Hairy nature

Morning all,

Another week goes by and it's a bank holiday again. This one crept up on me, I didn't realise until mid-week that we had an extra day off again. The 'sort of good' weather has kept us so busy I'm not really quite sure what's going on, we just try to get from one end of the week to the other without too much going twang. The drought is getting a bit much now, we really could do with some refreshing rainfall, not too much and preferable at night please.

My general mental vagueness continues to do me no favours, I lost my main set of keys yesterday with no idea what can have happened to them. We have narrowed the time period of the loss down to a few hours and even checked the CCTV recordings to see if there are any clues. Nothing. Now we are sharing the remaining set which is causing a little tension at least I think that's the problem. I'm sure it was nothing to do with missing yesterdays wedding anniversary. Only remembered thanks to family cards and messages, it's not something we have ever really gone to town on, I think the highlight over 38 anniversaries was a surprise bag of fresh organic spinach I produced on returning from a late delivery. We are always just so busy at this time of year to take much time out, besides every day is a celebration of our matrimonial union anyway, we are after all, still talking after all this time!

Rather than ramble on again about the endless joys of running our own nursery, I thought I should have a look at all the natural stuff happening on and around the nursery. Always a good idea to take a step back sometimes and take in the bigger picture of what is happening around us. Caroline saw our first swallow of the summer this week, a fleeting visit but very welcome none the less. There was a bigger exciting flier passing last week, I very nearly tempted a Red Kite to feed in the yard. The cat had been working hard and bagged a young rabbit earlier in the day consuming just the tastiest bit, leaving the rest on the office mat to illustrate his conquest. As I stepped out of the office I spotted the Red Kite gliding over and threw the carcass into the yard. The Kite spotted it and did several fly-overs and swoops before coming down within feet of the target, whereupon the cat decided it was his kill and he wasn't up for sharing, so dashed out, grabbed the remains and disappeared under a bench. Deer issues on site have deepened after a night patrol this week spotted three Muntjac deer with thermal imaging spotters. Not a sustainable residence I'm afraid on our relatively small site, so they will have to find new homes. We have a selection of other residents most of which we can live with reasonably easily. There is now a moorhen over by the back pond and a pair of partridges patrolling the tunnels, clucking away, and generally fussing about. They seem fairly comfortable with all the human activity and I'm sure that we will soon find the usual hopeful nesting site in among the plants. We usually get a few chicks but their numbers sadly dwindle very quickly. Masses of frogs, newts and toads continue to thrive on the production beds, regularly uncovered when moving pots and trays, then disappearing again as soon as you look away. At the moment we have a couple of Tawny Owls calling on the site, one of them calling at all times of the day which seems odd for a largely nocturnal bird. One of my evening treats on a still night is to pause at the gate on the track and wait to see the pipistrelle bats on their regular feeding run up and down the hedge lines. Some nights they get so close you can feel the flutter as they pass by, ace.

Availability list highlights

After a long and hectic run we are quite short of stock in bud at the moment. Overall stock levels for the perennials are still ok, just short on flower action. The herb stock is still low for the coming week and is likely to be so for 2 or 3 more weeks as we end the overwintered batches of some stock and await the readiness of the new stock

We have one last Camassia showing bud, the excellent blue Maybelle. Saving the best till last. Erigeron Sea Breeze Mauve is in bud, with the Pink form not far behind. Low growing with loads of flower to come. Fresh batches of the Dreameria series of Armeria are coming on stream now. Two this week and another couple following close behind. Selected for their very long flowering period and large flower size they promise to be a great new garden addition.

Achillea Paprika is now producing flower shoots and tight bud. Always a popular variety and very attractive to the garden pollinators. Spring favourite the Erysimum's are now in bud. A spring flush of healthy shoot growth on our overwintered Phlox range, all looking very strong. Best crop ever as we have managed to keep the pigeons of them.

Have fun, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries