Hairy amphibians

 

Hi 

Still a bit cold and damp,  but it is January so we shouldn’t really complain too much. Hopefully the ground  water levels will have  recovered after last year’s dry spring and summer. We are definitely seeing signs of some fresh growth on the more confident hardy plants, in both the perennial and herb ranges, which does make  me think the madness of spring sales is not far away. The bank will be keen  to see that take off on the sales and income front as we continue to recover from my overspending last year on more nursery investments and improvements.

The smaller scale investment this winter, of the new IT and data  storage system, continues to throw up more practical challenges and more costs this week,  as we find bit’s that don’t work as they did before, resulting in the purchase of new software and extra subscriptions. Last week’s availability email was missing the ‘Word version’ due to a software issue but that was one we did manage to cure this week after a few long phone calls to the support desk and downloading £15 worth of program. At last, some good value spending! We have  had our tail feathers clipped with the loading of new software, as the ‘IT administrator’ role has been taken  away from us by the tech support team,  so that we don’t mess it all up by downloading something silly. Sensible really, as my grip on reality is getting looser.

We have  been doing a bit more site maintenance this week, just getting things tidied up a bit before the rush. We circumnavigated the site repairing the holes in the rabbit netting trying to slow up the comings and going of the rabbits,hares and the odd muntjak deer.  Two breaches were discovered, one created by the farm’s tractor mounted hedge cutter (no complaints, it’s a cheap option for us to get the boundaries trimmed), and the other was a reopening of an old repair by some critter pushing its way back through  the original hole. The narrow animal path was plain to see and the hole not huge, but definitely one to return to and check  later in the year.

It’s coming up to the frog spawning season so we had a tidy up in and around the main pond so that they can find the water to do their stuff. We kept is subtle, so we don’t frighten them off, but it definitely looks more inviting now than earlier, if you were looking to frolic in a pond in January! With three  ponds around the nursery we get to benefit from the successful breeding of frogs, toads and newts through  the season, we are always finding them tucked  under  the pots and trays as we work round the site. Most of the team  get quite excited by these discoveries, although not always positively!

Summary of the improvements to shelf life for 2026

We are introducing three  changes this season in how we prepare our plants for delivery to our lovely retailers. We know some sites struggle to maintain the quality of our plants once  they arrive on the retail plant sales areas. Peat-free compost mixes struggle to hold onto as much water as peat  and also don't grip the nutrients as tightly either. When added to the extra breathability of our Hairy Pots, quicker drying out can be an issue, especially if the ideal of 'little and often' applications of water is not a practical option. When the plants dry out they then tend to get over watered, which flushes out the available nutrients resulting in premature deterioration in condition. To help reduce these stresses and provide a longer lasting 'looking good' shelf life we are doing the following;

1/ Adding a reusable, recycled wool capillary mat in the bottom of each tray which will hold onto extra water for the plants to take up. These are expensive and will need to be returned for reuse with the boxes.

2/ Adding extra wetting agent at despatch to allow the compost to hold onto more water and rewet more easily if dry.

3/ Adding a dose of organic slow release feed as a top dressing to compensate for any leaching of nutrients. Do your 2026 retail prices need changing?

We have  increased our cost prices for 2026 by just 5p per pot, which is a little under  2%, to partially cover our ever increasing costs. If you have  your stock pre-priced by ourselves, perhaps now would be a good time to let us know any changes you would like to make  for the coming season. We can then adjust our records accordingly and get started on printing the correct price labels in advance of the fast approaching madness of those spring sales.

Availability list.

The first spring bulbs are here  and a few are already showing their first buds. Not much in the way of colour but it won't be long. Two of the hoop-petticoat Narcissus have  bud, White Petticoat and the pale lemon yellow Julia Jane, both are crackers. Other compact Narcissus starting to show bud are Jet Fire and the Tete A Tete.

There  are two Scilla showing bud and a bit of colour, so spring must be coming up fast! There  are three  Pulmonaria varieties in tight bud but close to colour, We don’t have  much Blue Ensign left but plenty of the other two at the moment. Several Erysimum varieties are already showing bud and the odd flash of colour and are standing up well after several hard frosts we have  seen here.

Cyclamen coum are coming on quickly. This selection is a champion winter performer, very hardy and just keeps on flowering, usually from November through to March and April.

Seasonal best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.