Woottens is famous in particular for its Auriculas, Hemerocalis, Pelargoniums and Iris (its two acre Bearded Iris field is open every year from 24 May to 10 June, and is worth travelling to see), but the nursery sells all manner of plants, always all faultless in our experience.
One of the reasons we love this nursery so much is the excellent information it supplies about its plants, via its website, over the phone, or in its handbook – except these last few years it was hard to get your hands on a copy of the latter, which was last published in 2007. (Word went round the gardening community that the exacting Michael Loftus, who runs the nursery, hadn’t found publishers who could deliver the quality he insisted on at an affordable price, so instead of compromising, he just didn’t do it). Copies of the 2007 edition became closely guarded and were lent out like contraband.
But now, four years later, Loftus has produced a new handbook. Its photographs are coffee table quality, but it’s the text that we especially love. Loftus gives just the right amount of history about plants, and plenty of expert, unpatronising advice on both growing and planting. His descriptions of the way plants look are wonderful – pithy, informative and tempting. We’ve ordered a copy for ourselves and several more to give away as presents. Wait till you see the photos of the Auriculas, just for starters. Beyond greed-inducing.
