Specialist Plant Day

Specialist Plant Day Celebrates Plant Diversity at Pensthorpe

Some of Norfolk’s top Nurseries will all be in one place and giving expert gardening advice as the annual Specialist Plant Day returns to Pensthorpe Natural Park on Saturday 13th September 2014 between 10am and 5pm.

Organised in conjunction with the Norfolk Nursery Network, visitors will be able to purchase rare and unusual plants alongside traditional favourites, as well as getting inspiration from Pensthorpe’s own stunning gardens.

In addition, the day provides the perfect opportunity for visitors in need of an autumnal pick-me-up and garden refresh to get advice from Norfolk’s top garden experts.

Mark Noble, Commercial Manager of Pensthorpe Natural Park comments: “It’s time for people to get their green fingers out again. The Specialist Plant Day encourages gardeners to be as creative as they can, just to make gardening that bit more special. The Norfolk Nursery Network will be ready to give them a helping hand and offer their advice. Any wilting worries or growth issues can be sorted with their expert knowledge, so plant lovers would be silly to pass up this opportunity!”

The event also offers the chance for guests to experience Pensthorpe Natural Parks famous Millennium Garden in full autumn colour.

Entry to the plant fair is £2.00 per person with money raised being donated to East Anglian Children’s Hospices (EACH). There is discounted entry into the reserve for those attending the fair.

Attendees from across the region include Creake Plant Centre, Hoecroft Plants, The Plantsman’s Preference, Norfolk Herbs, Urban Jungle, Thorncroft Clematis, Woodgate Nursery, Walnut Tree Garden Nursery, Choice Landscapes, Predator Plants, West Acre Gardens and sculptor Toby Winterburn.

Visit www.pensthorpe.com or call 01328 851465 for more information and opening times.

 

The Gardens at Pensthorpe

Pensthorpe offers garden lovers the wonderful year-round display of structural beauty, foliage, natural habitat and meadows bursting full of colour is a must-see. The stunning site offers both serious and amateur gardeners inspirational and naturalistic style gardens.

The Millennium Garden was first launched in 1999, an important example of Piet Ouldolf’s work and the first of his gardens in the world to be redesigned. Following a series of re-planting, the garden was re-launched in 2011. The re-planting included an additional eight new species of grass such as Arunus, Inula and Penstemon, 28 perennials and two new grasses (Panicum Shenandaoh and Sporobolus heteroolopsis) adding to the stunning area of over 100 different species of perennials, over 20 types of grasses and six types of shrubs.

As well as the Millennium Garden there is also the lush and prosperous Wave Garden, designed by the award-winning Julie Toll, the garden is an example of dry shady planting and has important structural elements such as yew hedging which forms the backdrop to the spring-flowering garden of Brunnera LangreesPrimula and summer bulbs of white Lilies and Alliums.

The Wildlife Habitat Garden encourages colourful insects and butterflies to populate, with water as the main focus of the garden.  Pensthorpe aims to help visitors to attract wildlife to their own gardens and a walk round the Garden can highlight how best to create different habitats to encourage a range of wildlife. These habitats vary from Dragonflies and Amphibians; Bats and Moths; Beetles; Garden Birds; Butterflies; Reptiles, and Bees. The Wildlife Habitat Garden incorporates places for shelter in colder months and in the summer months reptiles and bugs can bask on rocks.

And for a more natural garden Pensthorpe is also home to the Wildflower Meadow. As one of the largest in the county and set on the flood plain of the River Wensum, the Meadow plays an important role in the local ecology. The Meadow is traditionally managed; flourishing with orchids in the summer months including Common Spotted (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) and Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) and other wildflowers before it seeds and is grazed in the autumn by Norfolk Horn sheep.

 

Pensthorpe’s Admission Prices

£11.25 for Adults, £9.50 for Seniors and £8.00 for children aged 3-16.

 

Where?

Pensthorpe Natural Park is on the A1067, one mile from Fakenham. Open all year, 1st January – 28th February 10am – 4pm, and 1st March – 31st December 10am to 5pm. Courtyard Café serving home-cooked food; Gift Shop with a large range of stylish and unusual items; free parking. Tel 01328 851465, www.pensthorpe.com. Twitter @pensthorpe.

 Pensthorpe won ‘Best Norfolk Attraction’ in 2009 – well-earned recognition of the overall experience offered to visitors and the commitment of staff.

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