Hairy Ophelia

Morning all,

Autumn storms are bowling in and all the leaves from our poplar windbreak have finished depositing their leaves over the last few days. Time to get out the leaf blower and collect them all up before they blow in and mulch our pots to death. The chimney is swept, turbines and boilers serviced and wood cut so the seasons are definitely turning and I think we are just about ready for it. Another season draws to a close and we can start getting ready for the next one. The temptation is to relax and cut back on hours and workload, but I know that Christmas will suddenly be upon us and we will be looking to get next year’s sales underway really quickly after that, which makes the winter window for nursery improvement and development really short. It always catches me out.

Managed to get a long weekend away at long last, hence no fresh list last weekend. A trip to Tresco on the Scilly Isles was just the ticket for a nice wind-down although it did prove a little more exciting than anticipated. Not a great start when low cloud and winds on Friday moved us from the 10 minute plane flight to the 3 hour boat trip on the notorious Scillonian 111. Quite a few green travellers on that trip but I did ok, as long as I keep an eye on the horizon I can ride the waves and avoid mishap. The big bonus was that I saw a pod of Common Dolphins riding the bow wave right outside my window, jumping right out of the water just a few feet away, just brilliant. Then I saw my first Great Skua, luckily confirmed by the RSPB guide and other birders on board so perhaps not a bad travel change. A very relaxed weekend, excesses of all the good things, music, food and drink and friendly company. Did a bit of strolling about, particularly exciting on the Ophelia wind day when it was a struggle to remain upright on the hilltops, certainly blew away a few cobwebs that day. Mind you I was fortunate to be still walking as I did manage to nearly cripple myself the day before, when putting on my boots. My brother in law and his wife pitched up outside the pub so I slipped on my boots to join them in the fresh air and get buckled up. Unseen by me the automatic door closed behind me and my rather long laces dragging behind didn’t make it out in time, I stepped forwards only managed a few inches before forward
motion was arrested violently for one foot and then the other. Gravity took over as the inevitable happened but luckily the force of laughter from the others must have broken my fall and I survived physically unharmed but mentally scared.

Winter delivery minimum orders

Ok I know it’s not really winter yet, but for the rest of the autumn and until sometime in February we are able to drop the minimum order quantity generally to 15 trays and possibly, at a push, to 12 trays if you are very local to Winchester. The range available will obviously slip away as most lines go into dormancy but we have a few lines to provide a bit of winter interest and colour, should you be desiring some hairy input.

  Availability highlights

Autumn and winter flowering Cyclamen are looking good. The Cyclamen coum Cyberia series flower from now until April, showing short and dainty flowers and bud. I can see some bud still coming on the remaining autumn flowering hederifolium types too. The Helleborus range is gradually increasing as winter approaches, no bud yet but nice plants. Another evergreen spring flowerer currently looking smart are the Bergenias. The compact Diamond Drops are looking particularly dapper. The Erodium Bishops Form is making the most of the late warmth and flowering nicely. We have a few very nice bushy Erysimum Bowles Mauve budding nicely and showing a little colour. We have a fantastic crop of Ajuga in range of leaf colours just bursting to get into the garden. Persicaria Darjeeling Red looking good with a last flush of flower on display. Tiarella are having a last minute flush of flower too. Fresh batches of Euphorbia are looking nice in a range of foliage colours. Salvia Hot Lips are in colour, short and bushy and should keep going until the frosts knock back the flower. Bright variegated leaves of
the short tufted grass Carex Evergold are looking very neat and smart.

Wooden box returns

We have collected the majority of our wooden boxes up now but please do drop us a line if you would like us to pop in and collect any more up. Thanks.

Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy end to Spring

Morning all,
What a great week that was. Lots of end of season stuff got finished after what seems like a really long and exciting ‘spring’. I say spring as that always used to be how we described our manic sales and production period in days gone by. Now our ‘spring’ has elongated a tad to run from February to September which is great for the cash flow and business as a whole, but possibly a bit more taxing on the work load front. Anyway this week we finished the years potting with the last of the spring bulbs nestling in their peat free winter homes and the fantastic Erysimum plugs arriving and diving straight into a pot. Despite years of seeing it happen before I still can’t quite believe the Erysimums will be in bud and flower by the early spring as they come in so late and so small but they just keep on growing forming lovely strong bushy stock by the time next seasons sales get under way. We grow them under cover but in open sided tunnels with no heat so they keep a toughness to their habit (other than being grown in the relatively warm softy southern end of the country!).
The annual stock-take also got completed as this moment marks the end of our financial year. It’s always a bit of a slog and feels rather unproductive but it does give us a very useful snapshot of stock levels from which we can accurately update the computer more sensibly order next seasons plugs and pot labels. With the large amount of stock already potted so that it is ready for the spring it all adds up to a scary cost value, just sat out there waiting for the winter to throw its worst at it and hopefully then finding a sales slot somewhere nice. I’m sure it will be fine, it usually all works out in the end despite the odd crop or weather disaster. Just got to get the September books completed and we can see how well the year has gone, We have a good idea how it should look, although when the figures are done it can sometimes be a surprise, suffice to say that we won’t be retiring just yet as none of those surprises have ever been good ones!
Among the many exciting challenges on the nursery this Xyella scare is getting quite concerning. With some host plants being big sellers in the nursery trade, like rosemary and lavender, are we going to see much tougher restrictions on plant movement which will impact hugely on supply of finished plants and young plants alike. A monster amount of propagated material comes in from Europe and further afield as rooted and unrooted material, and with an ever growing range of host plants being identified is anything coming in from abroad safe? If it gets over here the current long term (5 year) plant movement restrictions imposed could be devastating to any nursery, to the point of ceasing to trade. Best not think about it too much.
I also got a new lease of life this week with new glasses collected and bank balance emptied. After managing with an old pair for ages that had got trodden on and rather scratched and mangled it’s nice to be able to see clearly without the mark of Zorro etched onto every view. Not only that but I managed to purchase a new batch of trousers to replace the all the old aerated ones of which I has amassed quite a collection. I haven’t quite managed to throw out my old friends yet but I’m sure they will start disappearing soon.

Availability highlights
Autumn and winter flowering Cyclamen are just coming on line. The Cyclamen coum Cyberia series flower from now until April, showing short and dainty flowers and bud. I can see some bud still coming on the remaining autumn flowering hederifolium types but not enough to say they are ‘in flower’, they have just sold too fast! The Helleborus range is gradually increasing as winter approaches, no bud yet but nice plants.
Another evergreen spring flowerer currently looking smart are the Bergenias. The compact Diamond Drops are looking particularly dapper. We have a few Tradescantia Rubra which are having a late flowering flush. Looking good. The compact and free flower Anthemis Charme are now in bud. They flower for ages.
There are a few nice short Nepeta Six Hills in bud at the moment. The dinky little Junior Walker has shot back after a trim to make nice bushy plants with another flower flush showing. Only a few remaining Asters now and some are still coming into flower. We have a fantastic crop of Ajuga in range of leaf colours just bursting to get into the garden. Fresh batches of Euphorbia are looking nice in a range of foliage colours
Bright variegated leaves of the short tufted grass Carex Evergold are looking very neat and smart.

Wooden box returns
We have collected the majority of our wooden boxes up now but please do drop us a line if you would like us to pop in and collect any more up.

Thanks,
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Chatter

Morning all,

With the tree leaves turning so quickly it’s difficult to imagine there is much more growing time left on the nursery, but I know quite a lot of lines will carry on making strong root growth for manyl weeks to come. Some lines like the Erysimum are only going into pots in the next week or two and as quite small rooted cuttings, but we know they will still need double spacing to allow for a good plant shape to form through the late autumn and winter. They get no extra heat or special lighting just keep on growing whenever the natural seasonal temperatures allow and will start budding up for an early spring flowering on a strong and bushy plant framework. Star performers, I wish they were all so accommodating!
Then there are the spring bulbs which we have just started potting, they are a huge faff to pot but again make loads of late root growth ready to support their delightful spring display. We have a special routine to follow with this crop due to their popularity with the local mice population. A few seasons ago we got caught out putting the crop straight onto the nursery beds and over a couple of weeks the entire crop of the little Snakeshead Lily (Fritillaria) got nicked or eaten. We found most of the crop a couple of months later when they started to emerge from the buried store just outside the tunnel, but by then it was too late to save them. Now we stack the whole potted and watered crop on trolleys in despatch for the autumn and early winter until they start to emerge. We can then put them down reasonably safely on the nursery given the support of a few well positioned and covered protective traps.
Summer has left, the house martins went on Monday. A huge migrating flock of them appeared over the nursery in the morning and stayed for 20 minutes or so having a good feed over the tunnels before drifting south, taking our lot with them. Never mind, their summer chattering has been replaced with an autumn mega chatter. Our conifer windbreak behind the house has become an autumnal starling roost which just at the moment is swelling rapidly in numbers. We are getting a mini murmuration display of a few hundred as the light fades, not on the huge scale of some we have seen, but still something to grab your attention if you time it right. After they all settle into the trees there is a cacophony of chatter as hundreds of them check out that they are all ok and sat in the right place. It reminds me a bit of the slightly calmer burblings you get with groups of waders on estuaries in the winter, that constant reassurance they give each other as they get on with their daily routines. ‘I’m alright are you alright?’ ‘Yes thanks I’m alright, are you all right?’ ‘Thanks, I’m alright, you all right?’ until a predator flies over and all hell lets loose.
Brilliant evening out last Saturday at the Water Buffalo farm at Broughton, very nice local beers and cider, delicious buffalo burger and some great music in a renovated old barn. Even a dance floor to express oneself on, which I might have been a bit too over-eager on (excess beer, not enough burger!). Luckily very few people we knew were there to notice my small tumble after miscalculating how gravity worked.
Keep yourselves upright, it’s easier.

Availability highlights
Autumn and winter flowering Cyclamen are just coming on line. The Cyclamen coum Cyberia series flower from now until April, showing short and dainty flowers and bud. I can see some bud still coming on the remaining autumn flowering hederifolium types but not enough to say they are ‘in flower’, they have just sold too fast! The compact and free flower Anthemis Charme are now in bud. They flower for ages.
Fresh batches of the ever popular Achillea coming on nicely with new flowers shoots appearing on several colours. There are a few nice short Nepeta Six Hills in bud at the moment. The dinky little Junior Walker has shot back after a trim to make nice bushy plants with another flower flush showing. The short Campanula carpatica is in bud again after an earlier trim. A few remaining Asters are still coming into flower.
We have a fantastic crop of Ajuga in range of leaf colours just bursting to get into the garden. Fresh batches of Euphorbia are looking nice in a range of foliage colours. Bright variegated leaves of the short tufted grass Carex Evergold are looking very neat and smart.

Wooden box returns
We have collected the majority of our wooden boxes up now but please do drop us a line if you would like us to pop in and collect any more up. Thanks.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.