Hairy Summer

Hi,

End of May already, where has the spring gone? Luckily the weather perked up recently but it has still been a bit too 'steady' on the sales front as a whole. Hopefully the season will stretch out a bit longer to make up for it, we certainly haven't held off on the potting front so there is plenty of stock coming on with loads of bud and a few interesting new lines mixed in there too. This week was a funny one on the sales front with several really good sized orders but fewer overall in number which kept it a bit quieter than expected. We had a gang in on the bank holiday Monday just to make sure we were well ahead for the week to  come, which worked out well in the end after another fun week with the transport fleet.

The long saga of the Fiat in the garage for an 8 week repair under warrantee threatened to come to an end on Wednesday with a call to say it was ready to collect. Picked it up late afternoon and parked up in the yard ready for its first deliveries on Thursday. Thursday morning we reversed it to the loading area only to find the power steering not working and a stream of fluid coming from underneath the engine. In the 15 miles we drove to get it home it had let us down again. Phoned the garage and they asked us to drive it down to them asap forgetting that it was impossible to drive. They then asked me to arrange and pay for a recovery vehicle to get it to them, what fun. Eventually got it sorted after a frank exchange of views and it is back with us again with a new power steering pump and a sparkling clean up job. Fingers crossed it keeps going through next week as its place in the garage has been taken up by the newest van, another Fiat.

This time I blame myself as it was only a week or two ago I was mocking modern vans, in that this newest one had no oil dipstick, just the electronic display reading on the dashboard. What would happen if the sensor failed? well now I know! At just 16 weeks old we got a warning on the display to change the oil and check the oil level. It was 12,000 miles before the service was due so we started by trying to recover the oil level first, which was signalling at just one bar on the gauge. Added quite a lot of oil and the gauge didn't budge, there was no sign of leakage and with no dipstick no physical way of checking the actual oil level. Ended up at our own garage to change the oil and filter, refill it and check if the sensor was actually working. It wasn't, a new one was fitted and still no joy as Fiat say it also needs to be reprogrammed at a Fiat dealership, to update the software and parameters. Very kindly our garage has booked it in for next Wednesday (Fiat initially offered June 18th!) and our garage is doing all the vehicle movements for us, so way less hassle for us and they say they are not going to charge us for the driving time which is 'above and beyond' as far as I can see. Two of the other vans are in for servicing next week, so it is another week of juggling to come. I had taken up nursery work to grow plants as far as I remember.

Availability list.

Summer stars the Agapanthus are now making strong growth after the winter. Brilliant Blue and Double Diamond in bud. Fresh crops of Erigeron karv. Stallone with its tiny multicolour daisy flowers that come all summer long are back on the list. Also in strong bud are the last few Erigeron Sea Breeze in two colours. Very strong bushy plants carrying loads of fat buds. Salvia's of all sorts are now growing strongly and producing the first of many flowers.

A bit of a gardeners plant Sanguisorba Tanna is throwing up lots of bud. Attractive foliage and subtle flowers make it a popular garden plant. Masses of bud and colour to come with the Bidens summer range. Already making an eye catching show they look fab. The earliest batches of Dianthus are producing flower stems and tight bud. All are scented varieties and very bushy.

Fresh batches of Aquilegia have been saved from the bunnies or deer and now looking great with bud and flower activity. The hardy Osteospermum Tresco Purple are in bud. Excellent bushy stock with buds fattening. Armeria Dreameria series of long season flowering Armerias are now showing their first colour with loads more to come. No white this year but a series of three pretty different pinks making a delightful show.

The compact Achillea Milly Rock series are now in bud. Strong growers but short in stature. Summer colour is on its way with the Gaura range doing it's thing. Hoping to have a good run of availability over the next few months but they are selling so fast there may be the odd short break. A few trays are ready of the Gaillardia Guapa series we are trying out. Strong and compact the first buds are already out. Many of the Leucanthemums are coming into strong bud now.

The scrambling Campanula posharskyana is chunky and now producing plenty of bud. Rhodanthemum's are also in bud, although I don't have huge numbers just yet so don't get carried away. We have a fresh batch of short bushy Erysimum Cheers Florange in bud, a clear pale orange flower, really attractive. Multiple Hosta varieties are looking great. All propagated in our own micro-prop lab, we have a super selection. Favourite border classics Verbena bonariensis and Lollipop are back on line. I have several batches on the way so we can keep the plant size in the pot manageable.

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.