The Shade Plant Specialists

Long Acre Plants is essentially a mail order plantsman's nursery, situated in a 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. We endeavour to make our packaging as environmentally friendly as possible. The packing cases we use are made from recycled PET which can be recycled again so creating a closed loop and having the best carbon footprint.

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. Geraniums cover the gaps after the bulbs finish and give another season of colour. A few will even keep their leaves through a mildish Winter too!

Hardy Ferns

We offer an extensive and large range of wonderful hardy woodland or shady garden ferns, evergreen and 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 styles of garden, 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 thibetanus 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. An incredibly verstaile and pretty plant.

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

Roscoea purpurea Snow Goose £11.00 A stocky White flowered Roscoea true purpurea flowering over a long period. find out more	Impatiens quingchengshanica 'Emei Dawn' £7.00 A form with pale pink flowers in late Summer and Autumn. The stems are quite tough and stout with dark green ... find out more	Begonia 'Torsa' £8.00 A new hardy form whcih grows very large, pink flower in late Summer till frosts. The leaves can grow 40cm across find out more

Begonia grandis 'Snowpop' £6.00 Begonia grandis subsp. sinensis is a more compact selection than the typical subsp evansiana,. Smaller foliage and earlier flowering makes for ... find out more	Saxifraga stolonifera 'Nezu Jinga' £6.00 A Japanese form with very large silvered green leaves with a network of silver veins to the extra large leaves to ... find out more	Roscoea cangshanensis £7.00 An easy and quiet vigorous species from China. Summer flowering from July right through till the frosts with us. find out more

Blechnum novae-zealandiae £11.00 A New Zealand fern with long lanceolate fronds flushed red initially turning green through yellow. Very attractive. Probably best in a ... find out more	Polypodium x mantoniae 'Bifido-Grandiceps' £8.00 Tall growing Polypodium very tollerant with a broad terminal crest to the fronds. Tolerant of dry shade, probably not best in ... find out more	Polypodium glycyrrhiza 'Lawrence Crocker £8.50 North West America. Dark green fronds with broad terminal crests and all the other pinnae on the fronds are neatly crested ... find out more

Polypodium glycyrrhiza x scouleri £8.50 A large growing shiny dark leaved Polypodium. The most tropical looking and tough looking Polypodium. Evergreen, a good hybrid for ... find out more	Begonia 'Wild Swan' BSWJ 7772 £7.00 A short tuberous deciduous species/variety from Japan. With rounded hairy mat green leaves and separate stalks with masses of white flowers. ... find out more	Zingiber mioga 'Crug Zing' BSWJ 4379 £7.00 A very hardy ginger from Chjudo which is between Japan and Korea. Yellow and pink/apricot flowers in Autumn at ground level.. ... find out more

Begonia grandis Bells and Whistles £6.00 A fully hardy for with silver mottling to the dark green leaves. Dark red lower leaf surface. A distinct new form. ... find out more	Begonia palmata DJHM 13008 £7.00 A lovely bordeline hardy Begonia collected by Dan Hinkley in Myanmar. With large well marked Mottled bronze palmate leaves and pink ... find out more	Drynaria sinica £9.00 A lovely hardy fern. Red flushed new frionds emerge in Spring and gradually turn to greysih green. Deciduous but but leaving ... find out more

Best Selling Plants

Rodgersia nepalensis

£9.00

A Himalayan species with dark green true pinnate leaves and white flowers.
find out more

Anemone leveillei

£6.50 (2 or fewer items) £5.95 (3 or more items)

Basically a larger flowered and more robust form of Anemone rivularis with lovely bluey/grey anthers.
find out more

Smilacina tatsiense

£9.50

Neat growing species with white flowers and dark green leaves.
find out more

Disporum longistylum 'Night Heron'

£7.50

Dark flushed purple foliage on this bamboo like Disporum. Easy in a sheltered shady bed. Evergreen if sheltered enough and then gets to a good size.
find out more

Podophyllum versipelle 'Spotty Dotty' AGM

£7.95

We are delighted to be able to offer these unusual beauties once again. A tissue cultured form with very highly marked new leaves. Fades slightly later. Deep red flowers. For moisture retentive soil in shade.
Poisonous.
find out more

Kirengeshoma palmata AGM

£7.20 (2 or fewer items) £6.80 (3 or more items)

Elvish woodlander to some 60-80 cm high. Flowering in late Summer through to mid Autumn. Beautiful pale yellow shuttlecock flowers that hang in a modest fashion on arching reddish stems. Needs a deep moist soil in a sheltered spot and protection from slugs and snails.
find out more

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The Shade Plant Specialists

Geranium

Hardy Ferns

Helleborus

Tiarella

Cyclamen

New Woodland Plants

Best Selling Plants

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