Our well bred Erythroniums – full of grace, poise and charm.
Last year we were delighted to introduce three new members of the Harvington Erythronium family, namely ‘Harvington Lilli’, ‘Harvington Elizabeth’ and ‘Harvington Imogen’ .
‘Gardens Illustrated’ , as part of their 30th anniversary edition published in 2023, wrote a wonderful piece about our Harvington Erythronium breeding programme here at Twelve Nunns. Started by Hugh and Liz Nunn from a nursery based in the village of Harvington during the mid 1980’s, the article explained how this programme ‘spans two generations and has taken more than 20 years of careful, meticulous selection to create a three new Harvington erythroniums. And now that Harvington trio is finally ready to meet the world.’
But why breed Erythroniums?
‘They’ve got everything: grace, poise and charm.’ That, and their rarity value, makes them compelling to grow,” says Penny. And just like that, the compulsion to create something wonderful is inherited from one generation to the next.’ (Alys Fowler, Gardens Illustrated April 2023).
Erythronium are quite simply stunning! Flowering from early March, their upturned petals reveal delicate markings and brightly contrasting stamen atop of slim stems, each stem producing three flowers, contrasting well with their mottled foliage.
But don’t be deceived, these are easy to grow, as long as they are positioned in a cool, dapple-shaded area with protection from strong winds.
Erythronium will clump up beautifully for you with a little care. Once Erythronium bulbs are planted in groups in your garden they will provide colour next Spring. In time, if the soil around the flowering bulbs is left undisturbed, they will set seed and begin to naturalise.
We are delighted to be able to offer you a chance to experience these magnificent erythronium yourselves. Along with our Harvington Erythroniums, including our three new family members, we also have the rarely available Erythronium hendersonii and Erythronium howellii, but only whilst stocks last.
For those of you who would like to make a more eye catching display, we have some great offers on E.White Beauty, E.Old Aberdeen and E.Harvington Sunshine.
We send all our Erythronium as dormant, freshly lifted, flowering size bulbs from July through to September ready for potting up or planting directly into the garden. Each flowering size bulb has been carefully grown for at least 4 years.
We know you love them as much as we do!