The countdown is on until the nursery re-opens

Helleborus 'White Spotted Lady'

Not long until we open! Exciting We've still lots to do including finishing the garden tidy and filling up the sales tables. We've also got new steps to finish and a new entrance to get done. Then there is all the behind the scenes stuff (new tunnels, new paths, lots of potting). Never a dull moment but we can't wait to see everyone again

It was the turn of the office border to get tidied and I made a start to raking and tidying the gravel in the sales area, a warm job for a cold day.

Phlomis russelliana

Aconitum arendsii

Isabel has been working on tidying the woodland garden this week, determined to win the battle of the leaves, not easy in the wind. It’s a lovely part of the nursery garden at this time of year with the evergreen ferns, Epimediums, snowdrops and other fabulous shade loving plants. Its great to see plants beginning to grow, ready to start another year.

This week we had two major achievements, and lots of others too, you know us the weather doesn't stop determined horticulturalists on a mission We finished the post winter garden tidy up with Isabel getting the Woodland garden done and then finishing off the top terrace borders today. So that's great to get this mammoth task finished as there's still plenty to do before we open in 2 weeks! The compost heap is full and its great to see all the plants emerging from their winter sleep in the borders.

I did the first half of the top terrace borders earlier in the week and some just need a top dress of compost once the rain stops. Over the past few weeks I've been bringing over the alpines from the farm tunnel and potting, propagating, feeding and tidying them and putting them in their new home in our new tunnel. Its great to get this section of plants moved over and tidied, so another big tick off the to do list. Next it will be the herbs turn to come over. All the display containers in the sales area have been fed and top dressed and the ones that were away for winter are back out. The gravel in the sales area has been weeded, raked and the leaves lifted.

We've fixed bits of groundcover fabric thats come up through the gravel, sorted out trip hazards, David finished the new set of steps and started on our new gate. You know its nearly the start of the season when all the deliveries start arriving, today it was compost and pots.

We've had wind, rain, sleet, rainbows, very cold temperatures and the last two days the temp has been into double digits, its all a bit mad really.

Thinks that's enough for 3 and a half days work, now its time for my own garden on Saturday

How good was it to get a dry, sunny day and quite warm too after all the dull weather, wind and rain of the past weeks. Bonus also that I was off and had a day in my own garden pottering away, bliss. I put the rhubarb forcer over a clump of rhubarb so we can get some lovely sweet stems for rhubarb crumble :D I found some cyclamen seedlings which I will pot up when they are bigger. I then set about making the bottom border wider because a gardener can never have enough space for plants and it was a bit too narrow, lol. Dug out the grass and put the brick edge back in, not helped by Maisie and her ball! I then moved some lower plants to the front giving me room for more plants :D I put more slabs in at the back gate where the grass is getting worn away and in front of the compost heap, making it easier when it gets emptied. I finished off by tidying the plants in the potting shed which is a temporary greenhouse over winter until I decide what I am doing about greenhouses. Coffee in the summer house and lots of ball throwing for Maisie, a good day.

Pulmonaria

Galanthus 'Ketton'

Cyclamen seedlings

Maisie not helping make the border bigger

Another of my interprietations of a borders tale - The Deil of Littledean Tower.

The ruins of Littledean Tower still stand on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders and has become attached to many tales and border lore.

Although it is certain that the following tale is fiction, it was possibly created to hide a true story, or more disturbing truth. Local legend tells that a former laird of the tower was a cruel man with a bad temper and not afraid to use violence to get his own way. He is said to have treated his staff terribly, beating a stable boy to death on one occasion. As his reputation grew, he began to attract men with similar characters, and they would on occasion meet at the castle to feast and drink late into the night. On one such occasion, he called for his wife, who was in her chambers, to come and join them. When she refused, he dragged her there, before striking her and uttering that he would 'sooner be wed to a fiend from Hell than her, as at least then he would get some warmth'. As his wife stood, she is said to have warned him that he would regret his words, before she once again left.

The tale continues that the party broke up soon after, yet the laird continued drinking on his own, before calling for his horse to be prepared. Despite warnings from his staff that he should not go out riding until the morning, he left the castle and continued riding until daylight, when a sudden storm forced him to turn back. He sought shelter in a small wood where he saw a cottage. In his arrogance, he entered the cottage to be met by a woman with striking beauty. The Laird suddenly felt uncomfortable and made his excuses to leave, returning hastily to Littledean Tower.

As is common with such tales, the Laird could not however get the woman out of his mind and spent days trying to find the small wooded area and the cottage, without success. One morning as he rode out, he however spotted the lady again, who guided him to some trees within sight of the tower, and said that she would always meet him there. Needless to say, the couple were soon spotted and news got back to the Laird's wife who demanded to know who the woman was, but the Laird refused to discuss it.

A few days later, when he was away on business, his wife followed his lover into the trees to try to find out her identity, yet found no one there other than a hare, which darted away as she approached. Later that evening, the Laird too was plagued by hares as he returned home, until with a swing of his sword he severed the foot of one which had jumped onto his saddle, and they all disappeared into the darkness. With the hare's foot lodged in his pistol belt, he galloped home where, while telling his wife what had happened, they heard something drop to the floor. Thinking it was the hares foot, they were both shocked to see a human hand, wearing his wife's ring which the laird had gifted to his lover without her knowledge.

He immediately stabbed it with his sword before returning to his horse and riding to a deep section of the river where he threw the hand into the water. On his return, he spotted the small area of woodland with the cottage. Determined to find some answers, he entered the cottage yet found an old woman waiting, rather than the beautiful woman he had taken as his mistress. He noticed her hand was missing and she was bleeding from the wound. She muttered that as he had taken her hand, he would never be rid of it, at which point he fled back to the tower. It seems the Laird had got his wish of being with a fiend from Hell.

Over the following days, the hand kept appearing in the tower, every time it was again disposed off only to re-appear the following day until, one morning, the Laird was found dead in his bed, with marks around his throat indicating he had been strangled.

Whatever the truth of what happened to the Laird, his ghostly figure is said to be seen riding aimlessly around the castle, crying out as he goes.

It's almost time

We are very much looking forward to opening up again for the 2025 season after our winter break when we open on Saturday 8th March with our usual hours of Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. We can't believe its almost that time already.

We have lots of lovely plants growing on here in the nursery to sell; old favourites and lots of new varieties to tempt you with. Trees, shrubs, fruit, perennials, shade plants, wildflowers, bamboo, conifers and grasses (herbs and alpines will be out later in March once the weather improves and water plants in April) and we are constantly bringing out new plants to the sales area.

There are lots of changes in the nursery and gardens this year, which I will explain in separate posts. Our wee shop and pot area will be stuffed full of lots of lovely items. These include plant supports, bird feeders and baths, bug hotels, garden sundries, string, gift cards, vases, gift vouchers and peat free compost. All of which are made from natural materials and recycled if possible. You can see what is available on the shop page of our website www.quercusgardenplants.co.uk

The Garden railway will be running during the summer and the timetable is on our facebook page here and website events page.

You can find out more about us in our about section here or on our website www.quercusgardenplants.co.uk

You can also find us on Instagram

The Whitmuir cafe and Whitmuir Farm Shop is open seven days a week with great coffee, cakes and lunches and tempting treats and food in the shop. You can take the circular farm walk where you can get great views of the farm, Heiland coos and the valley and Pentland Hills beyond.

Please remember that the bulk of our plants are grown here on site in the nursery in what can often be challenging conditions. We endeavour to carry a consistent stock list but often nature gets in the way and we do have propagation failures so not everything is ready or available all the time. Damage from storms, very cold spells, poor pollination the previous year and so on can lead to plants not being available and as a small team we can’t always keep the website list up to date as often as we would like.

Finally thank you for all your support in all ways and we are really looking forward to seeing and catching up with all our customers soon xx

Photo is a Clematis alpina seedhead, back lit by autumn sun

Monday was very much a day of repair and renew:

I couldn't resist these primulas when I saw them yesterday and they're brightening up the seasonal pots for opening.

First job of the day was to try and get the farm tunnel doors back on after they’d blown out in the high winds yesterday. It wasn’t easy but a lot of brute force and swearing and I managed to get them at least vertical and closed

I fed and topped dressed the mint pots and the scented garden pots and got them out in situ, can’t wait for them growing.

Onto the next repair job, topping up the grass path we made last year where its settled over the past months of use and winter. I’ve also re-seeded the bare areas, frustratingly it means this path will be closed for 2 or 3 months, but essential maintenance.

I brought over the first trolley load of herbs from the farm tunnel to be tidied, propagated and to go into our new tunnel, their new home.

All in all a very productive day enjoying the sun and some warmth.

Here are some of the plants we are enjoying in the nursery gardens this week while getting more deliveries into the nursery, tidying plants for the sales tables, putting compost on the gardens and creating a new entrance.

Here I have planted up some Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) in a zinc washing bowl. I’ve covered the top of the compost in moss and layed over some twigs to give a hint of a mossy woodland snowdrop scene.

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