Get inspiration from Mr Fothergill's

The newly published 48-page full-colour Autumn Inspiration Plant Catalogue 2011 from Mr Fothergill’s Direct features on its front cover the brand new Pansy Fizzy Fruit Salad Mixed F1. A fruity mix of colours, its bright, ruffled, frilly blooms are produced in abundance from autumn through to spring. This variety is superb in hanging baskets, trough or planted en masse in bedding schemes.

A pack of 150 miniplugs of Pansy Fizzy Fruit Salad Mixed F1 costs just £6.00. Orders can be accepted until the end of August 2011 for delivery from mid September 2011. It is joined by the brand new Pansy Fizzy Passion Fruit F1, a carefully chosen blend of creamy yellows and reds with all the attributes of Fizzy Fruit Salad Mixed F1.

Mr Fothergill’s reports violas are now even more popular with its customers than pansies – and one which looks set to turn heads is the brand new Viola Bunny Ears series in Lavender and Yellow, Red and White, Violet and White and Purple and Yellow. Bunny Ears are so named due to the resemblance of the flowers to a rabbit’s face. They arrived unexpectedly in a breeding programme and have been developed through several years. Well suited to containers, bedding or edging, the compact, floriferous plants reach just 8in (20cm) and will flower freely for many weeks from autumn onwards. Three potted plants of any variety cost £9.95, with six offered at a money-saving £17.90. Buy one of each for £12.95 or two of each for only £19.90. Orders can be accepted until the end of September, with delivery from mid September 2011.

Perfect for hanging baskets and window boxes are brand new Violas Avalanche Yellow Pink Wing F1 and Avalanche Pink Blush F1, with their mounded, gently spreading habit. Both these little beauties are notable for their free flowering nature and the length of their show. Look out also for the brand new Violas Desert Fire and Blueberry Swirl from the weather-tolerant Sorbet series, both chosen by the Mr Fothergill’s team as being the star performers of this superb series.

Few spring blooms are more evocative or beautiful than primroses and the Autumn Inspiration catalogue features four brand new varieties. Primrose Rubens Mixed F1 is a fully double blend of rich, jewel-like colours which will sparkle in the late winter and spring garden. Some colours have the bonus of a delightful fragrance and all the blooms hold their shape and colour well, bringing cheer to beds, borders and containers at a grey time of year. A pack of 44 plugs, plus 22 extra free, cost £14.95, while two packs, plus 44 free, are priced at just £26.90. Primrose Rubens Mixed F1 grows up to 8in (20cm).

Equally enchanting is Polyanthus Elpiro F1, the golden yellow blooms of which are both early and scented, flowering freely in terrace pots or in beds and borders. A pack of 44 plugs, plus 22 extra free, cost £12.95, while two packs, plus 44 free, are priced at just £22.90.  Elpiro F1 reaches 12in (30cm) in height.

Mr Fothergill’s is proud to offer the brand new Anemone Wild Swan, the Chelsea Flower Show’s Plant of the Year 2011 – an accolade reserved for an outstanding performer. This Scottish-bred beauty has pure white flowers, banded and shaded pale blue on the reverse of each petal. When the blooms close at night, this pale blue is displayed beautifully. This 16 in (40cm) high perennial flowers from early summer right through to late autumn. Three bare-root plants of Anemone Wild Swan cost £14.95, but six cost just £24.90.

Delphiniums are some of the most majestic border perennials and Mr Fothergill’s brand new Highlander Series is particularly outstanding.  It has a strong, sturdy upright habit and bears fully double, frilled florets on flower spikes measuring up to 28in (70cm) in length.  The plants grow to around 54in (125cm) tall.  Choose from Blueberry Pie (deep lilac), Moonlight (pale lilac with a hint of blue) and Crystal Delight (creamy lilac), all with green centres.  One bare-root plant of any costs £7.95, with three of any costing £17.85.

Boasting excellent drought-tolerance and total hardiness (to -20ºC) in British conditions, the new Delosperma Jolly Series makes an intriguing beautiful ground cover or rock garden subject. Also known as ‘ice plants’ they have a naturally spreading habit and revel in full sun, where their stunning and uniquely coloured flowers are produced from spring through to autumn, making them great value for money. Five distinct colours comprise the Jolly Series, with three potted plants of any priced at £9.95. A collection comprising one each of three varieties is at £9.95, with a double collection saving £3.00.

Kitchen gardeners will also find plenty of interest in the new catalogue. Among four new raspberries introduced are Valentina and Glen Coe. Valentina produces rich apricot-coloured berries from mid June onwards on spine-free canes. The fruits are full of flavour and juice, and the plants are notably pest- and disease-resistant. Six canes of Raspberry Valentina cost £12.95. Twelve cost a money-saving £21.90.

Glen Coe forms a multi-stemmed clump and gives a mid-season crop of richly coloured, dark berries with a superb flavour. One plant in a two-litre pot costs £12.95, with three priced at £29.85. For something rather different, try the Serbian Blackberry, which is said to have an outstandingly good flavour. Fruits can be very large and heavy and canes are thorn-free. One potted plant costs £11.95.

In the vegetable plot, Garlic Avignon Wight and over-wintering Onion Troy are worthy of note. Avignon Wight is a ‘softneck’ type, the large, juicy bulbs of which pack a full-flavoured punch. It is a real treat roasted whole and the bulbs store well. Two bulbs of Garlic Avignon Wight cost £4.95. Sets of Onion Troy give an early crop of dark, yellow-skinned bulbs with a fresh and full-flavoured bite. It is very hardy and is both bolt- and disease-resistant. A 250gm pack of Onion Troy is priced at £3.25.

The Autumn Inspiration Plant Catalogue 2011 also offers an excellent range of tree fruit, a first rate selection of vegetable plants delivered at just the right time for growing on and producing winter and spring crops, plus late cropping potatoes to give ‘out-of-season’ crops of delicious new potatoes through autumn and up to Christmas.

Place an order from the catalogue worth more than £25.00 and claim 20 bulbs of Narcissus poeticus var Recurvus (Pheasant Eye) for just £2.95, a saving of £5.00 on list price. Anyone who orders plants worth more than £35.00 is offered one plant each of Iris sibirica Ruffled Velvet, Dance Ballerina Dance and Sparkling Rose for only £4.95, a saving of £5.00 on the usual price.