Hot and Hairy

Hi,
We seem to be fitting so much into a week at the moment. It used to be spring that was manic but know it seems to have spread to fit in summertime too. I can't believe it was only Monday that we had the crane in to replace our little borehole pump. It may be small but it was a long way down! All went well (nice pun). Unfortunately as soon as that was sorted out, one of the irrigation pumps started tripping out the electric supply and stopping the watering. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing we
think we have got to the bottom of it and a man is coming on Monday to replace the inverter controls and relieve us of another several thousand pounds! Meanwhile I rigged up the text alert socket we got during the winter which tells us when the power drops out, so no matter what time of day or night I can pop out and reset all the trips to restart the irrigation programme. Luckily the programme remembers where it was and just continues on. Good job it hasn't been too hot this week.
A replacement telephone system is part-way to being installed (the wires are up) and the system goes in on Saturday so if we are unavailable over the next few days you will know the likely reason why. New control systems went into the buggies on Monday to allow them to charge properly which worked very well. I can't remember the buggies going this well for a long time. The electrics in the tool-shed was all beautifully moved and reinstalled onto a dry wall which makes us much safer, slightly more efficient, but sadly a lot poorer. One of the vans had a puncture on Thursday and the big one flashed lots of lights and had to be interrogated at the garage (going in for a small repair very soon).
So a quiet week really. It was so busy we nearly didn't notice the heat wave, but we are delighted to have come out the other end unscathed. Must go now as we have to set up a 'Chelsea-like' plant display in Kings Somborne village hall for the annual plant show and fete. Luckily we have all the plants ready so it should only take an hour or two to set out, which is about how long it takes to set up a Chelsea display! Good job we aren't judged on it.

Availability highlights
I have just a few of the more compact and bushier Cosmos Chocamocha left. Buds are visible on most and the odd dark velvety flower is open giving off that famous chocolate scent. Several Coreopsis varieties are showing great colour. A bright show with lots more flower to come.
The first batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of bud already showing and more to come. The odd splash of colour so far, but they will soon be showing off nicely. Geum Lady Stratheden and Mrs Bradshaw are putting up a nice flush of fresh bud.
Fresh batches of the Monarda Barmy series are looking good, nice and bushy with bud in evidence, colour just a week away. We have another batch of Nepeta Junior Walker coming into bud and ready to roll. A great compact and neater habit when compared with its larger more spreading relatives. Six Hills Giant are also tidy plants and in bud. Rudbeckia Little Goldstar is now coming into bud We still sell lots of the taller classic Goldsturm which is a fabulous garden plant but Goldstar is dramatically shorter and neater. The flowers are bold but not quite as big but it carries a lot of them. Autumn must be coming soon, with a few Sedum in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still going to make a good show. Autumn Joy is the most popular and looking full of promise.
Just for a couple more weeks we will have Verbena bonariensis in bud. I know it will romp away in height in a minute and we will have to cut them back but at the moment they are manageable.
The classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) are fast approaching flowering with the bold Emberglow the first in showing its young flower buds, Carmine Brilliant and George Davidson are now showing too. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. Our summer crop of Oxalis are up and running. Both are in bud and looking perky. Iron Cross has dramatic green and black foliage under deep pink flowers while triangularis is equally showy with its purple leaves under pretty pale pink flowers. Salvia Hot Lips is now in bud with the some flower open. The full red and white petal display is now showing.
Another popular summer special are the Platycodon which are on available this week for the first time. A new variety to us is Twinkle Blue, it is slightly more compact than the Astra Blue, both are now showing buds. Rhodanthemum Casablanca are showing well with bushy grey foliage and lots of bud and flower on show. Lots of fab Salvia nemerosa varieties now back on line with most in bud and showing flashes of colour. We have short Campanula currently in bud, the prolific scrambler posharskyana with its smaller lilac blue bell flowers, and a new one for us Clockwise is another scrambler but neater growth habit and strongly coloured violet-blue flowers.
We have gone to town on Scabiosa this season, Lots potted ready for summer flowering, Butterfly Blue and Mariposa Blue are budding up nicely now in good numbers, these beauties will keep flowering all summer.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Dark and Hairy

Morning!
Yet another exciting week but this time for different reasons to last week's chaos. Actually all mayhem has continued, with the buggies still down and the water pump still out of action. We are hoping for some resolutions early next week with all sorts of replacement parts and engineers pitching up. We will have electricians in the tool-shed too, relocating a consumer unit, sockets and lights about to get them away from an irreparable leaking gutter (not a happy combination). Hopefully that will help with more reliable charging of the buggies, once they are up and running again. I also added a few new toys to the project just to make it feel like we were progressing rather than just emptying the bank account and ending up with what we started with. The lights are naturally LED with the added bonus of turning on automatically when its dark and personnel are detected, rather than groping around in the dark trying to find the light switch. I've also added a new light and socket in the spray shed which will tidy that up nicely and a motion detector to my label printing bench so it only lights up when I'm under it. This week was one of natural performances brightening our day and night. After several years without seeing a hedgehog in the garden, we have had at least one hoovering up under the bird feeders over the last 3 or 4 weeks which has been great to see. Then this week a large amount of rustling under the old foliage of a pampas grass drew Caroline's attention to a litter of, at least 4, weenie offspring. The rest of the week we have been having to avoid stepping on them as they forage about at dusk, hedgehog food has been supplied and accepted, so we can build them up to a good size before summer ends. Managed to stay awake long enough on Tuesday night to get out and see the partial eclipse of the moon. For a change it was clear skies and a comfortable temperature to watch it for a good half an hour or so. A great show, made all the more entertaining by a feeding frenzy around our heads by four or five good sized bats. We very regularly see a couple of small pipistrelles feeding along the hedge lines but I'm sure these were bigger and definitely more numerous. They were so close you could hear and feel the flapping as they shot by.

Availability highlights
Erigeron kerv. Stallone are looking good with lots of bud and the odd open flower too. I have just a few of the more compact and bushier Cosmos Chocamocha left. Buds are visible on most, so not long to wait for those dark velvety flowers and the famous chocolate scent. The first batches of our mini Chrysanthemum (Garden Mums) are growing away well. Lovely bushy plants with lots of bud already showing and more to come. The odd splash of colour so far, but they will soon be showing off nicely.
We have another batch of Nepeta Junior Walker coming into bud and ready to roll. A great compact and neater habit when compared with its larger more spreading relatives. Both Walkers Low and Six Hills Giant are also tidy plants and in bud. Rudbeckia Little Goldstar is now coming into bud We still sell lots of the taller classic Goldsturm which is a fabulous garden plant but Goldstar is dramatically shorter and neater. The flowers are bold but not quite as big but it carries a lot of them.
Just for a couple more weeks we will have Verbena bonariensis in bud. I know it will romp away in height in a minute and we will have to cut them back but at the moment they are manageable.
The classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) are fast approaching flowering with the bold Emberglow the first in showing its young flower buds. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages.
Summer seaside flowers abound, with Armeria maritima back on the list, bud showing on both the white and pink forms. Masses of bud on upright stems of Catananche caerulea . The occasional flower showing a flash of its papery sky blue petals, but only a few left now.
Our summer crop of Oxalis are up and running. Both are in bud and looking perky. Iron Cross has dramatic green and black foliage under deep pink flowers while triangularis is equally showy with its purple leaves under pretty pale pink flowers.
Salvia Hot Lips is now in bud with the some flower open. The full red and white petal display is now showing. Another popular summer special are the Platycodon which are on available this week for the first time. A new variety to us is Twinkle Blue, it is slightly more compact than the Astra Blue, both are now showing buds.
Rhodanthemum Casablanca are showing well with bushy grey foliage and lots of bud and flower on show. Lots of fab Salvia nemerosa varieties now back on line with most in bud and showing flashes of colour. We have short Campanula currently in bud, the prolific scrambler posharskyana with its smaller lilac blue bell flowers, and a new one for us Clockwise is another scrambler but neater growth habit and strongly coloured violet-blue flowers.
We have gone to town on Scabiosa this season, Lots potted ready for summer flowering, Butterfly Blue and Mariposa Blue are budding up nicely now in good numbers, these beauties will keep flowering all summer.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Mondays

Hi,
Wow that was an eventful week. I can't believe how much has happened over such a short time.
Started off with slight panic as we organised ourselves to leave the nursery for an afternoon and overnight. So much to sort out and prepare, surely it would be easier just to stay here. However a 60th birthday do, hog roast, farm cider and live music, as well as meeting a few old friends was too good to miss and so it proved to be. Did a lot of catching up, emptied a few barrels (it was a big do) and rolled out a bit of dad dancing, a perfect evening. Bit of a sore head the following morning,
I think it must have been the sun, and an easy drive home meant we could get the nematodes irrigated onto the crops and spend a few hours preparing for Mondays excitement.
So Monday morning dawns to welcome us back with a failed water pump (good job it's not too summery), two broken down electric buggies, 4 staff missing (found them now), hi-fibre installation day, and lots of orders to get sorted. Now that is an exciting start to the week. Mondays are already pretty chaotic with getting all the deliveries organised for the week as they come in, while starting to process some at the same time, and then 'extras' added a certain frisson to it all.
One of the buggies has been not charging well for a while but for the second to go down with the same issue was really frustrating. We ended up towing the trailer around with the forklift which isn't ideal but it did the job. Meanwhile I organised a specialist buggy man to visit at vast expense and he nailed the issue down very quickly to failed onboard computers that control the charging process. New ones ordered and should be fitted sometime next week. New water pump ordered too which also should get fitted next week and Hi-Fibre successfully installed (tested at over 200mbps compared with about 6 currently) to be usable in a couple of weeks. And that was just Monday!

Availability highlights
Erigeron kerv. Stallone are looking good with lots of bud and the odd open flower too.
We have been asked before if we could grow some Cosmos which we are having a go at. I have just a few of the more compact and bushier Chocamocha left. There are definitely buds forming on many of the Chocamocha, not long to wait for those dark velvety flowers and the famous chocolate scent.
We have another batch of Nepeta Junior Walker coming into bud and ready to roll. A great compact and neater habit when compared with its larger more spreading relatives.
Another compact form of a classic cottage border plant is Rudbeckia Little Goldstar. We still sell lots of the taller classic Goldsturm which is a fabulous garden plant but this is dramatically shorter and neater. The flowers are bold but not quite as big but it carries a lot of them, to give an impressive black and gold display.
Just for a couple of weeks we will have Verbena bonariensis in bud. I know it will romp away in height in a minute and we will have to cut them back but at the moment they are manageable.
The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages.
Summer seaside flowers abound, with Armeria maritima back on the list, bud showing on both the white and pink forms. Masses of bud on upright stems of Catananche caerulea . The occasional flower showing a flash of its papery sky blue petals. Our summer crop of Oxalis are up and running. Both are in bud and looking perky. Iron Cross has dramatic green and black foliage under deep pink flowers while triangularis is equally showy with its purple leaves under pretty pale pink flowers.
Salvia Hot Lips is now in bud with the some flower open. The full red and white petal display is now showing.
Another popular summer special are the Platycodon which are on available this week for the first time. A new variety to us is Twinkle Blue, it is slightly more compact than the Astra Blue, both are now showing buds. Mixed pastel coloured flowers of Lewisia Elise are showing well with plenty more bud to follow. This one flowers all summer. Rhodanthemum Casablanca and Marakesh are showing well with bushy grey foliage and lots of bud on show and the odd open daisy flower. They will go on all summer long, producing so many delightful blooms.
Lots of fab Salvia nemerosa varieties now back on line with most in bud and showing flashes of colour. The new Marvel Blue hold much bolder flowers which I think are pretty impressive, I will get more of these next year. We have three short Campanula currently in bud, carpatica Blue with their domed habit and large single cupped flowers are neat and chunky with masses of bud. Another is the prolific scrambler posharskyana with its smaller lilac blue bell flowers, and a new one for us Clockwise is another scrambler but neater growth habit and strongly coloured violet-blue flowers. Dianthus Scent First varieties are selling through quickly. Buds are thrusting through on all varieties and the flowers opening. The warmer weather adds to the delightful scent levels.
We have gone to town on Scabiosa this season, Lots potted ready for summer flowering, Butterfly Blue and Mariposa Blue are budding up nicely now in good numbers, these beauties will keep flowering all summer.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy PVC

Hi,
So many flowers to highlight, there is not much room for gossip.
Still madly busy here, sales are bowling along and pressure is building with lots of next year's cutting and seedlings already sitting here demanding to be dealt with. There's plenty of tunnel clearing, pricking out and potting going on, even when the sunshine says it's time for an ice cream and a lie down.
Picked a good day yesterday to don my very fetching green PVC full body suit and wellies to replace a couple of worn out valves in the acid pump (for adjusting the ph of the irrigation water). Who needs to pay out for a spa and sauna when you have an irrigation system to keep running?
Both Phil, our main driver, and I are having a few 'days off' over the coming few weeks as we have to refresh our CPC lorry driver training. I can't believe it's been five years since the last lot. Phil does all our big van driving so he gets good use out of his card, but I only go out on rescue missions when he occasionally runs out of driving time and I suspect I have spent more time in training than I have behind the wheel. It's quite handy really as I can count this as my summer holiday, a change is as good as a rest.
Big week next week, as we go Hi-Fibre. We have a new router all ready to go, just need the expert man to fit it, then the only thing holding us up will be the driver of the keyboard but sadly we are unlikely to be able to upgrade him.

Availability highlights
Erigeron kerv. Stallone are looking good with lots of bud and the odd open flower too. We have been asked before if we could grow some Cosmos which we are having a go at. I have just a few of the larger Cosmos Chocolate and a reasonable number of the more compact and bushier Chocamocha. I have a feeling I can see buds forming on the Chocamocha but as I haven't grown this one before it may just be wishful thinking. Anyway both varieties have similar dark velvety flowers and the famous chocolate scent.
Summer seaside flowers abound, with Armeria maritima back on the list, bud showing on both the white and pink forms. Masses of bud on upright stems of Catananche caerulea . The occasional flower showing a flash of its papery sky blue petals. Our summer crop of Oxalis are up and running. Both are in bud and looking perky. Iron Cross has dramatic green and black foliage under deep pink flowers while triangularis is equally showy with its purple leaves under pretty pale pink flowers. Salvia Hot Lips is now in bud with the some flower open. The full red and white petal display is now showing. Another popular summer special are the Platycodon which are on available this week for the first time. A new variety to us is Twinkle Blue, it is slightly more compact than the Astra Blue and quicker into flower.
Mixed pastel coloured flowers of Lewisia Elise are showing well with plenty more bud to follow. This one flowers all summer. Rhodanthemum Casablanca and Marakesh are showing well with bushy grey foliage and lots of bud on show and the odd open daisy flower. They will go on all summer long, producing so many delightful blooms. Twinkly white flowers of our compact Calmintha Marvelette are beginning to open and looking great. Lots of fab Salvia nemerosa varieties now back on line with most in bud and showing flashes of colour. The new Marvel varieties hold much bolder flowers which I think are impressive, I will get more of these next year, I believe there are now three colours available for 2020 so that will be a treat.
Our range of Hemerocallis (Daylilies) are rushing into bud now. The darker colours of Crimson Pirate and Summer Wine are always popular but the jolly yellow of the repeat flowering Big Time Happy must be worth a look too! We have four short Campanula currently in bud. Carpatica White and Blue with their domed habit and large single cupped flowers are neat and chunky with masses of bud. Another is the prolific scrambler posharskyana with its smaller lilac blue bell flowers, and a new one for us Clockwise is another scrambler but neater growth habit and pretty violet-blue flowers. Viola Etain and Rebecca are doing their thing, plenty pretty buds and flowers all raring to go Dianthus Scent First varieties are back on line. Buds are thrusting through on all varieties and the first flowers opening. The warmer weather and opening flowers are adding to the delightful scent levels. We have gone to town on Scabiosa this season, Lots potted ready for summer flowering, Butterfly Blue and Mariposa Blue are budding up nicely now in good numbers, these beauties will keep flowering all summer. Summer must be here, the Gaura's are coming on line with early bud already in evidence. I have a few summer flowering plants trialling at the moment, with a range of Diasica's now all in full flower. They are promise to flower their heads off all summer long and they've got off to a great start. I haven't got many as it's just a taster. So if you fancy a few just tick the list. Sorry but the other trial plants have all gone, more next year!
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Lonely and Hairy

Hi,

Ok it's late on a Friday again and still rushing about getting lists together after another hectic day with some extra heat added to spice it up even more. Feeling a bit guilty as we switched on the air con unit after the office began to cook in the afternoon sun. We parked the office under a nice big beech hedge which overhangs nicely, keeping us in the shade until late in the day, but no amount of window opening and blind dangling can cope once i n fun sun when temperatures are this high. Now I've sat down and cooled off a bit I can try and cobble together some news as well as update the plant lists. Although the figures say we are slowing up a bit it is still bonkers busy, especially this past week when a culmination of events left us a bit short. The previous week we lost the big van to MOT preparations and had to whizz about in two smaller vans which was quite a juggle to fit in all the deliveries. Last week it was a shortage of bodies that caused a panic. We are only a small nursery and don't have that many staff so it's really fun when on a Monday we are 6 people down with only one making it back in during the week, plus another off  for a day and a half later. Several of those off were drivers, so having all the vans back on the road this week didn't help that much. Anyway we got to the end of the week, we are still here and everyone is fit and well so looking forward to next week and getting a bit more done.

Exciting news this week was the taking on of two new ladies in the microprop lab. Staffing in the lab had dwindled a bit over the last four months and we needed to catch up again. They managed to get to the end of the week without their brains bursting with all the new skills they are learning, so fingers crossed they pitch up again on Monday.

We are about to join the modern internet gang with high speed fibre being fitted in a couple weeks. The man came to check out the kit on the pole today and he was very excited for us, Being a rural site our 'normal' speed is 5 or 6 meg  so he reckons we might notice the difference. We were quite happy with 5 or 6, because a couple of miles away down on the farm, they struggle to get 1. I think I'm meant to start downloading movies and box sets etc, perhaps I'd better employ someone to watch them all for me. Another upgrade will be a new phone system in a month, so we can go all Voip. That will be new internet and new phones, what could possibly go wrong? If you don't hear from us for a bit you will know why.

Availability highlights

Erigeron kerv. Stallone are back on and in bud too. Plenty of stock available  so don't hold back. The ever popular compact Verbena Lollipop are showing bud, no colour yet but not far off. Our summer crop of Oxalis are up and running. Both are in bud and looking perky. Iron Cross has dramatic green and black foliage under deep pink flowers while triangularis is equally showy with its purple leaves under pretty pale pink flowers.

Salvia Hot Lips is now in bud with the odd flower open. The full red and white petal display is now showing. The pretty pastel mixed colour flowers of Lewisia Elise are showing well with plenty more bud to follow. 

Rhodanthemum Casa open daisy flower. They will go on all summer long producing so many delightful blooms. Twinkly white flowers of our compact Calmintha Marvelette are beginning to open and looking great. Lots of fab Salvia nemerosa varieties now back on line with most in bud and showing a flash of colour.

Our range of Hemerocallis (Daylilies) are rushing into bud now. The dark colours of Black Prince, Crimson Pirate and Summer Wine are always popular but the jolly yellow of the repeat flowering Big Time Happy must be worth a look too!

The delicate looking foam flower (Tiarella wherryi) are in bud and flower. Not as bold as some plants but puts on a delightful show and looking fab at the moment. We have four short Campanula currently in bud. Carpatica White and Blue with their domed habit and large single cupped flowers are neat and chunky with masses of bud. Another is the prolific scrambler posharskyana with its smaller lilac blue bell flowers, and a new one for us, Clockwise is another scrambler but neater growth habit and pretty violet-blue flowers.

Dianthus Scent First varieties are back on line. Buds are thrusting through on all varieties and the first flowers opening. A bit more warmth in the air will amplify those sweet scents too.

We have gone to town on Scabiosa this season, Lots potted ready for summer flowering, Butterfly Blue and Mariposa Blue are budding up nicely now in good numbers, these beauties will keep flowering all summer. Summer must be here, the Gaura's are coming on line with early bud already in evidence. I have a few summer flowering plants trialling at the moment, with a range of Diasica's, Nemesia and Euryops  all in full flower. They are all promising to flower their heads off all summer long and they've got off to a great start. I haven't got many as it's just a taster. So if you fancy a few just tick the list. Viola Etain and Rebecca are doing their thing, plenty pretty buds and flowers all raring to go. 

Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.