spring/summer 2012 www.dobbies.com 03Contents04  Dobbies news: It's all hot off the press!06  The 2012 Style Guide: Make sure your garden is on trend with our pick of the season's must-have plants and accessories10  Veg for beginners: Enjoy a tasty harvest with our simple, foolproof guide14  Over the fence: Meet Garden Club members Derek and Jackie Powers and discover their prize-winning garden18  The perfect patio: Make the most of your terrace with our ideas and expert tips22  Pick your own bouquet: Try this fun activity, and many more, with children24  Plant profile - clematis: We reveal our top 10 clematis for every garden30  Cut costs, not corners: Take advantage of our unmissable in-store offers 32  Your problems solved: A Dobbies expert answers your gardening questions36  Summer wildlife: Grow plants to attract butterflies plus how to care for bees38  Garden chat: Pete Jackson reveals the gardening heroes in his life39  Fancy a break? Enjoy great hotel deals 40  What's on: Happening in-store now!614102422

WHAT'S HOT?Dobbies  news04 www.dobbies.com spring/summer 2012Expert advice, new plants and a charity triumph for Dobbies - it's all breaking news!Celebrate your birthday with us!! Exclusive room/area hire and decoration ! Fun party games! Personalised birthday cake ! Gift for the birthday child! Party food (hot and cold options available) ! Choice of activity: cressy caterpillars, cupcake decorating or pizza making**£9.95 per personPlease contact your local Dobbies restaurant for further details and to book your party today. Dates and times are subject to availability.*Excludes Dobbies Garden Centre Dalgety Bay, Gailey, Kinross, Reading, Shrewsbury and Westerwood. **Selected stores only.New  plant  focusAn evergreen with bright, variegated foliage that turns red in the colder months. It has impressive, free-flowering, lilac-blue flower spikes in summer - an asset in any garden. Height/spread: 50cm x 60cm Price: £9.99Available in-store: April 2012The world's first true-blue verbascum and a great garden plant. It produces a wonderful, eye-catching display and was an RHS Chelsea Flower Show award winner in 2011. Height/spread: 75cm x 30cm Price: £8.99Available in-store: April 2012An exquisite salvia with purple velvet flowers appearing from almost-black buds. It flowers earlier than most, and will bloom again if dead-headed. It's a great plant for a mixed border or container centrepiece. Height/spread: 1m x 60cm Price: £8.99Available in-store: April 2012Hebe'Baby Boo'Verbascum'Blue Lagoon'Salvia'Amistad'Brush up on your Garden Grow-How and pop into your local store for regular, short gardening talks with our plant experts. They take place every Saturday and Sunday between 11am and 2pm. Topics will be wide and varied, and include talks around grow your own, creating colourful gardens and making the most of your outdoor space. Each talk will be followed by a question-and-answer session, so feel free to ask our gardening gurus to help with any of your gardening conundrums.So, what are you waiting for? Find out how easy gardening can be with a little Garden Grow-How from Dobbies - see back page for full details. For more expert gardening advice visit www.dobbies.com. Dobbies raise £48,000 for Action for ChildrenGarden Grow-HowWe would like to thank all our customers for supporting our national nominated Christmas charity, Action for Children. We raised more than £48,000 for this valuable cause over the festive period, which is a staggering achievement. The funds raised will allow children and young people across the country to go on unforgettable outings and take part in otherwise impossible activities.A stunning new foxglove which flowers in May-July and again in the autumn. It's a semi-evergreen perennial, which will withstand a little frost, although it may need winter protection in cold areas. Height/spread: 90cm x 45cm Price: £8.99Available in-store: April 2012Digitalis'Illumination Pink'*Prices are correct at the time of printingChildren's birthday parties at Dobbies*NEW FOR 2012