Hi

A hectic sales week again after the weather improvement which was perfectly timed to keep us off the potting machine, just enough to eek out the last remaining few meters of the potting compost pile to the end of the week. New load in on Tuesday should see a seamless transition from one batch to the other. It's like it was all planned!.

Luckily the last few hot days look like they will end over the weekend, allowing us to get back to a full day's work again on Monday so we can get on with tunnel clearance and potting as soon as we can. Time is suddenly passing really quickly and it's the middle of July already, the days are getting shorter and we need those plants in their pots putting on plenty of growth before autumn sets in. It's close to the point where an extra days growth at this time is worth a week in October and that really puts the pressure on.

Our solar planning project has been in the local paper the last couple of weeks as we await any responses one way or the other. Coverage was pretty accurate and positive, so hoping for the best.

All the vans were counted in and counted back again this week, so we are declaring all is well on the delivery front and may celebrate next week with a fresh packet of Rich Tea for coffee break. There's nothing like pushing the boat out.

I managed a day out this week at one of the spectacular Ball Colegrave open days. A fantastic display of bedding and perennials in garden settings, retail pots and trial areas. Spotted a couple of possible new varieties for next season, just need to check the costs to see if they are within our budget. The other unknown is how they will actually perform on the nursery and what the shelf life is like. Sometimes we get a good looking contender and find only half actually make a saleable plant in practice, on the other hand occasionally we find a real good doer where we sell every pot and they all look fab. It's all part of nursery progress.

Just finished doing another nursery tour this afternoon for a group from the NFU Mutual management team who were checking out how a few local agricultural businesses were developing new opportunities and markets and how they actually operate. A bit of an eye opener for some I suspect, especially on our small intensive scale when compared to the other highly mechanised arable businesses they were looking at. They seemed to enjoy it, despite the heat, and went away full of the random ramblings I dispelled over the afternoon. Not quite sure how much was that useful to them but they said they certainly got a feel of the passion we have to change things for the better. 

Availability list.

Looking great are our new compact and very early flowering range of Asters is now on stream. The Alpha series has fresh green foliage and very neat domed habit carrying masses of flower. Fresh batches of Scabiosa in bud, green compact and bushy with masses of bud on the way. Fresh batches of the summer and autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are already in bud. Golden leaved Tradescantia Blue and Gold looking good with plenty of bud and colour. Tiarella are back on the list and in flower again.

Exotic Oxalis in flower now in pastel pink or deep pink. Summer flowering Crocosmia are now throwing up bud and flower, Lobelia in bud now in a range of colours. 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.

New range for this year is the Helenium Hayday series, Five colours, nice and compact and already showing good colour. Fresh crops of Erigeron karv. Stallone are ready with its tiny multicolour daisy flowers that come all summer long. Salvia's of all sorts are now growing strongly and producing the first of many flowers.

Sunshine yellow flowers of Euryops chrysanthemoides are beginning to open, another all summer performer. Masses of bud and colour with the Bidens Efframs Gold. Already making an eye catching show they look fab. The hardy Osteospermum Tresco Purple are in bud and flower. Excellent bushy stock.

Armeria Dreameria series of long season flowering Armerias are now showing plenty of colour with loads more to come. No white this year but a series of three pretty different pinks making a delightful show. The more standard classic Sea Thrift. Many of the Leucanthemums are coming into strong bud now with flowers open on some.

The Balloon Flower Platycodon Twinkle Blue and Twinkle White are now well into bud with the odd flash of colour. Rhodanthemum's are also in bud and showing colour, ready to flower all summer long. So many other lines doing their thing at the moment, Sedum, Veronica, Penstemon, Lewisia, Astilbe, Fuchsia, Achillea, Coreopsis, Calamintha, don't hold back make the most of them while they are here. 

Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.