (Catmint) – in flower now and attracting lots of bees
Ornamental Grasses in Stock
- Miscanthus Ferner Osten, Silberfeder, or Zebrinus
- Panicum Heavy Metal
- Stipa gigantea
- Imperata cylindrica Rubra (exceptional plants)
- Ophiopogon Nigrescens (not strictly a grass, this is actually in the lily family, but is generally known as the “Black Grass”)
Face Covering Reminder
Just a reminder that all visitors should wear face coverings when entering the plant shop, according to the new rules that came into force in Scotland on 10th July.
Some of you have also been asking about our toilets – yes, we have one toilet now available for customer use – please only use it if absolutely necessary in order to minimise any risks. We have plenty of hand sanitiser on site, both at the entrance gate, and at the tearoom, and sanitiser spray for trolley handles, shopping baskets and carry trays is also readily available. We have a supply of disposable gloves, so if you need any for your visit please feel free to use them. Bins are available outside the tearoom and at the entrance gate.
Woodside remains a very enjoyable place to visit, with a lovely friendly atmosphere, and we welcome browsers, so do come and pay us a visit. We’re also happy to accept cash ( in fact it’s much quicker for us at the tills due to a slow card machine connection), as well as card payments.
Guest Nursery Event
On Wednesday 1st July we will be hosting a plant stall from a guest nursery, Tinnisburn Plants between 11:00 and 17:00.
Tinnisburn Plants is an RHS Gold Medal winning nursery, specialising in truly hardy perennials; many of which are choice and unusual. Founder and owner, Helen Knowles, has a lifelong passion for plants and propagates plants for sale at her nursery set 600ft above sea level near Canonbie.
Helen usually sells her plants through plant shows throughout the UK, but of course they have all been cancelled this year, so I thought it would be good for her (and for Woodside customers) if she could bring her plants here for you all to see and hopefully buy. If it is a success she will be back again in another couple of weeks.
Looking forwards to seeing you soon.
Roses for sale
We have been really busy replenishing stock this week after record sales. We now have a good stock of roses for sale. We have dealt with the same rose suppliers for about 20 years now, both here at Woodside and at Floors Castle Garden Centre before that, and these are the best quality roses I’ve seen over those 20 years.
Roses for Sale
Here is a list of the varieties of roses for sale this week:
Bush Roses: Arthur Bell, English Miss, Fairy Rose, Peace, Shelia’s Perfume, Rhapsody in Blue, Sunny Sky, Sweet Honey, Timeless Cream, Timeless Pink.
Patio Roses, suitable for tubs and small spaces: Flirt, Flower Power, Little Sunset, Our Dream, Raspberry Royale, Silver Wishes, Sweet Dream,
Flower Carpet Roses, suitable for ground cover: Gold, Pink, Ruby, Sunset, White
Classic Shrub Roses: Dunham Massey, Festive Jewel, Frilly Cuff, Grosvenor House, Our Beth, Sandringham, Queen’s Jubilee, Jacques Cartier
Climbing Roses: Aloha, American Pillar, Compassion, Dublin Bay, Galway Bay, Lilac Bouquet, Paul’s Scarlet, Schoolgirl, Sparkling Scarlet, Starlight Express, Zepherine Drouhin
Bedding Plants:
The end of the bedding plant season is almost upon us now, however we still have fresh plants coming in, and this week we have:
Shades baskets kits in Blue, Pink or Hot colours – a carry pack of 6 themed mixed plants suitable for containers and baskets.
Begonia Starshine Appleblossom or Orange – beautiful trailing begonias for baskets or for filling a container. Long lasting flowering period, and performs well even in poor weather.
Calibrachoa and Petunia now available in 1 litre sized pots for quick impact
Tub and Basket Plants, such as Bacopa, Bidens, Salvia, Verbena all now ready in 1 litre sized pots
Osteospermum are available again with their lovely bright flowers, perfect for bedding out in the garden of for tubs.
Dahlia Bishop of York – a good bronze leaved form with rich yellow flowers, good for planting out in the garden and they’ll flower right through into autumn.
All bedding plants are available in limited numbers due to exceptionally high demand, so don’t leave it too long before you visit!
Shrubs:
We have restocked our shrub beds and have some gorgeous plants ready waiting for their new homes! Highlights this week are: Daphne Pink Fragrance, Hebe Champagne and Wiri Cloud, Rhamnus alternus argenteovariegata, Berberis Golden Rocket, Cistus procumbens, Cornus alba Elegantissima and Gouchaulti, Buddleia Buzz (compact) in Ivory, Candy Pink and Hot Raspberry, Olearia macrodonta Major (Daisy Bush) and we have Ceanothus back in stock again. We also have lots more varieties available, but these particularly caught my eye.
Herbaceous Plants:
Plenty available, but looking really good are: Chelone obliqua (Turtlehead), Eupatorium atropurpureaum, Anemone Honorine Jobert, and Anemone Wild Swan, and we have three varieties of Agapanthus – Headbourne Hybrids, Black Pantha and Midnight Star.
Herbs:
We are currently in the middle of the production “gap” that lockdown has induced, so varieties are limited – we have some lovely fresh sages, mints and golden marjoram available, but not much else just now. Hopefully production at UK nurseries will increase again, and we’ll be able to restock soon. I have however managed to source an outdoor grapevine, Merlot, so if you fancy growing your own wine you might want to give it a try!
Herbaceous Plants – this week’s highlights
There’s nothing to beat a wander around a plant centre and many of you are very excited at being able to visit – who knew that this would be so thrilling!!?
Now the weather has broken it is perfect planting weather and we’ve lots of treats for you this week – mainly in our herbaceous range of plants which we grow ourselves.
Herbaceous Plants available this week
We have a great selection of Eryngium (Sea Holly) which thrive in a sunny well drained spot. They flower for weeks from summer through to early autumn, and are a magnet for bees. As the name suggests, they do well in coastal gardens as they have good salt tolerance, as well as performing well elsewhere. Our varieties are: Jos Eijking (probably the very best blue), Blue Lagoon, planum (not as spiky as the others), Magical Blue Falls, Picos Blue and Picos Amethyst.
For dramatic spires of tall flowers we have two Lythrum (Loosestrife) varieties – the bright pink Feuerkerze and the delicate soft pink variety called Blush. Both are easy to grow and are tolerant of a wide range of conditions, but both perform best in a soil which doesn’t get too dry.
Herbaceous Potentillas are another group of plants that do well with us, and we have the following varieties available: Monarch’s Velvet, Monseuir Rouillard, Ron McBeath, atrosanguineum and Miss Wilmott. These all have a sprawling habit and are good for the middle or front of the border, and will soften edges around paths, paving and driveways.
I’m a big fan of Nepeta too – not just the usual catmint varieties, but the upright ones as well. These are also good for pollinating insects, and are very easy to grow, requiring no special care. Our varieties are: sibirica, subsessilis, Neptune, nervosa Blue Moon, and nervosa Pink Cat. The nervosa varieties are good for the middle of the border, whereas the taller sibirica and subsessilis would do well at the back.
Herbaceous Plants for the back of the border
If you need something really large for the back of a border maybe try Helianthus Lemon Queen. This is sometimes known as a perennial sunflower, and can make large clumps of growth around 6ft in height, topped by lovely lemon coloured flowers. Or why not try Veronicastrum virginicum Pink Glow for tall thin spires of flowers. We’ve also got Veronica First Lady, which I’ve not come across before, but is a pure white form. Both Veronica and Veronicastrum are great for bees – I’ve seen them practically drunk with nectar!
For later colour in the garden we have Echinacea magnus, Helenium Moerheim Beauty, Aster Barr’s Purple, (all really good for attracting butterflies) and we still have Penstemons available – Snowstorm, King George V, Heavenly Blue and Garnet.
For all year round colour you can’t beat Heucheras, with their lovely coloured foliage. We have three varieties ready just now – Marmalade, Chocolate Ruffles and Mahogany. These all do well in the garden, and also look great in pots.
Bedding Plants
We still have bedding plants available and received a fresh delivery yesterday of ready made up planters and hanging baskets, so if you haven’t got around to doing yours yet, here’s an easy solution for you! New in this week are New Guinea Impatiens in a variety of bright colours. These are gorgeous bedding plants and even just one plant can make quite an impact. They are just coming into flower now, and will keep going until the first frosts of the autumn. We’ve also got Geranium Attar or Roses which has charming pink flowers and deliciously scented foliage.
Grow Your Own Edibles
Although tomatoes and courgettes have long been sold out, we still have leeks, cucumbers, pepper and lettuce plants, as well as a selection of herbs and fruit bushes. There are also quite a lot of vegetable varieties you can still grow from seed, such as carrot, beetroot, lettuce, radish, kale, winter cabbage, broccoli and much more, so if you haven’t got going yet – don’t despair, there’s still plenty that you can grow. We also stock potted fruit trees which are available as normal trees, and also as wall trained trees. These are pot grown, so they can be planted all year round with now being a perfect time after that rain.
Pots and Containers
We have a good range of pots currently available including the popular Errington Reay range, glazed pots, alpine troughs and planters of all shapes and sizes.
From 6th June we will be back to our normal opening times of 10:00 to 17:00 in the plant centre. Our first week of re-opening was good and busy, and the extended opening times worked well, but now we are back into our usual routine again. Customers are all being very sensible and are observing the rules that we have in place to keep both staff and visitors safe, and your co-operation with this is much appreciated. Woodside remains a lovely friendly place to shop, and with it’s own relaxing atmosphere it’s the perfect place to forget bigger worries – at least for a while.