Exciting Hairy Beast

Hi,
I think all the water leaks and breakdowns are behind us now, touch wood. We have had a whole week of nearly faultless irrigation which is such a relief. Both buggies are running well and the electrics in the tool-shed have kept dry despite some heavy downpours overflowing the barn gutters again.
Looks like a bit of a stormy weekend coming up with quite a bit of disruption already with cancelled festivals and alike. One of our younger crew is at the local Boomtown festival which is now a massive event but could be a bit of a challenge in high winds and rain, Fingers crossed it all goes ok.
This week we have been getting stuck into more tunnel clearing and potting for next seasons crops as autumn rushes towards us, were does all the time go? Having too much to do and too little time just piles on the pressure towards the end of a busy sales season. Every week potting is delayed risks more winter losses if it gets really cold or very wet, although we have been doing this long enough to know we will get there in the end. In an effort to make tunnel preparation easier we had an exciting demo this week of a mechanical assistant to help clean the muck from our production beds. It's always been a long winded operation using hoes, shovels and brushes to start the new crop on a clean base, but this big motorised rotating brush device took most of the hard work and a handy bit of time out of the operation, it was very impressive. In the past when we have looked at this sort of thing the danger of ripping up the cover and making even more work has always put us off, but this one was hardworking but gentle on the cover. There is that slightly frustrating element that all it really does is redistribute the crud rather than taking it away, but getting it released from the surface is actually the hardest job so it is a big step forward. A collecting device is on trial but we will have to wait and see if that will be up to the job. Meanwhile we have ordered the beast and with a bit of luck it might be here in a week or two, just in time to help us out over the last 8 or 9 weeks of clearing and potting. It's always exciting to buy a new toy so I'm looking forward to that particular delivery.

Availability highlights
Several Coreopsis varieties (Sunfire, Sunkiss and Illico) are showing great colour. A bright show with lots of flower to come. The classic summer flowering Montbretia (Crocosmia) beginning to show thier colour now, with the bold Emberglow the first to show, but now Carmine Brilliant, Babylon and George Davidson are close behind. Lucifer which is our biggest and boldest red is also at last in bud. They are all slightly later than usual because our bulb supplier forgot to deliver our order and they got held back in cold storage, but they are none the worse for that. I may well split the order next year to get a longer season, you live and learn from most mishaps.
Yet another fresh batch of Erigeron Stallone is coming into colour, it just goes on and on. The two pretty pale yellow Leucanthemum's Banana Creme and Broadway Lights are looking stunning, very strong, lots of bud and showing colour. 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 still have a few nice looking hardy Fuchsia left, lots of flower on tidy compact plants. I've put Liriope muscari as in bud at the moment. They are only just beginning to appear but they are definitely on the way and on strong bushy plants too. I doubt they will hang about long they tend to disappear on landscaping projects pretty quickly. Geum Lady Stratheden and Mrs Bradshaw are putting up a nice flush of fresh bud.
Rudbeckia Little Goldstar is now showing masses of bud. We still sell lots of the taller classic Goldsturm which is a fabulous garden plant but Goldstar is dramatically shorter and neater.
Autumn must be on its way with a few Sedum in bud. We have trimmed them short to flower low, but the flowers are still going to make a great show. Autumn Joy is the most popular and looking full of promise with Matrona and its rosy-purple flush looking good too.
We have another fresh batch of the compact Verbena Lollipop in bud with a splash of colour. The neat little Erodiums are flowering well. Neat and tidy, they will flower for ages. Our summer crop of Oxalis are looking good. Iron Cross has dramatic green and black foliage under deep pink flowers but triangularis has nearly all gone now.
Another popular summer special are the blue balloon flowered Platycodon Astra which are now available. Just a few left. 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.
Have a great week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.