I am so far behind with blog writing I'm going to do two weeks at a time to catch up, hopefully. Its been super busy at the nursery and at home, time has just whizzed past with amazing weather, but we are thankful for rain and cooler temperatures and so are the plants. I can't believe we are into September already and my trip to Coll has been and gone, more on that in a later blog.
But for now, lets catch up.......
At last a leaf on the Monstera adansonii cutting from Isabel, its taken several months to get roots on the cuttings and then for them to produce an actual leaf. Now this plant has two leaves as I type and is in the bathroom, with another plant in the porch and a third in the greenhouse, covering all bases!
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Veronicastrum 'Fascination'
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The fascination of Fasciation - This curious physiological disorder in the plant world can
occur in any part of the plant but usually occurs in the growing tip so is most
commonly found on the ends of branches or in flowers. Often producing
very flattened stems with a fan-like enlargement on the end, leading to another
descriptive term for this condition of “crested.” Fasciation causes an
elongation of the apical meristem so that flattened, ribbon-like growth is
produced instead, this can often be caused by genetic mutation or viral
infection. It's quite harmless - in fact plant breeders will often use it to
their advantage to produce new plants.
Although this condition is not common, it has been recorded
in hundreds of different plant species, including ferns, woody plants,
herbaceous annuals and perennials, and fruits and vegetables. Most coniferous
and broad-leaved trees and shrubs can bear fasciated branches, but some are far
more susceptible than others. It is most common in the plant families
Cactaceae, Compositae, Leguminosae, Onagraceae and Rosaceae, and among species
that have indeterminate growth.
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| Fasciation in Salix |
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| Persicaria amplexicaule 'Alba' |
One of many beautiful views I have driving to and from the nursery. This is driving down past Drochil looking towards Cademuir, slight artistic license to fit the hills in 
The weeks are flying by with a mix of weather but we are grateful we came through the storm unaffected, just a few plants to pick up and lots of leaves lying around. I was mainly on my own so work has slowed somewhat but the team will be back together next week and we can get through all the propagating. I have been sorting through the herbs in the tunnel and doing some propagating, mainly cuttings of thymes for next year. I’ve planted more thymes in the checker board to thicken the plantings and replaced the chamomile which was not happy. It needs to be somewhere more dry, not easy in the nursery garden lol.
The gardens are looking fabulous and stood up to the storm very well, considering everything is in full growth. The insects, bees and butterflies have been abundant this year. The warm spring has certainly helped them this year.
Great excitement when we took in a large delivery. This is a long awaited tool and storage shed which we’ve needed forever and finally managed to save up for and it will make a huge difference to operations. Massive thanks to David and Fiona for all their hard work on Saturday getting it built and David again on Sunday for getting the roofing on and finishing it off.
Our wee shop has been topped up and I’ve topped up my waterclour cards, so there’s a full range again. Soon be time for Maisie’s Christmas cards again lol. We still have some recycled ocean waste pots left, 20% off and there are still some pond plants with 20% off too, so pop along for a bargain.
Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, see you soon 
Happy 8th anniversary David, we've mutually managed to not throttle each other thus far 
Thank you for everything you do for us 
Love you lots but not quite as much as chocolate 
despite your affiliation with jack russells and your snoring......xx
A lovely day off in one of my favourite places, I love east Lothian and Dunbar and have many happy memories of being there as a child with my Aunt and Uncle. It was sad to see the state of the east beach which used to be a sandy beach. It was stinking and covered in seaweed and much more stony
than it used to be, possibly due to the storms. A coffee by the harbour and a wander along the high street. We had a lovely lunch at Wishing tree by the sea and a rummage in the re-use hub before heading back.
A fantastic meal celebrating our anniversary at Asado Gaucho
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| Town living - when you can walk to
collect the plant you bought on the towns sales and wants page |
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| Flowers from the garden |
Making the of a sunny day off on Tuesday once the garden was tidied and the house cleaned and making the most of my new deckchair, apparently its for sharing.....
Approaching the end of August and the heat, its too much! 29C, don't even ask about the polytunnels! I hate the heat so I've been like wilted lettuce leaf all day 
and keeping up with the watering is exhausting. But the day did have an interesting end when Nadine of the fabulous Pentland Aromatics came into the nursery carrying a wee hedgehog she'd rescued off the road. We gave it a drink and contacted friend Graeme Wilson who rescues wild life. So I found myself a hedgehog surrogate mum for the night having brought it home. Harriet, horrace, spike who ever it is was tucked up in a box in the back garden having horsed down some cat food. Graeme collected it the next day but sadly it didn't survive.
Our new tunnels are fabulous and plants are growing really well in them already but they are in full sun and for the likes of the young shade plants this is definitely too much especially in a summer like this summer.
I decided to go down a natural shade creation route by using plants to diffuse the sun. So in spring I planted up two large half barrels at the top end of the poly tunnel, planting my 30+ year old grape vine (I don't have a large enough greenhouse any more for it) and a kiwi fruit I'd had for years. Sadly my old kiwi died after planting it here in the spring ( I dont think it had coped with the cold snap over winter) so yesterday a new self fertile variety 'Jenny' arrived in the post.
I put up some wires from the half barrel to the crop bars and tied up the grape vine. From there I will train it along the length of the tunnel from crop bar to crop bar. The vine has fruited in previous years so I am looking forward to it doing so again now it has a new permanent home.
The kiwi fruit I have planted and trained up the dead stem of the old one, again once large enough I will train it down the tunnel. Shade and fruit to eat, perfect.
As you can see my helper was keeping an eye on operations.
We had a great day at the Peebles Show this year. The weather was excellent and it was great to see lots of folk enjoying the show. We sold plants and talked to lots of folk we know, enjoyed a wander round and managed not to spend all the profits on bacon rolls and ice cream Maisie also managed to be an excellent show dog. Thank you Fiona for being at the nursery and working through a huge pile of potting and propagation
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| A traditional still life painted over the past few nights
featuring the lovely jug I got from Andrew and Linda when we met
for lunch a couple of weeks ago. |
Awesome August colours are taking the gardens from summer into autumn with grasses coming into flower, golds, yellows and reds taking over from pastels and white. The heat and sun are causing some plants to take on their autumn colours already, hopefully it won’t be an early autumn.
Overtime to get everything watered sufficiently, a cheeky wee pizza and sitting enjoying the results of all our hard work over the last 10 years, enjoying a beautiful sunny evening.
A lovely day off spent at home in our own garden enjoying every meal outdoors and getting the beech hedge in the back garden trimmed. Done by lunchtime and all the trimmings off to the tip. Both the front and back garden are looking great, although flowers are going over quicker in the heat but the amount of bees, butterflies and pollinators is fantastic to see. We had the company of Poppy and Maisie on and off and enjoying our new deck chairs while the weather lasts.
I had a great birthday doing and visiting favourite things and places. Antique shopping and lunch in Hexham where I spent birthday money and bought things for the nursery and then to Corbridge which I love visiting. A walk along the river and more antique shopping and found a second French bottle drier having already got one earlier in Hexham, so now we can do both ideas in the nursery. A wander around the village before heading home over the moors and back to the borders.
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