Plant Centre
Throughout the heat of summer the very best place to be is The Alnwick Garden. Why not also have a browse through our own plant centre. With plenty of character the plant centre is sited under the cool shade of trees close to The Garden (entrance is through The Garden shop and to the left). Here as well as the gentle birdsong you can find a good selection of stunning plants for your own garden.
You don’t need a garden ticket and may find the perfect plant to brighten up your garden for any time of the year. From unusual shrubs, alpines and bulbs, and woodland and herbaceous perennials the plants will provide a real taste of The Alnwick Garden which you can take home with you.
You can purchase many of the plants knowing they have been specially selected from The Garden’s own stock and propagated by the gardening team. Others have been bought in from specialised nurseries such as Kevock Garden Nursery and David Austin Roses in Shropshire, or from family managed nurseries where quality and individuality are the most important assets.
You can find a vast selection of over 90 varieties of roses also found in The Alnwick Garden rose garden. Of course there is own famous Alnwick Rose as well as other David Austin Fragrant English Roses, but there are also a selection of climbers, shrubs, patio and old roses. A recent contribution to The Plant Centre includes the very beautiful standard roses; a large but handsome addition to any formal garden.
Other plants include a range of Clematis reflecting the varieties flowering within The Garden. This includes several cultivars of Clematis montana as well as the large flowering hybrids such as Clematis ‘Marie Boisselot’. Other climbers we will be obtaining will be the bold Passiflora caerulea ‘White Lightning’ (Passionflower) and the deliciously perfumed Jasminium officionale (White Jasmine); the latter plant carrying the full intensity of summer within its scented blossoms.
Over the next few months you can expect to find a large range of more unusual plants in The Plant Centre. These include the much understated Astrantia ‘Roma’, the stately Cimicifuga ‘Brunette’ (also known as Actaea ‘Brunette’) and the Kirengeshoma palmate (an Alnwick Garden favourite). More immediately we have a range of the Blue Himalayan Poppies which are also flowering in The Garden. Mecanopsis nepaulensis and Mecanopsis betonicifolia are well known but we also sell some Mecanopsis you may previously not have heard of. You can also expect to be delighted with the range of Primulas. Primula vialii, the drumstick primrose, is a classic, while Primula pulverulenta and several other Primula japonica species are also available. By working closely with the specialist family owned nursery Kevock Garden Plants we have aimed to select a range of quality plants which are fully deserving of their high acclaim.
In addition to this the taste of the garden may well inspire you with some of the bold striking plants that we have propagated ourselves from within The Garden. Plants such as Lobelia ‘Queen Victoria’ and Anemone japonica ‘Honorine Jobert’ deserve a place in any garden while the wide variety of Geraniums available entice of the rusticity of traditional cottage garden planting. There are plants available for shade and sun, good and poorer soils while advice is of course on hand by members of The Garden team. Personal favourites of the gardening team include Papaver orientale ‘Juliana’, Verbena bonariensis, Echinacea purpurea and Geranium phaeum ‘Samobor’.
So if the delicate birdsong doesn’t soothe the soul you can be sure that the selection of plants may well entice you into the wonderful world of living creativity inspired by The Alnwick Garden.
