The Nursery & Garden

Our family-run nursery specialises in clematis. We grow the well-known cultivars, many of the new introductions from around the world, evergreen and herbaceous clematis as well as some of the less common species. We also offer British Native plants, Plants for Wildlife and many other climbers.

What began as a hobby, many years ago, has gradually grown into a business. Over those years, our passion and knowledge of clematis has also grown and with the help of Ruth's parents, Geoffrey and Dorothy Tolver, Thorncroft Clematis Nursery opened to the public at Easter, 1989.

Our nursery team consists of us, Ruth and Jon Gooch, and our son Peter, who is General Manager. In mid 2010 we have also welcomed back Gareth, who is working as our Retail Manager. During the main season Peter's wife, Gill, and seasonal staff, Carol and Wendy, also help to prepare the plants and take your orders.

Our garden, beside the nursery, is home to many clematis. We have used it to demonstrate the many different ways clematis can be grown, proving that you do not need a wall or fence to grow these versatile 'climbers'. The garden is open, free of charge, when the nursery is open.

Whilst some clematis nurseries compete to have the longest list of cultivars in their catalogue, we prefer to list only those which are in general production on our nursery, rather than all the cultivars we hold in our collection. The cultivars we have listed in our catalogue have been selected for their special merits - e.g. length of flowering period, colour, form and quantity of blooms, strength of growth and generally because they are 'good doers' and worthy of space in anyone's garden. For details of how to request our printed catalogue, click here - Catalogue Request

Our nursery, like plants and gardens, continues to grow and develop. This website is intended to reflect this and will also be developed and updated regularly.

We are a retail nursery only and cannot supply wholesale orders.
For VAT purposes we are registered as 'Flat Rate Farmers'.
Data is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1984.
We do NOT pass on customer's details to other organisations.

ABOUT OUR CLEMATIS

Our clematis are grown in rigid 2, 2.5 or 3 litre pots which enables us to produce strong plants with a good root system. They are two to three years old when sold - we do not sell struck cuttings or immature plants. We believe our method of production should be maintained rather than 'cutting corners' to reduce delivery costs. Our customers so far, have agreed with our principles of selling only mature, quality plants.

We dispatch our plants year-round, subject to availability.