Coldharbour Nursery is a small specialist nursery situated in a beautiful part of the Dorset countryside. We specialise in growing beautiful hostas and hemerocallis.
Established by Steve Saunders in 1994, The nursery initially grew rare herbaceous perennials, grasses and woodland plants (including hemerocallis, hardy geraniums, and hostas). I joined Steve shortly after, and we worked hard to expand the nursery and its range of plants. We travelled up and down the country proudly showing off our plants at shows, building a reputation for our knowledge and passion for our beautiful plants. Our hemerocallis – Steve's beloved daylilies – attracted particular attention, and we continued to expand the number of varieties we grew and sold.
Sadly, Steve died in the Autumn of 2006. I wanted the nursery to go on, and build on the work Steve had started. With the demand for our daylilies ever increasing, it became clear to me that the nursery should specialise. My passion has always been for hostas and daylilies in equal measure, and with both of these offering thousands of superb cultivars, the decision was made to grow these exclusively.
Fast forward to 2010, and it is an exciting time at Coldharbour Nursery. Following major changes to the nursery, we've got a new logo and website to boot. Our collection now spans over 500 different daylilies, and over 100 hostas. Some of which, we are very proud to say, are the only varieties of their kind available in the UK. 2009 saw our debut at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and we are so excited to be back in the Grand Marquee again this year too. We've got some fantastic hostas in containers on show, so do please stop by if you are there. We are at Hampton Court for the third time, on July 6–10. Again, do come along and say hello.
Speaking of saying hello, we welcome visitors to the nursery. We are – as usual – at a lot of shows again this Summer, so do drop us a line and arrange an appointment in order to avoid disappointment. The Nursery is open all week for the annual daylily celebration. The dates this year are 13–24 July, the peak of daylily flowering. If you cannot get to us during this period just get in touch and we can sort out an alternative day. I look forward to hearing from you – old friends and, hopefully, many new ones.
Chris Bonanni
