Athelas Plants Blog

Wealden times summer fair, rolvenden

Nigel — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:29:48 +0000

All set up at the WealdenTimes summer Fair. The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful warm sunny day. The stand is looking very good with our display of plants, topiary and pots. The crowds are building and already we have run out of polygala myrtifolia and hibiscus, people love bright colours.

Indoor plants

Nigel — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:54:14 +0000

We now have a great selection of indoor plants, from beautiful large yuccas and palms to small hibiscus and lantanas. All indoor plants are very easy to maintain they just need a light and airy spot and sit back and admire them.

Polygala Myrtifolia

Nigel — Mon, 27 May 2013 19:49:52 +0000

Polygala Myrtifolia is a stunning evergreen shrub which originates from South Africa. It has lovely purple Sweet pea shaped flowers (hence the name). It will flower for most of the year and needs to be planted in a sunny free draining spot. It is ideal for a pot so it can be bought closer to the house in winter. It is very easy to maintain, it requires very little water and feed.

Trachelespurnum Jasminoides

Nigel — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:45:55 +0000

Star Jasmines now in flower and looking and smelling fantastic. A truly great evergreen hardy climber. These Jasmines look great all year round, they have lovely green leaves and small star shaped very perfumed flowers in the summer and reddish coloured coloured leaves in autumn/winter. They look great growing up a trellis/fence, or anywhere you want to hide something ugly. They do prefer a sunny well drained spot but will take a bit of shade. Plant somewhere you walk past often so you can appreciate the beautiful smell.

Topiary

Nigel — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:15:33 +0000

After popular demand, fresh in, beautiful topiary, a must in any formal garden. They look especially good in pots. We have a wide selection in the nursery, spirals, standards, half standards, balls, pyramids, and cloud trees, if we have not got what you want, we can get it for you. It is all imported from Italy, the masters of topiary. It is all very hardy and easy to maintain, some say it is very therapeutic and satisfying to trim.

Bougainvillea Alexandria

Nigel — Sat, 18 May 2013 20:02:21 +0000

Arrived safely in the nursery today after loads of requests, the beautiful Bougainvillea Alexandria. A must for any garden or conservatory. They flower profusely right up until the end of summer. We have them in a number of striking colours, it will transform your garden. They are really easy to look after and can be grown in a pot or planted straight into the garden, they need very little water and feed. Although they are not hardy, you can bring them in to a conservatory for the winter and if kept at room temperature, they will continue to flower for most of the year.

Colocasia, must sikkemenses, hedychium.

Nigel — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:45:11 +0000

Colocasia tubers and hedychium and musa sikkemenses seeds have finally arrived from India and are now planted, hoping colocasias, (taro plants or elephant ears) will be ready to go on sale in a few weeks, a little longer for the other two, unless the weather improves. These are great jungle plants and can be planted in the ground or in pots, they will all die back in the winter unless you bring them inside, and will start to appear each spring once the ground warms up, just cover in mulch in autumn after cutting them back. All jungle plants want to stay dry in winter months but soon as they start to appear in spring give them plenty of water and feed and sit back and watch them grow.

Grevillea

Nigel — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:07:32 +0000

If you want a bit of colour to your garden, why not try out our Grevilleas, there looking great at the moment, there full of flowers and will continue to flower right to the end of the summer, a great plant if your looking for something really unusual. Most Grevilleas are half hardy, all they need is to be planted in a really dry area with plenty of sun, they will need a bit of protection in the winter. They are great in pots or any border and the bees love them. Grevillea Johnsonii is particularly looking good at the moment.

Dicksonia Antarctica

Nigel — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:13:25 +0000

Tree ferns have finally arrived at the nursery and they are just about to burst into life, all they need now is plenty of water and some warm days. Tree ferns are very much shade lovers and anyone who wants big lush plants have to have one of these in there garden. They are probably the most stunning plant and are only one of a very few plants which date back to the dinosaur era. These plants can be grown in any garden in any soil and as most of the roots are inside the trunk you should water them from the top into the trunk. In winter, just stick some fleece in top centre of trunk, don’t cut off the fronds and wrap the trunk as there is no need, the fronds will stay lush and green all through winter if they are sheltered from strong winds. In the growing season feed with tree fern feed (which you can buy from us) every two weeks and keep well moist and you will truly have a beautiful plant.

Cannas

Nigel — Sun, 05 May 2013 21:22:05 +0000

Beautiful Cannas, a must for every jungle/exotic garden. Easy to look after, just give them plenty of water and feed once they start reappearing after the winter months. They have fantastic flowers and beautiful lush green/red leaves. We have 3 different types in the nursery, Black Knight, Cleopatra and Australus, starting to shoot up now weather is warming up and days are getting longer, they need plenty of sunlight.