Bluebell Cottage Gardens

Everything under the sun Mainly plants, from Bluebell Cottage Gardens in Cheshire, UK. Also solar PV and heat pumps...

Hello all. I've moved my blog site from Substack to Ghost. If reading about plants and gardens appeals to you, do subscribe - it's free. As you can see, you won't get bombarded. If you're lucky you'll get two or three posts a year :-).
everything-under-the-sun-1.ghost.io

Annual wildflower seed collection in a gift tin as a Christmas present.

Our unique seed saving kit - the ideal Christmas present for a keen gardener.

Two unique Christmas gift ideas..
-Seed Saving Kit - save your own seeds, with a 'how to' booklet written by Sue :-)
-9,000 annual wildflower seeds in a pretty little gift tin - the perfect stocking filler.
www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/search?q=ann...
www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/search?q=see...

Same here. No idea why they've done it, just looks a bit childish now.

Aster 'Little Carlow', available bare root from Feb 2026

Morning all - I've just emailed out two new stock lists to our Trade customers: 9cm pots in stock now and bare root plants for delivery in Feb 2026. If you are in the horticulture trade and would like to receive these lists, please reply below...

Love the idea of growing plants from your own seed, but not sure how? This kit contains all you need, inc. 12 page booklet with ideas and answers to common questions.
Designed and created by the team at Bluebell Cottage, it's the perfect gardening gift. www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/product/SSK1...

Our tulips have arrived! Large, top quality bulbs available to collect from the nursery or to order online. We're open for another 8 days (Wed-Sat 10-5) before we close at the end os September. Very limited quantities of some varieties as most are going into the garden :-). WA4 4HP

Tulip 'Jimmy'

Tulip 'Louvre Orange'

Tulip 'Spring Green'

Tulip 'Bojangles'.

Tulips! Our first delivery of tulip bulbs arrives next week. 20 wonderful varieties, selected by us, and grown in the gardens here - all photos were taken by me here in 2024/25. Order online for delivery or collection, and in store from 2nd Sep :-) www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/search?q=tulip

We love collecting seed - and yes, we put any surplus on the website for our customers. I have about another 50 varieties to sort and upload :-)

www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/shop?type=se...

A bowl of home-grown apricots.

*Proud face*. Honestly didn't think we'd get several kilos of ripe apricots outdoors in Cheshire...

Hello all... we have a very small but growing selection of seed available at our online shop and at the nursery. All hand collected here in the gardens and packed by us. Shipping for seed only orders is just £2.50 :-) Do check back in as we add more... www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/shop?type=se...

Every morning in the garden, a new crop of field poppies unfurls. And the bees dive in the moment they open. It's a delight to watch.

Hello! The gardens are open for the NGS charity this weekend, 21/22 June, 10-5. WA4 4HP. Entry is £5.00 and all proceeds + tea room profits go to the charity. (Note that RHS cards, GW 2-1 cards and our own member cards aren't valid this weekend, but it's a fiver to charity so do come anyway :-) ).

Last winter we removed the evergreen Choisyas around the back of this bench. So glad we did - the newly revealed view through under the cherries to the grasses beyond is proving rather lovely.

Mad about meadows Our orchard meadow is at its shimmering finest right now. How did we create it?

It's meadow time at Bluebell Cottage. Lovely to look at and sit in - and one of the most asked about areas in the whole garden. This week's blog post explains how we created it and answers the top half a dozen questions about it. Open 10-5 Wed Sat. WA44HP.
www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/blog/mad-abo...

The UK’s best online nurseries to transform your garden without leaving home Specialist species, competitive pricing and from-the-sofa convenience can open up a world of plants you never knew existed

Delighted to see that we've been recommended as a top UK nursery to buy plants online by @theguardian.com . May explain why we've had a lovely flurry of orders this morning :-). All being picked now and will be despatched Mon/Tue next week.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Morning all - we're open today, Bank Holiday Sunday, 10-5. (Closed tomorrow, BH Monday). Drop in for the gardens, unusual plants from the nursery or just a coffee and cake from our new and very cheery converted horse trailer servery, Belle. :-)

Thanks John, apologies for the late reply :-)

So close now.... We're in that little pink circle. #rain

Lunaria rediviva Perennial form of the familiar honesty, with white flowers and elegant pointed seed pods. Height to 1m.

If you're watching Gardeners' World and wondering where you can find Lunaria rediviva, we can help :-)
www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/plant/LUN120...

Some like it hot Ten superb perennials that thrive in hot, dry areas.

I know some of you have had rain, but here in our corner of Cheshire we've had not one drop, just wall-to wall sunshine for three weeks. So my latest blogpost picks ten superb sun-worshippers for the hottest, driest spots in your garden.
www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/blog/some-li...

We got nothing at all...

Home from a wonderful and very successful week at Malvern Spring Show (of which more later..) Just in time by the look of it - huge thunderstorm over Malvern Showground right now! Those yellow and red spots are lightning strikes...

Morning all. If you're after a bit of respite from all the mayhem, our 2 acre bluebell woods are at their absolute best right now - open and free to visit 10-5 Wed-Sat. Free parking. Tea and cake available too :-) WA4 4HP.

Trees! We now stock a hand-picked selection of ornamental and orchard trees, peat-free and UK grown, ideal for smaller/medium gardens. They'll be added to our website over the next few days. Here's the first - our beloved Prunus 'Shirotae'. www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/plant/PRU120...

I keep a notebook to remind what's in which border, but I don't worry exactly where they are. Often when I'm planting new bulbs I dig up an old one - I just put it back and plant the new one a few inches away. No, the flowers from the old bulbs tend to be smaller.

Our garden tulips have been such a hit this year that I thought I'd write a blog post about our favourites and how we have built up the display over the years.
www.bluebellcottage.co.uk/blog/tulips-...

Tulips Brown Sugar and Blushing Apeldoorn

Tulip Avignon

Tulips Atilla and Bojangles

Tulip Vancouver, and a white narcissus around the base of a white birch tree

Years ago I started adding tulips to our borders in colour drifts. Each year I add more, working on the combinations to complement the plants around them. Think this year is our best yet...

Epimedium x warleyense

Epimedium pinnatum subsp. colchicum

Paris incompleta (stupid name for a lovely plant).

Magnolia stellata

A small selection of the plants in our woodland garden in flower at the moment.

Photo through our woodland garden, featuring Pachyphragma macrophyllym, Epimediums, Brunnera, Anemone lipsiensis, and Acers

Gorgeous light in the woodland garden this evening... Some close-ups coming up if you want to know what's what...

Noting also, that, as the name suggests, we have 2 acres of Hyacinthoides non-scripta (commonly the English bluebell) on our land. These cherished, nationally protected bluebells are also listed as highly toxic to cats. Thing is, they like following us around in there...