Hi
Another conifer down last weekend, which could have been nasty as it fell into the main road during the late evening. Luckily a driver stopped and alerted us and we were able to get our woodsman neighbour, with all his lumberjack kit, to quickly chop it up. We dragged the debris out of the way and all was well, if a little too exciting, for a Saturday night. No long term damage again, a few briefly flooded tunnels but not much more, so we are very grateful for that, considering the misery of those affected by the major flooding elsewhere. On Thursday we saw video of a big fruit nursery completely underwater, just engulfed by the river that runs beside it. I shudder to think of the disruption and losses incurred there.
We've had another windy week, achieving close to record output from the turbines over the last three weeks. It is due to continue to be breezy well into next week, although not as wild down here as it has been, and we could get very close to a record month. Every cloud and all that.
Sales continue to bowl along surprisingly well considering, although we would love to see some brighter, settled weather, just to relax and get back to 'normal'. Most of our new wooden label storage boxes are up and running, a new set of shelves added to fit the last few in and all the new label stock safely filed away. Looks fab, bit of a faff to knock together, but they fit both the picture and herb labels perfectly, and are really quick and easy to find, fill and select from. All was just about finished
up for the NBIS grower group visit on Thursday. I suspect they think I'm nuts going to all this effort, but their words were kind! I must admit after a couple of hours concentrated rearranging of stuff, the nursery as a whole polished up nicely for the tour and almost looked professional. It was a great excuse to get the season started with a clean slate and everything in its place. Most had visited us before, so we kept to the latest highlights, the new shed/office, the new plant passport labels, the mypex cleaning machine, the new LED lights in the weaning tunnel, the new label storage obviously, and best of all, the new inspection/access chamber to the cesspit pipe-work! Conversations were littered with as many poo references and innuendo's as you could imagine. Many motions were passed and much s--t hit the fan.
Price changes for 2020
Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st (link attached to this email). If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your spring deliveries.
Availability list highlights
Anemone blanda Blue is up and showing bud and the odd flash of colour. I don't have a huge number so don't hold back. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks.
Frittilaria (snakeshead lily) are just beginning to show the occasional bud after recently breaking through.
The Pulmonaria are budding up well with the odd open flower. Going fast, so don't miss them
Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there with the odd flash of purple definitely in evidence. The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. More strong blues on the way with the Muscari now in bud.
A new Camassia for us this season is C. Sacajawea, not the most 'roll off the tongue' name, but it produces dramatic stripy variegated leaves around its white flowers. A stunner and looking good already. Most of the Euphorbia's are now budding, with arching stems looking elegant already. Martinii is looking particularly attractive. There are more Erysimums budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Super Bowl Mauve does now have the first buds colouring and opening.
Another new one for us this spring is the pretty pink flowering, low growing Corydalis Beth Evans. Buds are already opening. Primula denticulata Rubra and Lilac/purple showing colour now. Brunnera are shooting through now, producing their first buds almost as soon as the leaves emerge. Just the green form at the moment, the stunning variegata will be a couple of weeks later.
Spring flowering Symphytum are showing early tight bud, a strong plant with subtle pale blue flowers. The little deep pink Viola oderata Coeur d'Alsace are really sweet in looks and scent. There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead.
Spring flowering Bergenia and Doronicum are good as are Leucanthemum, Lupin, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis.
Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Monday 24 February 2020
Tuesday 18 February 2020
Hairy Wind
Hi,
Well we got away quite lightly last weekend, it was very wild but damage was minimal. Even the previously split tunnel cover is still there. We had a few things blown about and quite a big windbreak conifer came down, but luckily just missed the tunnels. Now we have to go through it all again this weekend, without even a nice Saturday to welcome it in. Looks like the drains will be working overtime over the next few days, good job we put them in, it has prevented quite a bit of flooding although not all. It's been an ongoing project for the last 3 winters, we picked the most vulnerable sites first and are gradually working round the nursery. Not too many to go now but when the weather is like this I do wonder if we have done enough. Unfortunately these storms don't do any favours to large volume plant sales, especially when they fall on the weekend. Luckily we are going full tilt yet and I feel better about everyone being safe at home, rather than working here in this weather.
Potting machine is up and running again after a very helpful engineer popped out and shortened our replacement drive chains to make them fit. Running nicely and all primed for the oncoming season. Trouble is once we put one thing right the challenges just shuffle along somewhere else! Pressing on with the wooden label printing this week, with Friday marked down for a big push. About 100 labels in and whoosh, off pops one of the little air lines in the printer. The push-fit attachment still pushes but no longer fits. No grip, just blows off again. No problem, I have a second older machine which I use for spares, just cannibalise that. No luck, it must have happened before, as both identical fitting on that machine are loose and have the same problem. Why can't I remember that? (No need to answer that, thanks). Thanks goodness for the internet, after a bit of research I traced down the exact part (I hope) and ordered it for next day delivery. One tiny part stopped all printing, a bit scary.
Price changes for 2020
Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st (link attached to this email). If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your first delivery.
Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. More varieties have made it to the list this week with the mild weather pushing things along.
New on the list for this week is Anemone blanda Blue which is up and showing bud and the odd flash of colour. I don't have a huge number so don't hold back too long. We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring, they are looking strong and most varieties are now in bud. Jetfire, Tete a Tete and Topolino are showing loads of bud on super short stems, which is encouraging. I wish I'd done more. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks. Frittilaria (snakeshead lily) are just beginning to show the occasional bud after recently breaking through.The earliest of the Pulmonaria are budding up with the odd open flower.
Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there with the odd flash of purple in evidence. The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. A new Camassia for us this season is C. Sacajawea, not the most 'roll off the tongue' name, but it produces dramatic stripy variegated leaves around its white flowers. A stunner and looking good already.
Most of the Euphorbia's are now in bud, with their arching stems looking elegant already.
There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve.
There are more Erysimums budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Super Bowl Mauve does now have the first buds colouring and opening. Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now, with the lilac/purple form close behind. Spring flowering Symphytum are showing early tight bud, a strong plant with subtle pale blue flowers. The snowdrops (Galanthus) are still in flower, just a few left now.
There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are good as are Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis.
Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Well we got away quite lightly last weekend, it was very wild but damage was minimal. Even the previously split tunnel cover is still there. We had a few things blown about and quite a big windbreak conifer came down, but luckily just missed the tunnels. Now we have to go through it all again this weekend, without even a nice Saturday to welcome it in. Looks like the drains will be working overtime over the next few days, good job we put them in, it has prevented quite a bit of flooding although not all. It's been an ongoing project for the last 3 winters, we picked the most vulnerable sites first and are gradually working round the nursery. Not too many to go now but when the weather is like this I do wonder if we have done enough. Unfortunately these storms don't do any favours to large volume plant sales, especially when they fall on the weekend. Luckily we are going full tilt yet and I feel better about everyone being safe at home, rather than working here in this weather.
Potting machine is up and running again after a very helpful engineer popped out and shortened our replacement drive chains to make them fit. Running nicely and all primed for the oncoming season. Trouble is once we put one thing right the challenges just shuffle along somewhere else! Pressing on with the wooden label printing this week, with Friday marked down for a big push. About 100 labels in and whoosh, off pops one of the little air lines in the printer. The push-fit attachment still pushes but no longer fits. No grip, just blows off again. No problem, I have a second older machine which I use for spares, just cannibalise that. No luck, it must have happened before, as both identical fitting on that machine are loose and have the same problem. Why can't I remember that? (No need to answer that, thanks). Thanks goodness for the internet, after a bit of research I traced down the exact part (I hope) and ordered it for next day delivery. One tiny part stopped all printing, a bit scary.
Price changes for 2020
Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st (link attached to this email). If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your first delivery.
Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. More varieties have made it to the list this week with the mild weather pushing things along.
New on the list for this week is Anemone blanda Blue which is up and showing bud and the odd flash of colour. I don't have a huge number so don't hold back too long. We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring, they are looking strong and most varieties are now in bud. Jetfire, Tete a Tete and Topolino are showing loads of bud on super short stems, which is encouraging. I wish I'd done more. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks. Frittilaria (snakeshead lily) are just beginning to show the occasional bud after recently breaking through.The earliest of the Pulmonaria are budding up with the odd open flower.
Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there with the odd flash of purple in evidence. The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. A new Camassia for us this season is C. Sacajawea, not the most 'roll off the tongue' name, but it produces dramatic stripy variegated leaves around its white flowers. A stunner and looking good already.
Most of the Euphorbia's are now in bud, with their arching stems looking elegant already.
There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve.
There are more Erysimums budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Super Bowl Mauve does now have the first buds colouring and opening. Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now, with the lilac/purple form close behind. Spring flowering Symphytum are showing early tight bud, a strong plant with subtle pale blue flowers. The snowdrops (Galanthus) are still in flower, just a few left now.
There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are good as are Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis.
Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Hairy Lull
Hi,
Lull before the storm here today. I'm a bit tense about tomorrows forecast, which looks a bit too exciting to me. Just hoping there is not too much damage, I know there is one tunnel cover likely to go, as it developed a small split during the cold snap. It's pretty old, but we always leave them until they give up completely, because you never know quite how long they will last. It all depends on the tunnel exposure, how tight we got it when we last recovered, the condition of the hoops and tape and the manufactured batch of sheet material. The odd sheet has lasted 15 years and others only 6 or 7 so you never can tell.
Luckily there is only critical heating in one tunnel and that has two inflated covers anyway, to give us extra insulation. All the covers go for recycling at the end of their lives here so all in all, they have served us well. The other critical areas of concern are potential tree damage and power loss in the lab growth room, so I will have to test start the emergency generator this afternoon, just in case. The safety blessing in this for us, is that it is early in the season and peaking over Sunday when there is only the two of us here. Hopefully the worst will have cleared through by Monday as we can clear up quickly and get started on the mountain of work building up.
The high winds over the whole UK is quite unusual, it is normally a bit more localised, I hope the power companies and local authorities have the resources in place to cope. With luck it might not be as bad as they say, fingers crossed for you all.
We came close to starting a bit of potting this week, but the replacement drive chain for the machine was too long, very frustrating. That did mean we were able to press on with the new plywood label boxes, and start to put away the pallet of new colour labels that arrived on Tuesday. It is difficult to get my head round the cost of a few labels, but you could get a nice car for that. Mind you we might struggle to sell anything without them, so needs must and all that. They are all made from card again, just like last year, waterproofed with plant based starch, so properly biodegradable. I might let the press know about it this time, as the vast majority of our labels this year will be now be this type, or wooden for the herbs. I don't really want to make too much fuss, it just looks like someone else jumping on the bandwagon. Perhaps I'll combine it with the completion of the label boxes, that will add another twist.
I'm nearly there on the box making, all the individual variety ones are made, now just the larger price label ones to do, and a bit of shelf making. Slight error made on the space calculation front, I didn't quite appreciate the number of new varieties and labels I had ordered! Oops. Price changes for 2020
Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st (link attached to this email). If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your first delivery.
Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. More varieties have made it to the list this week with the mild weather pushing things along.
The snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting through nicely, with the flashes of white flower showing well. We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring, they are looking strong and most varieties are now in bud. Jetfire and Tete a Tete are showing loads of bud on super short stems, which is encouraging. I wish I'd done more. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks. The earliest of the Pulmonaria are budding up with the odd open flower.
Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there.
The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. It's sister plant S. mischtshenkoana has pretty pale two tone flowers which are showing really well, although only a few left, so be quick. There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve.
There are more Erysimums budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now, with the lilac/purple form close behind.
There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are good as are Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis.
Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Lull before the storm here today. I'm a bit tense about tomorrows forecast, which looks a bit too exciting to me. Just hoping there is not too much damage, I know there is one tunnel cover likely to go, as it developed a small split during the cold snap. It's pretty old, but we always leave them until they give up completely, because you never know quite how long they will last. It all depends on the tunnel exposure, how tight we got it when we last recovered, the condition of the hoops and tape and the manufactured batch of sheet material. The odd sheet has lasted 15 years and others only 6 or 7 so you never can tell.
Luckily there is only critical heating in one tunnel and that has two inflated covers anyway, to give us extra insulation. All the covers go for recycling at the end of their lives here so all in all, they have served us well. The other critical areas of concern are potential tree damage and power loss in the lab growth room, so I will have to test start the emergency generator this afternoon, just in case. The safety blessing in this for us, is that it is early in the season and peaking over Sunday when there is only the two of us here. Hopefully the worst will have cleared through by Monday as we can clear up quickly and get started on the mountain of work building up.
The high winds over the whole UK is quite unusual, it is normally a bit more localised, I hope the power companies and local authorities have the resources in place to cope. With luck it might not be as bad as they say, fingers crossed for you all.
We came close to starting a bit of potting this week, but the replacement drive chain for the machine was too long, very frustrating. That did mean we were able to press on with the new plywood label boxes, and start to put away the pallet of new colour labels that arrived on Tuesday. It is difficult to get my head round the cost of a few labels, but you could get a nice car for that. Mind you we might struggle to sell anything without them, so needs must and all that. They are all made from card again, just like last year, waterproofed with plant based starch, so properly biodegradable. I might let the press know about it this time, as the vast majority of our labels this year will be now be this type, or wooden for the herbs. I don't really want to make too much fuss, it just looks like someone else jumping on the bandwagon. Perhaps I'll combine it with the completion of the label boxes, that will add another twist.
I'm nearly there on the box making, all the individual variety ones are made, now just the larger price label ones to do, and a bit of shelf making. Slight error made on the space calculation front, I didn't quite appreciate the number of new varieties and labels I had ordered! Oops. Price changes for 2020
Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st (link attached to this email). If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your first delivery.
Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. More varieties have made it to the list this week with the mild weather pushing things along.
The snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting through nicely, with the flashes of white flower showing well. We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring, they are looking strong and most varieties are now in bud. Jetfire and Tete a Tete are showing loads of bud on super short stems, which is encouraging. I wish I'd done more. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks. The earliest of the Pulmonaria are budding up with the odd open flower.
Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there.
The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. It's sister plant S. mischtshenkoana has pretty pale two tone flowers which are showing really well, although only a few left, so be quick. There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve.
There are more Erysimums budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now, with the lilac/purple form close behind.
There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are good as are Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis.
Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Monday 3 February 2020
Hairy Cure
Hi,
Another mild day with the sun out too, it must be spring. Although it is a relief to be able to work out there in relative comfort I have to admit to being a bit tense about it being so warm so early in the year. We have seen the odd dopey bumblebee, moth and butterfly already, I suspect they have woken up a bit early and there may be a rude shock round the corner. Next week does look a bit cooler but nothing major,. It may get even cooler later into the month, but no big freeze on the forecasters horizon at the moment. Not much we can do about it anyway, just make the most of it while it lasts.
I can't believe how busy we've been, the lack of winter has caught me out again and all that 'spare' winter time we think we have, to get lots of development and preparative work completed, has just evaporated. The replacement of our perished plastic label storage baskets with plywood trays got off to a great start, although pinning together 4,000 pieces of ready cut FSC plywood, fitting on a little metal card holder to each tray and swapping all the stock over has taken a little longer than I thought it might. I have a minimum of 640 trays to put together and we done just over half in a week. Trouble is that the label printing has slowed up along with the plant tidying and drain digging. Never the less, the job looks great, very satisfying with loads of environmental smugness in evidence. The boxes actually fit the labels and shelves much more efficiently and they should last much longer, so benefits all round after the initial pain. With a bit of luck In 50 years time Drew Pritchard's descendants will be dropping in to snap them up as a chic, rustic, rural, storage wall!
Despite some late nights I did manage to get to yoga this week, which helps calm me down, stretch a few body parts and reach a new spiritual plain. Ok, perhaps not the last bit, not really my thing to loosen my grip on the more practical aspects of what goes on. I really struggled to get the hang of breathing out of parts of my body with no obvious aperture, but I have to admit that the thought process involved in the practice, does seem to relax or provide pain relief, to those parts with that focus of attention. Anyway, I digress. On the way out of the session I found myself with time to read the notice board which was packed full of cards and adverts for various practitioners. Everything from sports massage, yoga, pilates, reki massage, well being classes, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, indian head massage, The well-being sub classes involved special diet, exercise, meditation, just about everything. My disbelieving mind raced when I noticed one claiming to be able to complete virus removal, which to my knowledge is something even medical practices struggle with. I calmed down a bit when I realised that he practiced IT maintenance!
Price changes for 2020
Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st. If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your first delivery.
Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. More varieties have made it to the list this week with the mild weather pushing things along. The snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting through nicely, with the flashes of white flower showing well.
We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring and they are looking strong and there are a few varieties now showing bud. The earliest of the Pulmonaria are budding up with the odd open flower. Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there.
The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. It's sister plant S. mischtshenkoana has pretty pale two tone flowers which are showing really well. There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve. There are more Erysimums budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there.
Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now, with the lilac/purple form close behind. There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are good as are Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks.
Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
Another mild day with the sun out too, it must be spring. Although it is a relief to be able to work out there in relative comfort I have to admit to being a bit tense about it being so warm so early in the year. We have seen the odd dopey bumblebee, moth and butterfly already, I suspect they have woken up a bit early and there may be a rude shock round the corner. Next week does look a bit cooler but nothing major,. It may get even cooler later into the month, but no big freeze on the forecasters horizon at the moment. Not much we can do about it anyway, just make the most of it while it lasts.
I can't believe how busy we've been, the lack of winter has caught me out again and all that 'spare' winter time we think we have, to get lots of development and preparative work completed, has just evaporated. The replacement of our perished plastic label storage baskets with plywood trays got off to a great start, although pinning together 4,000 pieces of ready cut FSC plywood, fitting on a little metal card holder to each tray and swapping all the stock over has taken a little longer than I thought it might. I have a minimum of 640 trays to put together and we done just over half in a week. Trouble is that the label printing has slowed up along with the plant tidying and drain digging. Never the less, the job looks great, very satisfying with loads of environmental smugness in evidence. The boxes actually fit the labels and shelves much more efficiently and they should last much longer, so benefits all round after the initial pain. With a bit of luck In 50 years time Drew Pritchard's descendants will be dropping in to snap them up as a chic, rustic, rural, storage wall!
Despite some late nights I did manage to get to yoga this week, which helps calm me down, stretch a few body parts and reach a new spiritual plain. Ok, perhaps not the last bit, not really my thing to loosen my grip on the more practical aspects of what goes on. I really struggled to get the hang of breathing out of parts of my body with no obvious aperture, but I have to admit that the thought process involved in the practice, does seem to relax or provide pain relief, to those parts with that focus of attention. Anyway, I digress. On the way out of the session I found myself with time to read the notice board which was packed full of cards and adverts for various practitioners. Everything from sports massage, yoga, pilates, reki massage, well being classes, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, indian head massage, The well-being sub classes involved special diet, exercise, meditation, just about everything. My disbelieving mind raced when I noticed one claiming to be able to complete virus removal, which to my knowledge is something even medical practices struggle with. I calmed down a bit when I realised that he practiced IT maintenance!
Price changes for 2020
Don't forget the new prices for the new season. A very modest rise for the year of an average of less than 2% can be seen on the prices page of the 2020 flipbook catalogue which came into force on January 1st. If we pre- price your deliveries, you might want to review your prices for the year and let us know of any changes so that we can adjust your records and make sure we have the printing plates and labels ready to roll for your first delivery.
Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. More varieties have made it to the list this week with the mild weather pushing things along. The snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting through nicely, with the flashes of white flower showing well.
We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring and they are looking strong and there are a few varieties now showing bud. The earliest of the Pulmonaria are budding up with the odd open flower. Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there.
The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. It's sister plant S. mischtshenkoana has pretty pale two tone flowers which are showing really well. There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve. There are more Erysimums budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there.
Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now, with the lilac/purple form close behind. There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are good as are Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks.
Best wishes for a great season, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
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