Kelways PlantsLtd

Kelways Plants occupies the site at Picts Hill, Huish Episcopi, where head gardener James Kelway, formerly employed at the Dillington Estate near Ilminster, established a nursery in 1851 on just over an acre of land. His son William and grandson James continued the business, building a reputation for gladioli, irises and, above all, peonies; the nursery's Peony Valley drew coach parties of visitors in the 1920s and 1930s. Kelways has won repeated medals at the Chelsea Flower Show and its peony collection holds National Plant Collection status from Plant Heritage. Ownership passed out of the founding family in 1994 and again in 2008, when nurseryman Dave Root led a management buyout; he remains director today. The plant centre sells herbaceous and tree peonies, irises, tree ferns and a wide general range of garden plants, and supplies landscapers and show growers. The Peony & Corks Cafe operates on site alongside the plant centre.