Dr Andrew Ward talked to the Garden Club on 8th April 2025. Norwell Nurseries are the National Collection Holders of Astrantias and Hardy Chrysanthemums. They have featured in several magazines and have been voted the Best Perenial Gardens in the UK by the Hardy Plant Society.
Dr Andrew Ward runs the nursery along with his wife. At the beginning of the talk he distributed a handout of plants he sells and which would feature in his talk.
The Boraginaceae family includes about 2000 species of plants, shrubs, herbs and trees in every continent of the world. The most common being Pulmonaria, Symphytum and many will be familiar with the Forget-me-not family. They typically have blue and pink flowers, with a few being white or yellow.
The soil at his nursery is clay like most of us in the Midlands, so he tries to work with this but when he can’t he uses raised sand beds. An example of this was the planting of the beautiful blue alpine Gentiana Acaulis Vercors which prefers well drained sunny conditions resulting in flowering from Spring to early Summer.
Also Mertensia Maritima which is well liked by snails and slugs and so are grown in sand beds which protects the plant. Andrew did say these leaves were supposed to taste like oysters, but having tasted them he thought this was debatable. One because they seemed to taste like any other leaf and two because he had never tasted oysters.
Andrew explained how some of the plants flowered very early in the year which was very useful with climate change effecting the environment as bees were not hibernating as long or as deep and were searching for nectar much earlier in the year. Mertensia Virginiana and Echium Blue Bedder were loved by bees for this reason.
Another plant Andrew recommended was Brunera Jack Frost for being a good all round plant. It prefers a shady position and is a tough survivor in extreme Winter conditions.
At Andrew’s nursery it survived 3 nights at -18 degrees and 1 night at -21 degree in recent years. After the blue flowers have finished the leaves provide a lovely silver variegation effect. The colour of the leaves reduces sun reaching their base and prevents any burning.
Also preferring shade and dry conditions was Symphytum All Gold. It had mauve flower heads followed by a glorious display of golden leaves. Even better snails and slugs did not like it.
Many plants did well in shady positions such as under apple trees or at the north side of beds. They provided ground cover with some spreading 6 feet or more across. Pulmonaria St Ann’s was vigorous and tough but provided hundreds of early flowers so good for bees.
But Andrew assured us he did not sell invasive plants at the nursery which may look spectacular at show gardens but are not suitable for the average size gardens.
Norwell Nurseries had recently bred a new plant called Pulmonaria Stars and Stripes which they hoped to introduce to America through tissue culture, but this did not work out as well as they hoped. It was slow to bulk up and they only got around 4 plants per year. So Andrew had to admit defeat and accept he will not make his millions this way.
It was a very informative evening proving there is a plant from the Boraginaceae family suitable for all of us.
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