Hairy Bells

Morning all,

Still lots in flower and big family wedding to get to so dad dancing stories will have to wait till next week. Still madly busy here so looking forward to some extra hands next week. Hopefully I will be re energised after having a day off so that will help too. Harvest has started, the earliest start since 1976, great timing for a family do, First swallows fledged a couple of weeks ago and seem to be buddying up with a gang of other juveniles while mum and dad get on with brood number 2. Last night there were over 40 young ones diving about the yard attracted I suspect by the water feature (puddle) we create each summer in the yard. The gang has been getting bigger each evening and hopefully they will hang about a while and hoover up lots of bugs. Must go and see if I can still get in the suit, part time here we come.

Availability highlights
Buds and flowers are appearing on the very popular Sage Hot Lips. Don’t forget that this variety does produce pure red and pure white flowers on occasions but the ‘proper’ red and white lippy ones will prevail throughout most of the summer. Echinacea Prairie Compact are looking great, plenty of bud and colour on strong stems, selling well. The exotic Eucomis are starting to show their pretty columns of pale yellow flowers. The gold leaved Tradescantia Blue and Gold is in bud and flower. A standout plant if ever I saw one. Persicaria Darjeeling Red is carrying bud and flower now. A great groundcover plant in the garden although it has in the past been a nightmare to keep tethered to a pot. We now have the secret recipe, pot it sideways or upside down! Don’t try this in the garden!
Verbascums are strong and coming up to bud. Pink Kisses is a compact variety with lovely pink flowers, and they are in bud now. Hurry not many left.The really short dinky variety Nepeta Junior Walker are just coming into bud now. Walkers Low is a great plant and sounds like a short one but it isn’t particularly small, Junior is.
We are racing through the Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone batches which is in bud with the flowers opening. Masses of bud coming on the two deep pink flowered Lythrums. Robin is the shorter one or the two. We have fresh batches of the Gaillardia Messa series, the first buds are showing on short chunky plants. Sedums are in early bud already. The short Campanula posharskyana are all showing bud and looking good. Signs of high summer with many of the Crocosmia are now showing bud. Rhodanthemum is deservedly proving very popular. Low growing silver foliage with pretty flowers all summer long. The ever popular Dianthus in bud and flower. The scented compact range (Scent First (SF)) are really coming into their own. Strong and bushy the hardy Fuchsia range is doing its thing.
Exotic Oxalis are both in bud and colour now. The purple foliaged triangularis has delightful contrasting pale pink flowers, while the Iron Cross looks quite different with its greener dark spotted leaves and deep pink/red flowers. Summer has arrived, in case you hadn’t noticed, with bud rushing up in the Hemerocallis varieties.Nice fresh batches of Veronica are now bushy and in bud. Inspire Rose/pink is the looking particularly fresh. There are fresh batches of Achillea Paprika, Terracotta and the Desert Eve series now in bud again. Plenty of Leucanthemum in bud now. The pale yellows of Banana Creme and Real Dream are proving popular. Coreopsis Sunray and Sunfire are in bud and back on the list.
Buds are now appearing on a fantastic fresh batch of Phlox, monster bushy plants in the new Sweet Summer range of colours. Don’t hang about with these we don’t have huge numbers available this year. Several colours sold out already. A fantastic range of foliage sizes and colours in our Hosta range, all showing off well. To see the colours check out the hosta pages in our flip book catalogue.
The variegated Eryngium varifolium is showing signs of flowering too. A pretty spiky flower stem, quite dramatic. Dinky Erodium varieties are back again, low growing and flowering for ages. Fresh young stock of Erysimum Bowles Mauve are looking good (in bud).
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.