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.