England is experiencing record high temperatures this Easter, locally it was certainly 25'c. I think the South was expected to have 27'c. The garden centers we visited were busy, but many others were closed due to Easter Sunday trading laws.
Firstly we visited a small local independent centre at Bury Bank, Stone, an off shoot to our more local one at Johnson Hall, Eccleshall. Until recently Johnson Hall was lived in by the widow of a very distant cousin of mine - but that doesn't get me a discount.
They've opened a bigger centre off the A51, Nantwich to Stone which has a smaller selling area, but many of the polytunnels they need to support two centres. It's named after the ancient hill fort which I've not yet walked around. There is little to see as it's wooded over.
The bedding plants looked excellent there. I was interested in the FERN range which I need for a sheltered part of my garden. However, they didn't have a very tempting range of CHILLIES… the usual jalapeno, cayenne, etc, but did have some excellent herbs. I will go back to buy some LEMON THYME.
As it was just up the road, we also visited the comparatively ubiquitous Trentham Gardens, near Stoke-on-Trent. The carparks were full, and again, people seemed to be panic buying bedding and hanging basket plants. They had a great herb range this year, the best I've seen, and some very interesting chillies, looking large and healthy. I didn't buy any though. Dad picked up some Rose Shrub Spray... rather expensive, but will last him a few seasons, Mum bought dried Mango slices...
Sadly, as again the Easter Sunday Trading Laws meant that half the shop front was closed -- the interesting half with bulbs and kitchenware...
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