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Southern Beech/Raoul Seed
Nothofagus procera/alpina£8.00 inc. VATThe Southern Beech is a fast growing deciduous tree with small beech-like leaves, a straight, grey trunk and broadly conic crown when mature. It is a native of Chile and although it is perfectly hardy, young trees can suffer in very harsh winters, especially in cold winds. Prefers moist soils and high rainfall. Autumn colour is red, yellow and orange. Work is ongoing to see whether Nothofagus is suitable for timber production in the UK as it is in Chile, but seed is not forthcoming every year so propagation is not easy or cheap.
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Southern Nettle Tree Seed
Celtis australis£4.00 inc. VATSouthern Nettle Tree or Celtis is a small to medium sized deciduous tree with lance shaped leaves. They are rough to the touch on their upper surfaces. Its bark is smooth and similar to that of Beech. Autumn colour is yellow.
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Spanish Broom Seed
Spartium junceum£5.00 inc. VATSpanish Broom is a strongly growing shrub with erect green rush like stems and small, scale-like leaves. It has large, perfumed, yellow, pea-like flowers in loose terminal clusters from late summer through to autumn. Spanish Broom likes a sunny position and is an excellent seaside shrub. Can be pruned after flowering, but can also be carefree. Sometimes confused with normal Broom (Cytisus)
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Spanish Fir Seed
Abies pinsapo£3.00 – £11.00 inc. VATSpanish Fir is the National Tree of Andalucia and is now endangered. Narrowly conical in shape with stubby, evergreen grey-green needles giving an ornamental blue-ish appearance from afar. The smaller picture shows one of the few remaining Pinsapo ‘forests’ in the mountains of southern Spain nature reserve area(Grazalema). The trees grow in pockets of soil on the mountainsides. In the valleys are nurseries which are growing trees for replanting into the wild. The nature reserve also holds wild Narcissus and Crocus species.
Not for forestry purposes.
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Spindle Tree Seed
Euonymus europaeus£5.00 inc. VATSpindle is a vigorous deciduous shrub or small multi-stemmed tree. It gives an outstandingly brilliant autumn display of red seed capsules. The capsules open to reveal spectacular bright orange seeds. It grows especially well on chalky soils and its wood was used for making spindles for spinning and tool handles. The berries are poisonous and incredibly bitter tasting.
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Spinning Gum
Eucalyptus perriniana£8.50 inc. VATA small hardy tree that has silvery leaves and a white, black blotched, stem. Bark on mature trees is shed in long strips. The leaves in young plants are round, encircling the stem, but become longer and thinner as the tree grows, developing their distinct glaucous bloom. Can be coppiced to encourage the young foliage which is used in flower arranging.
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Spreading Cotoneaster Seed
Cotoneaster divaricatus£2.50 inc. VATThis Spreading Cotoneaster is rangey medium sized deciduous shrub with a most reliable foliage and fruiting habit. The berries which arise from rosy red flowers are themselves a deep ruby red colour. Makes a low informal hedge and can be pruned.
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St Lucie Cherry Seed
Prunus mahaleb£2.50 inc. VATThe Mahaleb or St Lucie Cherry is a small deciduous tree covered in fragrant white flowers in spring followed by dark coloured fruit in early summer. The seed inside the hard cherry stone has the flavour of bitter almonds and has medicinal qualities apparently. The wood has an outstanding grain which is used for pipes and walking sticks. Records of the tree date back as far as 900 AD in the middle east.
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St. Julien Plum Seed
Prunus domestic institita£4.00 inc. VATThe St Julien plum is mostly used as a dwarfing rootstock for other varieties of plum. White flowers very early in spring, variable plum fruit in late summer. Flowers are good for pollinating insects and the fruit is eaten by birds (and wasps). Makes a useful and productive addition to a wild hedgerow since it can be trimmed lightly.
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Stag’s Horn Sumach Seed
Rhus typhina£4.00 inc. VATStag’s Horn Sumach is a wide, spreading, sparsely branched large shrub or small tree that has a flat topped appearance in winter. The large pinnate leaves turn orange, red, yellow or purple in autumn giving an impressive display. The conical clusters of crimson hairy fruits are very decorative late in the year. It doesn’t cast a dense shade so can be underplanted successfully.
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Stone Pine Seed
Pinus pinea£6.00 – £10.00 inc. VATStone Pine is the conifer that is exploited for its edible pine nut/seed(think Pesto and Italian Cuisine), It has a short trunk and an umbrella-like growth habit, giving mature trees a flat crown. It has attractive glaucous blue-green leaves in younger specimens and is sometimes sold as a pot grown mini Christmas tree. It is the classic flat-topped pine tree of Italy.
Not for forestry purposes.
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Striped Maple seed
£2.50 inc. VATStriped Maple is a small to medium size deciduous tree. It is one of the best snakebark maples with wavy white striations on an olive green bark. Leaves are three lobed and coloured golden-yellow in early autumn. The seeds are characteristically dimpled.
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Sugar Maple Seed
Acer saccharum£3.00 – £7.50 inc. VATSugar Maple is the tree in North America that produces Maple Syrup and it is one of the continents most colourful trees in autumn. Vibrant orange, gold and crimson tints light up ‘ The Fall’. Sugar Maple makes an excellent stand alone specimen tree, with neat habit and few problems.
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Sundial Lupin / Wild Lupin Seed
Lupinus perennis (polyphyllus)£2.00 inc. VATThe Sundial or Wild Lupin is a short-lived perennial plant about 0.5m high with pea like flowers up tall spikes in summer. The colour can range from blue to pink or white. Its leaves are palmately divided into 7 to 11 leaflets and die down in the autumn. Dead heading the spent flowers often gives a second flower flush. It ‘fixes’ nitrogen from the air into the soil so is good for soil fertility.
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Swamp Cypress Seed
Taxodium distichum£5.00 – £9.50 inc. VATThe Swamp Cypress is an ideal conifer for wet soils. It is the dominant tree in the everglades of Florida and introduced to the UK in the mid 1600s. In the autumn, the soft leaflets fade to a beautiful bronze and then brown in autumn before dropping – a rare deciduous conifer. This tree is easy to confuse with Metasequoia(Dawn Redwood), but Taxodium has branches and leaflets arranged alternately, whereas Metasequoia has them arranged in pairs, opposite each other. The bark is stringy and shaggy and mature trees in wet areas grow ‘knees’ or odd bits of trunk erupting from the ground round the main trunk (pneumatophores). Despite its name, it doesn’t necessarily need to be planted in a wet place.
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Swamp Mahogany Seed
Eucalyptus robusta£5.50 inc. VATSwamp Mahogany is an unusual Eucalyptus in that it has spongey, reddish brown bark which peels off in strips. The leaves are dark green, broad and evergreen. It flowers with creamy white fluffy flowers in autumn, which is quite useful for late insects. It is a long-lived tree and used for firewood, charcoal, coastal erosion control and pulp. It coppices successfully. Needs planting in a sheltered spot.
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Swedish Whitebeam Seed
Sorbus intermedia£3.50 – £12.00 inc. VATSwedish Whitebeam is a small deciduous tree with a dense rounded head of branches. Dark green leaves are hairy and grey on the lower surface. Bunches of creamy white flowers are followed by large orange red fruits which hang in bunches. They are eaten by thrushes, waxwings and blackbirds. In the wild grows on woodland edges.
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Sweet Box Seed
Sarcococca confusa£25.00 inc. VATSarcococca or Sweet Box is a fantastically useful small evergreen shrub. It has a neat growth habit and produces small, feathery creamy white flowers in the depths of winter. These are highly sweetly scented. The black shiny berries that follow remain on the shrub until the following spring. Thrives in poorish dry soil and shade. Germination is sporadic, so patience is needed!
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Sweet Chestnut
Castanea sativa£5.00 – £10.00 inc. VATSweet Chestnut is a large, beautiful, quick growing tree. It is often found in parkland as a specimen tree with a smooth grey bark and long dark green toothed leaves which contrast with the long, yellowish spring catkins. Sweet Chestnut produces nuts in warm summers. Eventually, the bark becomes ridged and twisted, giving a spiral pattern up the trunk.
Not for forestry purposes.
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Sweet Gum Seed
Liquidambar styraciflua£3.00 – £10.00 inc. VATSweet Gum is a large deciduous tree which has shining green, leathery, maple like leaves. They turn a fantastic orange, red and purple in autumn. Young shoots have distinctive corky ridges and the sap is fragrant. Although it rarely flowers in this country, the flower heads look similar to those of Rhus and the resulting seed heads look like Plane tree seed balls; it is actually related to Witch Hazels! A fine specimen or woodland tree.
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Sycamore Seed
Acer pseudoplatanus£4.50 inc. VATSycamore is a large well known deciduous tree. It is well suited to exposed situations on all soil types. It has dark green leaves and mustard yellow, insect friendly flowers which develop into double winged seeds in autumn. Having lost Elm and now possibly Ash, the Sycamore is a notable tree in the landscape, offering shelter from all weathers. Thumbnail pic is the famous Sycamore in the middle of Hadrian’s Wall, near Hexham, from the film ‘Robin Hood Prince of Thieves’
Not for forestry purposes.
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Tamarack Seed
Larix laricina£2.50 – £18.00 inc. VATThis American Larch is deciduous, like others and grows to be a tall columnar tree. It has pinkish orange to dark red bark becoming scaly when old. Needles are spirally arranged on long shoots. Before needle drop in autumn they turn orange. It’s widely distributed in North America, in swampy boreal forests and is very hardy and tolerant.
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Tasmanian Snow Gum
Eucalyptus coccifera£11.00 inc. VATA fast growing medium sized tree which can survive some winter frost. It has strikingly bloomy leaves and stems as it begins to mature.
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Thornless Rose Seed
Rosa inermis£4.00 inc. VATThe Thornless Rose makes a medium sized climbing or lax-growing shrub. An easy to grow rose with lightly fragranced, simple, pink-red flowers 5cm in diameter in summer. It is a thornless selection of the Dog Rose, often used for rootstock work or for informal hedging. Some red hips are produced in the late summer and autumn.
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