Hairy 10

Hi,
Sunshine at last and a frost or two to match. Looks like a drier week coming up which is a relief after last week's wind and rain. There were a few trees down locally but thankfully no damage on the nursery as far as we have seen so far. The plants on the nursery seem to think it's ok to get going despite it being only January, colour is making an appearance and fresh growth on quite a few lines is very evident. Spring is in the air already!
This does initiate mild panic as I realise once again that winter is very short, and many of those jobs we had been saving up as 'winter work' need to be hit hard or else the season will be upon us and there will be no time. We had been doing so well in getting ahead, before the extra plant passport labelling work materialised. However the end is in sight, we are up to S on the over-sticking front and with a fair wind, we might finish them this week. The new herb wooden label printing plates are all made, now I just need to get the labels printed to revive the stock levels ready for the coming season, which is a job I would be planning to do anyway.
I'm hoping that we are going to get all the hassles out of the way early this year. We have already had to replace two van tyres and this weekend I'm replacing, under warranty, all the new LED units in our weaning tunnel which had a manufacturing fault. The computers are being surveyed to check how best to upgrade them to Windows 10 (that's bound to go smoothly!) and one is in for repair, having died on Friday. Don't forget to do regular back-ups out there. I suspect a couple of units will need replacing due to being too old to upgrade, and I know several of our ancient programmes will not work on W10, so we have to buy new and worst of all, relearn how to use them, to achieve what we already did. Looking forward to that.
I'm not going to talk about individual bits of environmental news at the moment, I am struggling to pick a positive angle, with the feeling that we could be too late with our half hearted efforts to change. Although it is our governments that we expect to lead us, they are influenced so much by commerce, that anything that damages the economy is pushed to one side. Perhaps the power is with us after all, make bold practical consumer decisions, based on common sense not advertising, and commerce has to take a new direction. There is always resistance and casualties during change, but there will be winners too, how about doing some bold stuff and make changes, It is up to us in the end.
Plant passport changes have arrived ready or not!
We have tried to keep our implementation as seamless as we can, with the following changes taking place;.
- All individual plant labels from now on will have extra PP info on them (A- the genus and species of the plant, B-our producer plant passport number, C- a batch number, D- country of origin, and an image of the EU flag).
- All delivery notes and invoices have been redesigned to include the same info.
The changes to the delivery note and invoice are so that you can easily comply with the latest regulations and conveniently keep the PP records for the required three years.

Availability lists
Plants are definitely waking up. A flush of tight fresh green growth is showing through on many, the buds are swelling and the odd flash of colour showing. The snowdrops (Galanthus) are thrusting through nicely, with the odd flash of white flower and plenty of bud in evidence. We have a few new small Narcissus to look forward to this spring and they are looking strong. Crocus Remembrance are well up and their little fat flower buds are there.
The dark blue flowers of Scilla sibirica are breaking the surface of the pot, such a strong colour so early in the year. It's sister plant S. mischtshenkoana has pretty paler flowers which are showing too.
There is the odd flower opening on our home sown wild primroses (P. vulgaris) above tight little plants. The plants will expand and more flowers appear as the temperatures and light levels improve.
The earliest Erysimums are budding up too, it might be a little while before colour appears but they are there. Primula denticulata Rubra is showing colour now with the lilac/purple form close behind.
We still have a few Cyclamen coum in bud and flower to see us through the couple of weeks and buds are showing while the weather is favourable (Armeria, Scabiosa, Dianthus).
There are also quite a few evergreen plants looking happy enough over the winter period, so we can make a nice display up of stock with the promise of the good times ahead. Spring flowering Euphorbia, Bergenia and Doronicum are looking good and Leucanthemum, Papaver, Stachys and Digitalis are all looking smart. Polemonium Heaven Scent always puts on a great early show and they are currently sprouting attractive chunky bronze foliaged rosettes, before the buds appear in a few weeks.
Best wishes from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.