It's a hairy wrap

Morning all,
I'm not quite sure which way to turn. It's Saturday morning and there is no potting team in for the first time since early April. We still have plenty to do but I'm hoping we can cope now in 5 days rather than six. It will be good for all those involved to have a bit of a break but it seem eerily quiet but definitely more relaxed, time to get started on my back log of jobs that I haven't been able to get done over the hectic and overheated summer. We've only got until the end of the month to tidy up our Green Impact input for this year's assessment, I think I'm nearly there, just got to bundle together a bit more evidence to back up the commentary which is mostly about adding a few photos which should be simple. With a bit of luck we will get a visit from the assessors this year, last year I may have overdone the evidence in my enthusiasm and put them off coming to see it firsthand.
Over the last couple of weeks we have been looking at the use of the stretchy pallet wrap that we use to hold together stacks of boxes and trays around the nursery, so they don't fall over. It works really well but it is definitely only single use and when using it, on the nursery for moving stuff about it seems a bit wasteful. I had a look on the internet and found a few tough reusable plastic pallet wraps, incorporating solid and mesh plastics, a couple of poles, belts, buckles and Velcro. Looked
good, but at $150+ dollars each, a bit pricy for us when we are not looking at daily reuse. So the challenge was set to design a more economical, practical, but sustainable alternative. The basic concept is to use hessian, thick bamboo cane and a couple of bungee loop ties. All components are cheap and easily replaceable should there be a breakage and making them is fairly simple. The prototype is done and the first trials are looking ok. We've had it out in the sun and rain and reused it several times over the last week and it looks ok. It is adjustable in length, to a degree, and has component costs of well under £5 for a 3ft deep wrap. Material costs obviously rise for a deeper version, such as one that might fit round a trolley or two, and we may have to beef up the hessian weight to add strength and longevity to it, depending on how the trials go. We are going to knock
up a few more to start using on site to see what issues are going to crop up and I've ordered some more material samples to test the heavier hessians and taller wraps so watch this space. I probably should keep this a secret so I can make millions when everyone wants one, but to be honest knowing my design skills I doubt it will cut the mustard in the end, well not enough to charge for.

Here is our 'Hairy Wrap No1' so you can marvel at our high tech solution! 

Availability highlights
Lobelia speciosa Scarlet are in colour again, compact bushy plants looking lush. Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy, compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. All varieties are in now in bud and colour is peeping out on the Branbeach White and Bransky Plum with others not far behind.
Nice vigorous batches of the compact Geum Cooky and Koi are both showing with bright and eye catching colour. The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Plenty in stock with fresh batches always on the go. They will flower for ages yet. We had flowers on ours outside the back door until Christmas last year.
Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, looking fabulous, budding up well and showing colour. All varieties looking great, with Caradonna possibly the most dramatic with its more upright habit, dark coloured stems and deep violet flowers. It's a beauty. Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong and have suddenly started turning two tone in colour again after a rather red flowering session during the heat of the summer.
The compact and floriferous Coreopsis Illico are now producing plenty of bud and a bit of colour, but only a few left. A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. One of the earliest and most popular Aster varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing colour already, Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now. We have a few Geum Totally Tangerine this week, the odd bud appearing on very strong plants. A new one to us but it was
recommended and I couldn't resist.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia. E. Tiny Tim is a new one to us this year, a tidy tight habit with bronzed foliage and the E. x Martinii looks fab.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Blank and Hairy

Morning
Another nice drop of rain yesterday and last night and a lovely fresh and bright morning. This is how summer should be. I've been able to dial down the irrigation a bit this week and many of the plants are looking quite relieved at the lower temperatures. The farm are slightly frustrated that the rain came when it did as they had less than a day left of the main harvest which would just have left the later crops like linseed to do in a few weeks. They may get a chance today if it dries off enough and get it in before tomorrow which looks pretty damp down here. Although we are on thin chalk soil here which drains quickly, the sub soil still holds on to plenty of moisture and the water tables haven't dropped too far despite the scorching summer so there are only a few very poor yields and the rest isn't too bad. That's one advantage of growing the wide range of crops and varieties that they do. Life is more complex but it spreads the risk. In a good 'normal' summer the main harvest does well to finish by the August bank holiday so to finish now is nearly a record. I think it was 76 when they finished by the end of July but the farm was a bit smaller then and less varied in its crops. Anyway it will be a relief to all to see it safely in without any drying to do, just the panic to follow to sow the next lot!
Our harvest continues will plants still rolling out looking great. We are well into potting next Spring's crops now with a bit more time on our hands. We are never quite as far along with it as I would like and we only need a cool dewy morning like today and I start to panic that autumn and winter aren't far away. I'm looking at my log pile and thinking that I need to get that restocked especially after visiting a friend who had a monster stack all ready to go. Definite case of log envy.
We are coming up to the deadline for entering all our sustainable achievements in the local Green Impact scheme we belong to. It's all online and fairly easy to enter the info but the number of categories' to fill in is a bit daunting at first. I've had a couple of goes this week and broken the back of it but an email came round yesterday to remind us of the deadline and ranked all the local entrants for the amount of points they had scored. Apparently it is all very close but we were only forth so that spurred me back into action. In theory this is not a competitive event, we are all just doing our bit, but it's a bit like yoga which is also meant to be none judgmental or competitive you can't help yourself at times. My downward dog is pretty good and I do a brilliant Shavasana, mind you I've always been good at lying on my back with my eyes shut, and making by mind go blank is only a tiny step from everyday life!
Availability highlights
Lobelia speciosa varieties are in colour again, compact bushy plants in a range of colours, looking lush. A fresh crop of the compact and floriferous Coreopsis Illico are now producing plenty of bud and a bit of colour. Nice vigorous batches of the compact Geum Cooky and Koi are both showing bright and eye catching colour.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, looking fabulous, budding up well and showing colour. All varieties looking great, with Caradonna possibly the most dramatic with its more upright habit, dark coloured stems and deep violet flowers. It's a beauty.
Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous.
The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong and have suddenly started turning two tone in colour again after a rather red flowering session over the last few weeks. Not sure if the slightly cooler temperatures have caused the change but it's like looking at a different plant!
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, just beginning to open their pale lilac flowers. One of the earliest and most popular Aster varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing colour already,
Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now.
Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy, compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. All varieties are in now in bud and I noticed one bud opening this morning on the Branbeach White. We have a few Geum Totally Tangerine this week, the odd bud appearing on very strong plants. A new one to us but it was recommended and I couldn't resist.
Foliage starts to be of interest at this time of year and there are some good shows of colour from the Carex Evergold, Ajuga, Heuchera, Lamium and Euphorbia. Euphorbia Tiny Tim is a new one to us this year, a tidy tight habit with bronzed foliage.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Heatwave

Morning all,
Sorry I missed last week's news, I was rather overcome with emotion at the arrival of some cooler temperatures and a lovely day and night of rain. It took me quite by surprise that I was so affected, I don't think I quite appreciated how stressed I was getting with the relentless heat and lack of precipitation. I took full advantage and spent the entire weekend getting stuck into those jobs that were too hot to cope with a day or two before. It was great, the rain was beating on the tunnel roof and I was able to wear a shirt, sweat shirt and a coat and be perfectly comfortable. Seems like a distant memory again now we are back into the 30's, but hopefully it is going to cool again in a few days.
It seems that this summers dry hot weather and the super hot temperatures in Europe are perhaps focussing a lot of people's attention on climate change and what could be the implications of more frequent weather events like this. The dairy industry is struggling, some of the arable crops this summer are appalling and the veg farms are warning of crop shortages and price rises. Guy Watson who started and now helps run the Riverford organic veg box scheme writes a piece each week to accompany their delivery and the panic setting in at the sustained pressure on the crops, really brings the situation home. The reservoirs on their farms are running out, newly planted crops are struggling to get away and the established crops not yielding as they should. Even if the rain comes there will still be knock-on effects for months to come. With the huge extra interest this year in single use plastics on top of all this, are we actually going to get a more mainstream reaction by the public and industry to look at sustainability with some urgency rather than paying it lip service as most have done in the past. I do hope so and I hope we are not too late.
Anyway back here in the exciting world of hairy nursery life, this week I am feeling very fulfilled (it doesn't take much). After a couple of weeks of blocked pipe-work in a certain very inaccessible and undesirable area, I dismantled and fitted a new more easily maintained system with a super flow and no leaks. It took three frustrating goes to get all the right sized pipe, fittings and universal connectors plus a couple of new bottle traps but I got there in the end. What a relief, in so many ways!
Despite the heat we are ploughing on trying to keep on top of the orders, tunnel clearing and potting, productivity is suffering a bit, we just can't do anything as quickly in this heat and a few plants are not liking it either. However we can't complain too much at least we are able to keep most crops watered and growing, and our temperatures are nothing like the levels not too far away in Europe.
Must go, I've got the potting to finish and the watering-in to get done.
Availability highlights
A fresh crop of the compact and floriferous Coreopsis Illico are now producing plenty of bud.
Nice vigorous batches of the compact Geum Cooky and Koi are both showing bright and eye catching colour. Only available a few weeks each year, we have just a few Platycodon Astra Blue left. This blue Balloon Flower is a joy to behold but a bit of a pain to grow neatly in a pot, hence the short production runs. Get in quick if you fancy some before they are gone.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, looking fabulous, budding up well and showing some colour. All varieties looking great, with Caradonna possibly the most dramatic with its more upright habit, dark coloured stems and deep violet flowers. It's a beauty.
Both Erodium varieties are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous.
The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong and have suddenly started turning two tone in colour again after a rather red flowering session over the last few weeks. Not sure if the slightly cooler temperatures have caused the change but it's like looking at a different plant!
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, opening into pale lilac flowers very soon. One of the earliest and most popular Aster varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing colour already, Viola Konigin Charlotte traditionally flowers in the spring with its deep violet colour and stunning scent, but we find it does produce a pretty smattering in the late summer too and sure enough that is what's occurring now.
Eucomis are throwing up their creamy yellow flower stalks. What a delightful description for quite a dramatic plant. Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy, compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. All varieties are in now in tight bud. We have a few Geum Totally Tangerine this week, no bud as yet but very strong plants. A new one to us but it was recommended and I couldn't resist.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy City Slickers

Morning all,
I hope you all did better for rain over the last week than we did. We actually got enough last night to look damp and feel a bit fresher this morning, but most has already dried off in the sun which is beating down again. Not a lot, if any, in the forecast for us for the next week but you never know we might get lucky. The grass is almost completely brown with the main green being provided by the deep rooted dandelions and alike. Luckily being an expert horticulturist our lawn is full of them! What is noticeable is that the grass is that bit greener in the patches we left for the wild flowers to flower in the spring before cutting. Maybe in future we will have to leave it all to grow long before the first cut. Still, we can do nothing but keep cool and make the best of it, so do enjoy the summer as best you can.
We've had a quiet week, just the usual orders, tunnel clearances, potting and pricking out. Oh yes and a trip on Monday to exhibit at the Defra Summer Reception at Nobel House in the middle of London and a visit here on Thursday by 45 or so horticultural professionals to check out what we have been up to on the sustainability front.
Mondays do was very exciting, I don't get out much, so a trip with Caroline on the train to start with was a treat. We had packed our compact plant exhibit into a couple of large bags so I could carry them myself (not great timing for Caroline's broken arm). We didn't get off to a great start when I got stuck in the automatic gates at the station but I was eventually released by an unimpressed barrier operative and we were on our way. The bulkiness of my package unfortunately meant we had to sit by the facilities but we were off peak so it wasn't too busy. Caught a black cab, as you do, and made it to the venue in plenty of time to set up. The Defra staff were immensely helpful and supportive as we were a bit apprehensive about the whole affair. We were one of only 10 exhibitors which included Proctor and Gamble, H and M, Sky and Tea Pigs among 150 invited guests, so we felt a bit out of our league, but we were all there to showcase more sustainable ways of production rather than sell anything, so we all had plenty to talk about. Caroline ended up chatting to Mr Gove, Claire Moriarty (Permanent Secretary for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) , Lord Gardiner (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity) and Lord Randall (Environmental advisor to No.10) meanwhile I was asked to step aside for one guest who wanted to park her folding bike under our exhibit! I was sorely tempted to suggest she unfold the bike and use it, but I bit my tongue and helpfully found a spot close by. In all a great day out.
The big nursery tour went really well in the end, despite preparations nearly going down the pan (forgive the pun) when we discovered a blockage at 10.00 the previous evening! An early start got us back on course and all went swimmingly thanks to a lot of hard work by all the staff having a bit of a tidy in the run up. Most of the visitors seemed quite impressed with how 'different' we were to 'normal', but I think you may know that already.
Availability highlights
Probably just for one more week, we have a fresh batch of Verbena bonariensis in bud and not very tall. I must have trimmed back the young plants at just the right time and just the right height to get them to look so strong, in bud and not bonkersly tall. They will mature to full height but at the moment are perfect for sale. I wish I knew what I've done right to achieve this!
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. In case you hadn't noticed summer is here, cue Crocosmia in bud. Loads showing now, looking great, don't miss out.
Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, budding up well with more to come. The violet variety looks great. We are still desperately fighting off the pigeons who are attempting to munch through some of our scented Phlox Sweet Summer crop, they are looking great with buds and the some open flower on a lovely range of colours.
Both Erodium are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong as we move onto another fresh batch with buds bursting and colour showing. Flowers are mostly red at the moment, but fear not they can go two-tone again at any moment.
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, producing pale Lilac flowers very soon. One of the earliest and most popular varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing a bit of colour already,
Eucomis are just beginning to throw up their creamy yellow flower stalks. Our summer/autumn flowering mini garden Chrysanthemums are on the list this week. They produce masses of small flowers on naturally bushy fairly compact plants and usually flower until the first frosts. A couple of varieties are in already in very tight bud at the moment and the others will be there in the next week or two. We have some lovely short Coreopsis Zagreb in bud this week, ferny foliage and bright sunny flowers about to open. We have a few Geum Totally Tangerine this week, no bud as yet but very strong plants. A new one to us but it was recommended and I couldn't resist.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Tidy but still hairy

Morning all,

We've had a few drops today and I can hear thunder rumbling so hoping for a bit more so the ground actually looks damp for a few minutes. I spoke too soon last week when I said the plants were doing well, the irrigation controller took the night off on Saturday and it took me most of Sunday to find the fault and fix it. A hot tense day! All up and working again now but this constant sun and heat does put me on edge.
The world cup distraction has just about petered out. Shame about England missing out, still they gave it a good go so no regrets. Great news about getting the young footballers out of the flooded caves, a fantastic international team effort. Nice to see what can be achieved by working together.
A desperately tense few days coming up with our trip to the big city to see the Queen, ok not the queen, but DEFRA headquarters and a minister or two, followed on Thursday by a large growers (in numbers not bulk) tour of the nursery. Hopefully we can tart up the site a bit by then and try to get it looking semi-professional, but with the amount of normal work to do there won't be much time for that, so they will just have to forgive us a few tunnels looking like a bomb has hit. It's that time of year between the spring/summer sales and a load of clearing up, and getting summer/autumn potting underway. I'm sure it will be fine, these things are never as bad as you fear.
Discovered another plastic alternative recently, this time for the kitchen and fridge. Beeswax impregnated cotton/hemp squares of various sizes to replace cling film. You drape it over the dish/bowl bend the edges and hold them while the heat of your hands moulds them to shape. Apparently it works really well keeping things fresh but allowing a little more air movement than cling film (no good for meats I am told). Reusable for quite a while, just cleans under the cold tap. We saw a New Zealand version first but have seen Canadian and now UK ones too.
A bit closer to home, we are hoping to have our new plastic-free colour pot labels available in the spring. Whether it's spring 2019 I'm not quite sure but I'm ever hopeful. Watch this space.

Availability highlights
Probably just for the next week, we have a fresh batch of Verbena bonariensis in bud and not very tall. I must have trimmed back the young plants at just the right time and just the right height to get them to look so strong, in bud and not bonkersly tall. They will mature to full height but at the moment are perfect for sale. I wish I knew what I've done right to achieve this!
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting plenty of flower buds, full of promise and dainty colours. In case you hadn't noticed summer is here, cue Crocosmia in bud. Loads showing now, looking great, don't miss out. Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, budding up well with more to come. The violet variety looks great. We are still desperately fighting off the pigeons who are attempting to munch through some of our scented Phlox Sweet Summer crop, they are looking great with buds and the odd open flower on a lovely range of colours.
The pretty white Erodium are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. The hot and summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong as we move onto another fresh batch with buds bursting and colour showing. Viola's are again showing well, with colour and bud. Another fresh batch. Keeping the batches small and regular is the key.
A few of the Asters are beginning to show signs of flowering. Fantastic plants of the mildew resistant Asmo are throwing up plenty of bud, compact and chunky, producing pale Lilac flowers very soon. One of the earliest and most popular varieties is Flora's Delight which are budding and showing a bit of colour already,
Among the new varieties this summer are a new compact selection of Calamintha. Both are carrying masses of buds on very bushy plants with a few flowers opening although only a few left. Eucomis are just beginning to throw up their creamy yellow flower stalks. We have four long flowering Helianthemum this summer (pink, yellow and white) most carrying plenty of bud and a few open flowers other than The Bride which looks fab with its silver/grey foliage but not showing bud just yet.
We are also trying out another couple of short new Achillea varieties, Milly Red and Milly Rose, both are looking great, short and strong with bud and some colour showing. We also have fresh short batches of the Achillea Dessert Eve varieties too Still a few garden pinks left but not many. These Dianthus are all in bud, showing colour and smelling delicious.
Our last batch of hardy Fuchsia's are doing their thing, young and vigorous with loads of bud. More of the compact Monarda Balmy series are reaching that smart early bud stage, compact and tidy and so attractive to the bees and butterflies.

Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hot and Hairy

Morning all,

Scorchio. Hardly worth saying more, but I'll have a go.
We managed about a dozen drops of rain last week, just enough to produce that lovely new rain on hot ground scent but not enough to actually see the ground appear damp. The gardens are getting pretty desperate for some moisture and we are in need of some lower temperatures. The plants are fairing ok but we ourselves are wilting especially by the afternoon. I suppose we have become aclimatised to it to a degree after a few weeks, but it definitely dents productivity which is frustrating when there is so much to do out there.
Next year's crops are piling in as we try and clear up after the spring sales to make space for them and every week that slips by feels like a lost week if the young plants haven't been moved on to keep them growing. I feel we are slightly ahead of last year in the clearing up stakes but the potting definitely fell behind after that long cold start to the season and we have never quite caught that back up.
So just the time to add a bit more pressure to life with a couple of one off's. Months ago I 'volunteered' to host the ADHB Herbaceous growers group meeting, they seemed very interested in looking at the sustainability aspects of our production, learning about our nematode based vine weevil control, checking out the microprop lab and the wind turbines. It seemed like a nice idea at the time, we are bound to be all tidied up after the spring sales with the nursery looking spick and span and fresh crops all over the place. Of course it's not quite worked out that way, I was maybe a little over optimistic about the state of play on the nursery by mid July and although it doesn't look too bad in most areas there are a few bomb sites dotted about that might need some attention before the big day. Showing round a group of non-nursery folk is relatively easy, they are fairly easy to impress but taking 40 hardened (although generally jolly) growers around is much more daunting. It is much easier for them to recognise that we fly by the seat of our pants, making it up as we go along! I'm sure it will be fine, but the closer it gets the less sleep I manage, as I draw up the list of things to get done.
The perfect time we thought, to add an extra high pressure occasion into the beginning of the same week. So naturally we accepted an invitation from DEFRA to their Summer Reception in London to meet a load of people to talk about developing ways to cope with replacing single-use plastics. We are among a dozen of the 150 guests to be asked to put up a little exhibit of what we do, which in itself sounds great but getting hairy stuff and ourselves to the middle of London on a Monday afternoon is quite a challenge, especially when the other exhibitors are mostly big companies showing their wares (Iceland, H & M, Premier League, and the like), It'll be fine, we are going to everything up on the train to set up for the early evening meeting. A chance to meet the minister Michael Gove perhaps or just be enthusiastic about sustainability to one and all. We are such a tiny outfit that I can't help but feel a bit out of place at such an event, but let's see how it goes. We do get to go on a train which I haven't done for many years, I'm hoping to get a seat in the restaurant car for a silver service slap up tea on the way home!
Good football on telly. Might not feel this way tomorrow! Come on England!

Availability highlights
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting flower buds, full of promise and the odd open flower. In case you hadn't noticed summer is upon us, cue Crocosmia coming into bud. Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, budding up well. We are desperately fighting off the pigeons who are attempting to munch through some of our scented Phlox Sweet Summer crop, they are looking great with buds and the odd open flower on a lovely range of colours. The pretty white Erodium are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous.
The summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong as we move onto another fresh batch with buds bursting. Among the new varieties this summer are a new compact selection of Calamintha. Both are carrying masses of buds on very bushy plants with a few flowers opening. Eucomis are just beginning to throw up their creamy yellow flower stalks.We have four long flowering Helianthemum this summer (pink, yellow, white and cerise) most carrying plenty of bud and a few open flowers other than The Bride which looks fab with its silver/grey foliage but not showing bud just yet. We are dabbling in a few Gaura too. Another summer stunner, although limited numbers at the moment.
We are also trying out another couple of short new Achillea varieties, Milly Red and Milly Rose, both are looking great, short and strong with bud and colour showing. We also have fresh short batches of the Achillea Dessert Eve varieties too. The simple but delightful Armeria are still available with plenty of flower and bud showing. The garden pinks Dianthus are all in bud, showing colour and smelling delicious.Subtle cream flowers of the pretty Foam Flower (Tiarella) are showing nicely with plenty of bud to come.
Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.

Hairy Scary

Morning all, Phew.

This is hard work in this heat. I don't mind the odd warm but this is getting a bit much for me. Still can't do much about it, so on we go. Slightly scary that the dreaded hosepipe bans are already on the agenda in some areas but reassuring in some ways that it isn't a shortage of water in the reservoirs but a shortage in the pipes! Apparently there are problems pumping it fast enough to cope with the extra demand of a sustained increase in demand caused by a 'prolonged' heat wave. Sounds like problems with infrastructure investment to me, they can cope with anything average but push it a bit harder and it breaks. Too cold or too hot and cracks appear. Good job that the climate won't change and make this more likely in the future.
Purchased a new toy this week to try and beat off the pigeons that are eating some of our crops. It plays specific predator calls of pigeons and electronic versions of the flapping wings of panicking pigeons as they supposedly fly off (they have different sets of recordings for other problem species if needed). The chip in the device plays these in a random fashion through waterproof speakers and can be set to turn off as night falls. To start with we are supposed to play all the recordings at full volume very regularly, but after a couple of days it was driving us nuts with so much apparent quite loud predator activity. Luckily the very programmable design of the kit means that we have now restricted the range and repetition of the sounds so we hardly notice them but it still seems to be disturbing the pigeons. Now we have to wait and see for the eventual outcome as it can take several weeks of changing the calls and timing etc to shift them off site or at least away from the tunnels with the crops in. We'll see. The other birds don't seem to be too bothered by it, just hoping the pigeons don't catch on to the trick. Must go and finish watering in the potting and tidy out the barn for Mondays arrival of the next container of coir pots. Possible thunder showers this evening so looking forward to getting damped down a bit.

Availability highlights
In case you hadn't noticed summer is upon us, cue Crocosmia coming into bud. The tall early Lucifer have already all gone but the others are following on nicely. The red Emberglow and golden George Davidson are both showing their first buds, still a couple of weeks from showing colour yet but ready to roll. The other two remaining varieties the two tone Babylon and orange Carmine Brilliant will only be a week of two behind.
Fresh batches of ever popular Salvia are back on line, budding up well in a range of varieties. The pretty white Erodium are in bud and showing a few open flowers, neat and floriferous. The summery Salvia Hot lips are still going strong as we move onto another fresh batch with buds bursting. Among the new varieties this summer are a new compact selection of Calamintha. Both are carrying masses of buds on very bushy plants with a few flowers opening now. A subtle blue variety and a pure white are available in limited numbers so don't miss out. We are desperately fighting off the pigeons who are attempting to munch through some of our scented Phlox Sweet Summer crop, so there are several varieties looking good with buds quickly appearing. We are into a nice batch of Catananche which are sending up their flower stems. The papery blue flowers are a delight, one of my favourites.
We have four long flowering Helianthemum this summer (pink, yellow, white and cerise) most carrying plenty of bud and a few open flowers other than The Bride which looks fab with its silver/grey foliage but not showing bud just yet. We are dabbling in a few Gaura too. Another summer stunner, but limited numbers at the moment as we try and select the best varieties. We are also trying out another couple of short new Achillea varieties, Milly Red and Milly Rose, both are looking great, short and strong with bud and colour showing. We also have fresh short batches of the Achillea Dessert Eve varieties too. On the theme of striking foliage, Tradescantia Blue and Gold is doing its thing. Blue flowers are opening among the bright yellow strappy leaves. Very sunny. The simple but delightful Armeria are still available with plenty of flower and bud showing. The garden pinks Dianthus are all in bud, showing colour and smelling delicious.
The massively popular Erigeron karvinskianus Stallone is sprouting flower buds, full of promise and the odd open flower. Subtle cream flowers of the pretty Foam Flower (Tiarella) are showing nicely with plenty of bud to come. The pretty compact pale yellow Leucanthemum Banana Creme are holding swelling buds. Have a good week from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries.