Slowly the plants stretch their stems towards summer

The nursery continues to be busy with customers, which is great and I have plenty work to do. All those plants sold need to be replaced with new plants. Fiona is doing a great job on a Sunday, creating lots of cuttings and new batches of plants which will be available later this year or for next year's stock. I'm still working through the stock beds, but feel like I am finally getting somewhere, although I suspect I'm going to run out of space again. Lol, just can't help producing lots of lovely plants. The polytunnel is now stuffed full again with hundreds of seedlings potted up. We just need some warm weather so they can root through and be moved out to the stock beds. I also weeded and tidied the gardens this week for the SGS opening next Sunday. This gives me a chance to also see what has made it through the winter and what will need replaced.

Bluebells in the cottage garden

The cottage snug in the valley

Primroses

Now that the long term weather forecast looks favourable, I've been planting out flower and veg annuals in the nursery gardens, so they can get their roots down and give us a good show all summer and some edibles too.

planting out all the herb and flower annuals at last

Its a hard life for this nursery dog

Primula 'Millars Crimson'

 Looking good in the top terrace borders this week Tulip 'China Pink'

Tulip 'Princess irene'

Valeriana phu 'Aurea'

Friday - well that was a day! Its nearly the end of May, ie early summer ? Back to jeans instead of summer trousers and all the layers I was wearing in winter not only was it cold it p*ssed with rain all day, it was windy, the rain was horizontal I'm sure I've grown webbed feet and started quacking what do you mean I was quackers already. I was soaked all day, fed up and glad to get home. Wonderful hubby had put the fire on the heaters and cooked one of my favourite dinners. After a hot shower, glass of wine good food and company I feel much better. Bracken approves of the fire being on too

Bracken also appreciated the fire being on!

Colour in the seasonal corner

In the nursery today, the seasonal colour corner is still looking really good, I pooped in a few summer interest plants that will take over from the pansies eventually. Its all change on the front sales tables, with a subtle move towards summer flowers.

Seasonal sales table

A different view of the nursery and gardens taken from the fence on the most north westerly corner of the nursery, dont the cowslips look good, even in the rain.

Despite the rain today I did get another stock bed finished. Plants tidied, top dressed, labelled and divided or propagated where needed

Bracken making sure I weed the gardens correctly

Caltha palustris in the stream garden

Ferns in the native garden

Epimedium pinnatum subsp. Colchicum

The stream garden

Gunnera flowers

The gunnera has survived winter well

Onoclea sensibilis

Rumex and Golden Saxifrage look great together

Allium fistulosum, the Welsh onion in the herb garden

The bird feeders and tables at home are well used by all sorts of birds, we have all the usual suspects, along with Siskins, GOld Finches, Redpoll, a spotted Woodpecker and of course cheeky red squirrel

My other half reached the pinnacle of his Tv career today. Never mind previous filming with Bill Oddie or Chris Packham. Last Tuesday in Kielder forest David was filming with Milkshake Monkey. Sinse it was also our day off together we made a day of it and I tagged along to share the driving and have a day out. After a take away lunch in the car watching it pour with rain over kielder Water we set off to the woodland where the film crew set up. Three hours of filming with monkey for what will be less than 5 minutes on air. The puppateer was amazing doing the animation, voice and bringing the whole thing to life. David was brilliant and didnt disolve into fits of laughter, well only once or twice, better than I would have done. Also quite challenging to alter your normal educatinal pitch down to something 5 year olds will take in but he did it brilliantly. Luckily the weather improved and it all went without a hitch, even the bat David had collected behaved perfectly! We headed home after another interesting and different day off for a pile of pizzas for tea

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