5 March 2020 – Interesting Plants for Winter and Spring Colour – Simon & Jay McWilliams

Our March meeting was wet and windy outside the hall, but gloriously full of spring on the inside. Our members were greeted by an eye-catching display of flowering trees and budding plants, all provided by our speaker Simon Mac Williams of the intriguingly named Hedgehog Plants and Gardens!
Hedgehog Plants, we learnt, was nothing to do with Mrs.Tiggywinkle and her clan, but rather a quirky name for a Nursery, near Bury St Edmunds, set up by Simon and wife Jay in 2007. Jay and Simon specialise in “unusual” plants unobtainable at other plant centres. They have won many RHS awards and featured on Gardeners’ World last year. Jay is a lover of Epimedii and has a collection of over 90 species. These attractive hardy perennials are native to China, throw out spider like flowers early in the year and are not readily available commercially. Two varieties to look out for are Purple Pixie and Black Sea.
Simon acknowledged that gardeners in our area are challenged by chalky soil but suggested that smaller flowering cherries and magnolias could be grown very successfully in pots. To that end, he stood by a beautiful flowering Prunus Pendula Rubra. Then held up other examples of his favourites: Prunus Okame, the hardy Alpine Japanese Flowering Cherry and Magnolias: Butterflies, Fester Rose and Stellata.
Focusing on plants for early pollinators such as bees, we were shown samples of Ribes varieties Amy Doncaster and Odoratum. Other recommendations included Salix Mount Aso, a stunning pussy willow plant with pink flowers, Sarcococca, Christmas Box, a low growing, shade tolerating evergreen with perfumed white flowers, Primula Francesca with rarely seen green flowers, Bergenia Pink Dragonfly and Anemone Sylvestris.
Simon was a fountain of gardening knowledge and very approachable. If you are interested in something different for your garden, a visit to Hedgehog Plants at Risby Barns is recommended. A gift and coffee shop, 2 antique centres and a sewing shop can also be found on site.
Rosemary Jones

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