I've been away for a few days visiting my aunt on the Isle of Coll. I try to get up every year, it's a bit of relaxing down time for me too. A three and a bit hour drive to Oban then a three hour ferry journey takes you to this rocky sliver of land, next stop America! This week the weather was incredible, making this magical island even more beautiful.
But all good things must come to an end and I am back in the nursery ready to get on with the massive job list needing done before we close for winter.
Most importantly I'd like to say a massive massive thank you to David, Isabel and Fiona for looking after the nursery so I could get away. I am so grateful to them and appreciate everything they do at Quercus and their friendship and support.
Busy bees on Sunflower 'Claret' and Sedum 'Herbsfreud' in the nursery gardens, the weather has been warm and sunny this last week and its been great to see the insects out enjoying the weather. We have lots of insect friendly plants so the nursery is always buzzing with them.
We have a new card supplier in the wee shop, its me!
It’s taken too long for me to do this but finally I have some of my paintings printed and made into cards 
There are florals, landscapes, birds, winter scenes, christmas cards and the imfamous last year's Maisie’s Christmas. They come with a envelope and are A6 size, all signed. Cards for all occasions 
We often think we have difficult gardening conditions here but can you imagine gardening on a slither of rock, with salty sea winds, sand for soil and open to all the gales and weather that blows in straight off the Atlantic? Yet people do and achieve beautiful sturdy gardens despite the odds. When my late uncle and my aunt built their house on Coll in 2008 they set about also creating a garden. Coming from the lush growing conditions of East Lothian it was very much a case of from one extreme to the other. My uncle a very practical man set about building a walled garden with the local stone, creating all these walls, some up to six feet at the age of 64! They are beautifully built and have odd creative flourishes, which he did with most things he created, like the wooden viking finials on the garages and sheds. The soil was pretty much sand dune covered in rough grass, silver weed and mares tail, and over the years they added trailer loads of seaweed every winter and left it to rot down before digging in. They were at times almost self sufficient in veg and fruit, important when the ferry doesn’t always make it in to bring supplies. Chickens provided eggs and bee hives a supply of honey. All which could be swapped with
neighbours for other items. My aunt at 77 is on her own now after the death of my uncle 5 years ago, so most of the veg beds have been turned into lawns for ease of maintenance. She still works away in the flower beds and grows tomatoes in the wooden greenhouse my uncle built.
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| When you take 3 book away in hope of finishing at
least 1 but come home with 10 from your late uncles collection. |
Some of the autumn colour appearing in the nursery gardens
The colour keeps going in the garden at home too, front at back, giving the bees some much needed food and keeping it interesting for us at autumn comes in.
It ages since I've done a lot of baking, but had a few ingredients needing used up so fired up the oven. Cherry cake, strawberry muffins, choc chip cookies and flapjacks, the freezer is full 
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Brrrrrrrr that was a bit chilly this morning but also so autumn with the sunny blue skies
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Wooo hooo, our autumn sale has started.
Once they're gone they're gone, some trees are now half price, shrubs, grasses, perennials, water plants and climbers.
Everything on the first 4 tables in the sales area must go. You'll see everything marked with coloured labels.
We're open Wednesday to Sunday 10 am to 5pm.
Whitmuir cafe and
Whitmuir Farm Shop are open 7 days, 9am to 4pm. Give them a visit too for fabulous food, great coffee and tempting cakes
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| A blood moon in winter |
A day in Edinburgh with brother in law Ian, visiting lots of second hand book shops, lunch in the Botanics and travelling there and back on the bus with Maisie Mouse.
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