Plant nursery celebrates 40th anniversary

The plant nursery celebrates its 40th anniversary…………………………..

Stillingfleet Lodge Botanical Garden, located between York and Selby, celebrates 40 years of trading this summer and continues to supply rare herbaceous plants particularly suited to the Yorkshire climate.

In the early 1980s, Vanessa Cooke was made redundant from her job, so she decided to learn something new and attended Askham Bryan College of Horticulture. She started propagating the plants and installed a polytunnel. Thanks to a year of support from the government's enterprise scheme, she was able to open this budding plant nursery on a commercial basis in 1984.

There are currently over 800 varieties in our plant catalogue, 90% of which are grown in the public gardens adjacent to Stillingfleet Lodge. Visitors can see well-filled beds where herbaceous plants grow separated from the garden's larger plants.

Vanessa said: “We are very proud of what we have achieved over the years, providing Yorkshire gardeners with a wide variety of amazing and unusual herbaceous plants. Although many of our plants are suitable for shady locations, , some plants are suitable for pollinators. Most of our plants are not available for purchase in garden stores, nor are we personally available for plant recommendations.

Stillingfleet Lodge has been home to the National Collection of Lung Disease for 15 years and the breed Stillingfleet Meg was bred here. Hardy geraniums are also a specialty of this garden, and if you visit this nursery in early summer, it's virtually impossible not to be seduced by Vanessa's stunning geraniums, a favorite flower of the Hardy Plant Society. Two varieties, Geranium Stillingfleet Ghost and Stillingfleet Keira, are bred in nurseries and named by national collection owners of geraniums. The nursery has always had close links with the Hardy Botanical Society, with both the Pulmonaria Group and the Hardy Geranium Group holding their annual general meetings in the garden.

Independent plant nurseries are in decline, with their number almost halving between 2000 and 2020. It is down to the determination of Vanessa, her team and their loyal customers that Stillingfleet Lodge Plant Nursery continues to thrive.

Stillingfleet Lodge's gardens and plant nurseries are open to the public every Wednesday and Friday from 13:00 to 17:00 from April 1st to September 30th, and on the first and third weekend of each month. (June 2024 will be the 2nd and 3rd weekend). There are also additional public days on National Garden Plan and Wildlife Day. For more information please visit our website: www.stillingfleetlodgenurseries.co.uk

Admission to the plant nursery and coffee shop is free during normal opening hours.

For more information please contact Vanessa Cook on 01904 728506 or email info@stillingfleetlodgenurseries.co.uk.