Good morning to all.

Busy, busy busy. What a relief! Early days yet but don’t miss out, get stuck in! Great weather over the weekend, perfect for celebrating Mothering Sunday and buying a car full of plants.

I’m not going into depth on the saga of printers anymore, I think I’ve jinxed the system. Printer can’t be found on the network each morning, yellow printing all went to the left (but now know the magic cure), fax lost the plot and is on borrowed time before waste ink starts to leak onto the desk!, internet constantly on and off and the hands free phones are becoming erratic and unreliable. It comes with age. Jolly handy that it all happens when we have nothing better to do. Just to rub salt into the wound my office chair seems to have developed a leak, no not damp patches, that would be a worry, my gas lift is no longer sealed. I keep getting this sinking feeling as the keyboard comes up to meet me and I end up resting with my chin just above desk height. It’s one way to feel young again or maybe it’s just another one of life’s little let downs.

Went to an excellent talk this week performed by Roger Savage of Choice Plants, an enthusiastic mix of humour, humility, observation, expertise and common sense. One little anecdote that went down really well was about a visit of a little lad and  his rather over controlling grandmother to Rogers pottery painting workshop. A tractor was chosen and the lad picking a bright red Massey Ferguson paint to decorate it, perfect. However the grandmother was of the opinion that it should be green to match the John Deere’s on their farm and ‘encouraged’ a change. A green tractor was completed and the little chap popped out for a call of nature. On passing Roger at the door he looked up and simply said quietly ‘Bloody nightmare’. They have your number from an early age. Another example of the ‘innocence’ of youth I remember Roger telling me about, which unsurprisingly he didn’t repeat that evening, was at home when his own son was just a wee toddler. As Roger walked barefoot across the landing with little William behind, he kicked the banister post which understandably caused a very sharp intake of breath but he just held back from cussing in front of Will only to hear a little voice behind him blurt out ‘F***’. That Mary has a lot to answer for!

Availability

Inspirational flower and bud appearing on many lines as well as healthy spring foliage bursting forth elsewhere.
Fabulous Polemonium Heaven Scent are coming into their own with a delightful bushy show of bronzy green foliage and the very first signs of the early flower shoots beginning to appear. A spring stunner.
Allium varieties are strong and chunky, perfect for planting out as are the trendy Camassias.
Just a handful of Narcissus left in flower/bud.
The ever favourite and long flowering Erysimum Bowles Mauve looks absolutely fantastic, bushy and budding strongly, first colour just beginning to show. Even better than last year’s stunners.
Erysimum Red Jep showing lots of bud although not many left. The E. Variegated Peach variety is showing its first colour.
The first flower stems of the Aquilegia Winky range are shooting up carrying numerous flower buds. Strong and good looking. The Barlow range also looking very strong, with flower shoots imminent. Nora Barlow has flower shoots already and the super dark Barlow Black is always a favourite.
This seasons Euphorbia’s are looking fantastic, especially the purpurea, robbiae and martini.
The decorative comfrey (Symphytum) are showing good early subtle flower colours.
Pulsatilla rubra is budding well and showing good colour with the purple P. vulgaris close behind.
Both Brunnera vatrieties are producing their first spring buds and blue flowers, looking perky, what a great blue.
Digitalis and Lupin ranges are all looking mega fresh and vigorous all raring to go. The digitalis wouldn’t look out of place in a 3li pot, there are so strong. The Lupins are raring to put on a big summer splash, perfect for planting now.
Both Armeria maritima varieties have plenty of buds and the odd dab of colour, always a popular neat pot full.
Ajuga Chocolate Chips are producing lots of flower shoots, and beginning to show their blue petals.

Eco Stuff
The first batch of predators arrived this week. They are nearly all distributed now other the a few packs of slug nematodes we have to water in. 8 different new attackers are now out there to top up our own natural collections we have been building up of amphibians, lacewings, and small birds which all help us out.
Swallows spotted in Cornwall I see so not long and they will be swooping around here again with a bit of luck. Good week for birds, English (Grey) partridge pair feeding under the bird table, first time we’ve seen these for 2 or 3 years. Also a Little Owl has been calling in the evening which we also haven’t heard for a few years.
Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries