Scorching Summer

Well it’s certainly been a tropical few weeks at our Sussex nursery and in this hot weather we’ve been watering twice a day and seen temperatures of over 45C in the greenhouses.

It’s hard work on the watering but our citrus trees particularly love this weather and we're looking forward to a bumper harvest in the autumn.

Of course the sunny weather has meant busy days out on the road at Hampton Court and at Lambeth country show and as always it's great to meet our customers face to face. Our last show for the summer will be Chichester Chilli Fiesta at West Dean Gardens on the 10th-12th August. Another great day out, where will be showcasing our tasty citrus and our unusual herbs like ginger and cardamom, so please do come along if you can.

We were also delighted to be shortlisted for ‘Best Customer Service’ in the local lewes district business awards just recently. A testimony to the hard work and dedication of Michelle and Debbie here at the nursery, it's great to receive this kind of recognition and of course it's fun to down tools and dig out a frock for the evening too!

Sadly this month, we said goodbye to one of our lovely team, Hannah as she moves on to pastures new but we're delighted to announce the start of our latest recruit, Honor. Another Sussex lady and a great plant lover, we're excited to have her onboard and she'll be helping on the phones and in the nursery over the coming weeks, so do say hello and make her feel welcome.

May Madness

We had a fantastic time at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival at the start of the month. It felt like after a slow start, the season has now really taken off. Our "Grow Your Own Cocktail" stand was popular with the judges and visitors and its always nice to be at Malvern, it's such a fun and relaxed show.

If you weren't able to visit, do check our our 'Grow Your Own Cocktail page for top tips and recipes and also a tempting video on how to make your own limoncello!

As plant lovers, we have always tried to ensure that our packaging and our nursery practices are as eco-friendly as possible, so we are really delighted to have found a compostable replacement for the plastic bags we used to use.

We wanted a bag that would not just degrade eventually but that would offer a real environmental friendly alternative. These new bags are made from plant starch so are made from sustainable resources but also are completely compostable and will naturally break down to organic matter either in council food waste collections or in a normal household compost bin (and yes we've tested that ourselves :)). Find out more about our environmental commitments or let us know your suggestions, we'd love to hear from you.

Of course there has been a lot of publicity about the latest GDPR regulations this month too and in line with this you can now view our updated privacy policy here. As a small family business we have never and will never share our customers private information but of course if you have any concerns or queries please do let us know.

April Sun and Showers

We've had some glorious sunny days this month and some impressive downpours too. April is a month when everything springs back to life and the nursery is absolutely bursting with blossom. From delicate apple blossom to the stunning fragrance of our lemon and orange blooms, it's a lovely time of year at the nursery.

As the weather warms up the show season begins and we've already been out and about at 2 local events this month, Great Comp plant fair in Kent and the Garden Show at Firle Place. As always it's lovely to meet our customers face to face and the weather at Firle place and the stunning backdrop meant we'll definately be back again next year.

Our winter flowering plants and orchids have now made way for returning summer favourites and also some exciting new additions. From pretty lavender and patio roses to exotic hibiscus, calla lillies and bougainvillea to these new 'Everlasting Lilac' there is plenty of colour for the house or the garden. Don't forget if there is something you don't see then please do drop us a line and we'll let you know if it's something we'll have later in the year or sometimes we'll be able to source that special plant just for you.

Our next show will be the RHS Malvern Spring Festival 10th-13th May where we'll have a colourful 'grow your own cocktail themed stand. Watch this space for more details and plant inspiration coming soon!

NEW boxes, NEW personalised service and fab NEW fruiting plants now in for Spring! - March 2018

We know it's so important that our plants not only leave here looking great but that they arrive with you in tip top condition too. To this end we are always looking at ways to improve our packaging and delivery service.

This month we’re delighted to introduce two new innovations, a new smaller box for our smaller plants and planters and a new eco-friendly void filler to protect your plants in transit. Made from recycled and recyclable paper this ‘knitted’ cushion can be recycled alongside cardboard in any council recycling scheme and can even be cut up and composted in your domestic compost bin. Best of all, we’re already seeing an impact with a 50% reduction in damages on our most fragile planters.

Do you have a comment about our packaging or delivery service? Or maybe you’ve found a creative way to reuse our new packaging
- We’d love to hear from you!

After such a long, wet winter the spring blossom at the nursery is a VERY welcome sight. We're delighted to introduce some fabulous new fruit trees to our range for 2018 from these stunning Nectarine trees, to tasty Apricots and Pears. These patio trees will make a great feature whatever the size of the garden and are a lovely way to mark a new birth or a special anniversary.

And when it is for a special occasion we've added the ability to add your own personal message to any of our plain metal pails. Listed as an extra option on our lemon and calamondin trees this service is also available as a seperate 'personalisation' listing and can be added to any plant sent in a plain metal pail. You can add a birth date, names or a special message for just £5 and with up to 20 characters you can be as creative as you like!

Happy New Year from the Plants4Presents Nursery!

We had a super busy Christmas, helped out by our team of fabulous Christmas elves we sent over 4000 plants to homes up and down the country. Now the mince pies have all been eaten, the sherry drunk and it's time to start turning our attention to the new gardening year.

Even this early in the season, there are signs of spring at the nursery, the days are getting longer, the bulbs are up and we've started our Spring Sowing. We've also got some lovely new gifts for January from the very first of the new season from Kent, to Lucky Bamboo to welcome in the Chinese New Year. There's plenty of spring cheer to banish the January Blues.

Snow Update - 8th December

Unfortunately with heavy snow and gales in Scotland at the moment and more forecast for the weekend we experiencing delays to some delivery addresses in these areas. Our plants are all carefully wrapped and boxed against the cold and are sent on the fastest perishable services but unfortunately the weather is a little out of control. In snow affected areas we are currently seeing a one day delivery delay, however our couriers are working all weekend and you should receive regular updates on your delivery progress or of course you are welcome to give us a call in office hours on 01825 721162 for an update.

Video-tastic!

How did that happen? it's nearly December already. We've moved most of our larger citrus inside to their winter homes and the nights are drawing in. We've not been idle though. We've been working with the fantastic team @Lightbox Inc on some fab new videos - letting you see behind the scenes here at the nursery and also creating some 'how to' tutorials to answer our most common care questions. You can see the whole collection and subscribe to new videos on our youtube channel. We hope you like them!

As you'd expect we are already we're already getting organised for Christmas and have confirmed our favourite temps will be helping out in December. We're particularly pleased with our christmas range this year with some really strong flowering quinces, camellias and skimmias for the garden as well as some lovely new INDOOR hellebores and Christmas tree shaped azaleas which are sure to hit the spot.

Our Christmas Lavender, Christmas Bays, Sloe Gin gift Sets and Sussex grown poinsettias will all be back for the festive season. We've planted our giant amaryllis and are now eagerly awaiting the first fat bud and then we'll know Christmas is really coming!

P.S. Whilst the amaryllis are getting their roots down we're working on our Christmas card list. If you've been 'good' this year keep an eye out for a little christmas thank you coming through the door.... ;)

Nursery News - September 2017

Since our Sussex at Hampton Court we've been continuing to have fun with Cocktails, making passion punch from our homegrown passionfruits for our staff party and taking our Grow Your Own Cocktail bar on tour to Wisley Flower Show to round of the season in style!

In between cocktails we've also been working with the lovely peeps at lightbox inc on some exciting new videos, so watch this space for some fun how-to videos coming soon.

As we roll in to autumn it's all change with the plants and our summer hydrangeas and roses are now making room for autumn flowering cyclamen and orchids. Our selection does change from week to week but you can always catch up on our newest additions in our 'Just In' range.

On the telly!

It's been an exciting month for us at P4P with our first tv appearance talking cocktails on Saturday Kitchen Live. It was a great experience and Si and Dave from the Hairy Bikers couldn't have been nicer. If you missed it you can catch up here www.bbc.co.uk

We were awarded a shiny silver medal for our display at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and had heaps of interest in our 'Grow Your Own Cocktails'. You can read more about our exploits and download our tasty summer cooler and 'gin-a-licioius' cocktail recipes here

We were also excited to be shortlisted for 'Small Business of the Year' in our local business awards this month. Sadly we were pipped to the post but the team had a great evening and it was nice to swop workboots for frocks for a change!

Now summer is well underway we have lots of colourful new season flowering plants for indoors and out and next month we'll be out on the road again at Chichester Chilli Fiesta so please do join us if you can.

Nursery News - June 2017

Despite the heat on the day it was great to meet some of our customers from near and far at our Summer Open Day. As usual we didn't take as many pictures as we meant to but we hope that those of you who came along enjoyed the day. We'll be opening again in October for a special citrus day so do try and come along if you can. More

Nursery News - May 2017

Well as always there has been plenty going on behind the scenes here at P4P HQ. We've been working hard on ironing out the last little wrinkles in the new website and like all IT projects we could never have imagined how long it would take or how time-consuming all the nitty gritty would be. We have had lots of postive feedback though, from you our lovely customers and will be making the last couple of tweaks to the account holders address book in the next few weeks.

If you have any comments on the new site or perhaps there is a new plant you would like to see, please do get in touch, it's always great to hear from you.

In the meantime we've been doing some building work at the nursery, removing some of the oldest, unused greenhouses and getting the site here spruced up ahead of our next open day on the 18th June. If you are in the Sussex area on the day it would be great to see you.

Nursery News - March 2017

You'll notice a cleaner look, larger images, more options on pots and containers and the ability to pay for orders with your paypal account.

Behind the scenes it's a completely new site with more traffic capacity, better stock control, better security and the tech to help us continue to grow for many years to come.

It is of course still the same friendly faces at the nursery so if you are not sure about anything on the new site or you would just like to speak to us direct, then do give us a call at the nursery on 01825 721162.

History

Plants4Presents launched in 2004 and has steadily grown into the busy mail order nursery it is today. See our About Us page for more information about the team behind the scenes or browse our newsletter archives for more pics and news for days gone by.