This blog is going to cover at least two weeks in order to catch up! I honestly don't know where the time is going, but its going. At the beginning of June we were all about weeding and tidying the gardens, this usually gets done at the end of most months but I’ve put it off a week so we could have the gardens tidied ready for our charity day. This is the first tidy since the post winter tidy up in February and a good opportunity to see how plants are doing this year.
One day it was all about the stream garden and entrance borders and all of the bottom terrace borders. There is an abundance of colour in the gardens at the moment, the blue tits are nesting in the box in the bird border and I’ve spotted several froglets hoping about in the rain.
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| The bottom terrace |
It was not all blue skies and sun so don’t believe what you see in some of the photos. Most of the day it was raining so it was on with the waterproofs and into the railway garden to give it a right good tidy up, which it needed and it took until just after lunch, it’s a much larger area than you think once you’re in about it. Weeds dealt with and spring bulb leaves removed now they’ve died back making room for all the summer flowers now emerging. I’ve made a note of some seedlings to lift when we’ve got time to get potted up for stock. As always thanks to the customers that did brave the rain, your visits are much appreciated and lets be positive no watering needed this week 
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| In the railway garden |
Maisie was in "helping" last week
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| Such a judgy look |
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| Not just lots of colourful flowers in the front garden,
first time I've seen a bull finch here.
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One thing people often struggle with is what plants to plant
together to get either year round interest or a little montage at a certain
time of year. Over the next few months I’m going to put together four plants I
would heartily recommend for your garden that you can grow together. They will
like the same conditions and act as a perfect contrast for each other and are
for sale in the nursery.
Clematis 'The
President' - A medium-sized Clematis
with single flowers up to 18cm in width, with eight overlapping rich violet
purple-blue petals, silvery on the reverse with pinkish and deep red stamens.
Flowers late spring to early summer and late summer to early autumn. Plant as a
back drop to lighter foliage and flowering plants. H 2m.
Rose ‘Vanessa Bell’ - You can choose any cream or light coloured rose,
which ever your preference, this is one we have for sale in the nursery at the moment.
Vanessa is a compact, upright shrub rose to around 1.2m tall. With large, open
clusters of fragrant, soft yellow cream flowers and a deeper yellow centre fading
to white at the edges as it goes over. Repeat-flowering through summer and into
autumn.
Lychnis
flos-cuculi ‘White Robin’ - The white-flowered ragged robin creates a lovely,
open ‘cloud’ of flowers that top reddish stems in sun and moist soil. Brightening
u a shadier spot these flower for ages and if your lucky will seed around,
usually coming true. I love their spidery flowers at this time of year, like
gypsophela for damp ground. H 45cm, S 40cm.
Lavandula
angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ AGM - To finish
off, coming back to purples and the fabulously scented lavender. Hidcote is one
of the most reliable Lavender for growing in Scotland with its mass of deep
violet purple flowers in midsummer it’s hard to beat. Great in pots or
in a sunny spot in the garden. Plant it near where you walk so you can enjoy
the soothing scent when you walk past. Flowers are useful for cutting and
drying or putting in shortbread and ice cream! H 55cm.
Thursday I was to be found in the borders up both sides of the track to the sales area and in the scented garden, finishing off in the top terrace borders (still to be finished) At least the weather was drier and sunny today, making it more pleasant for dealing with the pesky weeds, it just shows how quickly these plants can take over given the right germination conditions. There’s a few gaps in the scented garden needing filled, always a tricky area to plant up and some ongoing maintenance jobs taken note of. The grass got cut before it rains, so that was a bonus.
It was great to have Isabel back on Friday and to finish weeding the gardens, she was in the herb garden and I was in the woodland garden (was beginning to think I was never getting out again lol). Both gardens look so much better and are full of colour and interesting and unusual plants, like all of our gardens its worth taking time to explore all our fascinating plants.
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| The herb garden and top terrace |
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| In the woodland garden |
Thank you to everyone who came along and supported our charity day and made a donation today, its much appreciated 
It's Isabel's turn again to recommend five fab plants in the sales area this week for you to consider for your garden. I'm off for a large glass of wine or even a bottle with a curly straw in it and we will be back on Wednesday to do it all again with our fab team and fab plants. So enough of me here is Isabel's fab plant selection:
-Cryptomeria Japonica 'Elegans': Architectural conifer with tactile needles and striking color. It goes from blue green, to fresh green, to bronze! A slow grower too, making it a good specimen to plant in one of our large, glazed pots, as a focal point in a shady corner.
-Carex greyii: great for a wet corner. Evergreen and architechtural, and the seed head is such a statement.
-Lychnis chalcedonica: Unbeatable summer color and great for an informal or courtyard garden.
-Fuschia magellanica 'versicolor': as far as fuschias go, this is my current favorite. Although on the tender side, its variegated leaves also provide foliage interest.
-Allium molly: a fantastic small allium with cheery starry yellow flowers, and clumpy habit.
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First week in June in the front garden as we enter summer (someone remind the weather  )
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Thank you to Andrew and Linda for a lovely afternoon and lunch, great to catch up and spend a relaxing afternoon in the garden and conservatory. Maisie as always making herself at home 
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| Finally got the first page of May in my journal finished, been
so busy at the nursery, so tired when I get home and ill.
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If you've visited the nursery or followed us for a while, you will know how much we love to recycle things, make new things out of old and give items a new lease of life.
We are loving these vintage terracotta pots which we were lucky enough to buy last year and now have for sale in the nursery. They are so versatile and of course look great too with their old worn patina (bit like me really ) Plant them up with our herbs or alpines, semperviviums, cacti or succulents or use some of the broken ones to make a cacti tower like ours (Nothing goes to waster here) There are at least 5 different sizes, we are loving the teeny weeny ones the most, they are so cute! We have a small range of cacti, succulents and houseplants available at the moment.
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Happy birthday Poppy, Our grand old deaf one eyed mog is 20 today! |
The calendar says it June but no one has told the weather After a cold, windy drizzly day here's some flower power colour to brighten your Saturday evening.
Of course we can't not mention the footy - I wont be staying up to watch but keeping everything crossed for a tartan victory 
This weekend it's Fiona's turn to choose five star plants she would recommend you buy in the sales area 
-Primula vivalli: The pagoda primula really is different from the rest, standing out wit its colour combo of purple and red and the shape of the conical flowers. Opening from the bottom of the flower up this is definitely a plant to grow if you like something unusual.
- Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’: A big bold large leaved heuchera, standing out from the rest with its upright habit. Great for borders and containers this plant will give all year round interest and it flowers too!
- Meconopsis Sheldonii: The most amazing blue flowers, as soon as you say Himalayan poppy everyone knows what you are talking about. It can be a challenge to grow but absolutely worth giving it a go.
-Osteospernum ‘Lady Leitrum’: one of the hardiest to grow in Scotland and although treated as bedding, this variety will quite often come through a Scottish winter in a sunny sheltered spot.
- Sempervivium 'Arctic White': a stunning variety of houseleek with very white “spiders webs” over the rosettes of fleshy leaves. Needing very little care they will grow in almost no soil, in stone walls, containers, on the roofs of buildings and in crevices in rock gardens
In the back garden this week, its all about the foxgloves and the fabulous purple poppies, oh and the amazingly scented Clematis wilsonii Middle of June already! Progress continues in the stock beds, quickly in the shade stock beds as Isabel makes inroads into Astilbes and actaeas, more slowly in the main stock beds as I fit it in amongst a hundred other jobs, but I did finish K’s on Sunday (we wont mention there are only 4 varieties in K’s :D) Progress is also being made tidying and propagating the grasses that live in tunnel 2 and clearing the
field stock beds for this years prop to get potted into there.
The weather has been all over the place, heavy rain, winter cold, hot sun, windy, no wind, we are as
confused as the plants and while we are missing some of last years heat and warmth at least we’re not running around with hoses and sprinklers trying to keep everything alive!
I’ve ordered bulbs, so they will be for sale in autumn as per usual, we have all rhododendrons half
price along with a selection of grasses we are discontinuing (Sesleria caerulea, Sesleria nitidaSchizachyrium scoparium 'Prairie Blues')
Our first gardening with grasses workshop was a great hit and thanks to those that attended and left
great feedback. We have another running in autumn which you can book on our website.
The sales area is stuffed with fabulous early summer colour, we’ve had more trees and shrubs delivered,
theres Meconopsis sheldonii, acraeas, more scented geraniums and more of everything you love at Quercus. Peat free compost and all our wee shop gifts and gardening things. We’ve still some fruit plants (rhubarb, blueberries, red, white and black currents, grape vines and strawberries) and the water plant tanks are full of all the usual suspects inc waterlilies, marginals, oxygenators, baskets and compost.
I’ve also been experimenting this week with wedding bouquets, as after over 2 years of planning the first of our kids gets married on Saturday. We are so excited to share Jamie and Natasha’s special day with them and I will be up to my ears in flowers and plants as I am supplying and helping them put all the flower arrangements, bouquets and button holes together, such a joy to to be part of their day. We’ve been growing plants in the tunnels for cutting and many of the flowers will come from my own garden, their garden and the Quercus gardens.
The gardens are looking amazing and we are always on hand to help with all your garden and plant
queries.
Wednesday to Sunday, 10am
to 5pm, see you soon
A great walk today back in East Lothian, in an area I know well but have never been to this beach. Joined by Dan for the day we enjoyed a great walk through woodland, past lots of anti tank blocks and on the beach, a lovely picnic, views over to Dunbar, lots of orchids and wild flowers, paddling and relaxing, finishing off with a coffee at the Tynningham Smiddy. A great day and I will hopefully get a blog about it written soon 
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