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It's always a pleasure to welcome small groups to the nursery on mid-May evenings for summer basket planting workshops. Following demonstrations and sharing of our top insider tips for success, it's then fascinating to see the individual baskets take shape as everyone gets hands on to create their own baskets or pots to take home. This week was no exception! We are now able to start releasing a limited quantity of excess plants grown for Chelsea: special varieties of sweet pea, camassia and iris. To ensure a good selection of top-notch plants for Chelsea we always grow more than required; and sometimes also nurture a couple of varieties in order to increase the likelihood of having sufficient in flower at just the right moment! Those that flower too soon, or too late, or are surplus to requirements make their way into our nursery shop for customers to enjoy a bit of Chelsea stardust in their own Suffolk gardens: a win win!  We know you love a Salvia.. so we've been growing over 20 more varieties. Now rooted and ready for planting out: they're ready for you ! Ideal for our sandy soils, these fast growing, long flowering, low maintenance hardy/half hardy perennials are also loved by bees & more, what's not to love?! Find them at the nursery in the entrance lane in 1L pots, they will also be going out in our weekly deliveries  The East Anglian Daily Times asked Katie's Garden for advice on how to keep gardening enjoyable in later life. Susie's article 'Gardening in the Golden Years' appears in today's issue.
Tips include recommendations of longer flowering and lower maintenance perennials and shrubs; ensuring raised beds really are raised high enough and that pots are as large as possible to ease watering and improve growing. Easy care Grow Your Own suggestions and, if space allows a flowering cherry, crab apple or rowan tree which gives several seasons of interest and is wildlife friendly too are included too. But most importantly making time to enjoy your outdoor space with your favourite plants - and with family and friends! Read the full article here: Gardening in the Golden Years - Katie's Garden Plant Centre We're looking forward to this Sunday's Open Garden event at Columbine Hall, Stowupland, in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice. As plant partners to the Great Garden Trail, Katie's Garden is running a full plant stall filled with freshly grown cottage garden perennials, alpines, herbs, shrubs, patio plants, GYO veg & more!
Head Gardener Kate promises it will be 'our BIGGEST open gardens day EVER on Sunday April 26th 12-5pm all in aid of St. Elizabeth Hospice. There’ll be local nurseries with plants for sale, craft and artisan stalls and refreshments. Plus five acres of gardens to explore including our parterre, bog garden, walled kitchen garden, wildflower meadow, two newly built bridges across our moat and creation of our new Italianate style walled garden. £5 each - no need to book. Under 16’s free - dogs on leads welcome. It will be lovely to see you all at Columbine Hall, Stowupland IP14 4AT.' A quintessential Suffolk afternoon out, welcoming, relaxed and enjoyable with something for everyone - we hope to see you there! Learn about other venues and events where you'll find our plants this summer here: Shops and shows
 The first patio and basket plants are ready! We are open every day of the holiday weekend including Easter Sunday.
There is now plenty of colour in shophouse, with our Early Bird basket and patio plants now ready for planting up - just remember to protect from frosts - which could strike for another 6 weeks! Our bedding plants are grown in quality compost with long-release fertiliser, and many have water-retaining gel mixed in too, to produce strong, healthy plants that will give you the best chance of gardening success. You'll find the veg plants indoors too, alongside a refreshed range of seeds, tools, sundries and patio pots. And outside, our perennial A-Zs, both 1L & 2-3L sizes are full of freshly grown plants.  Adding a pond is one of the most wildlife-friendly changes you can make to your garden, and it will open up a whole new plant world to explore too.
It doesn't need to be a wild-swimming pool - birds, insects and invertebrates will all welcome the smallest of watery areas! We're pleased to partner with PondPlantsUK to offer a dedicated new display area for marginal and aquatic plants which is now fully stocked. Our launch range features 1 litres at £7.99 and 3 litres £14.99. Find them adjacent to the Alpines - perfect partners for planting ponds and surround areas. In related news, PondPlants UK are suppling the RHS Pollywiggle Garden at the new RHS Sandringham show this summer. As are we!  Our first stocks of young vegetable plants are now ready in shophouse, including tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in pots, and salads and leafy veg in strips and packs.
Many of these will need protection from frost for a few more weeks, but those extra-early crops are worth the extra effort! We also have strawberry plants, herbs, and a selection of fruit bushes and trees, so start planning those summer menus!  Jackie kicked off the week with our first delivery to new Head Gardener Jess at Woodbridge Town Council for the Elmhurst Park rejuvenation, a 3 year project. We're delighted to have been chosen as a local partner by the new team for their exciting planting programme.
 Each year our supporters kindly rummage through their sheds and donate garden tools, equipment and ornaments for sale in aid of Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Last year you helped us raise over £900 - let's see if we can beat that for 2026! The event runs until late April, and donations of useable tools and equipment are welcomed throughout the Sale. Proceeds will help Suffolk Wildlife Trust support wildlife throughout the region - like the cheeky robin currently raising the first brood of the season in shophouse, just metres from the tills!
We're back at Suffolk Food Hall with our first weekly delivery of perennials. You'll find lots of bee friendly Alliums, colourful Erysimum wallflowers, Camassia and hardy Primulas, so the pollinators will be happy to - with lots more to come over the next few weeks.
You'll also find extensive selections of our plants at Alder Carr Farm near Needham Market and the Courtyard at Snape Maltings. We supply a wide variety of east and mid-Suffolk venues and outlets with Katie's Garden plants - find out where else you can pick up our plants www.katiesgarden.co.uk/shops-and-shows.html  We're delighted to be supporting St Elizabeth Hospice again as an event partner for the 2026 Great Garden Trail, now in its 12th year of raising vital funds for the hospice. Working with the garden owners, hospice volunteers and staff we will be providing plant stalls and plant donations throughout the season which runs until September. Details of all this year's 2026's Open Gardens are now available on the St Elizabeth website, or a printed map can be picked up from us in Newbourne.  We are donating half the value of our total sales on Saturday 20th December to Helping Hands Suffolk, a local good cause working with the homeless community in and around Ipswich.
Come in for those last-minute gifts or some holiday gardening essentials, and spread comfort and cheer at the same time. Our thanks to the East Anglian Daily Times for covering our fundraiser too! |
