Message from the recently closed Avon Bulbs :
"August 2024 - final news from Somerset
It has been quite a long haul but we are glad to report that Avon Bulbs will continue with new owners - something that a lot of our customers have told me that they were hoping for. The new owner will be Jonathan Brown, who runs a commercial wholesale nursery near Boston in Lincolnshire. They are primarily perennial and lavender growers, supplying high street retail, other mail order companies, and the landscaping companies across the UK
I (Chris Ireland-Jones) will be remaining in contact with and helping Jonathan become familiar with the processes that we have tweeked and fine tuned over many years and he in turn is hoping to change as little as possible so as to maintain the familiarity that our customers have with the current business. But there will be some invariable changes and differences - not least that those you may speak to on the phone will not be the same.
There will be two big obstacles this year - distance and the year it has been. With a deal struck when it was, the 'home grown' plants are still in Somerset so as soon as is feasable they will be being transferred 4.5 hours north east to be packed in orders or be relocated to new growing conditions. The year has been a shocker for gardeners here - a cold, wet spring and a slug affected summer. But it has been much worse in The Netherlands where the bulb harvest is now underway and there are many glum growers. Those factors will make the autumn a difficult one.
A new catalogue has however been written and goes to the printers soon. If you have been on the mailing list in recent times then do expect one soon. That will be largely familiar to you. The next Spring catalogue will include much more that Jonathan can add from his other operations and will be the real beginning in a new direction.
Having a bit more time to 'work' on the nursery rather than 'organise' Caroline and Chris have the growing area looking pretty smart ahead of the plants being relocated this autumn and through the winter.
We have also been making a start on taking down assets that we shall no longer use. There are some sectional concrete cold frames (now dismantled and ready to be relocated) with aluminium and glass 'lids' which slide on and off on rails. They have done us 30 years and will do many more. If interested in some sections (minimum 15) do please get in touch.
A 25 x 9 m 'Cambridge' glasshouse also needs to go in 2025. With both top and side vents it has been ideal for us and we shall miss it but hopefully someone else can make use of it. If you can dismantle it without contaminating the site with glass it could be yours.
There are many black nursery crates - Danish trolleys and masses of pots in various sizes including quite a few of the deep 9 cm 'snowdrop' pots that we used and sold - nearly all in a 'used' condition so in need of a scrub.
For further information about any of these items please email chris@avonbulbs.co.uk "
