Old Court Nurseries & the Picton Garden

Established in 1906 by Ernest Ballard as the home for his Michaelmas daisy breeding programme. Old Court Nurseries and the Picton Garden is found nestled at the foot of the Malvern Hills in the Herefordshire village of Colwall. For many decades this 2.5 acre site was dedicated to open ground breeding and growing of autumn flowering asters, more commonly known as Michaelmas daisies. Over the years many changes have taken place and the business has developed. In 1947 Percy Picton joined Old Court Nurseries as Nursery Manager and when Ernest Ballard died carried on the nurseries work with these super autumn flowers. He was soon joined by his son Paul Picton, and the two plant enthusiasts increased the diversity of plants grown and sold at the nursery.

When Paul and his wife Meriel, the second generation of Picton’s, took over running the nursery in the 1980s they decided to form a proper collection of Michaelmas daisies and lay out a display garden for people to come and see the plants in all their glory. They soon became home to the National Plant Collection of autumn flowering asters and related genre with more than 430 varieties. The 1.5 acre garden even in it’s infancy soon became well known for it’s beautiful autumn displays.

Old Court Nurseries and The Picton Garden are now run by Paul and Meriel’s daughter Helen and her husband Ross Barbour. Over the last decade the garden has been rejuvenated and the plant collections extended. Now there is something of interest to see no matter what season you visit.

In late winter the collection of over 300 different Snowdrops steals the show. Planted alongside a multitude of other bulbs including swathes of Crocus and golden yellow winter aconites the snowdrops are set off with foils created by fronds of the many ferns found along the meandering paths of the garden. Although at this time of year much of the interest is found at ground level a glance up can bring a wow of colour from the vibrant stems of many Cornus including ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’ and ‘Baton Rouge’.

As the season advances and Spring bursts forth the garden is dominated by a very large specimen of Magnolia dawsoniana. It’s large pink flowers, magnificent for that magical but brief period all too soon disappear but all about the garden the pops of yellow, cream and orange from the collection of heritage Narcissus takes over. In the woodland areas Corydalis, Erythroniums and more small treasures give all the visitors a little springtime joy.

Moving into summer the herbaceous borders start to come into their own. A haze of purple from the huge Alliums over the softer greens, creams and yellows. Just as they begin to fade so the hardy geraniums take over. As soon as the weather is warm enough the tender succulents are planted out, the strange almost alien shapes and colours adding a surprising but often inspiring level to the garden.

From late July onwards the garden picks up pace towards it’s autumnal crescendo. First the warm colours of Crocosmias and Kniphofia and then the first blues and purples of the asters. By late September the garden is a riot of colour only improved as the trees such as Liquidamber ‘Lane Roberts’ and Acer rubrum hybrids begin to colour, adding another level of richness.

No matter when you visit, once you’ve finished exploring the garden the nursery is right on hand. Almost everything is grown on site, propagated from the plants you’ve seen in the garden. All the plants are grown peat free with a constant thought to sustainability and quality. We are sure you will find something to take home as a reminder of your visit. If you can’t quite squeeze the desired plant between the luggage we do also offer a mail order service. During the year the nursery runs a range of workshops designed to be fun and informative. In 2025 these will be Snowdrops- a dangerous introduction, Ferns – much more than green, Succulent success and Inspiration for your four season garden.

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