If you are looking for some inspiration for your own garden, Noah Chase of Deelish Garden Centre in Skibbereen invites you to stop in and say hello.
Spring is on her way! Early flowering bulbs are starting to fill the beds and borders; leaves are unfurling and insects are waking up. It’s time to enjoy the first warmth of the sun on your backs after the wet and windy Winter, and it’s one of the first chances to get back in the garden and prepare for the growing season ahead. The air is literally buzzing as the pollinators start to forage, the birds are singing and us gardeners are itching to get stuck into the many tasks that await us.
There have been a lot of changes at Deelish over the last few seasons. We have finally completed most of the final upgrades, including our new car park, which has doubled in size, this is a real benefit for us all. Once parked you will find our excellent little coffee kiosk serving the delicious locally roasted, sustainably grown, Red Strand coffee, as well as various teas, hot chocolate and more. If you are looking for a quiet calm place to enjoy your hot cuppa, I would recommend our newly built Shade area. It is bursting with Rhododendrons, Camellias, Tree ferns, Bamboo, Hostas and many other shade loving plants. Next to the Shade area you will find West Cork’s largest collection of outdoor pottery, whiskey barrels and ornaments, which we add to each month with the latest designs and colours. Next to the pot area, we have a wonderful collection of pond plants and plants suitable for damp ground.
The perennial stands located outside the newly-built covered plant sales area are starting to fill up with the beginnings of this year’s collection. If you forgot to plant spring flowering bulbs, don’t worry, as we have Daffodils, Tulips, Snowdrops and many more bulbs potted up and ready for planting. We also have just started potting-up over 150 bare-root perennial varieties, which include some of our favourites, as well as some new, unusual, exciting varieties, which we are looking forward to sharing with you in the season ahead!
Inside the covered plant area we have an extensive coastal shrub collection which are suitable for the more exposed gardens in West Cork. In this area, there are also a great selection of seasonal garden bedding, ericaceous (lime-free) plants such as Magnolias, Azaleas, Acacias and many more, which are all suited to our soil in much of West Cork. We also have a great selection of more unusual plants here such as Daphnes (five varieties including Jacqueline Postill) Rhododendron ‘Lady Alice Fitzwilliam’, various palms, Mangaves, Albizias, Psuedopanax, to name just a few of my favourites.
On the upper terrace, you will find larger shrubs/small trees (such as dog woods, Eucryphia, Elder and many more), climbers for all situations, hundreds of Roses (including a fantastic David Austin collection), and an extensive Conifer selection in all shapes and sizes from ground cover varieties to the largest trees in the world (Sequoia giganteum)!
Above this area at the moment we still have a great range of bare root fruit trees such as Apples, Pears, Plums (and Plumcots), Cherries, Cob nuts, Almond, Peach, Nectarine to name a few. We also stock soft fruit here including Currants, Gooseberry, Rhubarb, Raspberry, Blue berry and many other unusual fruits suitable for growing in West Cork.
This is also a great time to plant bare root trees and hedging including our fantastic value instant XL hedging in root balls. Between the bare root beds are our comprehensive collection of potted trees from 2 feet to 20 feet! This collection includes some of our most popular trees such as flowering Cherries (over 15 varieties), Crab apples, Birch, Eucalyptus, Oaks, Acers as well as many more unusual varieties.
Inside our solar powered heated shop, we now offer an exciting new range of Organic vegetable and flower seeds with many new varieties from Europe, seed potatoes, Garlic and Onion sets. Here you can also find quality gardening tools (including many of the favourite Fruit Hill Farm tools), indoor house plants, a huge range of chemical-free gardening feeds, pest control, and many natural solutions to everyday gardening issues, as well as many unusual gardening gift ideas.
At this time of year we also stock summer flowering bulbs such as Dahlia, Agapanthus, Lilly, Nerine and many more unusual varieties, in packets which are the best value for money.
Next to the shop is our covered outdoor living area (which also hosts our annual Christmas market). This area has proved to be a huge success as we have searched all over Europe to find quality, affordable and unique outdoor furniture. One of the most popular chairs is the eco chair, made from Finnish wood which is held together with hemp rope. It is very comfortable to sit in, and the hemp pillow really is the cherry on top! We also have powder coated aluminium furniture that is perfect for gardens that are exposed to salt winds, as these will last a lifetime.
Fire pits have become really popular over the last few years and we now stock over 15 different styles from the tiny models to the really big options that can take very large logs. We also stock various accessories that allow you to cook on your fire pit, including waffle irons, popcorn pans and blow pipes to name a few! Maya and I have just returned from a furniture sourcing trip to northern Italy and are very excited about some of the new stock coming for this season, watch this space… To make way for the new stock, we plan to run a preseason outdoor furniture sale with up to 50 per cent of selected items. Be quick as these bargains are unlikely to be available for long.
So as you can see, there is lots going on in Deelish Garden Centre at the moment and we look forward to seeing you this coming season to help you prepare for another great year in your garden, and remember gardening doesn’t have to cost the earth!
On a side note, we are hiring again so if you are a keen horticulturist and fancy joining our growing team of staff here at Deelish, to help us cope with the busy season ahead, feel free to stop in, ask for Noah.
