Baskets and Blooms - best plants, best prices. Direct from the grower

There's a good reason for the Basket part of 'Baskets and Blooms' - Hanging baskets have been the foundation of our success. We spotted the demand for quality, good value baskets a few years ago. Mark has dedicated a load of time and energy into perfecting the planting and growing of hanging baskets that perform well yet are affordable. Every year we produce thousands of hanging baskets.

Here's a shot that shows baskets hanging in just one of our many growing houses. Our summer mixed baskets are typically 14" diameter made of a woven 'willow' style material. There is a plastic liner that has been perforated about one third up the side to allow drainage yet retain a reservoir of water in the base.

To make watering easy we sink a perforated pot into the centre of every basket. You need to water into this pot to ensure that the water gets to the roots where it is needed. We deliberately fill the baskets up high with compost and plants to give a rounded appearance - that makes it all the more important to be mindfull of the leaky pot in the basket and use it to avoid run-off.

We supply slow release fertiliser pellets free of charge, three for each basket purchased. These should be pushed into the compost of the basket, they will give around 6 months feed. You will not need to give any more supplementary feed.

A common question is; "when can I put my hanging basket outside" - the answer for most folks is mid May, by that time the danger of frosts is past. However iif you live in a frost pocket you should wait until the end of May before risking it.

Apart from watering daily (twice daily in very hot weather) the only other maintenace needed is dead-heading - just pick off the flowers that have finished and more will come.

As well as our mixed plant baskets we also grow single species baskets. Fuchsias, Begonias and Ivy leaved Geraniums are the most popular ones. These are generally available later than the mixed baskets as they devleop more slowly.