Delighted to open this weeks Country Life and see a selection of our home bred and grown Harvington Hellebores® on pages 54-57. Clive Nichols kindly came and photographed our plants last year and captured them at their best – who wouldn’t want these in their garden? Two decades of breeding really has resulted in fantastic flower colours for your winter border. All plants shown in the article are available on our website – if you have any queries phone us 01778 590455 or email penny@twelvenunns.co.uk
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 Magazine April 2023
‘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.
There is a wonderful article written by Val Bourne in ‘The English Garden’ magazine (April 2024) focussing on our Harvington hellebores. Supported by fabulous photographs of some of our varieties, beautifully captured by Annaick Guitteny, the piece outlines the story of Harvington hellebores, and includes a section on how to care for them.
Roscoea produce stunning flowers and are robust and easy to grow. Our range includes a great selection of colours, and with differing flowering times, can create a stunning display from May right through August.
We are constantly reviewing what we can do to improve Twelve Nunns Green Credentials, working to help save our environment as well as your pennies! We are proud of what we have achieved so far.
Packaging – those of you whom have bought from us before will be aware that the packaging we use is all recyclable – right down to the the gummed, compostable paper tape we use to seal our boxes (no need to strip off any vinyl tape before recycling or composting). Our packaging solutions are as a result of a continual evolution of ideas.
Saving compost – a 9cm pot only uses 0.5 litres of compost. Compare this to the 2 litres of compost if you buy a plant at a garden centre in a 2 litre pot. And our freshly lifted bare rooted bulbs only require a handful of coir to protect them during transit – this all helps save our precious natural resources. And of course this really helps you save your pennies!
The plants we send to you from Twelve Nunns are either in small pots or are supplied as freshly lifted bare root rhizomes, bulbs and tubers. We breed, propagate and grow all of the plants and bulbs here on our Lincolnshire nursery.
Saving plastic – smaller pots mean less plastic. We are working on removing plastic completely from our deliveries, in terms of both pots and labels. We are planning to replace our labels with a fully recyclable paper based product.
We are also very excited about a product we have discovered recently called a wool pot that is produced in the UK. Along with a wool based topping, these provide exactly the type of protective packaging the plants need to ensure they reach you in tip top condition. They can be recycled and are compostable. We work in a village surrounded by sheep farmers, so making use of a bi-product that is often wasted or undervalued seems a good idea to us.
Saving fuel (so less air pollution) – lighter, smaller boxes that weigh less mean less fuel is needed to transport them.
We passionately believe that all these savings are crucially needed for the future health and stability of our environment. By following our Twelve Nunns Green Credentials we are also helping to support our farming community. By buying our plants you are playing a part in a greener future.
See in the autumn with our Narcissus cyclamineus offer . What could be better than a carpet of this delightful Narcissus. Making an appearance in February, this petite daffodil has vivid yellow petals that sweep fully back revealing its long flower tube, surrounded by slender, pale green foliage.
Narcissus cyclamineus AGM are sold to you in pots rather than as loose bulbs, because the bulbs of this daffodil must not dry out. All plants offered are propagated and grown by us here on our specialist nursery based in South Lincolnshire. The bulbs are 3 years old and most will flower in the first spring season after planting and will flower year after year thereafter. We supply at least three flowering sized bulbs per pot.
20% off of 6 or more Harvington Hellebores® until 30th September 2023.
Looking at that unloved shady spot in the corner of the garden? Or the patio that will soon be devoid of colour after the demise of your beautiful summer pots? Our Harvington Hellebores® September Discount is here to help.
Picture this……….
Our Discount gives you an opportunity to purchase a selection of Harvington Hellebores® in 9cm pots fromour extensive range of colours and varieties – the choice is yours!
These are ready for planting in your garden or containers now.
The June edition of the Alpine Garden Society AGS Journal, offers a valuable insight into growing Trillium and Arisaema.
Anyone who subscribes to the The Alpine Garden Society (AGS) receives ‘The Alpine Gardener’, the quarterly journal packed full of beautiful photographs illustrating interesting and informative articles. There are nuggets of information from expert growers who have spent many years finding ways to cultivate more unusual plants. It allows us as the reader to share in their journeys, to gain a greater understanding of plants that are familiar to us, as well as being introduced to many that aren’t.
In June’s edition we were particularly interested in two articles that align with our own specialisms Trillium and Arisaema.
Paddy Tobin lays bare his extensive journey with Trillium and how he come to appreciate them as plants that will flourish. As Paddy states,
‘These plants changed my experience of and attitude to trilliums completely – now I had plants that would grow and increase and make a decent contribution to the garden’(page 169 The Alpine Gardener June 2023).
His earlier experiences were disappointing, working with dried rhizomes that failed to flourish. Using healthier rhizomes he quickly realised that,
‘These trilliums were not the Cinderella plants I had grown poorly for years, but ones which were worth their place in the garden for their vigour, performance and beauty’ (page 169 The Alpine Gardener June 2023).
He mentions some varieties that have done particularly well, as his ‘Star garden performers’ and ‘US natives’. One of his ‘Star garden performers’ is Trillium chloropetalum.
Here at Twelve Nunns, we have a selection of these varieties available to pre-order now. They are sent as freshly lifted, healthy Trillium rhizomes with live roots in moist packing material. Our rhizomes are at least 4 years old. Given the right situation and soil they should flower after 1 year of planting.
Robert Rolfe then provides some wonderful insights into the world of Arisaema, focusing on a number of species, the choicest of which is Arisaema candidissimum. Discussing the history of the cultivation of Arisaema he notes that:-
‘A. candidissimum was (to quote from EB Anderson’s Hardy Bulbs, published in 1964) for a long time “the only species …available in the ordinary course of events, though this is a very beautiful one“. If you choose just one, choose this.’ (Page 214 The Alpine Gardener June 2023)
The Alpine Garden Society (AGS) are an international, UK based, charitable organisation primarily concerned with the cultivation of alpine and mountain plants from around the world. The AGS is also involved in the study and conservation of alpine plants in the wild. Click here for more information about the Society.
Here at Twelve Nunns we are looking forward to the long summer days of June. With the extra hours of daylight there is even more time to spend investing in our gardens. We have some great offers on Harvington® Hellebores 9cm pots and plugs this month, along with a special discount on the stunning Erythronium dens-canis ‘Old Aberdeen’.
Discounts on Harvington® Hellebores as 9cm pots (offer ends 30th June 2023)
Buy 12 or more pots Save 15% Buy 18 or more pots Save 25%
The incredibly informative and beautifully presented Gardens Illustratedmagazine has featured our Erythroniums this month (April 2023) in their 30th Anniversary issue. We are immensely proud of, and grateful for the amazing article written by Alys Fowler, supported by the stunning photography of Clive Nichols. It focuses on our Erythronium breeding programme, and introduces three new additions to the Harvington Erythronium family:-
Erythronium hendersonii x oregonum ‘Harvington Elizabeth’
Erythronium hendersonii x oregonum ‘Harvington Imogen’
Erythronium hendersonii x oregonum ‘Harvington Lilli’
Erythronium bulbs are available to pre-order now. Offer closes 31 May 2023.
For those of us who are up early in the morning cultivating our borders and veg patches ready for Spring, the robin is always with us keeping an eye on those juicy worms. As we love our early birds, we are offering a discount on our Harvington Hellebores® plug plants. Pre-orderbefore 31st March 2023 and take up our Early Bird Offer:-
Buy 5 or more plugs for a 15% discount
Buy 10 or more plugs for a 25% discount
Our Harvington Hellebores® plug plants are despatched from late April through to June. They are well rooted young plants that are ready for potting into a 1 or 2 litre pot. Once they have rooted down into the pots they will be ready to plant into the garden in the autumn or spring.
What you see on our website is what is currently available for despatch and we regularly update our stock to ensure that what we say is available, is exactly that! Take some time to browse through our website.
Our Gardener’s Christmas Gift Selection includes three of our robust and easily maintained Harvington Hellebores®, beautifully presented and accompanied by a personalised cheerful Christmas greetings card with your message inside, all for £22.99.
We will festively gift wrap them for you, using our sustainable packaging materials including hessian, tissue paper and raffia ribbon. A planting advice sheet will also be enclosed giving useful tips on the best way to plant Hellebores.
Christmas is the time for giving and its not always easy to select the perfect gift. Whilst we are all watching the pennies, it’s even more important to choose something that is value for money and will be appreciated and enjoyed well beyond the festive period, indeed for years to come. This is where our Gardener’s Christmas Gift Selection delivered directly to your friends or family can help.
We will select three of the best looking Harvington Hellebores® from our range at the time your order is prepared. Our range includes over 30 different flower forms, single or double flowering and in lovely colours. Your family or friends can enjoy these beautiful perennial plants as they flower year on year each winter from January through to March and remember you! The plants are ready for planting out in the garden or into a larger pot and will flower within a year.
