| What plants are you most excited to showcase at the festival this year, and why? | Intersectional (ITOH) peonies, a cross between tree and herbaceous, giving the best of both worlds, very floriferous , delicate fragrance and easy statement plant. You’ll be the envy of your neighbours. |
| What advice would you give beginner gardeners choosing plants for the first time? | Visit other local gardens and see what grows well, you could select some gardens to visit from the National Garden Scheme and don’t be afraid to ask advice. Don’t be swayed by fashion and if something doesn’t work it’s an opportunity to try something new. Support local growers and search out local plant fairs. |
| Which is your best plant for encouraging wildlife? | Hard to single out one, variety is important to attract different beneficial insects and wildlife. We’ve found sanguisorbas, veronicastrums and verbena bonariensis (a favourite with humming bird moths). An added benefit of these plants is that they don’t succumb to slugs and snails. |
| What common mistake do you see gardeners make, and how can they avoid it? | Putting a plant in the wrong place, take some time to find what they prefer but understand they don’t always read the same books as us. |
| If someone could only plant one thing from your nursery this season, what should it be and where should they grow it? | Sanguisorba, versatile, pollinator friendly, a great range of heights from diminutive to statuesque. Sunny site with moisture retentive soil. |
| Will you have any festival only offers I can look forward to? | To be decided nearer the time. |
| What was your biggest gardening mistake? | Not buying a big enough greenhouse! Never underestimate the benefits of a big greenhouse! |
| What plants are you most excited to showcase at the festival this year, and why? | We are most excited to bring our Cut Flower Plug Plants with us to Tobys this year, specifically the hard to find Campanula in White, Lavender and Rose colours – they are a cut flower annual variety that is hard to find as plants and super productive in the garden. We will also have old favourites such as Cerinthe, Cornflowers, Snapdragons and Cosmos! |
| What advice would you give beginner gardeners choosing plants for the first time? | We would say the best advice to beginner gardeners is to get to know your growing space – The best thing about our annual plug plants is that they are very forgiving to the beginner gardener and want to grow wherever you plant them! Because we have grown them to a size ready to plant out in your garden they are big enough to cope with any challenging conditions. |
| Which is your best plant for encouraging wildlife? | Cerinthe is a fantastic flower for early pollinators in the garden and always full of bees, it will gently self seed around as well which is most welcome as they flower from February onwards. Scabious is an other annual that is always covered in butterflies who love the little domed heads. |
| What common mistake do you see gardeners make, and how can they avoid it? | Don’t be tempted to overcrowd your plants – give them at least a hands width between planting and keep well watered – a long deep water three times a week is better than a light sprinkle every day. |
| If someone could only plant one thing from your nursery this season, what should it be and where should they grow it? | I would encourage everyone to give the new varieties of Snapdragon we have available a go – our Holly Double series is a gorgeous flower for your garden and your vase and they go on to produce a second flush of flowers in later Summer if kept watered. They really are beautiful to look at and quite different to the usual snapdragons. |
| Will you have any festival only offers I can look forward to? | We will have a festival multi buy offer on our plants only available at Tobys. |
| What was your biggest gardening mistake? | Our biggest gardening mistake is to grow things that we don’t love – if you grow something you’re not too bothered about then you won’t give it the love and attention it requires. When you love what you grow half the work is already done! |
| What plants are you most excited to showcase at the festival this year, and why? | We are a specialist Hosta nursery, so we tend to look more towards Hostas, and there are several varieties that we are getting excited about this year. Especially this year the red stemmed varieties, so we have the biggest red stemmed Hosta called “Florence Nightingale” and there aren’t many large examples available to see, but we have a few that are going to be showstoppers. Florence has long red legs and a beautiful wavy blue leaf, quite a sight. |
| What advice would you give beginner gardeners choosing plants for the first time? | With Hostas we would recommend some of the older resilient varieties, that will always produce a lovely show, such as “Big Daddy” a large blue variety, “Golden Tiara” a small green and variegated variety with lovely heart shaped leaves that is a good spreader, and “Blue Mouse Ears” a lovely rounded blue miniature Hosta. What’s not to like. |
| Which is your best plant for encouraging wildlife? | We love to see the bees all over our fragrant Hostas in the summer, they are always industriously going from plant to plant. One of our favourites at the shows is “Guacamole” with variegated green leaves and large bulbous fragrant flowers. When they are out we are surrounded. |
| What common mistake do you see gardeners make, and how can they avoid it? | With Hostas in pots people have a tendency to pot them into too large a pot, which means that they will quite often just sit there, or even diminish year on year. This is especially true for miniature hostas. So we recommend either giving them friends to provide root pressure or reducing the size of the pot. |
| If someone could only plant one thing from your nursery this season, what should it be and where should they grow it? | Try a miniature Hosta in a small terracotta pot, such as “Blue Mouse Ears”, place it on a table outside, in the semi shade, avoiding mid-day and early afternoon sun, where you can have your morning coffee and watch it grow. Come July/August you will have small lavender coloured flowers for added enjoyment. |
| Will you have any festival only offers I can look forward to? | Come see us and have a chat and we will see what we can do. There will certainly be some offers with the purchase of a Hosta or two. |
| What was your biggest gardening mistake? | Saying yes to 25-year-old micropropagation Hosta brood stock before we were ready. I’m sure it will all work out, and I think the mistake will become a huge opportunity. |
| What plants are you most excited to showcase at the festival this year, and why? | We have some NEW super hot chilli varieties that we expect to cause a stir!! |
| What advice would you give beginner gardeners choosing plants for the first time? | Choose a variety that suits your environment – some chillies can be very finickity so don’t make life hard on yourself straight off the bat! |
| Which is your best plant for encouraging wildlife? | Insects love chilli flowers but the best use of wildlife for chillies is getting ladybirds to do your pest control and eat aphids! |
| What common mistake do you see gardeners make, and how can they avoid it? | Not using a heated propagator – makes your life so hard to start seeds off! |
| If someone could only plant one thing from your nursery this season, what should it be and where should they grow it? | A Fried Chicken chilli – ideally in a greenhouse! |
| Will you have any festival only offers I can look forward to? | Customers will be able to see our full range of chilli produce including our NEWEST chilli chocolate (yet to be launched) |
| What was your biggest gardening mistake? | Sowing seeds WAY too early which produced weak seedlings, and over fertilising with the wrong type of feed = huge bushy plants with next to no fruits!! |
| What plants are you most excited to showcase at the festival this year, and why? | We love bringing our selection of pond plant essentials to Toby’s Garden Festival. Our Pygmy waterlilies are always popular; at only 30cm wide, they are perfect for tiny ponds, dunk tanks, and patio ponds, offering floriferous, fairy-sized flowers and pads. |
| What advice would you give beginner gardeners choosing plants for the first time? | We love to share our knowledge, so come and have a chat with us! Our passion is ponds, and we want you to enjoy them too. Tell us about your space, and we can help you find the right plants for your pond size and the wildlife you would like to attract. |
| Which is your best plant for encouraging wildlife? | Any plant in a pond is wonderful for nature. We recommend choosing a selection of different shapes, from creeping plants that create bridges to vertical plants for emerging dragonflies and floating plants for shade and protection. Variation is the key to a diverse pond ecosystem. |
| What common mistake do you see gardeners make, and how can they avoid it? | Although we are creating ponds for nature, they still need care like a flowerbed. If we can keep the water clear and healthy, we are creating a wonderful habitat for nature and wildlife to call home and it’s just lucky that we can enjoy it too! We use concentrated beneficial bacteria, which is naturally occurring, to suppress algae, green water, dusty water and all those common pond problems. With the right balance of light and oxygen, we can create a thriving paradise that can support a multitude of wildlife. Have a chat to find out if this is right for your pond. |
| If someone could only plant one thing from your nursery this season, what should it be and where should they grow it? | Every pond needs multiple Iris. They provide structure and vibrant, sword-like leaves for most of the year. We recommend planting Iris Louisiana up to 20cm deep; they offer the widest selection of colours and spread gently, unlike the native yellow Iris pseudacorus. We also suggest teaming these with bog-loving Iris ensata, specifically their “Dinnerplate” series, which features flowers the size of your hand. |
| Will you have any festival only offers I can look forward to? | We will be offering special bundles at the show that are not available at our water garden centre near Ilminster at any other time. We don’t inflate our show prices, so these represent a genuine exclusive offer for festival attendees. |
| What was your biggest gardening mistake? | The biggest mistake is not using a large enough basket. Pond plants love space and nutrients, so we recommend using the largest basket possible and feeding them every spring for the best summer display. |
| What plants are you most excited to showcase at the festival this year, and why? | Several new Sempervivums, different colors & shapes. |
| What advice would you give beginner gardeners choosing plants for the first time? | Be aware of your soil & temperatures in your garden/area (rural/suburban) |
| Which is your best plant for encouraging wildlife? | hard to say as Restios,being evergreen it provides food & shelter. Semps are a rich source for bees & butterflies. |
| What common mistake do you see gardeners make, and how can they avoid it? | Avoid buying the wrong plant for your soil and visa versa. |
| If someone could only plant one thing from your nursery this season, what should it be and where should they grow it? | Sempervivums because they have a wide planting use and also give you many more plants, extremely drought tolerant & hardy. Wide range of colour, size & texture. Pretty flowers, good for bees etc. |
| Will you have any festival only offers I can look forward to? | Multi buy, multi save. |
| What was your biggest gardening mistake? | Bought an expensive, lovely plant and planted it in the wrong soil. |