Another lovely week here, warm and sunny until this morning, now it's wet with a nippy wind which is a bit of a shock. Suddenly the need to get the new office put together seems a bit more urgent. Trouble is we can't find the time to get out of the old one and into the temporary one, let alone getting the demolishing and prep done for the new one. Any thoughts of opening up our growing log cabin village as a winter wonderland venue to catch the Christmas market are gone for another year!
This seasons potting is nearly done with crates of Spring bulbs arriving and the early Erysimum crops in quarantine ready to do their winter growing. We have tried in the past to grow English Bluebells and snowdrops from autumn plantings without very much success so last spring we tried buying some 'in the green' plants and dropped them into large modules to see if they would fair better. Disappointingly they went dormant fairly quickly and showed little sign of growing, to the point where I nearly chucked the lot away. They have sat inert all summer in damp compost among all the other vigorous green stock looking very sad. This week was stocktaking week for the end of year records, so I was forced to bite the bullet and tip a few out to see if there was anything to salvage and much to my surprise there are strong fresh roots on almost everything so there may be a crop in the end after all. We had a few Wood Anemones in there too which were just spindly bits of root and even they are looking promising. Not quite sure how they will all perform once potted but there is now hope which is all I need.
The potting pressure over the last couple of months has kept us from keeping the nursery quite as perfect looking as we would like, but the next month or so should see a major tidy up as we get the time to catch up on all the chores. We have a few tunnel covers that have split over the summer and need replacing before the winter gets too wet and cold and a few more drains to dig in to collect up the excess rainfall as well as all the pot topping to suppress the moss and liverwort growth, so no rest for us just yet.
How is it that in the UK each person is buying an average of 26.7kg of clothing every year? When I think of how little I get through, someone else is really going to town to make up this average. Caroline has to wrestle my favourite stuff off me before I am forced to replace it. There were people being interviewed on the telly who struggled to think of anything in their wardrobe older than 12 months and that was a coat. Other than 'wearing parts' (undergarment basics) most of my collection must class as vintage in comparison, but luckily I'm not too fussed. I like to think if you buy quality and class it rarely dates, rather than the reality of, I'm beyond all fashion help, if it's comfy it'll get worn to death. Bring on the elasticated waistbands! Just thinking on this, my own favourite winter coat is a Fatface number I got in France in about 1990, Ok there are a couple of bits missing but it still does it for me.
Luckily we are not too busy on the phones at this time of year, as the ongoing phone issues have returned. We have narrowed it down now to a faulty base station which was probably the issue all along. It works ok on occasions, but needs rebooting every few hours to keep it on line. So apologies if you struggle to get through, do leave us a message if you get the chance, Hoping to get it sorted soon.
WOODEN BOX RETURNS
Thanks to everyone who has rustled together their boxes ready for return. We have a good number back here already, all cleaned and stacked to fully dry out, with loads of pallets already put away in the barn all set for sales to take off again next spring. We have a couple more trips out next week to hoover up the last big stacks and after that we will pop in if we are about to mop up anything you may still have for return. So keep in touch and let us know if you have a batch to go and we will try
and get round to you at some point.
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 still looking great in the gardens and we have some with bud coming.
We have a fresh batch of compact and chunky Leucathemum Banana Creme with strong bud showing. We have a fresh patch of Achillea Moonshine in bud on short stems with its attractive, silver leaves. Many of the Asters are in bud or flower. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is still 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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