Hairy Wildlife

Hi 

Bit busier this week on the sales front with the drier brighter weather helping footfall I suspect. Still a definate nip in the air at the moment and the forecast is for more cool and dry to come over the next few days. Nice to see the back of most of the rain, although it has just started here again, perfect timing as the Autoglass vans have just pulled in to replace one of the van screens! Plants are growing well at the moment so most of them are getting stuck into spring activities, let's hope the gardeners are going to do the same.

Potting continues at full pace after we take another walking lorry load full of peat-free potting compost this week. If only there were more days in the week and we could catch up a bit further, although slower sales this year is restricting available production space so perhaps it's about right really. It's difficult to walk past the modules being held and not wish we had them in a pot already, but hey-ho it is what it is.

More van fun this week, the Fiat is still missing, not sure what month that will be back, another went in for a brake warning light telling us the pads needed to be replaced and the issue turned out to be a broken sensor wire. Frustrating but a cheap repair! Big van windscreen cracked hence today's Autoglass visit, and now another is going in today with and an intermittent air suspension issue, so hoping that isn't away too long or we will be pushing the trolleys to their destinations next week. Hedgehogs are back in the garden and birds are singing and nesting all over the place. There is a robins nest in the irrigation control box, reused from last year and now with four youngsters in residence being looked after by a couple of now rather bedraggled parents, or ragged robins as a horticulturist may say.

Wind turbines have done really well this year so far, in fact April has already generated as much as estimated for the whole month, which will be a nice bonus in a few months when we get paid for the exported power. Our small solar planning application is in, although not yet official, as they clear up a few site details before making it fully public. Fingers crossed it does ruffle too many feathers locally, although to be fair it is barely visible from any direction unless you are airborne and even then it's not very big.

Just as I thought we were seeing spaces develop in the prop tunnel as we ran the potting machine at full tilt, another two plant deliveries came in with some lovely looking stock. So tempting to run them straight round to the machine but just had to put them down and continue potting the older material. A week or two on the ground before potting does toughen them up quite a bit compared to when they first arrive, so when they go out into our very open tunnels after potting, they are ready for some tougher growing conditions. Some things are better when old and tough, especially nurserymen..

Availability list.

Scabiosa Flutter White and Flutter Rose Pink are budding well with the odd splash of colour too. Camassia Alba and the blue flowering Maybelle are both showing multiple buds. Maybelle is particularly good. The excellent newcomer Allium Ostara is up and looking particularly smart with buds just appearing in the leaf bases although not many left..

Allium Cristophii has just started budding, they are tight down among the leaves at the moment but a little more warmth and sunshine and they will be away. The ever popular Allium Purple Sensation is showing well and buds have just started to appear. The scrambling Campanula posharskyana is chunky and now producing plenty of bud. Intense blue flowers on Lithodora Compact Blue are now opening.

Phlox subulata varieites are producing bud and colour, a great early performer in a nice range of colours.The bronzed green ferny leaves of Polemonium Heaven Scent look well and pale blue flower buds are now opening. A fresh tight batch that we gave the Chelsea chop a few weeks ago have now shot back and are doing well.

Multiple Hosta varieties are bursting through, with One Man's Treasure looking really smart with deep green leaves and very dark stems. All propagated in our own micro-prop lab, we have a great selection. Summer stars the Agapanthus are now making strong growth after their winter dormancy period. Lapis Lazuli is already producing buds. Like the Hostas they are all propagated in our microprop lab and have overwintered well. We don't often have very many, but we have made a bigger effort with them over the last year so we can get them as far as a hairy pot rather than selling them all to other growers!

Lavender Munstead are looking fab with early bud now showing above a fresh tight flush of foliage. Sometimes I get a bit jealous of the advanced growth achieved under frost-free glass or those imports from a warmer climate, but just at the moment I don't think you could wish for a better Lavender Munstead crop than the one we have on the nursery

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.