Tuesday 27 May 2014

Kirton Birthday Spinach Treat

Good morning all.

Slightly over ‘a drop of rain’ this week, but today has not been as damp as forecast so hopefully the sales won’t be hit too hard over the last of the spring bank holidays. Might have a beer tonight as it’s a holiday.

Too many flowers to talk about to mention the toiling of this week. In summary very busy, bit tired, but looking forward to finding a present for Caroline’s birthday next week. Might need something good to make up for the lack of 30th anniversary frivolities. Luckily some friends have organised an evening out in a Winchester pub to see a local singer, so that’s the social side sorted, just need something more exotic than the bag of spinach I got one year (it was organic).

Availability

Strong, short, fresh stock of Digitalis Dalmation are just starting on flower production, ideal just now.

Echinacea varieties already producing a few buds, but not a lot left as the popularity of these plants has mushroomed.

New Leucanthemum varieties to us (Lacrosse and Banana Creme) are showing their first signs of flowering, as are the pale yellow Broadway Lights and white Snowcap. There are just a few of the taller classic white May Queen left in colour.

Achilleas are just showing their first buds, including the new delightful compact Desert Eve series of which the pale yellow is now showing good colour.

The more traditional style Dianthus, the garden pinks, are also producing bud, the new ‘Scent First’ (SF) series are compact and as the name suggests fantastically scented with some lovely colour combinations. By far the most popular variety last week was ‘Slap and Tickle’, way above ‘Romance’ and ‘Coconut Sundae’. Is there a message there?

Catananche are coming into bud now, their delightful papery blue flowers just a moment away. We have a few of the white form as well this year which is also in bud.

Liatris spicata are stonking plants with potential for numerous flower spikes, the first of which are appearing. Astilbe varieties are now in bud and looking fresh and vigorous.

A good show of fresh flowers on the Primula vialli, looking very exotic, for a primula! Only a few left, don’t miss out.

Early flower and loads of bud on all of the bushy Salvia varieties this week. The short ‘Deep Rose’ looks almost luminous. The dark stemmed Caradonna variety is very dramatic and becoming increasingly popular with garden designers. Coreopsis Sunfire has plenty of bud nestling in its fresh green foliage, with Sunray and Corey Yellow close behind.

The Dianthus deltoids varieties have their flowers opening, tiny little things but really eye catching, especially the red varieties of Flashing Light and Brilliancy.

The more unusual Oxalis triangularis are up and displaying their vibrant purple foliage with the first pink flower buds appearing.

Another unusual plant is Limonium (Sea Lavender) which, for the first time for us, is throwing up strong flower shoots above its rosettes of flat leaves.

Strong and dramatic are the flower spikes of the Thalictrum diptocarpum, an impressive show of early summer vigour. The classic Alchemilla mollis are showing their first flower shoots of subtle yellow.

Still plenty of buds and the odd open flower appearing on the Centaurea dealbata, stonking plants ready to roll.

Erigeron Azure Beauty and Pink Jewel have their first buds appearing. The Sea Breeze varieties are poised too, looking verdant.

New batches of fresh bushy Lupins are looking fabulous. If you would rather have the strong older stock which is in bud just let us know.

Geraniums are showing colour, Brookside with flowers open and bud and colour on the G. cant. Karmina (very dark pink).

The stunning clear pink flowers of Geranium sang. Striatum are just beginning to open together with the purple sanguinium and the striking white form.

Campanula glomerata varieties are showing plenty of bud and early colour but only a few left. Fresh bushy Delphs and Hollyhocks (Alcea) raring to go but won’t hang around long.

Fabulous, good looking, very strong and popular non-flowering plants at the moment include, Verbena bonariensis Lollipop, Sedum, Rudbeckia and Phlox varieties, don’t miss out.

Edibles

Meanwhile the strawberries are beginning to do their summer thing, first flowers now and fruit on the horizon. We are having a play with a couple of new strawberry lines to us, Toscana and Roman, both with strongly coloured red/pink flowers and long flowering and fruiting seasons. They are just starting to flower now and look great even without the tempting fruit.



Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Tuesday 20 May 2014

Morning all

Summer has arrived with some great weather down here this weekend. Quite glad that a drop of rain might pitch up next week just to freshen up the gardens again for plant sales to keep up their momentum.
Not much room to impart too many ramblings this week due to the large amount of fab looking stuff to bring to everyone’s attention. We had a new sample batch of pots in this week with strengthened rims which looked great, it will take a while to work through the system but it’s another tweek in the right direction to make life a bit easier for all. Another development that might come off in another area is a new label design which took several steps forward this week with negotiations and desig n advances from some unlikely sources including a specialist catering skewer supplier. It’s always a bit of a challenge when trying to overcome problems that others haven’t yet had to face, but I suppose that’s a price we pay for being a bit different,and it does allow my Blue Peter spirit to shine. Hopefully we might have something to show at the National Plant Show in late June in the way of some mock ups etc. Watch this space.
Concerts seem to be flavour of the month, another two this week, King King on Thursday, a brilliant young and very loud blues band and the sensational boogie-woogie Ben Waters Band last night. Ears and feet suffering this week.

Availability

Achilleas are just showing their first buds, including the new delightful compact Desert Eve series. Catananche are coming into bud now, their delightful papery blue flowers just a moment away. Astilbe varieties are now in bud and looking fresh and vigorous.
A good show of fresh flowers on the Primula vialli, looking very exotic, for a primula!
Early flower and loads of bud on all of the bushy Salvia varieties this week. The dark stemmed Caradonna variety very dramatic and becoming increasingly popular with garden designers. Coreopsis Sunfire has plenty of bud nestling in its fresh green foliage.
The Dianthus deltoids varieties have their first flowers opening, tiny little things but really eye catching, especially the red varieties of Flashing Light and Brilliancy.
The more traditional style Dianthus, the garden pinks, are also producing bud, the new ‘Scent First’ (SF) series are compact and as the name suggests fantastically scented with some lovely colour combinations.
The more unusual Oxalis triangularis are up and displaying their vibrant purple foliage with the first pink flower buds appearing.
Another unusual plant is Limonium (Sea Lavender) which, for the first time for us, is throwing up strong flower shoots above its rosettes of flat leaves.
Strong and dramatic are the flower spikes of the Thalictrum diptocarpum, an impressive show of early summer vigour. The classic Alchemilla mollis are showing their first flower shoots of subtle yellow.
Plenty of buds and the odd open flower appearing on the Centaurea dealbata, stonking plants ready to roll.
Erigeron Azure Beauty and Pink Jewel have their first buds appearing. The Sea Breeze varieties are poised too, looking verdant.
New batches of fresh bushy Lupins are looking fabulous. If you would rather have the strong older stock which is in bud just let us know.
Geraniums are showing colour, Brookside with flowers opening and bud and colour on the G. cant. Karmina (very dark pink).
The stunning clear pink flowers of Geranium sang. Striatum are just beginning to open together with the purple sanguinium and the stunning white form.
Campanula glomerata varieties are showing plenty of bud and early colour.
Fresh bushy Delphs and Hollyhocks (Alcea) raring to go but won’t hang around long.
Fabulous, good looking, very strong and popular non-flowering plants at the moment include, Verbena bonariensis Lollipop, Sedum, Rudbeckia and Phlox varieties, don’t miss out.
Purple foliage of Lychnis Firecracker, Heuhera Palace Purple and Ligularia Desdemona are impressive and striking pot full’s.

Edibles
The herbs continue to excite with a good range and the promise of the summer lines (mostly Basil’s) just around the corner.
Meanwhile the strawberries are beginning to do their summer thing, first flowers now and fruit on the horizon. We are having a play with a couple of new strawberry lines to us, Toscana and Roman, both with strongly coloured red/pink flowers and long flowering and fruiting seasons. They are just starting to flower now and look great even without the tempting fruit.

Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries

Monday 12 May 2014

Good morning all.

Another load of stuff crammed into a four day week. Deliveries flying out left right and centre and just about got round everywhere, another week under our belts. Looking forward to getting back that extra day in the coming week, we miss everyone on those ‘holiday’ days, the two of us struggle to get as much done on those days. Having the place to ourselves for a three day weekend is a nice change and a change is as good as a rest they say.

Having a better run of weather this spring has lifted confidence and spirits no end and suddenly we are thinking of the next batch of tweeks we can make to improve further the whole hairy pot deal. We have been following up some pot design improvements, which is a constant ongoing process. Over the years we have made the pots thinner and softer (less latex) to help out with quicker stronger plant and root establishment for the end consumer, but this has slightly compromised the life expectancy of the pot rim which tends to break apart first, creating a weaker feeling pot edge. The pots are all individually handmade so tend to vary a bit anyway but it looks like the idea of rim strengthening has been picked up by the Sri Lankan ladies who make them and we should see a gradual change in the pot rims over the next year. Unfortunately the time scale is quite long due to a combination of production time, batch sizes and existing stock clearance. They are still fab now, but will be even better later!

The coir pots can sometimes be a challenge to insert labels into due to their hairy nature, the labels don’t just slide down the inside wall or stick on as they would with a plastic pot. When the root -balls are established label reinsertion by customers can be tricky especially as plastic label design seems to have reduced the strength and length of the tongue. We are currently taking a look at having a bespoke set of labels made where we may be able to combine them with our stronger wooden label to help insertion and staying power. There are a number of other possible benefits which could come with this development, variety specific barcodes, QR codes, using more sustainable label materials and getting more hairy pot info onto the label, which could all help improve service and reduce some of our own printing demands. The balancing challenge may be the labour needed to combine the wooden and plastic components, I was wondering what to do on those long winter evenings. Still early days, watch this space.

King Somborne village hall was the venue for a blistering gig by a young reggae band from Leicester, By the Rivers. Sore feet and ears this morning, but well worth it. Off to my first Southampton game of the year later, last game of the season against Manchester United so hope to see some goals and maybe Ryan Giggs play his last game. It’s all go.

Availability

Achilleas are just showing their first buds, including the new delightful compact Desert Eve series. Stunning flowers on the Primula japonica Millers Crimson and a good show on the Primula vialli too. Early buds are plentiful on most of the bushy Salvia varieties this week.

Astilbe varieties are now in bud and looking fresh and vigorous.

Plenty of buds appearing on the Centaurea dealbata, stonking plants ready to roll.

Erigeron Azure Beauty and Pink Jewel have their first buds appearing. The Sea Breeze varieties are poised too, looking verdant.

Fresh and chunky Papaver Garden Gnome are showing plenty of bud, but there is limited stock and only a few left. Veronica gentianoides has loads of flower shoots appearing, displaying their delightful pale blue flowers.

Trollius Golden Queen is a late emerger but rushes up to bud once it is up, and here they are.

Lots Geraniums are showing bud and first colour, Brookside with the first flowers opening and lots of bud and flower colour on the cant. Cambridge (deep pink), Biovoka (near white) and Karmina (very dark pink). The clear pink flowers of sang. Striatum are just beginning to open together with the purple sanguinium, the stunning white form has a few buds appearing too. Campanula glomerata varieties are showing plenty of bud and some early colour.

New batches of short fresh bushy Lupins are looking fabulous. If you would rather have the strong older stock which is in bud just let us know. Fresh short bushy Delphs and Hollyhocks (Alcea) raring to go but won’t hang around long.

The first of the Salvias are throwing up their first flower stems and buds, with the promise of lots more to come.

Fabulous, good looking, very strong and popular non-flowering plants at the moment include, Alchemilla, Sedum, Rudbeckia and Echinacea varieties, don’t miss out.

Purple foliage of Lychnis Firecracker, Heuhera Palace Purple and Ligularia Desdemona are impressive and striking pot full’s.

Nature ramblings

More House Martins have pitched up, phew. Fattening tadpoles in the ponds and lots of newts out on the nursery. Springtime.

Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries


Tuesday 6 May 2014

Kirton Looking Sharp

Good morning all.

Looks like a reasonable holiday weekend weather-wise. Let’s hope that plant buying doesn’t waiver just yet, we still have a nursery full of lovely stuff to ship out over the next few months! I can’t believe it is May already, where does all the time go? Summer is well on the way, I spotted my first swift of the season gliding about over Stockbridge High Street as I waited to pick up a curry, another high culture night out for me.
As ever it’s monster busy , too much to do and not enough hours in the day or days in the week. Getting the orders out is always the priority as we never know what’s coming in from week to week or even day to day, it’s always a bit of a juggle as we respond to customer demands. I always have grand plans of all the jobs we are going to get done in the coming week but it rarely goes to plan as the day to day readjustments happen. It can be frustrating if you let it, but to be honest we are just grateful at the moment for some steady sales in the good weather, we can adjust other stuff as we go. Nothing is ever going to go perfectly when we are so in the hands of what nature and plant buyers are going to throw at us.
A lot has been happening this week on top of the workload, with a couple of funerals, a staff member moving on and our 30th wedding anniversary. A time for a bit of reflection, but of looking forward too, lots of stuff still to improve on and get ex cited about. Caroline took revenge on the lack of anniversary surprises by giving me a rather sharp haircut on Tuesday evening. She says she ‘misread’ the clipper comb, I normally have a grade 3 (9.5mm), tidied up with a grade 2 around the edges but she ‘misread’ the 3mm (grade 1) for grade 3 before leaping in with a long run up the back of my head. ‘Oh, that’s a bit short’ and after a second go, ‘yes, something’s not quite right’. Mistake identified, there was no going back and I now only have to buff my head in the morning. Still at my age I’m lucky to have enough to cut, there was a definite shortage in the audience at the excellent Robert Cray concert we went to on Friday.

Availability
Stunning flowers on the Primula japonica Millers Crimson and a good show on the Primula vialli too.
Early buds are plentiful on most of the bushy Salvia varieties this week. Astilbe varieties are now in bud and looking fresh and vigorous.
Buds are appearing on the Centaurea dealbata, stonking plants ready to roll. Erigeron Azure Beauty has its first purple buds appearing on strong plants.
Fresh and chunky Papaver Garden Gnome are showing plenty of bud, but there is limited stock.
Veronica gentianoides has loads of flower shoots appearing, beginning to display their delightful pale blue flowers. Almost impossible to photograph as the flowers always look white in the picture, missing out on the subtle beauty of the real thing. Trollius Golden Queen is a late emerger but rushes up to bud once it is up, and here they are.
Lots Geraniums are showing bud and first colour, Brookside with the first flowers opening and lots of bud and flower colour on
the cant. Cambridge (deep pink), Biovoka (near white) and Karmina (very dark pink) . The clear pink flowers of sang. Striatum are just beginning to open together with the purple sanguinium, the stunning white form will be a week or two later. Campanula glomerata varieties are showing plenty of bud and some early colour.
New batches of short fresh bushy Lupins are looking fabulous. If you would rather have the strong older stock which is in bud just let us know.
Fresh short bushy Delphs raring to go but won’t hang around long.
The first of the Salvias are throwing up their first flower stems and buds, with the promise of lots more to come.
White Armeria maritima have plenty of buds and the odd dab of colour, always a popular neat pot full, but only a few left. Fabulous, good looking, very strong and very popular non-flowering plants at the moment include, Alchemilla, Sedum, Rudbeckia and Echinacea varieties, don’t miss out.
Purple foliage colour of Lychnis Firecracker and Ligularia Desdemona are both impressive and striking pot full’s.

Nature rambling
Robins have hatched. Still only 4 House Martins so far, a bit disappointing after seeing 40 or 50 leave in the autumn.

Have a good one, from all at Kirton Farm Nurseries