I had spoken to Michael a few months ago about Snow Fiddler an MTB we are searching down for the collection and had been impressed with the monthly (?) emails about plants they have in season, offers and so on. On a trip to Beth Chatto‘s gardens in Colchester we decided to take a detour to Wenhaston – just west of Southwold on the Suffolk coast – to have a better look at the nursery.
It doesn’t look so big when you pull in following the small brown tourist route sign but in fact it is quite large, we guesstimated about 1-1.25 acres and it is PACKED with exciting plants. The iris were pretty thin on the ground but I gather he has a field of about 15,000 readying for next season. the hermerocalis benches were bulging with goodies and of course as they’re in flower how is it possible to resist such jewel-like blooms. I bought China Bride with a delicate pink petal and pale yellow throat. The backside of the nursery, mostly sunlovers – all sun lovers – was more of the same, bursting with all sorts of unnusual plants and varieties. I couldn’t resist a pale yellow Nepeta goviana a lemony smell with tall elegant stems wafting in the sunshine, then a Monada Fireball with is deep pinky red firework-like blossoms, Echinacea Vintage Wine apparently a favoruite of Piet Oudolf, a furry grey leaved Ballota pseudodictamunus looking for all it’s life like a miniature Phlomis russeliana. These were quickly followed with Paeonia Buck Eye Belle and Alstromeria Adonis. Heaven.
On paying all my plants were added to my email account – handy for when I lose the label – which is all but guaranteed – and then the receipt included a nice little info sheet on all the plants (genus level) I had bought. Very handy indeed.
I have no idea where these are all going to go as he garden is already chokker but the allotment is looking like a possible place….for the plants that come out of the garden to make room for these new candies.