Rhubarb, enjoying late spring flowers and all the nursery tasks

As we zoom through May and I feel like I am running to catch up with everything at home, blog writing, nursery work and life in general I know it will all sort itself out in time. While the weather has been very questionable at times and definitely not giving a spring early summer vibe the plants are still growing, flowering and filling up the borders.

When the forced rhubarb is telling you its time to be harvested......... Lots more rhubarb from the other two crowns too, in the freezer for future crumbles. Meanwhile the forced stem need very little done as you want to enjoy the sweetness and tender stems. So I simply bake it with some vanilla essence, water and caster sugar. Served with vanilla ice cream it’s an easy pudding from the garden.

One of our new features here on socials: Quercus team top 5 plants in the sales area this week, and for this week it's Isabel's turn:

-Anthemis tinctoria 'Sauce Hollandaise' - great for summer interest as it flowers for months, just keep dead heading. Grow in full sun and protect in winter if you are in colder areas.

-Berberis darwinii compacta (yes, it's jaggy, but it is a great vibrant orange, early in the season, when those oranges usually are seen later in the summer...plus, it stays compact!)

-Pitosporum ten. 'Silver Queen' (the variegation of the foliage against the black stem is such a fantastic contrast, it really makes the shrub look silver) Very scented, you can barely see the flowers but my goodness does it produce a powerful scent.

-Spiraea arguta (in full flower at the front of the nursery and they don't call it bridal wreath for nothing!)

-Wisteria floribunda 'Multijuga' (It's already in such great size if you are training for a facade of a house, and coming into flower!)

Plus an extra pair: 'Dianthus gratian. 'Karlik' but ONLY if planted near the black mondo grass also in sales, for 'heavy metal' contrast

Last night I managed to finish March in my painting journal! Nough said really

 

In my garden at home in the first half of May

There is no doubt at all that having a great team really does make everything work so much better. Up until about 4 years ago I did virtually everything myself, the propagating, the gardens, the admin, the weeding, tidying, stock beds, helpjng customers and so much more. I had help from David on the business side but as times gone on I’ve learnt this as well. With Fiona’s help on a Saturday this worked great but as the nursery grew and got better known, the amount of plants needing propagated and grown grew and as I spent more time with customers it was time to expand. We were really fortunate to have Isabel join us for a year as a volunteer and she was just the person to permanently join our small dedicated Quercus team. We’ve had other volunteers along the way which has been a great help. The core team of David, Fiona Isabel and I make the nursery work and they also keep me sane on stressful days, down days and celebrate all the wins too. They really have helped make Quercus what it is today and provide great help and service to our customers. I honestly couldn’t do it without them

This week was no exception with road closures making us quieter, the weather turning colder and then the sun bringing everyone out on Sunday, the team cope with all the ups and downs and get the work done too. Fiona spent Saturday working through more cuttings needing potted, these were taken last autumn and already the spring cuttings are rooting through, its non stop in the propagation department and we won’t even mention all the perennial seeds needing pricked out

Isabel was back and got stuck back into tidying the shade beds, hostas are done and its all looking so much tidier. She and I spent part of Sunday morning digging spanish bluebells out the woodland garden (they were there before we made it a garden) and cutting back all the daffodils so we can see the fabulous woodland plants emerging

In amongst watering, stock bed tidying, shade plants in tunnel 2 tidying I have managed to finish a new sign which has now been ordered about pruning clematis. This will go in the sales area when it arrives. I am enjoying the flowers of Paeonia daurica in the woodland garden which I grew from seed seven years ago and is flowering for the first time. daurica subsp. Mlokosewitschii which I grew from seed at the same time is also about to flower for the first time. These are the wins that make this whole gardening malarkey worth it. I was enjoying all the apple blossom emerging in the orchard as I cut the grass and lest hope theres no more frost to nip the tips of all the young shoots emerging

We got another delivery of those fabulous aged terracotta pots as they sold so well and the new ones are going fast over the weekend too! The sales area needs a serious restock after a good week with lots of new plants dew to come out from the reserve stock beds this week

The gardens look amazing with so much spring colour and lush fresh growth, well worth a visit and explore when you visit. Thank you to all who visited this week and shopped with us, for the amazing compliments and great feed back and the great turn out for the Quercus railway running on Sunday too, a grand day was had by all. Tonight is a wine and chocolate night, what do you mean isn’t that every night Rona?

Back on Wednesday to do it all again

Epimedium grandiflora ' Queen Esta' 

Sweet Williams

Paeonia daurica

Fiona potting cuttings

Digging out spanish bluebells

Apple blossom in the orchard

Who says healthy eating needs to be dull?

Tonight's very colourful dinner as will be our pee tomorrow

Finally feel like I'm catching up with my journal, here is the first page for April some fun painting of our trip to Irvine to see Ben, Cheryl and the dogs and some floral paintings from my garden at home

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