Hairy Jive

Hi

Nicely damp here. Luckily our rain has so far been steady rather than torrential although our drivers have been reporting some dramatically heavy downpours on their travels. we still have a few more days of unsettled weather which in the short term probably doesn't help sales but in the long term should be good news. The farm are biting their nails at the moment as it looks like the rain may have come too late for the earliest crops some of which are already turning colour. They will be ready early but probably a bit thin, not a great start to harvest in tricky times for the farmers. I have a feeling they are looking quite enviously at the constant ins and outs of our delivery vans over the past few months, we do seem to be having a fair run this season, although there is still a long way to go and plenty of opportunities to drop the batten before we can relax into the winter!

Very pleased with the new irrigation project which we started last week. New and extra sprinklers fitted into each line and shorter application times are definitely giving us a much more uniform spray pattern and reducing overall water use. The plant growth, even after only a week, is obviously so much more even and the temptation to turn on the watering to try and wet up any dry spots has gone. I'm up to 9 lines completed out of 71 so a little way to go yet, but the rewards look so good it's great motivation to press on asap. That's my evenings and weekends sorted for a couple of months!

I still manage one night out each week to get my Modern Jive fix. It is such a good night out, I can't think about anything else, as my brain is filled with trying to remember the old moves as well as trying to learn this week's new ones. My repertoire should be huge by now, but sadly retention of the new skills is pretty poor from week to week, if I manage to remember one new move another drops off the memory bank to make room! I am absolutely knackered by the end of three hours of vigorous exercise, but it's so enjoyable you don't notice until you stop. Luckily there is a vibrant crowd at Basingstoke at the moment with plenty of newbie's turning up, which always adds interest and a chance to encourage and mildly impress with those moves I can remember. After a few weeks I'm sure they cotton on that each time it's the same old stuff with me, but they still dance and laugh a lot, so it can't be too bad, either that or they are all very kind to an ageing jiver.

Availability list.

The increasingly popular less hardy Salvia varieties are showing great promise. Love and Wishes is well into bud, it just can't wait to flower! The Salvito Scarlet and Mauve, plus the Lip's series are also showing their first buds of an endless supply to come. The pale pink compact Astilbe Sprite is budding well now as are the summer flowering Allium Millenium. This very worthwhile allium is much tidier in habit and longer lasting than the spring flowering types, a proper impressive border plant.

A very popular designer plant Sanguisorba Tanna makes great ground cover and is now bursting with flower buds. Digitalis Arctic Fox Rose is a smart grower, much tidier than the purpurea types. Long deep green leaves and strong reasonably compact flower stems. Bud is now on show but they won't hang about so don't hold back.

The Garden Pinks are peaking in their bud production, no colour yet but loads of potential. We just have the one crop this spring so get them while you can. The Dianthus Scent First series smell delicious, compact and bushy they make a lovely set. Then we have our two scented old school varieties, Doris and Gran's Favourite, both a little taller and more typical of traditional cottage garden types.

Oxalis are looking great with the first flowers just opening. Two very different varieties, the purple leaved triangularis with its pale pink flowers and the two tone leaved Iron Cross with the deep pink blooms. Nemesia Wisley Vanilla is back on the list again, the second of several batches we have coming along. I obviously didn't make the first batch big enough as it only lasted a week with its heady vanilla scent. I'll try harder next year.

Summer is well on the way with Bidens Effrans Gold showing particularly well with a strong splash of gold flower. The next batches of other Bidens are ready, full pots and plenty of colour. Rhodanthemums are in bud, and several Coreopsis are ready to do their thing. Strong bushy Osteospermum Tresco Purple are now budding up nicely. More to come so no need to overdo it straight away.

Liatris spicata are not far away from colour with strong flower stems extending and buds on show. Digitalis Arctic Fox Rose is different but looking smart and just beginning to elongate in the stem ready to produce its first flower stem. Well on the way to flowering. Our massive Hosta range is looking great with leaves now unfurled and showing off nicely. Big range of leaf colours and sizes all in good looking condition with no slugs yet and no late frosts to mess up the early leaves. A nice range of the compact Helenium Hay Day series are just about ready and although I haven't marked them all as being in bud, there are a few showing.

Take care, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.