Tuesday 2 October 2018

Clean and Hairy

Morning all,
Another lovely weekend after a great week. Bit nippy at night but glorious sunshine most days and we've had some stunning sunsets along the way. Make the most of it, it'll be dark by just after lunch all too soon!
The microprop lab is still knocking out some great young plants to prick out, which unfortunately has meant putting on the LED growlights for a few hours in the early morning and a bit of overnight heat too, so that the shock of the outside world isn't too much for the tender little things. Thankfully the media issues we had in the lab back in the spring seem to be behind us and most stock has made a strong recovery and looks better than ever. We are hoping that with a fair wind we can make up for this seasons shortages over the next 12 months, we have plenty of demand so it's heads down for a busy winter bulking up the numbers again. It's another one of those occasions where 'it'll be really good next year, just you see'. We've had a lot of those over the years and one day it'll come true.
We had our copy of 'Commercial Greenhouse Grower' arrive today with a big article covering the summer visit of the Herbaceous growers technical group we hosted. A nice positive piece with a couple of dodgy images including one of your truly looking very slim, thanks in a large part to a computer squeeze on the image to fit it all in!
Still busy potting, not too many to go, hoping to finish within a couple of weeks and then we can get stuck into all those other jobs waiting in the wings. We had a few more staff available last week which bumped up productivity and did gave me the opportunity to get stuck into some pre-winter chores. The main propagation/weaning tunnel has, by design, a really warm humid atmosphere which means green algae and liverwort growth tends to take over all surfaces over the summer. This effect is quite handy in the summer to provide a bit of shade but in the autumn and winter when any extra light is a bonus, something has to be done about it. So with stock levels temporarily low in there this week I clad myself from head to toe in an old spray suit to wash off the inside of the tunnel sheet. A bit of cleaner and water in a bucket with a brush on a stick, over a couple of afternoons did the trick. It was steamy work under the sun but at least it made being soaked from head to foot a bit more comfortable and the results are satisfyingly dramatic. It took a good shower to get me back into a socially acceptable condition but worth it.

Phones are back up and running now so if we miss your call this week you have probably called while we are having our morning break, lunchtime snack or afternoon siesta! It's all go.

WOODEN BOX RETURNS
If anyone is ready to send back their collection of empty wooden boxes please do let us know. Over the next week or two we would like to collect as many as we can, so we can get them out of your way and cleaned, dried and mended before the cold damp winter arrives. Thanks.

Availability highlights
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. Looking and smelling great. The late summer flowering Anemones are looking great in the gardens and we have some looking good now, some with bud coming. Anemones are always a tricky one as the natural tendency is for the plants to go tall. looks fab in the garden but not so easy in a pot. We have a fresh batch of compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with strong bud showing. We have a couple on fresh patches of Achillea in bud on short stems, the red Paprika and silver leaved Moonshine. Many of the Asters are in bud or flower.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. If the weather is not too harsh we have had these still flowering at Christmas before now.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Brunnera variegata, Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

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