Renowned plantswoman Rosy Hardy, proprietor of Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants

Renowned plantswoman Rosy Hardy, proprietor of Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants

Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants: A Focus on Native, Hardy, and Traditional Plants

Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants, a family-run nursery located in Whitchurch, Hampshire, is making waves in the horticulture world with its focus on cultivating hardy perennial plants that suit the classic English cottage garden aesthetic. Founded by Rosy Hardy and her husband Rob, the nursery has been awarded 24 gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The garden's philosophy is rooted in the belief that the right plant in the right place is crucial. Rosy Hardy, the driving force behind Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants, is particularly passionate about this ethos. One of her bugbears at flower shows is when top designers create combinations that wouldn't work in a real garden setting. However, she continues to exhibit at shows due to her belief in the importance of promoting sustainable, attractive cottage gardens.

Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants was established with a focus on sustaining the classic English cottage garden style, which includes a mix of perennial flowers, shrubs, and herbs that can withstand local growing conditions without the need for a greenhouse or special protection. The garden carefully selects plants primarily for their hardiness, traditional cottage garden appeal, and habitat value. This selection typically features species known for their ornamental and ecological benefits, focusing on varieties that thrive in the regional climate and complement each other to produce a lush, informal style.

Part of Hardy's mission has been to reintroduce native species that were once common in the landscape but have diminished due to changes in land use and environmental pressures. This effort supports local wildlife and preserves genetic diversity within native plant populations, enhancing the garden’s ecological authenticity and resilience. Rosy Hardy is particularly focused on re-introducing native plants to gardeners in the UK, such as silenes, some umbellifers, and geraniums. She is finding native species that are more showy and suitable for specific areas such as shady or dry gardens.

Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants has a sustainability policy that includes being 99.5% peat free, increased biological controls in the tunnels, and using compostable pots for mail order plants. For the past ten years, Rosy Hardy has only taken on new plants by British breeders. The Hardy's family nursery specializes in more than 1,200 types of herbaceous perennial plants and can be contacted at Priory Lane Nursery, Freefolk Priors, Whitchurch, Hampshire RG28 7FA, or by phone at 01256 896533, or online at hardysplants.co.uk.

Rosy Hardy's career in horticulture began after being told she was the wrong sex for farm work. Despite this setback, she went on to complete a degree in commercial horticulture and worked in vegetable production before meeting her husband Rob. Her interest in wildflowers was cultivated in Northumberland, where she learned every single one in the countryside. Rosy Hardy has a very keen eye for selecting exceptional performing plants, considering various factors when selecting new plants, including color, habit, height, thriving conditions, re-blooming, and foliage.

Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants aligns with broader heritage gardening movements that integrate hardy, native, and historically valued plants to create sustainable, attractive cottage gardens. This approach mirrors those documented in similar cottage gardens, which emphasize colorful mixed borders, incorporation of shrubs and small trees, and ecological landscaping features like ponds to support plant and wildlife diversity. If you require more detailed or primary historical records on Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants, consulting specialized horticultural archives, gardening society records, or the garden's official publications may be necessary.

One important aspect of Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants is its focus on promoting plants that are more wildlife friendly and should naturally be in UK gardens. Rosy Hardy prefers face-to-face selling at flower shows, where she can tell people about the plants and their ideal conditions. By doing so, she hopes to inspire more gardeners to create their own sustainable, attractive, and wildlife-friendly cottage gardens.

1. Designers should consider the philosophy of Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants and avoid creating combinations that wouldn't work in a real garden setting.
2. Landscaping a home-and-garden, one should select plants primarily for their hardiness, traditional cottage garden appeal, and habitat value, as the nursery does.
3. A lush, informal style can be achieved by composing a garden with species known for their ornamental and ecological benefits, focusing on varieties that thrive in the regional climate and complement each other.
4. The right plant in the right place is crucial, and this ethos is particularly emphasized by Rosy Hardy, one of the founders of Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants.
5. Part of Hardy's mission is to reintroduce native species, supporting local wildlife and preserving genetic diversity within native plant populations.
6. The Hardy's family nursery specializes in over 1,200 types of herbaceous perennial plants, many of which are native and hardy, making them ideal for creating sustainable cottage gardens.

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