Timelapse of building a Poly Tunnel at the Exotic Garden Norwich from Freelance Photographer Chris Ridley

Over the last few years the amount paid for unique Galanthus bulbs has been steadily rising as they have created more interest and in 2008 a single rare bulb fetched £226. Thompson & Morgan hopes to be able to produce this variety and bring pleasure to as many gardeners as possible. These unique Galanthus are notorious for their slow rates of multiplication but we hope to be able to look into commercial production via tissue culture, which will be the most time consuming and expensive part of the venture – buying the bulb was the easy part!

When Thompson & Morgan purchased the world’s first Black Hyacinth ‘MidnightMystique’ in 1998 for £50,000 a bulb, it took 15 years before it was available to the general public and demand has always outstripped stock. We anticipate this beautiful snowdrop will create interest amongst enthusiasts and home gardeners alike, thanks to the ‘snowdrop mania’ that has descended on the UK in recent years. What a welcome sight snowdrops can be at the start of spring. Last year we sold over 1 million snowdrops and have tried for many years to source the right golden variety in order to bring a wider range of unique snowdrops to the home gardener. The stunning snowdrop Galanthus woronowii ‘Elizabeth Harrison’ was named after the owner of the garden where it first appeared as a seedling in a Scotland a few years ago and it has not been identified growing anywhere else.

To celebrate this ‘snowdrop mania’ Thompson & Morgan are offering customers the chance to buy 75 single snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) bulbs at less than half price for £7.99 Click here to take advantage of this offer!

It would be good to know your experiences with growing Passion flowers whether indoors or out… If you are interested in seeing more about this collection then have a look here on Thompson & Morgan

Named after Dr. Nicholaus Host, physician to the emperor of Austria (1761–1834). Countless hybrids have been raised, mainly in the United States in recent years.  They are all clump forming and can become quite large with time, hence need to be divided every 3-5 years once established. The leaves can be large or small  in different shades of green, yellow, greyish blue, or variegated.  In high summer they bear one-sided racemes of funnel-shaped flowers that can range in colour from lilac to white.

All are hardy and prefer fertile, moist, well-drained soil in full to partial shade, making a good ground cover under deep-rooted deciduous trees, although they will take full sun if watered regularly. They can be used as ground cover under deep-rooted deciduous trees.

Hosta’s evoke the lush look of many tropical plants, with their luxuriant foliage, the only draw back is that slugs and snails absolutely adore them! I grow mine in large containers with  about 2ins of Vaseline smeared around the base of the pot to stop slugs and snails slithering up!  There are far too many forms to mention here, so I will only cover only a few of the largest.

All Hosta like to be well fed and especially if you want the largest leaves! Use well rotted  garden compost, blood-fish and bone or pelleted chicken manure around the base of each clump as they start to emerge in the spring.  They also like regular moisture especial when grown in pots where they should be watered daily.

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If you would like to read more information on Hosta’s, have a look at some of the specific Hosta’s we review here. We also have a great video on How to protect Hosta’s from Slugs & Snails here….

Video: Growing Bromeliads in the UK – The Exotic Garden Norwich

If you are interested in buying ginger plants, have a look at some of the plants available to buy at the moment, they are beautiful plants and produce the most wonderful flowers.