Shire Plants Blog

Are you, or do you know, a dull old person? Well read on because Sweet Cicely may be the cure! John Gerard was an Elizabethan physician and gardener, who published what became the most famous … read more

The origin of Chicory is described in a German folk tale. A young woman sat down at the side of a road to weep for her dead lover. None could console her, and so great was her grief that she resolved … read more

Matthiola incana 'Pillow Talk' has the most heavily scented flowers and just a few stems can fill a room with a lovely fragrance. This plant has long been a cottage garden favourite, grown in the … read more

This wonderful plant is called Fox and Cubs because of the dual appearance of bronzy-orange open flowers (the fox) alongside red-brown flower buds (the cubs).  Tall stems hold the flowers above … read more

Our British native plants have some of the prettiest flowers. This is Dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris), which has coral-pink buds which open to beautiful fluffy white flowers. Eminently suited to our B … read more

For a limited time, all of our Perennial Wallflowers (Erysimum) are reduced by 25%. Now is a great time to get them into the ground, or into containers, for flowers this year and then several years to … read more

It's Chelsea Flower Show, so it's time to go around the garden doing the Chelsea chop. This isn't a new type of dance, sweeping the gardening world, but a method of pruning for herbaceous perenn … read more

We've had to temporarily fence one off one of our potting benches because a pair of Robins have built a nest in a rubbish bag (on the ground in the corner). She's been sitting in the nest for a whi … read more

It's #WorldBeeDay today and the RHS are encouraging gardeners to plant bee-friendly plants including Lavender, Oregano, Allium, Nepeta, Cosmos and more. Generally, bees require 'simple' or 'single' fl … read more