IN THE GARDEN
An excellent early season plant for dry, shady areas under trees and shrubs. Arresting, true-blue flowers appear over dark, bottle-green leaves from the end of March into April. Good with the coppiced stems of dogwood, or willow, hellebores, and spring bulbs. Grows to 25cm (10in) in height and will spread neatly to 40cm (16in) or so.
Epimediums are one of my favourite plants with their evergreen foliage and dainty flowers in spring. It is anything but dainty though, being hardy and growing well in dry shade, it is a very useful plant. Excellent for edging or groundcover, it forms a bushy mound of dark green leaves, bearing sprays of soft primrose-yellow flowers in mid to late spring. Although it will take a couple of years to reach a mature size, the plant is long-lived and very sturdy. Old leaves should be pruned to the ground in late winter to show the flowers to best effect. It grows to a height of 30cm (12in), spreading to 45cm (18in) or more.
A plant from my childhood garden, planted for its profuse white, spring flowers growing down the length of the branches in neat, crowded clusters. Ideal for growing towards the back of the border, where it can make a soft green background for other plants after its lavish spring display of pure white flowers. It tolerates hard pruning, which helps keep the spreading growth to more manageable proportions and it reaches a height and spread of 2.5m (8ft).
The native cowslip is a semi-evergreen perennial with a rosette of leaves and upright stems bearing umbels of nodding, bell-shaped, fragrant yellow flowers from early April into late spring. It enjoys damp semi-shade but will tolerate sun and forms a welcome blast of colour on the wildflower banks here in the nursery in spring. H 30cm (12in), S 20cm (8in).
Inky, dark, purple flowers adorn the plant, contrasting beautifully with the silver-green foliage in mid to late spring. Once flowering is finished cut back to the ground and you will be rewarded with a second flush of flowers later in summer. Plant in full sun and free-draining soil with space to spread around where it will grow and spread to 60cm (24in).
Plants at Quercus Garden Plants are propagated and grown, peat-free, at 850 feet (259m) and stay outdoors all year, so are tough and acclimatised to Scottish growing conditions. Most of them can be seen growing in wildlife and environmentally friendly, inspiring demonstration gardens.
Quercus Garden Plants is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10am-5pm from March until the end of October. Find them at Whitmuir Farm, Lamancha, EH46 7BB.