Sunday 16 July 2017

Hairy Ever After

Morning all,

Little nephew Tom and Emily are married and I am very tired. Everything went beautifully, a fantastic village wedding and dinner, emotional and funny speeches plus beer and dancing in a big tent until late. I can’t remember a couple looking so relaxed and happy at their own knot tying, a monster smooch when invited to kiss the bride in the church (get a room), followed by a big green tractor to drive off in. A great live band in the evening and a few fireworks rounded it all off and resulted in a tough couple of days of catching up with sleep and reality, on returning to base.
Young plants, compost and pots are all piling into the nursery ready to get put together for next year’s output, it’s a job to know where to turn first. Orders are still piling out (thank goodness) and tunnels are ready to clear and clean, the pricking out is building up and those incoming plants demand attention to keep them healthy and growing. We usually get one or two summer workers pitch up to help out and this year is no different but those extra hands just never seem to be enough as others disappear on holidays or summer breaks. Back in the winter we always think that by July/August all will be quietening down
and we can get on with stuff. We delay any nursery visits until then as we think, rather naively, that we will have time for a tidy up and that a nice summer evening nursery tour will be just what we would like to do. In the end it just adds another layer of panic and the nursery ends up not looking quite as perfect as one would hope. Luckily most visitors will not have seen a commercial plant unit before so even if it isn’t quite as commercial as some it can still be quite an entertaining tour. We should be ok on the first one which is next week, as it is the local Sustainable Business Network group and I am hoping that all will be forgiven as long as I take them up the hill so they can have a hug of the turbines! I’m just hoping there will be enough breeze to push them round, forecast looks ok at the moment.

Availability highlights
Signs of high summer with most of the Crocosmia in bud. The tallest variety Lucifer is all gone but the others are looking great and a bit easier to manage as they tend to be more upright in habit. The gold’s of George Davidson and Sunglow are always very popular, as is the deep red Emberglow
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. 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 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 have a range of mini garden Chrysanthemums in bud, in a great range of colours. Naturally very bushy (no pinching required), they will produce masses of flower from now until the frosts (these are not fully hardy plants so will not always survive a winter outside). Dinky Erodium varieties are back again, low growing and flowering for ages. Flower stems and bud are appearing on many of the Japanese Anemones already. A few of the Asters are already threatening to flower, Flora’s Delight the first to actually show colour, many other busy producing bud. Lots more to come in the next few weeks. 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! Verbascums are strong and coming up to bud. Hurry not many left.
Masses of bud coming on the two deep pink flowered Lythrums. Robin is the shorter one or the two. The short Campanula posharskyana are all showing bud and looking good. 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. Summer has arrived, in case you hadn’t noticed, with bud and colour showing in the Hemerocallis varieties. There are fresh batches of Achillea Paprika and Terracotta. 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.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

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