Running behind with blogging as the busy mad season in the nursery begins. But I will try my best to keep up. I have to admit there wasn't a lot of motivation last Wednesday after Tuesday's very limited and disappointing covid announcement. At this point it looks like we wont' be open until the end of April, keeping everything crossed this will change.
It was raining and very windy when I arrived at the nursery on Wednesday morning. I spent an hour in the polytunnel tidying up alpines and propagating some of them to bulk up stock. I headed back to the nursery when the rain stopped. The main job of the day was to tidy the Scottish native borders, not a big job but looks so much better. The bug hotel got a top dressing of compost too.
Winter interest in this garden - Polypodium vulgare, Geranium robertianum, Viola riviniana, Galium vernum, Geranium sanguineum, Primula vulgaris, Prunella vulgaris, Anthyllis vulneraria, Cardamine pratensis, Rosa canina, Rosa spinosissima (Burnet Rose)
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| Betula pendula |
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| The scottish native plant border before |
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| and after |
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| winter interest in this border |
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| The bug hotel |
Useful plants from the garden - Echinacea pallida
One of my favourite Echincea with its thin drooping pink petals falling away from the large central cone. Now quite rare it loves a hot sunny situation and rich soil where it will add interest to the flower border from early summer to July. The flowers are great for cutting, the nectar loved by butterflies and seeds eaten by finches, so well worth growing. H 90cm, S 30cm.
Plants from the Echinacea genus were probably the most used North American Indian herbal remedies. The whole plant is considered beneficial for the treatment of sores, wounds, burns, bruising, etc, possessing cortisone-like and antibacterial properties. The North American Indians also used it to treat bites, stings and an infusion was used for snake bites.
There are nine commonly recognized species of Echinacea, three of which are ingredients in herbal remedies: E. angustifolia, E. pallida and E. purpurea. It is possible that the various species may have different health benefits.
In the cold season Echinacea is used in the prevention and treatment of the common cold, usually in capsule form. Echinacea has practically no relevance for the preparation of teas as most of its constituents are lost on drying.The nonspecific stimulation of the immune system supports and enhances the natural defenses giving the body greater power to ward off different types of pathogens such as viruses and bacteria.
“The scientific name of the pale-purple coneflower comes from the Greek echinos = hedgehog, and appropriately describes the spiny appearance of the flowerhead. At the end of the 19th century, white settlers in North America discovered the importance of the pale-purple coneflower, which had long been used by the Indians as medicinal plant. The homeopath Dr. Meyer watched an Indian woman crush an echinacea plant between stones. She also showed him how he could treat wounds and injuries with the fresh plant pulp. Around 1870 he put the world's first echinacea preparation on the market in the mid-west of the USA under the name Meyer's Blood Purifier. Initially he did not even know the name of the medicinal plant which was so successful in the treatment of numerous complaints. He later had it identified by Lloyd Brothers in Cincinnati, the largest suppliers of herbal drugs in North America at that time. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century there was such a boom in the sale of echinacea that it became the most frequently sold herbal drug in the USA”.
Finding creative ways to display plants is always fun, especially using bits n bobs I have lying around. A few vintage terracotta pots and an old wooden wine box, a couple of sticks, some moss and some snow drops. A creative way to spend a rainy half hour. Dolly tub for our watering can feature sourced from Junkshopantiques
just across the car park.
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| Potting up the snowdrops |
A big one on Thursday – the wildlife garden was next for a tidy – all those willow leaves 
Leaves lifted, plants cut back and the leaf net taken off the pond, the bottle edge brushed clean and the path raked. A whole day to do this garden but the highlight was lifting some leaves and finding some winter aconites in flower, these provide vital food for early insects 
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| Winter interest plants in the Wildlife garden |
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| Winter aconites |
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| The end of a busy day |
Mothers Day is coming up and we can post out vouchers which you can buy on our website and postage is free. Also any of the items in our wee shop can be bought by click and collect. Have a look at the shop page on our website, email me what you would like and we will get payment and collection details sorted out.
Bit of a frost when I arrived at the nursery on Friday morning, but the blue sky and sun soon chased it away. It was lovely to see the blue sky and feel a bit of warmth in the sun. I was back down in the lower terrace tidying the last of the gardens down there, the Cornucopia Garden. Again lots of willow leaves to lift and some cutting back. The two main borders in here are replicas of two of my favourite borders in my last garden. Designed to have interest all year round, with a couple of feature trees, shrubs for mid height interest, stem and autumn colour then lots of ground cover with interesting leaf shape and colour, especially through winter. Bulbs provide colour in spring, then the Rhododendrons and Azaleas take over followed by autumn colour by Euonymus alata Compacta and the deciduous Azaleas. I’d like to say I had an assistant today but I think he was more of an overseer, as long as he could sit in the sun at the same time!
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| Asplenium scolopendrium 'Crostata' |
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| Bracken enjoying the sun |
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| Before tidying |
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| I think he's in the huff |
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Cornucopia
garden winter interest - Polystichium aculiatum, Bergenia 'David', Asplenium
scolopendrium 'Crostata', Rhododendron 'Snow Lady', Polystichium setiferum
'Plumosum Densum', Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum', Cyclamen hederifolium, Abies
koreana |
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Cornucopia
garden winter interest – Leucanthemum, Euphorbia amygdaloides 'Purpurea', Origanum
vulgare 'Aurea', Ilex x meserveae 'Blue
Prince', Bergenia 'Bressingham White', Tellima grandiflora Rubra Group, Polypodium
x mantoniae 'Bifidograndiceps', Cyclamen hederifolium silver leaved |
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| Euphorbia amygdaloides 'Purpurea' |
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| Polypodium x mantoniae 'Bifidograndiceps' |
The plan wasn’t to start a new garden so early in the season, but we need to rebuild the compost bins this year and its at the point where its nearest to being empty so David can start constructing the new ones. But first we need to use up the compost that is ready. So on Saturday we got our barrowing muscles flexed
and between us took over 50 barrows of compost and walked over 6 miles over the day down to what will be the winter garden (thank goodnesss it was downhill!) Now I just need to get some ground cover fabric and bark on the path. I’ve been planting the trees and shrubs over the past two years in this garden so they are becoming well established. I went for a no dig approach again and have been saving up cardboard for a year for this garden, we now have space in the office again! I will gradually underplant when I have time, but its great to see this area finally taking shape and David has no excuse not to get on with the compost bins. As you can see we were well supervised by the sunbathing nursery dog 
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| Me and my helper! |
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I saw my first newt of the year today, enjoying some sun in the shallows of the wildlife pond  |
We all need some cheering up at the moment.
To feel that spring is on its way and winter will soon be behind us.
To feel that the time when we can go out and about, meet with family and friends and start to reclaim our lives might be getting closer.
That businesses might be able to open back up and trade and start to recover from the stress and financial impact the last year has brought.
These things will take a little time yet but in the mean time I put together this wee corner in the sales are to cheer me up every morning when I come into the nursery to start work. The bright colours have been lovely even on a dull day and the pots are packed with bulbs so the colour keeps on going. Scilla, Narcissus, tulips and iris will give a succession of colour right through spring
My last Monday off for 5 months! After getting all the domestic chores done in the morning, Bracken and I took ourselves off up the SUW from Kirkhouse to the hills behind the house. The weather was perfect, no wind, silence, sun and some warmth, the only sound at the top of the hills was the bird song. Spent a while sitting enjoying the silence in the sun before heading home.
Luckily the morning fog cleared to reveal brilliant blue skies and some warmth. Today we kept it very local and used our annual pass to go for a walk around the grounds of Traquair House and see the snow drops. Usually we are on the other side of both rivers walking. The views along the Tweed were gorgeous in the sun, we are so lucky to live here. Loads of snow drops and those ancient gnarled Yews! Lunch was a squash, chestnut and feta sausage rool and a pork and fennel sausage roll, followed by Lemon drizzle cake and apple and cinnamon cake from Coltmans in Peebles.
Thats it for another week, fingers crosses, well everything crossed that we can open soon and all our customer can visit and enjoy the nursery and gardens.
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