 |
| East and West Cairn from the West side |
It is beginning to feel like we've bypassed Spring and gone straight to summer. Warm temperatures, sun, fewer layers of clothes, it's been lovely. I should have known it wouldn't last ...... it's chilly again. Also customers are not buying spring bulbs and bedding and have gone straight onto everything else. This seems to be a wide spread trend across the trade. So fruit trees and plants, perennials, water plants and shrubs it is. Plants have definitely been slower this year to come into growth so it's lovely to now come into the nursery every morning and see more plants poking through the soil and bark with so many colours and shapes of foliage, it's looking good even before the flowers appear.
 |
| Water plants and marginals have arrived |
 |
Acorus, great as a marginal plant around ponds
or for damp soil |
 |
Caltha palustris 'Alba' like a wet soil and is even
happy with wet feet every so often |
Now that plants are really starting to grow there's lots of work tidying, labelling and moving batches of them into the sales area, it's now looking full with plenty choice for our customers, no matter what kind of gardener they are. The past two weeks in the nursery have mainly involved potting, propagating, tidying the stock beds and sorting out the tunnel where I'm tidying, weeding and propagating alpines. There is also a lot of moving batches of last years propagation out of the tunnel and into the nursery now the temperature is rising. This gives me space for more propagation and to pot up seedlings and cuttings as they are ready. The plants moved out of the tunnel are sitting waiting their turn to be potted and go in the stock beds, which I am working through tidying, top dressing and labelling most days, it's all go! We have lots of new plants coming out the tunnel which will be ready for sale in a month or two, keep an eye on the plant lists on the website for new additions.
 |
| A full nursery with blue sky! |
The weekend before last we had a weekend of fab weather which really brought people out. My car windscreen got replaced ok and the nursery was busy with customers all day. Great to see some of our regulars and lots of new customers too, lots of chat and admiration for the nursery and gardens. Kelly and I got lots of work done too including weeding and re-doing the bug hotel roof and replacing it with sedums and semperviviums. On a Thursday Elaine has been busy helping with potting in the tunnel and weeding the sales area. It's that mad time when as soon as you weed and turn your back the seedlings are making another appearance.
 |
| Love that blue and yellow combination |
 |
| Blue skies make all the difference in so many ways |
At home my plants are really coming into their own with so much colourful foliage and the spring flowers making lovely splashes of colour. I've been moving plants out the cold greenhouse onto the patio for summer and got my Primula auricula collection top dressed and fed and outdoors for summer. It's amazing what you can get done in half an hour first thing in the morning while waiting for David to get up for breakfast.
 |
Anemone 'White Splendour', Anemone x lipsiensis, Anemone trulifolia
and Anemone nemerosa 'Allenii |
 |
Caltha palustris, Scilla sibirica 'Bright Blue', Cardamine pentaphyllum
and Cardamine heptaphylla |
 |
| Narcissus 'Mounthood', Narcissus 'February Gold', Narcissus 'Jenny' and Narcissus 'Delibes' |
 |
| The big greenhouse never seems to get any emptier, hmmmmm |
 |
| When all your magazine subscriptions arrive on the same day! Just need the time to read them |
Not last Tuesday but the one before, Granny and I had a day out over in Culross. It was a lovely day for a run in the car and she enjoyed seeing places she used to visit with family. We had a great lunch in Bessie's cafe next to Culross Palace then a walk along the river with Bracken, who enjoyed a walk somewhere new. Back to Linlithgow via Kincardine Bridge and a coffee before I headed home over the Bathgate hills in the sun with some music on loud of course.
 |
| Who's taking who for a walk? |
 |
| Culross Palace, love that colour |
 |
| Brooding skies over the RIver Forth |
 |
| Old pilings in the marshes, Culross |
Another week at the nursery and more of the same tasks as I mentioned at the beginning of this post. On Saturday David and I cleaned out the fish pond in the herb garden which was an entertaining hour or so of David getting wet and the fish getting fished out into a large bucket and back again once all the rubbish and leaves were removed from the bottom of the pond. They coped well with it and are swimming around quite happily and we can see them again. Kelly did an excellent job of weeding the whole herb garden.
 |
| Scilla sibirica in the scented garden |
The narrow beds in the stock beds are filling up with lots of colourful foliage, great ideas for small border or small gardens.
Did you know it's national gardening week this week? Not that we need much excuse to garden. With the temperatures improving and plants really starting to grow, its a great time to be out in your garden, planting and enjoying fresh air, bird song and all the new growth on plants. Why not come along to Quercus and choose some new plants to fill in the gaps in your borders. From old favourites to unusual plants, perennials, grasses, trees, shrubs, fruit, shade plants and water plants there is something for everyone. Check out the link below for national events around the country
 |
Up the garden path ........ through the scented garden
into the herb garden |
 |
| Euphorbia griffithii - Making a blazing entrance with it's eye-catching, fiery stems that retain their glory long after the narrow, red-tinged leaves have fallen. This plant shouts ‘Look at me!’ and is perfect for a ‘hot’ border. It also goes a striking orange and red in autumn before the leaves fall. It is what I call an enthusiastic plant, needing plenty space where it can run free! Well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade. H 90cm, S 200cm. |
One swallow doesn't make a summer but it means they are back and summer is on its way, they appeared back in the nursery on the last day of April this year
 |
Narcissus 'Jenny' looking fab in the nursery this week against
that beautiful blue sky. The nursery is really coming to life now
with lots of spring bulbs in flower and all the fresh new
growth emerging from the soil |
 |
Some of my Primula auricula collection in flower this week. Primula auricula 'Blue Velvet', 'Lemon Sherbert', Primula auricula, 'Callender Park', 'Chaffinch', 'Kisum Krushna', 'Dales Red', 'Sunray', 'Joel'
|
 |
| A big old moon in a clear sky |
Tuesday and our day off but no long lie as we headed to the gliding club so David could get a safety check flight so he can go gliding again. After walking Bracken I retreated to the club house to keep warm with a coffee while David waited his turn on the flying list. Unfortunately the list was long and it was taking hours so we gave up and went off for lunch at Loch Leven Larder. Great food and service with views over Loch Leven. Then we took Bracken for a walk around the loch at Lochore. It ws very windy, cold and choppy on the water. Brrrrrrrrrrrr. Hme for a warming chicken and sausage cassoulet and chilling on the sofa before we start all over again.
 |
| Willow |
 |
| Sloe blossom at Lochore |
 |
| Lochore |
 |
| Cherry blossom, Lochore |
Hope you've not been too bored with my two week catch up, it's a madly manic time in the nursery and if you're a gardener you'll know just how much needs done. I hope you are getting garden friendly weather and enjoying getting out and about.
If you want to find out what's been happening in our garden at home like our Facebook page
If you to see whats new and looking good at the nursery like our Facebook page
You can now sign up for our monthly newsletter on the facebook page or by emailing us to be added to our mailing list
All contents and photographs © Rona, unauthorised reproduction & use of these images is strictly forbidden, thank you
Comments
Post a Comment