Flowers, Plant Sales and Glorious sunshine

As the sunsets on another day I really must finish this blog, I've been so tired and busy this week everything is getting done days behind, hey ho. As for last week it was a bit like this ........

Wednesday back to work and in the end a very productive day, I really felt I achieved things today instead of chasing my tail! I spent a couple of hours in the tunnel weeding pots and removing the weeds growing along the edges, potted some plants and watered. After a coffee and some admin I persevered and got the last of the stock beds weeded (not including shade, still got that to do) which meant I could do some watering as the dry weather and wind is really drying pots out. After lunch I headed down to the native garden to weed it, it's got quite bad in the last week with the existing weed roots still persevering from the original grass land, I wish the plants grew as quick as the weeds do! Most of the weeds are perennial coming up from where I removed the grass and dug it over. It's almost impossible to remove every piece of colts foot, creeping thistle and couch grass roots, so it's a case of removing each piece as it comes up and eventually over time it will reduce. Hard work and patience are the back bone of gardening a lot of the time. I spent the last hour potting up plants from the tunnel and labelling plants for the sales area.

Geum 'Leonard's Variety' in the nursery

I got a bit of time in the garden at home in the evening, watering the greenhouses and removing flowers from the Pelargonium cuttings. Dan dug over the corner bed and then we planted some annuals to brighten it up through summer.

My two helpers in the garden

Thursday was a driech, chilly, drizzly, wet, windy day so a chance to catch up on potting and paper work. I did an hour or so in the tunnel before returning to the nursery and working through grasses, re potting them and potting up seedlings that can go straight out into the stock beds. Friday was more of the same. Most days are made up of watering, potting, weeding borders and stock beds. There are trays and trays of seedlings in the tunnel getting potted up and plants ready to come over to the stock beds from the tunnel. Its all go. At the end of Friday I loaded up the car ready for Saturday's plant fair in Peebles.

Ready for the plant fair in Peebles last Saturday

I was asked several months ago if I would take a table at the Plant Fair in Peebles in aid of Macmillan cancer support. I of course said yes as it's a great cause to raise money for and I could do some marketing in one of our local towns. If we sold anything that would be a bonus. The sun was shining as Dan and I set off to Peebles with a car load of plants and bits n pieces to sell. We emptied the car and I left Dan to start setting up while I parked the car. There were tables loaded with plants put together by the organisers, cake and tumbola tables. As soon as the doors opened it was busy and we chatted to lots of people about where we were and what we were doing at the nursery and handed out leaflets. We also sold over half the plants we took, so it was a great morning out. It was also a successful day back in the nursery, so home on a high.

our stand at the Peebles Plant Fair

Peebles in the sun

Back to the nursery on Sunday and the weather was warm and sunny, lovely to be in short sleeves and not lots of layers. I stocked up the sales area and watered, weeded and dug over another bit of the border at the side of the drive, though it was probably a bit warm for digging. Monday was more of the same, with lots of watering as it's so hot and sunny.

Bay trees on the herb table

Below are some photos from the house garden

Oxalis minutifolia

Osmunda regalis 'Purpurascens'

Geranium x monacense 'Claudine Dupont'

Anemone trulifolia

Brunnera macrophylla 'Langtrees'

Adiantum aleuticum 'Imbricatum'

Our day off, yeh! Much needed as we are both so busy and the weather was stunning too. We decided we didn't want to go far this week so after brunch outside (yes indeed it was warm enough) which included home made bread and scrambled eggs from our chooks we headed towards Peebles.

Brunch in the sun

At Lyne Station we turned off towards the kirk there and parked up to go and look at the Roman fort. But first we had a look at the tiny church and kirk yard where there is a rare Adam annd Eve gravestone, restored and now encased in a perspex box to preserve it. You can read about it here. Inside the wee kirk it was tranquil with the sun flooding through the small leaded windows. After a look around for signs of bats (which there were) we headed up the hill towards the roman fort.

A time for tranquil reflection, Lyne Kirk

Sunlight flooding in

The tiny Lyne Kirk

On the way to the roman fort is a small hill covered in Scots pines, once over the style and a short walk to the top are the remans of some cist burials which you can read about here. Aligned east to west and small meaning they were for children, these burial sites are all that remain of a larger site, partially damaged due to quarrying before anyone realised what was there.

Cist burials at Abbey know

From here it was a short walk across the field to the Roman fort. Barely distinguishable in the field now from the East where we approached. As you walk over to the west side the ramparts become much more obvious and you can see exactly why the Romans built a fort here. They had views in both directions up and down the valley and over the hills to north and south and could control any traffic going past through the narrow part of the valley next to the river.

Bracken watching for invaders at the Roman fort

After the Roman fort we drove a couple of miles to Dawyck Botanic Gardens. We are so lucky to have this lovely garden so close to us. You can read about our previous visits here and here. It was lovely to wander around in the sun enjoying the Rhododendrons and Azaleas in full on colour and the Meconopsis in that glorious blue that matched the sky. It was worth the effort to walk to the top and back through the woodland where the greens of the dappled shade under the trees was a salve on the soul. We came back to the cafe for coffee and cake, sitting out on the patio soaking up the sun and enjoying a very relaxing day off.

I'll leave you with a selection of photos from Dawyck, I hope you are enjoying the glorious weather we are having and have  a good week, catch you later.

Matteucua, Trollius and Bluebells, Dawyck

Rhododendron 'Lemonara', Dawyck

Meconopsis in the sunlight

There were carpest of blue bells of pink and blues, beautiful

More Mecs

Malus blossom against the blue sky

Delicate Rhododedrons

Mother Natures cathedrals

Beautiful dappled shade

Azaleas and Dawyck House

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