Opening hours: Monday - Saturday: 9.00am to 5.30pm
Sunday: 10.30am to 4.30pm
(Sunday Viewing from 10.00am)
Telephone: 01438 820 412 / Email: info@vanstone-gardencentre.co.uk
Vanstone Park is the perfect place for plants. The creative displays, beautiful colours, and heaps of inspiration in our outdoor plant areas, are there for you all year round.
We offer a wide range of plants such as Ornamental and Fruit Trees, Alpines, Shrubs, Perennials, Annual Bedding, Roses, Acers, Climbers, Hedging, and Soft Fruit. We try to stock plants when they are looking their best. However, we have a range of staple plants that you will find in most gardens all year round. So you are guaranteed to always find quality plants. All of our hardy plants (i.e. non-tender shrubs and perennials) come with a 5-year guarantee.
The majority of our stock comes from British growers. We have a vast seed selection from Mr. Fothergill's and Thompson & Morgan. The seasonal bulbs are supplied by Taylor Bulbs.
TOP 5 Climbing Plants to bring character to your property
Climbers can be grown on walls, arches, pergolas, and obelisks. They provide privacy and cover unsightly spots. Besides, they can create an oasis of fragrance in your garden to enjoy relaxing moments in a day or long summer evenings.
Spring Flowering Bulbs
Planting flower bulbs for biodiversity
Insects cannot survive without nectar and pollen. Flowers produce these two crucial substances. By planting bulbous flowers in our gardens and on our terraces and balconies, we can help insects find enough nectar and pollen.
A celebration
With their sparkling colours, spring-flowering bulbs are a real asset in the garden. As the garden awakens, they provide a cheerful note that cheers us up. It is a spring ritual that returns year on year, and that we – unconsciously – look forward to. But this ritual is not only a celebration for us, it is also an indispensable ceremony for insects.
Shortage
Insects like bees and butterflies need nectar and pollen to survive. But in early spring, there is not enough nectar and pollen to go around. This is because very little of the scarce greenery that is left is in bloom. But did you know that there are early-flowering bulbous plants that, compared with other garden plants, produce a lot of nectar and pollen?
A solution
Due to the shortage of pollen and nectar, the insect population is shrinking in variety and in quantity. If everyone who has a garden, terrace or balcony takes action, we can all contribute to preventing this reduction. So why not plant some spring-flowering bulbous plants for more flowers for these important little creatures?
Fuel
Nectar and pollen are released as early as January through the earliest flowering bulbous plants. Do you want to know which bulbous plants provide insects with food and thus increase biodiversity? We have listed the top 10 for you:
1. Anemone (Anemone blanda)
Anemones flower in March and April, with delicate purple-blue flowers. This bulbous plant mainly provides pollen for wild bees and honeybees.
2. Grape hyacinth (Muscari)
Bees absolutely adore grape hyacinths. Their grey pollen is loved by bumblebees, wild (mining) bees, honeybees and butterflies.
3. Crocus
Crocuses contribute to biodiversity because their open flowers make their pollen and nectar easily accessible to bees and early butterflies.
4. Daffodils (Narcissus)
Insects with a long tongue feast on nectar and pollen from daffodils. Did you know that the (wild) daffodil is a favourite among parasitic wasps and tachinids?
5. Springstar (Ipheion)
The soft pink, lilac, blue or white star-shaped flowers of springstar attract many different types of insects.
6. Allium
The convex shape of alliums allows several insects to feed on this flower at the same time. No wonder traffic often gets very busy on alliums.
7. Snowdrops (Galanthus)
Serene white snowdrops offer plenty of nectar and pollen for early-flying wild bees, honeybees and butterflies, from December to April.
8. Glory-of-the-Snow (Chionodoxa)
Glory-of-the-Snow flowers in early spring and is a source of both a pollen and nectar for various insects.
9. Winter Aconite (Eranthis)
Winter aconite is one of the earliest flowering tuberous plants. Fat bumblebees feast on their cheerful carpets of yellow, wide-open flowers.
10. Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum)
Although still relatively unknown, summer snowflake is popular with insects. It thrives in damp places, for example, near ditches or on the edge of a pond.
