Author: admin

Sam, our herbaceous plant expert, gives his pick of the most colourful, easy to grow and reliable plants for year afer year success.

Scabious Butterfly Blue and Pink Mist

These hardy perennials flower for months and are very attractive to bees and butterflies.

Erysimum Fragrant Sunshine and Fragrant Star

Being hardy, evergreen and perennial plus flowering non-stop from April to August these fragrant beauties are an absolute must!

Geum Totally Tangerine

Tough, reliable and easy to grow these Tangerine beauties have been the talking point of The Chelsea Flower Show for the last couple of years!  Flowers all summer long!

Tiarella Spring Symphony

As the name suggests this beautiful spring flowering perennial is fantastic for difficult, shady locations forming neat semi-evergreen clumps.

Veronica Tissington White

Delicate spikes of ice white, late spring flowers are produced above glossy foliage.

Salvia Caradonna

Really impressive plant with elegant purple flower spikes in summer.  Loved by bees and gardeners alike!

Erodium Spanish Eyes

This great little ground cover plant has a winning combination of pretty lacy foliage and dainty pink flowers. Really easy to grow. Available during May.

Geranium Pink Pouffe

One of the earliest flowering hardy geraniums with compact habit. Abundant pretty pink flowers are produced over an exceptionally long flowering season.  Available during May.

A meal no matter how ordinary can be transformed into a flavoursome, healthy, delectable delight – simply by adding fresh, green herbs.

Using more fresh herbs in your cooking can add flavour, without adding more salt, butter or cheese to your dish.  Adding a little green to your meals not only brings a little of the outside into your dishes and makes it look prettier, but it can give you awesome health benefits too.

Here are our top 5 common kitchen herbs and why we like them…

Mint
Mint leaves are by far the most flexible flavouring agents among herbs.  Used from the beginning of the meal until the very end – starters, main course, desserts and beverages!  Personally, I’d be inclined to add this fresh, flavoursome beauty to a Mojito, but it is also a lovely addition to soups, salads, chocolate puddings, teas and I’m even partial to it in an ice-cold lemonade.

It’s core ingredient?  Menthol – it what gives it its lovely aroma and flavour.  To top it all off, mint leaves make the prettiest garnish too!

So, it looks nice, tastes lush and smells fab but why is Mint good for us?

• It’s a soothing agent and great in calming down an upset stomach.
• Mint tea helps to rid toxins from your body and aids digestion.
• Chewing mint leaves can help combat bad breath and it even whitens your teeth!

Our recommendations:
Garden Mint (Mentha spicata) is great for your roast lamb, Moroccan Mint (Mentha spicata ‘Moroccan’) is great for tea as it is a sweeter variety and Orange and Chocolate Mints are great for puds!

Garden Mint and Moroccan Mint Tea

Orange Mint

Rosemary
Delectable in lamb, chicken and poultry dishes/sauces.  This woody herb with distinct, fragrant, needle-like leaves is a must have in our house when seasoning lamb shanks and lamb roasts (including mashed and roast potatoes!). It is also great at adding flavour to soups, chicken dishes, vegetable platters and breads.  It’s very versatile due to its bittersweet and lemony taste and can even be infused in oils.

Why is it good for us?

• Its soothing aroma is great at lifting your mood.
• A natural remedy for migraine.
• Anti-bacterial and antioxidant properties in Rosemary help cure minor infections and boost immunity.

Our recommendations:
The following three varieties all taste very similar but look different in the pot!

Common Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is used for general cooking.  Rosemary officinalis Prostratus (looks very pretty in its pot as it drapes over the sides.  It boasts attractive flowers and lovely aromatic foliage).  Rosemary ‘Miss Jessopp’s Upright’ (AGM) (Pretty pale blue flowers along the stems from late spring).

Common Rosemary and Rosemary Prostratus

Rosemary ‘Miss Jessopp’s Upright’

Parsley
A natural in fish and meat sauces, salads and soups, dips, omelettes, breads and sandwiches. This herb is used more for garnishing than flavouring.  It is commonly sprinkled over dishes minutes before serving, so the aromatic herb plays its role in ‘tickling’ the taste buds. Dark green in colour with short stems, its fresh scent accentuates the flavour of any dish. Personally, I’m partial to parsley in stuffing.

Why is it good for us?

• Acts as a great mouth freshener and helps you get rid of bad breath caused by onion and garlic.
• Aids digestion and boosts immunity particularly, the common cold as it’s a good source of Vitamin C and A.

Our recommendations are:
Flat Leaf/Italian Parsley (Petroselinum crispum neapolitanum) and Curly Leaf Parsley (Petroselinum crispum).  Flat Leaf is very flavoursome and is used during cooking the dish as it retains its flavour until the end.  Curly Leaf is less fragrant and bitter in taste, it is a popular garnishing ingredient for soups and salads.

Flat and Curly Leaf Parsley

Sage
Fresh Sage is the most flavourful and fragrant, making the most pungent recipes.  Known for its long, circular leaves and a strong peppery flavour, this relatively flexible herb plays the role of a seasoning ingredient for fatty meats such as poultry and pork, which is during the early phase of cooking.  This is mainly because it helps in digestion and ensures a toned flavour.  It is also a great compliment to stuffed foods such as risotto, tomato sauces, potatoes and beans.

For something more exotic, you could fry sage leaves and enjoy them as a snack.  Fried sage leaves are considered a gourmet snack by a friend of mine and are (apparently) a lovely pairing with cheese.  Alternatively, season with coarse sea salt, and eat them straight out of your hand like crisps.

Sprinkling roughly chopped sage leaves near the end of caramelizing onions or mushrooms, omelettes, and even tea are other delicious ways to use this winning herb, not forgetting sage and onion stuffing of course!

Why is it good for us?

• Aids digestion.
• Recommended to treat inflammatory conditions such as rheumatic arthritis and bronchial asthma.

Our recommendations:
Green Sage (Salvia officinalis) and Purple Sage (Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’).  Green sage is generally best for cooking whilst Purple Sage looks great in the garden (but can also be used for cooking).

Green Sage and Purple Sage

Chives
This perennial member of the onion family is packed with antioxidants and vitamins A and C.  Chives have a light onion flavour and can be used in many dishes.  Their leaves and edible flowers make them indispensable for garnishing potato salad, soups and other savoury dishes.

For me, it is a staple when making a simple egg mayo sandwich – forget cress, chives are the way to go!

Why is it good for us?

• Eases digestive discomfort.
• Boosts immune system.
• Beneficial for preventing various types of cancer and heart disease.

Our recommendations:
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) have a mild onion flavour and Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum) boast a mild garlic flavour.

Chives and Garlic Chives

All our recommendations are now available amongst hundreds of other varieties.  

Our 1 Litre pots are £3.75 each when you buy 3 or more pots and Coolings Family Members can enjoy Buy One Get One Free with their recent Cuttings Voucher

Using edible flowers in the kitchen has become very popular in the last couple of years and is a great way of linking home and garden. Add some flare to your cooking they can be easily grown by event he most amateur gardener.

Nasturtium

Both the leaves and flowers of these easy to grow beauties are edible.  Flowers add a vibrancy to summer salads, sandwiches of chilled soups and have a delicious peppery taste.  Simply plant as seed or buy as young plants.  They will romp away!

Calendula

The common name Pot Marigold refers to this flower’s use in medieval pottage dishes.  The petals make a colourful addition to salads, soup, scrambled eggs and dips.  Incredibly easy to grow from seed or bought as young plants.

Chives

The flowers of this easy to grow herb are perfect for adding colour and onion flavour to liven up simple salads.  The leaves are equally delicious.

Viola ‘Heartsease’

These beautiful little violas are lovely in ice cubes, salads and as visual garnishes.  Charming and easy to grow in pots alongside herbs.

Lavender

Loved by bees and famed for their beauty and aromatic qualities, lavender is a must-have plant for a sunny well-drained position.  A great way of using lavender in the kitchen is to make lavender sugar.  Take 1 tablespoon of fresh dry lavender and add 2 cups of sugar.  Leave to infuse for a week in a sealed jar.  Lavender sugar gives a lovely floral taste to cakes.

Borage

The blue starflowers of borage have a delicate cucumber flavour and are perfect to enliven chilled summer drinks such as Pimm’s with mint leaves.  Try freezing the flowers in ice cubes for adding to drinks!  (Eat Borage flowers sensibly as can act as a diuretic).

To celebrate the 90th birthday of the National Garden Scheme (NGS), we are privileged to be hosting the ‘Gardens of Kent’ show here at Coolings on the 26th March – Mothering Sunday.

The NGS started in 1927, where gardens across the land opened for one shilling each to provide funds for Queen Alexandra’s nurses, the forerunners of district nurses. In Kent there are eight of the original openers still opening today and helping to raise millions of pounds for charity: Chilham Castle, Great Maytham Hall, Hole Park, Ightam Mote, Knole, Penshurst Place, Riverhill Himalayan Gardens, and Scotney Castle.

The FREE ‘Gardens of Kent Show’ will be presented by the NGS on Sunday March 26th, from 10am to 4pm, here at Coolings and will be opened by Jane Beedle – local garden designer and runner up in the BBC Great British Bake Off 2016.

The day will allow you to:

1) Marvel at displays from Kent’s wonderful and varied garden.
2) Get gardening advice from specialists.
3) Enjoy talks by head gardeners of some of Kent’s outstanding gardens.
4) Take part in a live broadcast of BBC Kent’s Sunday Gardening with Andy Garland.
5) Learn about the trials, tribulations and triumphs of opening a garden for the National Garden Scheme.
6) Talk to representatives of all beneficiary charities – including Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, and Parkinson’s UK.

This really will be a wonderful opportunity to talk to the people who create and maintain some of the county’s finest gardens and to take a peek behind the scenes. All in all it will be an exciting day and not one to be missed.

Schedule for the event:

8.00 am Start of transmission of Radio Kent Sunday Gardening

10.00 am Doors open to public

10.05 am Jane Beedle opens show and cuts cake

10.15 am Jane Beedle interview with Andy Garland

10.30 – 10.45 George Plumptre interview with Andy Garland

11.00 am End of transmission of Radio Kent Sunday Gardening

11.30 am Q and A session with Andy Garland until approx. 12.15 pm

1.00 pm Talk – Paul Cooling

1.30 pm Talk Quentin Start Head Gardener Hole Park

2.00 pm Talk and questions to Peter Seabrook Television Gardener

2.45 pm Talk – Steve Edney Head Gardener The Salutation

3.15 pm Talk -Vivien Hunt Head Gardener Godinton House

4.00 pm Event Close

FREE to attend. No Need To Book just pop along on the day between 10 and 4pm – A great way to spend Mothering Sunday!

Coolings are really proud to be medal winners at this years RHS Hampton Court Flower Show. If you have not had a chance to get to this years show have a look at our garden.

Following on from the success of our Centenary year in 2013, when we at Coolings celebrated our first 100 years in business, we wanted to mark the start of our next century in style! In our one hundred and first summer we now look to the future and have commissioned a Show Garden at the prestigious RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (8-13 July) to celebrate this vision.

The Show Garden is the creation of one of our own Coolings College lecturers, Alex Lindsay BA Hons, GD Dip. As well as running popular design courses at Coolings, Alex is also a successful designer in his own right. His design, “The Next 100 Years”, is based on radiating concentric circles and incorporates plants grown on our own Nursery here in Knockholt.

Alex Lindsay and Coolings have created an interesting take on the traditional method of planting borders from front to back, by planting in bands that radiate out from the centre of the garden and circle around the visitor. This amphitheatre effect creates a calm and welcoming space that celebrates the Kent countryside and reflects the company colours of Coolings.

The structural planting has been inspired by the work of the French designers Groupe Signes (especially their Thames Barrier park design), and the sculptural elements have been inspired by Alex’s background in art and his study of modernism.

The show garden was a Bronze Medal Winner in the first year Coolings have exhibited at RHS Hampton Court.

Planting list

Perennials
ACA Acanthus hungaricus
AGA Agapanthus African queen
AST Aster x frikartii ‘monch’
ART Artemisia absinthium
ARU Aruncus diocus
HOS Hosta rectifolia ‘royal standard’
LUP Lupinus polyphyllus
NEP Nepata ‘six hills giant’
SCA Scabiosa columbaria
SAL sq Salvia sylvestris ‘snow queen’
SAL ts Salvia x sylvestris may night/ pratensis ‘twilight serenade’
SED Sedum purple emperor
SIS Sisyrinchium striatum
VER Verbascum phoenicium ‘temptress purple’
VIO Viola ‘molly sanderson’

Grasses

MIS Miscanthus sinensis ‘adagio’
PEN Pennistum villosum

Shrubs

BER Berberis thunbergii ‘orange rocket’
COR Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’
EUO Euonymous fortunei
ILE Ilex crenata
LAV Lavandula Stoechas
ROS Rosmari officianalis

Trees

SOR Sorbus aria lutescens whitebeam

There are many mixes of bird food.  With bird seed, the cheaper mixes tend to have a high proportion of cereals, which are favoured by pigeons and sparrows.  Today I am going to explain the importance of three of the staples love by birds.

Black sunflower seeds are highly nutritious and it is easy for birds to remove the husks.  It is favoured by a lot of birds, particularly Greenfinches and Tits.  However, in the winter I would advise moving to sunflower hearts, as birds use a lot of energy to keep warm and need to feed more quickly to survive the cold and short daylight foraging time.

Nyger seeds (sometimes spelt Nyjer) are thistle seeds, which are very rich in oil and ideal for birds with delicate beaks such as Goldfinches and Siskins.  This seed is very small and falls out of conventional feeders, so it is best to use a feeder specially designed for Nyger seeds.  We do one sold by Jacobi Jayne for £18.99. alternatively, you can mix it in with other seed.

Berries and fruit are a good source of moisture, energy and vitamins.  Plants often have red or black berries which attract the birds.  Being eaten by birds helps the plant distribute its seeds further afield.  Fallen apples are also appreciated by birds and other animals.  All of these help to provide food in the winter months when food is scarce.  Examples of plants with berries are Pyracantha and Holly (Ilex).

It is time to celebrate at Coolings! We are extremely proud to have won Silver at this year’s The Greatest Awards for the ‘The Greatest Garden Centre Team of the Year’.

The Greatest Awards are now in their 9^th year and are a national competition where an independent judging panel select the top garden centres in each category.

At Coolings we believe it is the people that make a difference, both our customers and our team. We always try to deliver exceptional customer service and an enjoyable experience for all our customers and just as importantly, the 150 strong team that work at Coolings.

We would like to “Thank You” our customers for visiting us come rain or shine and for keeping us on our toes!

As Gary Carvosso our Managing Director said ‘I am extremely proud of the team we have at Coolings. Many of the staff have been with us over 20 years and it is wonderful that we still have such a sense of teamwork and pride in delivering a great customer experience.’

At Coolings we continue to always invest in our people, with regular training (RHS Level 2 in Horticulture, external training), retail supervisory courses, Horticultural Trade Association training, all the team training constantly on Garden Centre Association GROW and with over 300 years garden retail experience on our management team alone!. We believe in a team that can really help our customers.

As the saying goes ‘happy employees equal happy customers’ and we seem to be getting our sums right! This year seven of our staff, who work across a diverse range of departments, are celebrating their 25 year anniversary with the company.

As many of you will know, Coolings has seen three generations of the Coolings family at the realm since it was established by Arthur Cooling in 1913, so it’s no surprise that over the years we have discovered the benefits of investing in staff and listening to our customers.

Our Chairman, Paul Cooling and his father Michael Cooling, along with our company Directors, marked this impressive milestone by hosting a fabulous black tie Dinner. Paul Cooling added “We pride ourselves on making Coolings a great place to work and our talented team has grown with us. We wanted to celebrate and thank our long serving staff members for all their hard work and commitment”.

Staff included in the accolade are Managing Director Garry Carvosso and Production and Operations Director Ian Hazon, Plants Assistant Nicky Peto, Nursery Assistant Kevin Freeman, Accounts Assistant Frances Maxwell, Customer Service Manager Mark Reeves and E-Commerce Manager/Nursery Technical Advisor and Shrub Manager, Garry Norris.