英国 埃尔沃西农舍植物苗圃 Elworthy Cottage Plants – 三百余种特色宿根专营苗圃

苗圃概况

埃尔沃西农舍植物苗圃 Elworthy Cottage Plants 是西萨默塞特郡布伦登山丘东端的一处小苗圃，海拔约 600 英尺，经营人 Jenny Spiller。首页把位置写成埃克斯穆尔国家公园东端，而苗圃页和花园页都写布伦登山丘，两处说法不一致，看的时候留意一下。

苗圃规模不大，做的是不常见的宿根花卉。进货按品种铺开，每种只备少量，所以大部分植物都是限量供应。想从远处专程来买某一种，或者同一种要上几株以上，先打电话问一声比较稳妥，要大批的话提前说，可以试着为你繁殖。

主营品类

主打的是耐寒天竺葵、老鹳草、观赏草、肺草、星花芹、番红花、堇菜和报春花这几类，落霜前的冬末还供应雪滴莲。价格随苗的大小走，便宜的两镑五起，多数一升盆五镑五、一升半盆六镑五，个别少见或难养的会再高一些。

雪滴莲是唯一的邮购品种，只在二月开放，主要靠分株繁殖而不是鳞片或双鳞繁殖，用的也是不含泥炭的基质，卖的是能开花的成熟球根，收到时多在花苞或花期前后。欧洲不发货。

植物清单与自有品种

苗圃每年出一份植物清单，2026 年那份列了三百余种植物和品种，分属近百个属，光 Geranium、Epimedium、Geum 三个属就各占了十几到五十来个名字，景天 Hylotelephium、落新妇 Astilbe、醉鱼草 Verbena 这类别的零星品种也都在列。清单末尾写着「其余多种可接订单繁殖」，也就是说没有上清单的也能试着要。

有一部分品种是苗圃自己育出来并命名的，都带 Elworthy 字样，最早的是 1996 年的 Polemonium ‘Elworthy Amethyst’，近年的有 Geum ‘Elworthy Coppernob’ 和 Pulmonaria ‘Julian’s Findling’，都是 2017 年起的名字。苗圃每年也会把自家园子里长出来的实生苗挑几株出来卖。

一英亩花园

苗圃旁边有一英亩的园子，取名 the garden at Elworthy Cottage。园子按岛式花坛布置，要的是一年到头都有东西看，另外种了几株少见些的乔灌木。2000 年挖了一口小水池招青蛙，2002 年 2 月的一个夜里同时数到 18 只，2003 年 2 月底一个下午数到 35 只，2004 年又回到二十只上下。

园子有意留着一些草地让它自己结籽，春天报春花会冒出来，另有新堆的土坡种着野花，顶上再栽一道本地树种混合的树篱。园里的鸟不少，画眉一类常客，夏天蝴蝶也多。三月开园时铁筷子、白肺草、报春、水仙和各类小球根已经有颜色，六月是耐寒天竺葵盛花的时候，园里约有二百五十个；入秋观赏草最好看。

开放与购买

苗圃没有固定开放日。二月到九月之间来都行，但必须先打电话，苗圃会告诉你那天在不在，最好上午九点前或者天黑后再打。

花园在 2026 年为英国国民花园计划开放十次，那几天苗圃同时开门，时间是 11 点到 16 点 30，花园门票成人五镑、儿童免费，苗圃部分不收钱。开放日会供应茶点，收益捐给西南部儿童 hospice。园艺团体可以预约在工作日或傍晚来看园，大巴也能停。

雪滴莲以外的东西都不做邮购，想买只能到现场挑。一年里苗圃还会去萨默塞特、德文和多塞特的 hardy plant society、Plant Heritage 等植物市集摆摊，订单可以在这些活动现场取货。

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The nursery

Elworthy Cottage Plants is a small nursery at the eastern end of the Brendon Hills in West Somerset, about 600 feet above sea level, run by Jenny Spiller. The home page places it at the eastern end of the Exmoor National Park, while the nursery and garden pages both say the Brendon Hills; the two descriptions do not quite agree.

It is a small operation working with unusual herbaceous perennials. Stock is spread thinly across many varieties rather than deep in a few, so most plants are limited in number. Ring ahead if you are travelling for one particular plant or need more than a few of a variety; for larger quantities, ask in advance and they will try to propagate it for you.

What they grow

The main lines are hardy geraniums, geums, grasses, pulmonarias, astrantias, crocosmias, violas and primroses, with snowdrops added in the cold months before last frost. Prices follow plant size: from £2.50 for small, easily propagated stock, most 1 litre pots at £5.50 and 1½ litre at £6.50, with a few rarer or harder subjects above that.

Snowdrops are the only mail order crop, offered in February. They are raised by division rather than chipping or twin-scaling, in peat-free compost, and sold as flowering-size bulbs that are usually in bud, in flower, or just past it. They are not sent to Europe.

The plant list and their own introductions

A plant list is put out each year. The 2026 edition runs to more than three hundred plants and varieties across nearly ninety genera. Geranium alone accounts for upwards of fifty names, with epimedium and geum close behind; scattered members of hylotelephium, astilbe and veronica are listed too. The list closes by saying other plants can be propagated to order.

A good number carry the Elworthy name, having been raised here. The earliest is Polemonium ‘Elworthy Amethyst’ from 1996; the newest are Geum ‘Elworthy Coppernob’ and Pulmonaria ‘Julian’s Findling’, both named in 2017. Seedlings picked out in the garden are also offered each year in small numbers.

A one acre garden

Next to the nursery is a one acre garden laid out in island beds and planted for interest right through the year, with a few unusual trees and shrubs. A small wildlife pond was dug in 2000 to bring in frogs and toads: eighteen were counted there together on one February night in 2002, thirty-five in a single afternoon at the end of February 2003, and about twenty again in 2004.

Some grass is left to seed for the wildlife, and primroses come up in spring. A newer hedge bank carries wild flowers with a mixed native hedge along the top. Thrushes are regular visitors and in summer the garden is busy with butterflies. By the time it opens in March there is already colour from hellebores, pulmonarias, primroses, narcissi and small bulbs; June is the peak for the hardy geraniums, of which there are about two hundred and fifty, and grasses are at their best in late summer and autumn.

Opening and buying

There are no regular opening days. Come any time between February and September, but telephone first to check whether anyone will be there, ideally before 9am or after dark.

The garden opens ten times in 2026 for the National Garden Scheme, and the nursery opens on those same days from 11am to 4.30pm. Admission to the garden is £5 for adults, children free, and the nursery itself is free to enter. Tea is served in aid of the Children’s Hospice South West. Groups are welcome by arrangement on weekdays or evenings, and coaches can be accommodated.

Nothing other than snowdrops is sent by post, so buying means calling in. Through the year the nursery also takes a stall at hardy plant society and Plant Heritage sales across Somerset, Devon and Dorset, and orders can be collected at those events.