Just a quick one this morning as we are off out to inspect some house decorating and partake of a full Sunday lunch . At least that what I’ve been promised. I seem to have moved from carbohydrate overload last week with Eden’s stunning breads, to protein overdose this week. Great BBQ on Friday night with so many meaty offerings there was little room on the plate for anything remotely green. Last night was the local village barn dance with similar offerings and today’s roast should see me through for my entire quota for the summer. I’m never quite sure about barn dances, I wouldn’t rush to book one up and when I get there I’m never sure I will enjoy it but as usual once dragged up onto the floor it is a good laugh. Luckily my mum used to teach a bit of barn dancing to the parents when I was at primary school back before the age of TV etc, and we kids were used as guinea pigs to walk through the routines before she set off. Three of us making a set of 8 was a challenge but something must have rubbed off as I can pick up the callers instructions reasonably quickly. The chaos of some of the more complicated ones actually adds to the enjoyment, it is something no-one really looks cool doing so just get up there for a laugh. By the end I had quite sore muscles, just above my ears, not used to so much laughing.
Nursery is filling up already with quite a lot of next year’s plants arriving already, where does all the time go. Still got quite a bit of stock to keep sales moving along through the summer so hopefully this gardening kind weather keeps going and the tills keep ringing. Things have brightened recently but the cold spring is still being felt. I can feel my laughter muscles relaxing already!
Availability
Fantastic Salvia’s are all very well budded and showing great colour, still lovely chunky plants.
Catananche have started pushing up their flower spikes ready to show off yummy sky blue summer flowers.
The dark flowering Verbascum Cherry Helen and the Pink Petticoats are showing colour and looking strong. Anthemis EC Buxton has masses of chunky bud ready to open into their stunningly pretty daisy flowers.
Plenty of bud coming on the Dianthus. The bright tiny flowers of Brilliancy and Flashing Light are now shouting.
Summer must be here as some of the Hemerocallis are showing bud with some colour on the ever-flowering Stella de Oro.
The short pretty pale yellow Digitalis Carillion is showing colour. Dicentra spectabilis is showing a second flowering flush and looks nice.
Strong white flowers about to burst open on the two dwarf Leucanthemum varieties, Snowcap and Silver Princess.
The perennial purple cornflower Centaurea deabata is showing off its first flowers and looking strong. Exotic Oxalis is up and in bud, but a huge number in stock.
Very strong Tradescatia plants in many colours with bud and flower colour in abundance. Geums have plenty of bud and colour coming now.
We have our best Japanese Anemones ever at the moment, stonkingly bushy plants. Hadspen Abundance is showing signs of flowering already and looking great.
Primula bulleysiana showing colour, but very few left.
Campanula glomerata Acaulis in bud and showing colour, short and bushy.
The Hostas are very chunky and yummy this year too, get them before the slugs do!
Carex Evergold and Ice Dance both look fantastic.
Fresh batches of Delphiniums and Lupins looking rampant.
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 17 June 2013
Monday, 10 June 2013
Morning all,
Great news with yet another very nice weekend and still not too hot. We had a nice drop of rain during the week and there is a bit more forecast for the middle of next week so hopefully that will keep everything in the garden fresh and push any thoughts of drought away for a bit. Sales are still bowling along, gradually whittling away at the deficit of the earlier ‘spring’ so cheers all round for that.
More young plant material due to arrive this coming week, so we are well into sticking it out for another season. The team of ladies in Sri-Lanka have made and packed our next shipment of pots so they will be with us in a few weeks when the ship docks in Southampton. We are not keeping them a busy as they would like but hopefully they will get by and continue developing their lovely pots in the hope that things will pick up and maybe they can find other markets. It is quite a responsibility this end to keep them gainfully employed as they don’t have the support out there that we get if things don’t work out. I suspect other more savvy business people would have high tailed it out of this job by now without a second thought but there is so much more than money invested in this enterprise.
Missed out on my Saturday morning Waitrose experience this weekend as I had to pop out on a delivery to the Eden Project. I was able to replace the usual Saturday delights with a carbohydrate binge session instead. They make and bake fantastic breads down there and after an early lunch of coffee, toasted teacake with Eccles cake for dessert I cleared out a large section of the shop with a collection of goodies to bring home. Having distributed a few bits to some of the family, I wasn’t quite sure where to start on getting back so tea ended up as slices of rye fruit loaf, the crust from the end of the white loaf, a lump of rosemary, onion and sundried tomato speciality loaf and a fruit scone with fresh clotted cream and jam washed down with a big mug of tea. So much pleasure from such a small outlay, who needs millions? Couldn’t move for the rest of the day.
Availability
Primula bulleysiana showing colour, great chunky plants.
Storming Salvia’s are all very well budded, still lovely chunky plants with colour now showing.
Incarvillea are showing buds and flower, looking chunky, an exotic but hardy surprise to many in the garden.
Campanula glomerata Acaulis in bud and showing colour, short and bushy. Carex Evergold and Ice Dance both look fantastic.
Delicate ferny foliage of Thalictrum diptocarpum with strong flower shoots thrusting through, a beauty but only a handful left.
The dwarf Polemonium Bambino Blue is looking great, strong chunky growth with colour just bursting through, very few left. Catananche have started pushing up their flower spikes ready to show off yummy sky blue summer flowers
Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
The dark flowering Verbascum Cherry Helen and the Pink Petticoats are also just beginning to throw up their flower shoots and looking strong.
Geums have plenty of bud and colour coming now.
We have our best Japanese Anemones ever at the moment, stonkingly bushy plants although flowering is still a little way off. The Hostas are very chunky and yummy this year too, get them before the slugs do! We use the organic and pet/wildlife safe Ferramol pellets to protect ours as well as encouraging the natural predators.
Fresh batches of Delphiniums and Lupins looking rampant.
Nature notes
In the local paper they are reporting house martin numbers down by two thirds over recent years. They still don’t know where they migrate to over the winter and are hoping to track them with tiny devices to see if they can l ocate ay issues. I was wondering if the missing 2/3’s are on our house. We are very lucky to have plenty nesting under the eaves and their numbers are building over the years. A new batch arrived this week boosting numbers to maybe 8-10 pairs. I will have to survey the nests carefully once they settle on a home and see how many are occupied. They fly so fast it is very difficult to count them on the wing, the best spot is by our house martin puddle in the yard where we have seen 14 on the ground at once. Little heads are popping out of the swallow nest and hopefully the weather improvement will make food supply abundant for them. We have had over the past 2 or 3 years a dusky backed Greater Spotted Woodpecker feeding on the suet and seeds along with the normal smarter pair. The washed out version is likely to be a European incomer apparently making the best of our generosity and we are honoured to have him around.
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Great news with yet another very nice weekend and still not too hot. We had a nice drop of rain during the week and there is a bit more forecast for the middle of next week so hopefully that will keep everything in the garden fresh and push any thoughts of drought away for a bit. Sales are still bowling along, gradually whittling away at the deficit of the earlier ‘spring’ so cheers all round for that.
More young plant material due to arrive this coming week, so we are well into sticking it out for another season. The team of ladies in Sri-Lanka have made and packed our next shipment of pots so they will be with us in a few weeks when the ship docks in Southampton. We are not keeping them a busy as they would like but hopefully they will get by and continue developing their lovely pots in the hope that things will pick up and maybe they can find other markets. It is quite a responsibility this end to keep them gainfully employed as they don’t have the support out there that we get if things don’t work out. I suspect other more savvy business people would have high tailed it out of this job by now without a second thought but there is so much more than money invested in this enterprise.
Missed out on my Saturday morning Waitrose experience this weekend as I had to pop out on a delivery to the Eden Project. I was able to replace the usual Saturday delights with a carbohydrate binge session instead. They make and bake fantastic breads down there and after an early lunch of coffee, toasted teacake with Eccles cake for dessert I cleared out a large section of the shop with a collection of goodies to bring home. Having distributed a few bits to some of the family, I wasn’t quite sure where to start on getting back so tea ended up as slices of rye fruit loaf, the crust from the end of the white loaf, a lump of rosemary, onion and sundried tomato speciality loaf and a fruit scone with fresh clotted cream and jam washed down with a big mug of tea. So much pleasure from such a small outlay, who needs millions? Couldn’t move for the rest of the day.
Availability
Primula bulleysiana showing colour, great chunky plants.
Storming Salvia’s are all very well budded, still lovely chunky plants with colour now showing.
Incarvillea are showing buds and flower, looking chunky, an exotic but hardy surprise to many in the garden.
Campanula glomerata Acaulis in bud and showing colour, short and bushy. Carex Evergold and Ice Dance both look fantastic.
Delicate ferny foliage of Thalictrum diptocarpum with strong flower shoots thrusting through, a beauty but only a handful left.
The dwarf Polemonium Bambino Blue is looking great, strong chunky growth with colour just bursting through, very few left. Catananche have started pushing up their flower spikes ready to show off yummy sky blue summer flowers
Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
The dark flowering Verbascum Cherry Helen and the Pink Petticoats are also just beginning to throw up their flower shoots and looking strong.
Geums have plenty of bud and colour coming now.
We have our best Japanese Anemones ever at the moment, stonkingly bushy plants although flowering is still a little way off. The Hostas are very chunky and yummy this year too, get them before the slugs do! We use the organic and pet/wildlife safe Ferramol pellets to protect ours as well as encouraging the natural predators.
Fresh batches of Delphiniums and Lupins looking rampant.
Nature notes
In the local paper they are reporting house martin numbers down by two thirds over recent years. They still don’t know where they migrate to over the winter and are hoping to track them with tiny devices to see if they can l ocate ay issues. I was wondering if the missing 2/3’s are on our house. We are very lucky to have plenty nesting under the eaves and their numbers are building over the years. A new batch arrived this week boosting numbers to maybe 8-10 pairs. I will have to survey the nests carefully once they settle on a home and see how many are occupied. They fly so fast it is very difficult to count them on the wing, the best spot is by our house martin puddle in the yard where we have seen 14 on the ground at once. Little heads are popping out of the swallow nest and hopefully the weather improvement will make food supply abundant for them. We have had over the past 2 or 3 years a dusky backed Greater Spotted Woodpecker feeding on the suet and seeds along with the normal smarter pair. The washed out version is likely to be a European incomer apparently making the best of our generosity and we are honoured to have him around.
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Sunday, 2 June 2013
Another very nice weekend, sunny and dry but not too hot, perfect for getting out in the garden and popping down to the local nursery to exercise the credit card. The weather looks like running into next week so hopefully the current momentum will keep growing. Although the cold late spring is beginning to fade in the memory it is still very apparent in the overdraft so let’s keep those sales motoring.
We are starting to see some significant gaps appearing around the nursery which is very encouraging especially as this week we saw the first delivery arrive of some of the young plants for next seasons sales and we start trying to work out where to pot them. We are hoping that last year’s investments in new bed covers will make the clearing up operation quicker but we won’t really know until we get stuck into it all. Keeping the production costs in check is always a challenge especially when all the ingredient costs keep creeping up. It always seems to need more investment to make a saving which can be a tricky balance to make. Last summer we spent a lot on the bed refurbishment and lean training and the results are looking good. We have 16 people with nice NVQ certificates and smarter tunnels but we still need to convert that investment into savings over the coming years. Another of last year’s investments was in the peat free compost we are now using. After many trials we settled on the current supplier and peat free mix which we have found to have made even further improvements to the plant growth and quality above our previous peat reduced mixes. This year we are tweaking the mix slightly to incorporate a higher rate of long term slow release fertiliser as the peat free mix seems to be locking the nutrients up a little more than anticipated.
We are also now adding a second biological control additive. We already incorporate the bio-insecticide Met 52 (Metarhizium anisopliae) a fungus that attacks Vine weevil for up to two years and for 2013 we are adding the new bio-fungicide T34 (Trichoderma asperellum) which protects against a range of root attacking diseases. Although this adds to the compost cost we should more than cover its addition in the improved output from each batch. The first load of bio -control predators arrive this week after a delayed start due to the low temperatures. These will help control the bulk of the insects attacking the crops from above and below compost level so greatly reducing any emergency spraying needed. It’s all go.
Feeling the after effects of a decadent day at the Watercombe Music Festival. A sell-out ‘crowd’ of 500 saw 12 hours of great and varied music in the sunshine in Dorset. I’m a little pink nosed this morning for several reasons but mostly the sun. Got lots of locally sourced purchasing done, Dorset Knob and Jurassic were very good and all locally recycled too. Very civilised picnic and chauffeured back to my own bed by 2.30am, just right. Funnily enough I wasn’t envious of the campers on -site, it was really very cold by then despite multiple layers and winter fleeces all round. That has cured me of any romantic idea of doing a Glastonbury trip, give me my own loo, shower and bed anytime.
Availability
Incarvillea are showing buds and flower, looking chunky, an exotic but hardy surprise to many in the garden.
Another delightful unusual one is the Primula viallii, the Chinese pagoda primrose which is now shooting and showing buds. Primula bulleysiana just started showing buds, great chunky plants.
Campanula glomerata Acaulis in bud and showing colour, short and bushy. Carex Evergold and Ice Dance both look fantastic.
Delicate ferny foliage of Thalictrum diptocarpum with strong flower shoots thrusting through, a beauty.
The dwarf Polemonium Bambino Blue is looking great, strong chunky growth with colour just bursting through. Catananche have started pushing up their flower spikes ready to show off yummy sky blue summer flowers Geramium sang. striatum (lovely clear pink) look stunning and G magnificum are showing buds.
Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
Salvia’s are all well budded, still lovely chunky plants with colour just showing on many.
The dark flowering Verbascum Cherry Helen and the Pink Petticoats are also just beginning to throw up the odd flower shoot and looking strong.
Geums have plenty of bud coming now.
We have our best Japanese Anemones ever at the moment, stonkingly bushy plants although flowering will be a little way off .
The Hostas are very chunky and yummy this year too, get them before the slugs do! We use the organic and pet/wildlife safe Ferramol pellets to protect ours as well as encouraging the natural predators.
Fresh batches of Delphiniums and Lupins looking great.
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
We are starting to see some significant gaps appearing around the nursery which is very encouraging especially as this week we saw the first delivery arrive of some of the young plants for next seasons sales and we start trying to work out where to pot them. We are hoping that last year’s investments in new bed covers will make the clearing up operation quicker but we won’t really know until we get stuck into it all. Keeping the production costs in check is always a challenge especially when all the ingredient costs keep creeping up. It always seems to need more investment to make a saving which can be a tricky balance to make. Last summer we spent a lot on the bed refurbishment and lean training and the results are looking good. We have 16 people with nice NVQ certificates and smarter tunnels but we still need to convert that investment into savings over the coming years. Another of last year’s investments was in the peat free compost we are now using. After many trials we settled on the current supplier and peat free mix which we have found to have made even further improvements to the plant growth and quality above our previous peat reduced mixes. This year we are tweaking the mix slightly to incorporate a higher rate of long term slow release fertiliser as the peat free mix seems to be locking the nutrients up a little more than anticipated.
We are also now adding a second biological control additive. We already incorporate the bio-insecticide Met 52 (Metarhizium anisopliae) a fungus that attacks Vine weevil for up to two years and for 2013 we are adding the new bio-fungicide T34 (Trichoderma asperellum) which protects against a range of root attacking diseases. Although this adds to the compost cost we should more than cover its addition in the improved output from each batch. The first load of bio -control predators arrive this week after a delayed start due to the low temperatures. These will help control the bulk of the insects attacking the crops from above and below compost level so greatly reducing any emergency spraying needed. It’s all go.
Feeling the after effects of a decadent day at the Watercombe Music Festival. A sell-out ‘crowd’ of 500 saw 12 hours of great and varied music in the sunshine in Dorset. I’m a little pink nosed this morning for several reasons but mostly the sun. Got lots of locally sourced purchasing done, Dorset Knob and Jurassic were very good and all locally recycled too. Very civilised picnic and chauffeured back to my own bed by 2.30am, just right. Funnily enough I wasn’t envious of the campers on -site, it was really very cold by then despite multiple layers and winter fleeces all round. That has cured me of any romantic idea of doing a Glastonbury trip, give me my own loo, shower and bed anytime.
Availability
Incarvillea are showing buds and flower, looking chunky, an exotic but hardy surprise to many in the garden.
Another delightful unusual one is the Primula viallii, the Chinese pagoda primrose which is now shooting and showing buds. Primula bulleysiana just started showing buds, great chunky plants.
Campanula glomerata Acaulis in bud and showing colour, short and bushy. Carex Evergold and Ice Dance both look fantastic.
Delicate ferny foliage of Thalictrum diptocarpum with strong flower shoots thrusting through, a beauty.
The dwarf Polemonium Bambino Blue is looking great, strong chunky growth with colour just bursting through. Catananche have started pushing up their flower spikes ready to show off yummy sky blue summer flowers Geramium sang. striatum (lovely clear pink) look stunning and G magnificum are showing buds.
Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
Salvia’s are all well budded, still lovely chunky plants with colour just showing on many.
The dark flowering Verbascum Cherry Helen and the Pink Petticoats are also just beginning to throw up the odd flower shoot and looking strong.
Geums have plenty of bud coming now.
We have our best Japanese Anemones ever at the moment, stonkingly bushy plants although flowering will be a little way off .
The Hostas are very chunky and yummy this year too, get them before the slugs do! We use the organic and pet/wildlife safe Ferramol pellets to protect ours as well as encouraging the natural predators.
Fresh batches of Delphiniums and Lupins looking great.
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Morning All
Where does all the time go? Only two days until Caroline’s birthday and I’m as well prepared as I was for the recent anniversary. Still the shops are open tomorrow so I will have to try hard to extricate myself from the nursery and get some retail therapy before I need physiotherapy.
Another little dose of very pleasant weekend weather bodes well for stretching out the gardening season another few weeks which would be very welcome. Still a bit nippy in the mornings I saw Exeter registered 0C last night and snow flurries still pester the more northerly areas, so not quite beach time just yet. Great TV coverage of Chelsea this week should inspire some extra gardening activity. Well done to all those exhibiting it looked great despite the horrendous challenges of getting the plant production just right this season. It is certainly an added stress I am glad to leave to others.
A lovely Bank Holiday feel to things at the moment, it is always nice to have that extra time off and relax a bit. Managed to get a nice bit of potting done yesterday and the availability lists updated and a bit of spraying and feeding done today. Monday looks busy with a short shop, the next seed batch to sow and the orders (hopefully) to start sorting out so we are ready to make a flying start on Tuesday. We had a lovely surprise yesterday when our nephew Tom pitched up with a young lady visitor who we had not met before. Tom has just returned from a work exchange on a farm in New Zealand so was catching up a bit. He works for us as time and studying allow and was showing Emily where he worked. He was slightly disappointed to show off a slumbering nursery rather than a busy one so we made up for it by getting them to finish off the day’s potting which I had given up thinking we were going to finish. What a lucky girl. Naturally I made a great impression of the seasoned professional like what I am. I still haven’t had the hair cut that worried the man in the lift a few weeks ago and it had been a while since I got very close to the razor. To top it off just as we were to be introduced I managed to hold a leaking watering lance in front of me for long enough to give the front top half of my trousers a really good soaking. Caroline seemed to think it very amusing although everyone else understandably seemed a little embarrassed.
Christmas lunch today on the farm (Tom missed his) as there was a spare turkey in the freezer. Off to knock up some crackers now.
Availability
Incarvillea are showing buds and flower, looking chunky, an exotic but hardy surprise to many in the garden.
Another delightful unusual one is the Primula viallii, the Chinese pagoda primrose which is now shooting and showing buds.
Primula bulleysiana just started showing buds, great chunky plants. Campanula glomerata Acaulis in bud and showing colour, short and bushy.
Carex Evergold and Ice Dance both look fantastic and featured on Chelsea last week.
Delicate ferny foliage of Thalictrum diptocarpum with strong flower shoots thrusting through, a beauty.
The dwarf Polemonium Bambino Blue is looking great, strong chunky growth with bud showing and colour about to burst. Strong Aquilegias still look full of life and vigour, stonking flower spikes showing bud and colour, the best we have ever grown. Long spurred flowers of A. Mckana’s Hybrids looking very impressive in a great colour range but not man left now. Striking large blue flowers of A. Alpina, Short stems of the Winky range are very colourful holding their heads up to show off the colour. Then there are the taller Barlow types, strong stems with more subtle more hanging flowers. A great show.
Catananche have started pushing up their flower spikes ready to show off yummy sky blue summer flowers
More Geraniums showing flower as spring blooms. G.s. striatum (lovely clear pink), Brookside and magnificum showing buds.
Pretty deep pink flowers of Erodium ‘Bishops Form’ are already showing with loads to follow although only a few left. Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
Salvia’s are all beginning to bud up, still lovely chunky plants with that promise of colour round the corner.
Verbascum Phoeniceum Hybids and the white form V.p. Album are showing their first flower shoots and looking chunky.
The dark flowering Verbascum Cherry Helen are also just beginning to throw up the odd flower shoot and looking strong.
Geums have plenty of bud coming now.
Fresh batches of Delphiniums and Lupins looking great.
Nature update
Very active house martins collecting mud/clay from the yard puddle and repairing last year’s homes. Swallows first brood hatched so hopefully they can keep warm enough and find enough food.
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 20 May 2013
Morning all
A few weeks of more buoyant sales is such a relief but we could do with a few more yet and hopefully a good gardening weather weekend down here might just help out. Mind you it provides a new set of stresses. We move from worrying about the lack of sales and saving money where we can to running around trying to get everything done to keep up with demand but finding a lack of hours in the day and days in the week. Still it is a much more stimulating pr essure and does inject a bit of excitement again after a long absence.
It can be easy to get lost in your own troubles, but it could be worse. We had a nasty reminder of that this week with a traffic accident a little way along our road. Sadly a young women dog walker died, hit by a 17 year old girl on a difficult section of road with no pathway. So many people’s lives forever torn apart in an instant. Take a step back, count your blessings and take care out there.
Feeling better? I’m taking a step away today by going to see Southampton play their last game of the season. My first Premiership game for years, Stoke at home with nothing to play for, should be a humdinger! Also got a quick trip down the road to pick up some more straw for the donkeys, it’s all go. Made up for the lost time by starting at 6.30 and planning some label printing for tonight so shouldn’t lose too much production and keeps the guilt level down. As Seasick Steve says on his great new cd Hubcap Music, ‘I’m a self sufficient man, I take care of my own knees’, he must have worked hard too!
Availability
Incarvillea are showing buds and the occasional flower, looking chunky, an exotic but hardy surprise to many in the garden. Another delightful unusual one is the Primula viallii, the Chinese pagoda primrose which is now shooting and showing buds. Delicate ferny foliage of Thalictrum diptocarpum with strong flower shoots thrusting through.
The dwarf Polemonium Bambino Blue is looking great, strong chunky growth with bud showing and colour about to burst. Strong Aquilegias still look full of life and vigour, stonking flower spikes showing bud and colour, the best we have ever grown. Long spurred flowers of A. Mckana’s Hybrids looking very impressive in a great colour range. Striking large blue flowers of A. Alpina, Short stems of the Winky range are very colourful holding their heads up to show off the colour. Then there are the taller Barlow types, strong stems with more subtle hanging flowers. A great show.
Catananche have started pushing up their flower spikes ready to show off yummy sky blue summer flowers
More Geraniums showing flower buds as spring blooms. G sanguinium (purple flowers), G.s. striatum (lovely clear pink), Brookside and Gravetye showing buds and the odd blue flower.
Pretty deep pink flowers of Erodium ‘Bishops Form’ are already showing with loads to follow although only a few left.
Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
Very strong plants of Centaurea dealbata are producing buds. A perennial cornflower with a magenta punch.
The glorious hardy perennial Gladiolus byzantinus buds are appearing.
Salvia’s are all beginning to bud up, still lovely chunky plants with that promise of colour round the corner.
Verbascum Phoeniceum Hybids and the white form V.p. Album are showing their first flower shoots and looking chunky.
The delightfull short pink flower spikes of Verbascum Pink Kisses are starting to show. The dark flowering V. Cherry Helen are also just beginning to throw up the odd flower shoot and looking strong.
Veronica gentianoides producing flower shoots now, full of vigour and showing its delightful pale blue flowers.
We produced a new range of Phlox for this spring as a trial and have been very impressed with their strength and vigour. The Flame series is a more compact strain with improved disease resistance and available in a wide colour range. Just a few left.
Eco news
Our new design of backing board is now being sent out. It looks the same on the visible bit above the box edge, but a cleverer design should make them easier to install and uses less card to make them. The reduction in material volume keeps costs down and further reduces waste.
Nature update
The last few weeks of warmer weather seems to have spurred on the birds with loads of fledglings appearing last week, robins, pigeons, jackdaws, blackbirds among many. I hope there is enough food out there, it’s still a bit cool for the time of year. Tadpoles seem to be growing well in the pond although the plant growth in there is so rampant it is difficult to see in now.
Availability List availability!
Need a fresh list? You can download a copy from www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/assets/perennialsherbs.pdf
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
A few weeks of more buoyant sales is such a relief but we could do with a few more yet and hopefully a good gardening weather weekend down here might just help out. Mind you it provides a new set of stresses. We move from worrying about the lack of sales and saving money where we can to running around trying to get everything done to keep up with demand but finding a lack of hours in the day and days in the week. Still it is a much more stimulating pr essure and does inject a bit of excitement again after a long absence.
It can be easy to get lost in your own troubles, but it could be worse. We had a nasty reminder of that this week with a traffic accident a little way along our road. Sadly a young women dog walker died, hit by a 17 year old girl on a difficult section of road with no pathway. So many people’s lives forever torn apart in an instant. Take a step back, count your blessings and take care out there.
Feeling better? I’m taking a step away today by going to see Southampton play their last game of the season. My first Premiership game for years, Stoke at home with nothing to play for, should be a humdinger! Also got a quick trip down the road to pick up some more straw for the donkeys, it’s all go. Made up for the lost time by starting at 6.30 and planning some label printing for tonight so shouldn’t lose too much production and keeps the guilt level down. As Seasick Steve says on his great new cd Hubcap Music, ‘I’m a self sufficient man, I take care of my own knees’, he must have worked hard too!
Availability
Incarvillea are showing buds and the occasional flower, looking chunky, an exotic but hardy surprise to many in the garden. Another delightful unusual one is the Primula viallii, the Chinese pagoda primrose which is now shooting and showing buds. Delicate ferny foliage of Thalictrum diptocarpum with strong flower shoots thrusting through.
The dwarf Polemonium Bambino Blue is looking great, strong chunky growth with bud showing and colour about to burst. Strong Aquilegias still look full of life and vigour, stonking flower spikes showing bud and colour, the best we have ever grown. Long spurred flowers of A. Mckana’s Hybrids looking very impressive in a great colour range. Striking large blue flowers of A. Alpina, Short stems of the Winky range are very colourful holding their heads up to show off the colour. Then there are the taller Barlow types, strong stems with more subtle hanging flowers. A great show.
Catananche have started pushing up their flower spikes ready to show off yummy sky blue summer flowers
More Geraniums showing flower buds as spring blooms. G sanguinium (purple flowers), G.s. striatum (lovely clear pink), Brookside and Gravetye showing buds and the odd blue flower.
Pretty deep pink flowers of Erodium ‘Bishops Form’ are already showing with loads to follow although only a few left.
Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
Very strong plants of Centaurea dealbata are producing buds. A perennial cornflower with a magenta punch.
The glorious hardy perennial Gladiolus byzantinus buds are appearing.
Salvia’s are all beginning to bud up, still lovely chunky plants with that promise of colour round the corner.
Verbascum Phoeniceum Hybids and the white form V.p. Album are showing their first flower shoots and looking chunky.
The delightfull short pink flower spikes of Verbascum Pink Kisses are starting to show. The dark flowering V. Cherry Helen are also just beginning to throw up the odd flower shoot and looking strong.
Veronica gentianoides producing flower shoots now, full of vigour and showing its delightful pale blue flowers.
We produced a new range of Phlox for this spring as a trial and have been very impressed with their strength and vigour. The Flame series is a more compact strain with improved disease resistance and available in a wide colour range. Just a few left.
Eco news
Our new design of backing board is now being sent out. It looks the same on the visible bit above the box edge, but a cleverer design should make them easier to install and uses less card to make them. The reduction in material volume keeps costs down and further reduces waste.
Nature update
The last few weeks of warmer weather seems to have spurred on the birds with loads of fledglings appearing last week, robins, pigeons, jackdaws, blackbirds among many. I hope there is enough food out there, it’s still a bit cool for the time of year. Tadpoles seem to be growing well in the pond although the plant growth in there is so rampant it is difficult to see in now.
Availability List availability!
Need a fresh list? You can download a copy from www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/assets/perennialsherbs.pdf
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 13 May 2013
Morning all,
Another good week, a further step towards rescuing the season, phew. Perfect timing too as we hosted the bank manager this week for a quick review of how things were going. If he had pitched up 3 weeks ago he might have had a lovely nursery on his hands with a rather full stock quota, but the rally on the weather and sales front has meant that the belief that there is a market out there has returned and we might not have another monster compost heap this year. He was pleasantly surprised at how well we had coped and how we had managed to keep costs down in the long quiet spell although that does have a knock-on effect on suppliers and staff which can’t be ignored. Hopefully the weather stays with us and we can keep this recovery going a few weeks longer as we are still behind last year which was shockingly bad itself. Once I have finished inspiring myself here with the joys of nursery life I am off to have fun unblocking the gent’s loo. Joy oh joy.
Started now to eat the stock as well as sell it. Times are still tough. Had a fab salad with the usual suspects plus chopped wild rocket leaves and whole chive flower heads. Having chewed on a few bits of chive flowers previously for the combination of sweetness and pow I was surprised how subtly they went down, a definite punch but not overpowering. For flower taste impact though, just try the tiny yellow ones that come later on the rocket, the sweetness hit is astonishing for something so weeny. No wonder it is called sweet rocket as well as wild.
Did the Waitrose shop early yesterday. It was a bit busier than usual and I unusually had to endure a bit of human interaction. The chap ahead of me got into the trolley lift down to the car park and pushed the button, I was a little way behind but I either stood outside and watched the doors slowly shut while standing outside, effectively rejecting any possibility of interaction or I rushed in delaying the descent but offering a gesture of comradeship. I opted for the later, although I suspect it ended up being an invasion of personal space (nutter on the bus scenario, especially as I was sporting the unshaven and ‘need a haircut bed-head’ look), it rather threw the chap already in there. We avoided eye contact and waited while a random beeping played and the lift went nowhere. Do I say anything about him leaning on the lift buttons or do I wait until he realises. In the end I had to mention it and a quiet decent followed. I had hoped he would head for the Porsche but sadly not.
Availability
Strong Aquilegias looking full of life and vigour, stonking flower spikes showing bud and colour, the best we have ever grown. More Geraniums are showing flower buds as the weather warms. G sanguinium, G.s. striatum and Gravetye showing buds. Pretty pink flowers of Erodium ‘Bishops Form’ are already showing with loads to follow although only a few left.
Knautia are budding up with those deep magenta flowers about to burst.
Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
Very strong plants of Centaurea dealbata are producing buds. A perennial cornflower with a magenta punch.
Ajuga’s looking at their best with fresh foliage and flowering under way. Burgundy Glow looks particularly stunning.
The border bulbs are looking strong, buds are showing on the Alliums and bud & some colour showing on the Camassia’s. The glorious hardy perennial Gladiolus byzantinus buds are appearing.
Salvia’s are all beginning to bud up, still lovely chunky plants with that promise of colour round the corner.
Verbascums phoeniceum hybids and the white form V.p. Album are showing their first flower shoots and looking chunky.
Veronica gentianoides throwing up strong flower shoots now, full of vigour prior to showing its delightful pale blue flowers.
We produced a new range of Phlox for this spring as a trial and have been very impressed with their strength and vigour. The Flame series is a more compact strain with improved disease resistance and available in a wide colour range. We only have low numbers for this year but will have more in 2014.
Eco news
Our new design of backing board is now being sent out. It looks the same on the visible bit above the box edge, but a cleverer design should make them easier to install and uses less card to make them. The reduction in material volume keeps costs down and further reduces waste.
Turbine output looking good again as the breeze picks up, we are above estimate for May and if the forecast is right we should get above estimate for 2013 which will be encouraging as we wondered if initial estimates had been a bit over optimistic. We won’t really know that for sure for another ten years or so! That still doesn’t stop me reading the meter 3 or 4 times a day. What an exciting life I lead.
Availability List availability!
Need a fresh list? You can download a copy from www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/assets/perennialsherbs.pdf
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Another good week, a further step towards rescuing the season, phew. Perfect timing too as we hosted the bank manager this week for a quick review of how things were going. If he had pitched up 3 weeks ago he might have had a lovely nursery on his hands with a rather full stock quota, but the rally on the weather and sales front has meant that the belief that there is a market out there has returned and we might not have another monster compost heap this year. He was pleasantly surprised at how well we had coped and how we had managed to keep costs down in the long quiet spell although that does have a knock-on effect on suppliers and staff which can’t be ignored. Hopefully the weather stays with us and we can keep this recovery going a few weeks longer as we are still behind last year which was shockingly bad itself. Once I have finished inspiring myself here with the joys of nursery life I am off to have fun unblocking the gent’s loo. Joy oh joy.
Started now to eat the stock as well as sell it. Times are still tough. Had a fab salad with the usual suspects plus chopped wild rocket leaves and whole chive flower heads. Having chewed on a few bits of chive flowers previously for the combination of sweetness and pow I was surprised how subtly they went down, a definite punch but not overpowering. For flower taste impact though, just try the tiny yellow ones that come later on the rocket, the sweetness hit is astonishing for something so weeny. No wonder it is called sweet rocket as well as wild.
Did the Waitrose shop early yesterday. It was a bit busier than usual and I unusually had to endure a bit of human interaction. The chap ahead of me got into the trolley lift down to the car park and pushed the button, I was a little way behind but I either stood outside and watched the doors slowly shut while standing outside, effectively rejecting any possibility of interaction or I rushed in delaying the descent but offering a gesture of comradeship. I opted for the later, although I suspect it ended up being an invasion of personal space (nutter on the bus scenario, especially as I was sporting the unshaven and ‘need a haircut bed-head’ look), it rather threw the chap already in there. We avoided eye contact and waited while a random beeping played and the lift went nowhere. Do I say anything about him leaning on the lift buttons or do I wait until he realises. In the end I had to mention it and a quiet decent followed. I had hoped he would head for the Porsche but sadly not.
Availability
Strong Aquilegias looking full of life and vigour, stonking flower spikes showing bud and colour, the best we have ever grown. More Geraniums are showing flower buds as the weather warms. G sanguinium, G.s. striatum and Gravetye showing buds. Pretty pink flowers of Erodium ‘Bishops Form’ are already showing with loads to follow although only a few left.
Knautia are budding up with those deep magenta flowers about to burst.
Dainty but striking red flowers of Heuchera Ruby Bells and Firefly look delightful.
Very strong plants of Centaurea dealbata are producing buds. A perennial cornflower with a magenta punch.
Ajuga’s looking at their best with fresh foliage and flowering under way. Burgundy Glow looks particularly stunning.
The border bulbs are looking strong, buds are showing on the Alliums and bud & some colour showing on the Camassia’s. The glorious hardy perennial Gladiolus byzantinus buds are appearing.
Salvia’s are all beginning to bud up, still lovely chunky plants with that promise of colour round the corner.
Verbascums phoeniceum hybids and the white form V.p. Album are showing their first flower shoots and looking chunky.
Veronica gentianoides throwing up strong flower shoots now, full of vigour prior to showing its delightful pale blue flowers.
We produced a new range of Phlox for this spring as a trial and have been very impressed with their strength and vigour. The Flame series is a more compact strain with improved disease resistance and available in a wide colour range. We only have low numbers for this year but will have more in 2014.
Eco news
Our new design of backing board is now being sent out. It looks the same on the visible bit above the box edge, but a cleverer design should make them easier to install and uses less card to make them. The reduction in material volume keeps costs down and further reduces waste.
Turbine output looking good again as the breeze picks up, we are above estimate for May and if the forecast is right we should get above estimate for 2013 which will be encouraging as we wondered if initial estimates had been a bit over optimistic. We won’t really know that for sure for another ten years or so! That still doesn’t stop me reading the meter 3 or 4 times a day. What an exciting life I lead.
Availability List availability!
Need a fresh list? You can download a copy from www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/assets/perennialsherbs.pdf
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
Monday, 6 May 2013
Morning all,
The weather is helping out at long last and we are seeing a bit of momentum and confidence returning in the plant buying world. Phew! This weekend looks like being another good one for leisure and gardening so let’s hope it keeps going. We had a little bit of rain yesterday which will help dampen the ground a bit and there is a bit more due next week I believe which will help a bit more. Let’s hope it rains at night so as not to disrupt sales too much. It has been dry here for a while and the ground water levels have now subsided but that first dampening of the ground yesterday threw up that great smell of fresh rain on dry ground, if only we could bottle and sell that!
We had another very busy week last week which does make us feel a lot better after such a late spring but a couple of decent weeks will not be enough. We have the bank manager coming over this week for a quick catch up so we have been adding up a few numbers and it doesn’t look brilliant, just proving that a couple of nice weekends isn’t going to save the day. Thank goodness he didn’t come three weeks ago when the cold was still having such an effect on sales for everyone. Luckily we haven’t yet had to chuck away much unsold stock as the plants have rather conveniently waited for the sales to pick up so if the weather stays with us and sales continue to make up over last year I’m sure we can get by.
Last weekend’s anniversary celebrations went well, I saved the day by offering to finish off Caroline’s last hours tub packing so she could get off site by 8pm (to get home muck out the donkeys, chickens and feed the cats and get the dinner on!). Well it is a daft time of year for an anniversary.
We have a small gang in on Monday to make sure we get off to a flying start when the week starts properly on Tuesday so hopefully there won’t be too much of a delay in getting the orders out in the shortened week but we may have to stretch to sending an order or two out on Saturday if demand is high. Over the last couple of very busy weeks we have managed to get everything out in time so well done to everyone, we even got several orders away despite not receiving them until Thursday or even Friday morning for the odd local one.
I may well take the advice today of one of the garden retailers and diversify my efforts as a grower into other money making ventures. As the weather looks reasonable I might take out the metal detector for its second run before the newly sown crop emerges. I feel I should add to my current horde of 4 nails and a broken plough share tip before putting it all on ebay. Even if I don’t make a fortune I won’t lose as much as working on a nursery!
Availability
Fantastic looking chunky Aquilegias looking full of life and vigour, all with flower spikes showing and the odd flower opening, the best we have ever grown.
More Geraniums are showing flower buds as the weather warms. G sanguinium and G.s. striatum both showing buds. Dicentra spectabalis in flower and looking striking.
Pretty pink flowers of Erodium ‘Bishops Form’ are already showing with loads to follow.
Symphytums (Ornamental Comfrey) in colour and looking great with their delightful blue and white flowers.
The Sedums look so fit at this time it is a wonder they don’t burst out and run about.
Erysimums Bowles Mauve already has plenty of bud and the first colour is showing. It will flower endlessly throughout the summer, a great garden favourite but there are only a few left.
The border bulbs are looking strong, buds are showing on the Alliums and some colour showing on the Camassia varieties. Verbascums phoeniceum hybids and the white form V.p. Album are showing their first flower shoots and looking chunky. Thalictrum aquilegifolium showing strong flower shoots already but very few left.
Veronica gentianoides throwing up strong flower shoots now, full of vigour prior to showing its delightful pale blue flowers.
We produced a new range of Phlox for this spring as a trial and have been very impressed with their strength and vigour. The Flame series is a more compact strain with improved disease resistance and available in a wide colour range. We only have low numbers for this year but will have more in 2014.
Eco news
April was the second best month ever for the turbine production, joy oh joy.
Availability List availability!
If you ever need a fresh list should you mislay this one you can download and print off a copy from our website at;
www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/assets/perennialsherbs.pdf
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
The weather is helping out at long last and we are seeing a bit of momentum and confidence returning in the plant buying world. Phew! This weekend looks like being another good one for leisure and gardening so let’s hope it keeps going. We had a little bit of rain yesterday which will help dampen the ground a bit and there is a bit more due next week I believe which will help a bit more. Let’s hope it rains at night so as not to disrupt sales too much. It has been dry here for a while and the ground water levels have now subsided but that first dampening of the ground yesterday threw up that great smell of fresh rain on dry ground, if only we could bottle and sell that!
We had another very busy week last week which does make us feel a lot better after such a late spring but a couple of decent weeks will not be enough. We have the bank manager coming over this week for a quick catch up so we have been adding up a few numbers and it doesn’t look brilliant, just proving that a couple of nice weekends isn’t going to save the day. Thank goodness he didn’t come three weeks ago when the cold was still having such an effect on sales for everyone. Luckily we haven’t yet had to chuck away much unsold stock as the plants have rather conveniently waited for the sales to pick up so if the weather stays with us and sales continue to make up over last year I’m sure we can get by.
Last weekend’s anniversary celebrations went well, I saved the day by offering to finish off Caroline’s last hours tub packing so she could get off site by 8pm (to get home muck out the donkeys, chickens and feed the cats and get the dinner on!). Well it is a daft time of year for an anniversary.
We have a small gang in on Monday to make sure we get off to a flying start when the week starts properly on Tuesday so hopefully there won’t be too much of a delay in getting the orders out in the shortened week but we may have to stretch to sending an order or two out on Saturday if demand is high. Over the last couple of very busy weeks we have managed to get everything out in time so well done to everyone, we even got several orders away despite not receiving them until Thursday or even Friday morning for the odd local one.
I may well take the advice today of one of the garden retailers and diversify my efforts as a grower into other money making ventures. As the weather looks reasonable I might take out the metal detector for its second run before the newly sown crop emerges. I feel I should add to my current horde of 4 nails and a broken plough share tip before putting it all on ebay. Even if I don’t make a fortune I won’t lose as much as working on a nursery!
Availability
Fantastic looking chunky Aquilegias looking full of life and vigour, all with flower spikes showing and the odd flower opening, the best we have ever grown.
More Geraniums are showing flower buds as the weather warms. G sanguinium and G.s. striatum both showing buds. Dicentra spectabalis in flower and looking striking.
Pretty pink flowers of Erodium ‘Bishops Form’ are already showing with loads to follow.
Symphytums (Ornamental Comfrey) in colour and looking great with their delightful blue and white flowers.
The Sedums look so fit at this time it is a wonder they don’t burst out and run about.
Erysimums Bowles Mauve already has plenty of bud and the first colour is showing. It will flower endlessly throughout the summer, a great garden favourite but there are only a few left.
The border bulbs are looking strong, buds are showing on the Alliums and some colour showing on the Camassia varieties. Verbascums phoeniceum hybids and the white form V.p. Album are showing their first flower shoots and looking chunky. Thalictrum aquilegifolium showing strong flower shoots already but very few left.
Veronica gentianoides throwing up strong flower shoots now, full of vigour prior to showing its delightful pale blue flowers.
We produced a new range of Phlox for this spring as a trial and have been very impressed with their strength and vigour. The Flame series is a more compact strain with improved disease resistance and available in a wide colour range. We only have low numbers for this year but will have more in 2014.
Eco news
April was the second best month ever for the turbine production, joy oh joy.
Availability List availability!
If you ever need a fresh list should you mislay this one you can download and print off a copy from our website at;
www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/assets/perennialsherbs.pdf
Have a good week, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries
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