Shade Plant Specialists

Long Acre Plants is essentially a mail order plantsman's nursery, in the hidden triangle of Somerset that slides into Dorset and Wiltshire. We specialise in unusual woodland plants and plants for shade, by mail order. This includes Erythronium, Epimedium, hardy ferns, hardy geraniums, hellebores (Helleborus), snowdrops, Viola odorata and Hepatica amongst many other shade loving plants.
Plants are the reason for this business and with a very few exceptions we grow what we like, for all the usual human reasons of association, perception of what is beautiful or just inexplicable love.
We try and grow in an environmentally aware way, including peat free compost, collecting and recycling rain water and using recycled paper. Plus all electricity used in the nursery and office is generated by wind or hydro, not through burning fossil fuels.

Geranium
Hardy geraniums are amazingly good in shade, even dry shade. The geranium forms we offer are Summer flowering so often give colour to shady areas during the most difficult time. We find that hardy geraniums combine well with Spring bulbs; eg snowdrops through to Erythronium. The geraniums cover the gaps after the bulbs finish and give another season of colour.

Hardy Ferns

We offer a large range of wonderful hardy woodland or shade garden ferns, many evergreen and others deciduous. As a rule, ferns are best in shade, but some ferns will take almost full sun, some are good in dry soils others in moist. Ferns fit into many different style of gardens, Japanese gardens, woodland gardens, cottage gardens, courtyards and containers, city gardens, tropical/ foliage style gardens even alpine gardens can look wonderful with a range of dwarf ferns, as well as pure ferns gardens or stumperies. Ferns fit into practically all garden situations and combine well with other plants. For example, deciduous ferns can be grown successfully in the same situation as a large Winter/Spring bulb displays, with aconites, Cyclamen, Galanthus, Narcissus and Erythronium etc.

Helleborus
We have a large range of hellebores available for immediate delivery. These hellebores are hand pollinated, vigorous breeding, line produced plants that are of a type but all slightly different. Hellebores are great plants for the woodland garden and come in a large range of colours and are pretty much trouble free. We do have some unusual forms such as Double Helleborus niger and Helleborus thibitanus available.

Tiarella

Tiarella is a lovely genus of plants, hugely developed over the last few years. The basic running Tiarella cordifolia, or foamflower, and the clump forming Tiarella wherryi, have been developed into a number of very shade tolerant, and once established, dry shade tolerant plants. The new Tiarella forms are evergreen but change throughout the year, with leaf colour and form.

Cyclamen
Cyclamen is a genus with a number of non-hardy species, but there are also some very hardy species of Cyclamen which thrive in a woodland or shady garden. Early Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium will just about grow anywhere. Winter flowering Cyclamen coum is also is very tolerant of shade, even thriving under walnut trees, where growth in many other plants is greatly supressed.

New Woodland Plants

Meconopsis cambrica £4.50 Welsh poppies, possibly should be a true poppy or indeed the only true meconopsis. Anyhow will seed around and naturalise is ... find out more	Hydrangea paniculata 'Kyushu' £9.00 A compact selection with pure white flowers atop stems up to 1.2m tall. find out more	Hydrangea arborescens 'Hayes Starburst' £10.50 A new selection of this easy very tolerant woodland shrub with domed flower heads of pretty star like white/pale green double ... find out more

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' £10.50 A stunning shrub light green large leaves with from mid Summer large round snowy white heads of flowers, up to 30cm ... find out more	Zantedeschia aethiopica £5.00 Full pots of a very hardy selection that we originally raised from seed. They have been frozen solid in pots down ... find out more	Stachyurus praecox £11.50 A stunning shrub with panicles of lemon yellow flowers in Spring. Deciduous with shiny green leaves after the flowers drop. Does ... find out more

Salix fargesii £10.50 A wonderful slow growing upright willow. Dark red stems with red veined green leaves. find out more	Geranium 'Blue Cloud' £5.50 A fine hybrid repeat flowering geranium with pale foliage early in the year with a red cast and pale blue flowers ... find out more	Sambucus nigra 'Guincho Purple' £9.80 A full dark purple leaved form with pink flowers in Spring. find out more

Viburnum plicatum 'Pink Beauty' AGM £9.50 A fine compact form with layers of white flowers that age pink. One of the best of this lovely shrub for ... find out more	Viburnum plicatum 'Shasta' £10.50 A larger growing form, with tiers (layers) of white flowers in late spring. find out more	Viburnum farreri 'Candidissimum' £10.50 A great plant with pure white fragrant flowers in Winter. Plant it somewhere you can catch the wonderful scent on the ... find out more

Viburnum x bodnantense 'Charles Lamont' £8.50 A wonderful winter flowering shrub to around 1.8m. Mid pink fragrant flowers in mid winter until Spring, on bare stems. Plant ... find out more	Euphorbia schillingii £5.50 (2 or fewer items) £4.95 (3 or more items) This lovely Euphorbia is from North India; from moist woods so not for the dry spots of the previous two. ... find out more	Aquilegia 'Blue Star' £4.20 (2 or fewer items) £3.80 (3 or more items) Easy and a good natured Aquilegia with bright mid blue flowers with a white centre. find out more

Best Selling Plants

Galium odoratum

£4.50 (2 or fewer items) £4.00 (3 or more items)

{About}
We're asked for sweet woodruff so often that we have started growing it. Mythical thug for a shady spot where it can spread and display its white flowers in Spring. Will tolerate dry soils. It was used most effectively as ground cover in a small, shady courtyard show garden at Chelsea 2012.
{Cultivation}
Galium will spread quite vigorously. So a plant that will survive in difficult situations.
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Liriope muscari 'Big Blue'

£4.95 (2 or fewer items) £4.50 (3 or more items)

Predictably large with blue flowers. One of the best of the good flowering forms, and evergreen.
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Geranium nodosum

£4.95 (2 or fewer items) £4.50 (3 or more items)

Bluish pearly pink flowers. A nice form of this woodland toughy from the Old Rectory, Burghfield. Will seed around to a certain extent and thrive in pretty much the driest position. An incredibly useful Geranium.
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Aquilegia vulgaris 'Ruby Port'

£4.20 (2 or fewer items) £3.80 (3 or more items)

{About} Double ruby red flowered form, very good in shade, even dry shade, and will seed true.
{Cultivation} Hardy and very easy in even dry shade, May and June flowering they will mildly seed around and estblish itself coming up where it wants to grow, easy to control.
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Geranium phaeum 'Album'

£4.50

An excellent Geranium for shade as the white flowers really light up a dry shady spot.
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Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' AGM

£5.80 (2 or fewer items) £5.50 (3 or more items)

PP13859 PBR 1799
Fully silvered leaves and blue flowers in Spring. Shows great vigour even in dry conditions. Will gradually form a good size plant.
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Shade Plant Specialists

Geranium

Hardy Ferns

Helleborus

Tiarella

Cyclamen

New Woodland Plants

Best Selling Plants

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