Hairy machinery

 Hi Everyone,

Here we are again, I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by. Only a couple of weeks and it's August Bank holiday time. Thankfully the weather has cooled down now after a run of stifling days of high heat and humidity. I'm not good in the heat and the machinery here didn't like it either. The backup engine cooling fans on the Peugeot van packed up, resulting in all sorts of flashing lights and warnings in the cab, but luckily everything stayed cool enough to get back to base. It is now in the garage awaiting arrival on Monday of a new set of very expensive fans which should sort it all out. Our rotary bed cleaning machine also died with a burst oil seal in the gearbox (a sealed maintenance free unit) and the potting machine lift chain stretched beyond its limit and started banging around in its housing. I have a new chain ready to fit in the winter, but it's a big job and we don't have time at the moment to do it. A bit of clever cutting with an angle grinder allowed a bit more play in the adjuster mechanism and we are adjusted ourselves out of trouble, we just have to limp through two or three more loads of compost and we can stop and refit after that. Naturally the irrigation system sprang a few leaks on the hottest days. Over 24 hrs two solenoids came apart overnight creating their own little water display. Both times I got extremely wet doing the repair but that was fine as I was pretty overheated at the time. Good news this week that the 7.5 tonne van sailed through its delayed MOT, not so good news was the pallet weight they put in the back for the test sailed through the bulkhead and ripped out a load of rivets, adding a lot to the ventilation in the box. Ooops. Very embarrassed mechanic who will be repairing it as soon as we can get it back to him. It was perhaps more dramatic than disastrous, it is a cosmetic injury really and hidden behind the cab, so no worries.

I really expected sales to fall away last week, but no, wrong again, we were fractionally busier than the previous week. After a good watering in the gardens over the last couple of days we could see a resurgence and even more interest, cue the sales drop, it has to happen soon, I'm not sure how long we can keep it up!

Availability list highlights

The herb sales just keep going but the range is recovering a bit as sales slow a little and the potting at last can keep pace.

Main current highlights on the flowering stock front are;

New batches of Salvia nemerosa varieties are on the list this week. Bud is either showing or on the way. Particularly good this week are fresh plants of Pink Marvel which we haven't had this year yet and Blue Marvel too. The Pink is in colour and the Blue not far behind. They carry bigger flowers than most other varieties and good strong colour. Don't miss them I don't think they will hang around long.

Achillea Paprika and Terracotta are in bud. I don't have many but they look good. Osteospermum Tresco Purple are erupting into bud now with the odd open flower. Hopefully enough for several more weeks! Lovely strong bushy plants. Fresh batch of great Cosmos Chocamocha on the go, buds appearing and loads of potential.

New batch of Salvia Amethyst Lips are in bud again, short and bushy and ready to go. Still a few Hot Lips left, a bit smaller but in rampant growth at the moment. Erodium Bishops Form are still going strong, the flowers just go on and on. Erigeron Stallone are back in numbers. Loads of bud showing and a flash of colour on the current batches.

I could tell from the scent in the tunnel that one of the Viola oderata had produced some blooms. Sure enough Konigin Charlotte has a flush of its classic purple flowers on show. Very bushy plants with small flowers but high impact scent. We have a few of the pretty Viola Etain back on the list again, in bud and showing a bit of colour.

As the summer moves on we shift more into Aster season. We have a great range of healthy chunky stock at the moment and the flower heads are forming. We are still a little way from colour for most varieties. Numbers will be a bit limited, although we have quite a lot of the ageratoides varieties this year. I got a bit carried away on my purchasing when I realised how much more resistant to mildew they were. They are great plants but not quite as strongly coloured or named as the more traditional types. I like the more subtle tones myself, but they perhaps aren't quite the show stopping display of the others.Aster frikartii Monch looking healthy. Nice bushy fresh batch.

Tradescantia Blue and Gold still going strong, buds still popping up. Fresh Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have the first few niger and orientalis on the list now as well as some strong chunky foetidus and argutifolius. Ajuga's are looking great, bold fresh foliage.

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.