Hi.
Bit of a nip in the air these past few mornings, just reminding us that time is slipping by again and time is running out to get any growing done before the days get really short. Luckily some plants like the later potted Erysimum's and Aubrietia just keep growing no matter what happens to the day length and temperature.
I'm having to do a last minute shop around where we have run out of some vital nursery supplies. We didn't have quite enough peat-free bulb compost to get all 30,000 pots spring bulbs done, so a rush order has gone in for several bulk bags , and we also ran out of our plastic lattice production handling trays, before all the bulb potting is even started. This one caught me out a bit because we had enough last year, but this year we did have to filter out a load of broken ones which had reached their 'use by' date and had started dropping the pots where some plastic bars had given up. I don't know what the world is coming to they are only twenty five years old and already falling apart. The next lot might see me to retirement with luck.
It always seems to work out this way, just as sales and income slow up I have to make some huge purchases just to get us prepared for the start of the next season. Cash-flow control goes out of the window. The trays and compost are just the start, we have another container of 160,000 pots due in on Tuesday, at ten times the price of plastic pots, I have multiple pallets of the pot mulch we put on the pots overwinter, and 12 pallets of recycled wool capillary matting.
The capillary matting is new marketing upgrade for 2026, which we need to prepare overwinter in readiness to line the bottom of our wooden trays in 2026. This should help keep the pots wetter for longer especially in the increasingly warm spells of weather we seem to be getting. We have trialled a few of these over the last year or two and it definitely helps, and now it's time to bite the bullet and get them inserted into all trays. This means someone will be spending the winter here cutting up the matting into over 12,000 appropriate sized pieces, what fun. Of course I had to buy a new toy to help in this task, it's like a rotating pizza cutter disc and it slices through the matting like a knife through butter. It does have guards on it so should be pretty safe but we are going to have to call a finger register at the beginning and end of each day. Having just spent such a lot on this matting I was dismayed to hear I had wasted my time and money after Mr Trump informed me that Climate Change was a big con. Thank goodness we have these powerful and wise people to guide us through life.
Sorry I'm a bit early this week but I'm away tomorrow for family stuff and won't be back until later on Friday, and please expect another early one next week as Caroline and I are leaving Greg in charge as we swan off for a couple of days away, which we are really, really looking forward to. Hoping the Cornish seas are calm as we travel to the Scilly Isles for, walking, good food, great music and possibly the odd tipple. Relatively normal or even better service will continue in our absence so don't hold back in getting in touch.
Great jive session on Monday, it was a UV glow night, so anything white or neon coloured was the vibe. I'm very short on that type of kit but managed a white tie and laces which looked minimalist and cool, well in my eyes anyway. There is a tendency for white underwear to make an appearance under this lighting but I couldn't even supply that, only Caroline has that sort of thing in our house and I find it a bit snug fitting as dancewear.
Wooden box collecting has started
We are already well underway collecting up our reusable wooden boxes ready for cleaning, drying and repair if needed, before they go into winter storage. If you have any ready to go just drop us a line and we will pick them up when next in your area. It may take a week or two to get round but we will get there eventually. We try to put together a good number of collections on each trip as it is always painful sending out the van without any paying cargo, but each tray does cost £10 to replace so it does pay for us to make the effort.
Availability list.
Autumn flowering Cyclamen hederifolium is showing great colour. Rose and White looking at their best. Liriope muscari is now showing plenty of flowers so summer must be passing quick. Best we have ever had. Two tone foliage of Tiarella Pink Skyrocket looks very smart, buds are just beginning to show themselves. Lovely new short bushy batch of Verbena bon. Lollipop and bonariensis (fairly short), now in bud.
The Salvia Lip's series and Salvito's are still going strong, we keep giving batches a trim to strengthen them up and keep them from getting too tall and they just keep bouncing back. The Aster Alpha series are showing tight bud but close to selling out some colours, The more standard classic varieties of
Aster varieties are also showing nice tight bud with the odd opening flower as well. A fab range of the compact Helenium Hay Day series are budding well now, with colour showing. Get ready for late winter flowers by planting our Helleborus range now. Just added a whole heap of different coloured Helleborus orientalis varieties.
Take care, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.
