Shallow and Hairy

Morning All,

Another very pleasant week’s weather and next week looks ok too. Still warm but possible damp later. At least the breeze has picked up a bit, those turbines have been a bit too stationary for my liking over the last couple of weeks. A nice gentle breeze is all I ask and that meter ticks over very nicely.

My 5 days of driver training is complete and my faith in humanity restored after a much more encouraging last day. We did nutrition and stress on the last day. Just got started on the nutrition part as the burger van pulled in to the training yard car park at 9.00 and we all had a break dashed out and refueled! I took a purely observational role. Our last batch of predators were released this week and our third late summer/autumn packets of mixed nematodes are in the fridge awaiting application. I’m sure there will be the odd vine weevil that eludes them but we have seen a really big reduction in adults spotted around the nursery this summer with hardly any damage or adults seen at all. Last winter’s mild temperatures could have easily seen a population explosion with the adults overwintering well and starting egg laying early as well as it being a good winter for larvae survival, all potentially swelling the summer populations. The combination of efficient and multiple applications (6 in total this year) seems to be a much more effective strategy than the fungal spores previously used. Now we have fined tuned the process over this year, next year’s control could be really effective with low over wintered populations and well timed controls. One crop that is very attractive to the vine weevil is strawberry’s and I am told there are fruit growers who are now applying lower levels of mixed nematodes throughout the summer to cover the whole weevil egg laying period so perhaps this might be another strategy worth taking a look at. Things never stand still.Nice to see the BBC catching up with the latest Stonehenge stuff this week (another programme on next week). Bit disappointed with the lack of specific information, too much wishy washy CGI stone-age hunting and riding over fields on buggies with electric kit on for my liking, but it did give a nice glimpse of the larger Stonehenge landscape. ‘My’ Blick Mead Spring site just outside Amesbury got a nice spot with the archaeologist showing the meseolithic layers in the soil and the magenta coloured flint (rare algae taint from one of the springs). But lots of really important info was either not given or edited out for the sake of entertainment, I felt it missed out on an opportunity to get some more in-depth info out there so we can try and understand things better ourselves rather than just be jollied along through the evening. Perhaps indicative of a general assumption that we need short little nuggets of excitement to keep us interested but best not to let us know too much. After a bit it all gets a bit shallow and boring doesn’t it? A bit like instant gardening perhaps, only buying things in bud and flower rather limits the experience. Quick get me an expensive caffeine drink and a slab of cake before I get bored.

Availability
Fresh stock is growing well and the range is picking up again for the autumn surge!
Asters just beginning to show bud and the first occasional flower and looking great. Showing colour particularly well are Rosenwitchel, Starlight, Lady in Blue and Snowsprite.
Helenium’s seem to be the in plant at the moment, featuring a lot in the papers and on the telly over the last couple of weeks.We have a few varieties at the moment growing away nicely.
Hellebourus are just starting to come ready with a few new additions to the range. We are trying a new H. orientalis selection called Crown Dark Purple which is reported to flower after its first winter, it is certainly coming on nicely at the moment. We have a few H. niger Praecox to try out and three great new H. viridus varieties which are looking very smart and distinctly different from each other. ‘Silver & Rose’ has attractive silvered foliage, ‘White Green’ has deep green leaves with strong cream veining, and ‘Rose Green’ has a more glaucous green leaf with pretty flush of pink in the stems and some leaf veining. Nice short varieties looking enthusiastic in their pots.

Wooden Box Collections
If anyone has any of our wooden boxes ready for collection please do drop us an email and we will pop in and retrieve them over the next few weeks. We can then prepare ourselves for some winter whittling and repairs. Thanks.

Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries