Hairy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all,

What a very mixed start to the year. Increasing light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine roll out, which is just brilliant, but it's going to be a rough ride for so many before things are back under control. I must admit to struggling quite a bit at the moment when it comes to drumming up positivity and excitement, despite the remarkably good position we find ourselves in. After the disastrous start to last season we find ourselves now with lots of lovely customers, loads of great stock on the way, an expanding consumer demand for plants, and lots of winter progress on preparing our starting position for the new season. Unfortunately the now 'in-built anxiety' is just hanging there, dulling those sparks of hope. Fingers crossed for everyone, that things brighten up really soon.

Looks like being a bit warmer but dry, for us next week, which should be perfect for progressing with those winter jobs in a bit more comfort. Luckily I got the new loo block plumbed in and running over the break so we can now all relax in comfort, up to 8 at the same time and all in covid safety. The next couple of weeks should see us complete the 'between tunnel' drainage work, which has been going on now for 4 winters. It has broken a couple of staff who retired to less demanding work on the nursery, leaving just a couple of super fit pick axe wielders to get the job finished. A heroic effort and very well worth it, with so much less flooding now on the production beds when we are under those torrential downpours we seem to be getting. Next year we will seek to join up all the drains in an effort to collect more runoff water for the irrigation system, but that's another winter. In this cold weather the new despatch heaters are really useful for social distanced coffee breaks but it's not quite as cosy as it used to be when we used to cram into our old warm and stuffy coffee shack, so our hardy outside staff are definitely having to give a bit more for the cause this winter which I am very grateful for. The heaters are brilliant for when you are standing, moving a bit and working under them, so they do what we wanted by improving those cold day working conditions, but sitting still under them just isn't quite as toasty as the old shack.

The December delivery of the new lab store looks imminent, although not nailed down, and I am looking forward to getting it in place and kitted out. Our microprop lab is suffering at the moment with a shortage of clean storage space as well as a lack of technicians. Only half the team have made it back after the break so far, due to a combination of illness (non-covid) and covid travel restrictions with returning Polish staff, some won't be back for more than another week, so not a very productive start. I suspect the knock on effect of covid disruptions will plague the whole industry for much of the season and into the next, with shortages in some areas but at least we are trading to a buoyant market at the moment so no worries really.

Onto the most exciting news; New 'UK Plant Passport' labelling rules came into force from January 1st, which is a bit of a pain on top of all the other excitement, but luckily we have been given 6-9 months to use up older label stock printed with last year's EU plant passport format. All our paperwork will use the new UK format, so the records you keep will be correct from day one, but the individual plant labels will be a mix of old and new formats for much of this season. We are thankful for the leeway we have all been given, because over-sticking all our old label stock would repeat last year's huge labour outlay for not a lot of gain. The new format looses the EU flag, changes the wording from 'Plant Passport' to 'UK Plant Passport' and drops the 'GB' initials from the front of our grower registration number. All our new perennial labels, to be delivered here later this month, will have the new format and the herbs will have them too, as soon as the plates can be updated and the old stock used up. What fun.

Prices and catalogue for 2021

Very sorry, but the 2021 catalogue is not quite ready yet. The perennial range is expanding a bit but otherwise much will be the same as last year's issue. The prices will rise by about 2.5% (5p) which I am hoping will cover some of the cost increases we have seen. With a bit of luck a smoother sales season and increasing sales volumes will cover the rest.

Availability list highlights

A nice range of Helleborous are now on the list, ready to plant out now for a flower show this winter. We have sold out of a couple of lines already but still have some great niger and orientalis on the list. The niger are budding up now. We have the longer flowering little Cyclamen coum available now as well. Only a few ready at the moment but they will flower all winter and into the spring. Only available this year in a mixed colour range and only in limited numbers.

A few of the early bulbs are up but a bit too early for buds just yet but a definite sign of the approaching spring. We have a good range of the evergreen Bergenia's in stock. I have two Scabiosa in bud, looking strong, although I'm not sure they will actually colour up until much warmer conditions prevail.

Take care out there, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries