Celebrating a birthday and species paeonias flowering for the first time

In the beginning.......

Happy Birthday to us!

Can you believe 11 years ago this week we arrived on site at Quercus as the slightly terrified new owners of the nursery. We knew we had a massive amount of work ahead of us to turn it round and make it into a viable business again, but we were enthusiastic, determined and had a massive amount of ideas to play around with. With David's business knowhow and hard graft and my horticultural skills and creativity (and hard graft and ever growing business knowledge) we have created something rather special in the gardens and nursery. So here we are, older, wiser, a bit worse for wear, more tired but delighted to see what we have achieved in those years. Everything you see in Quercus has been done in those 11 years, so despite our colder, exposed site, clay soil and battles with weather, pests, pandemics and so on it just shows what can be done even in challenging conditions, garden and otherwise.

We've made great friends through owning the nursery and met some lovely, interesting and great people along the way

Lets raise a glass to us the Quercus team and to you, all our lovely customers who's enthusiasm, support. enjoyment of the place and custom keeps us enthusiastic and determined to keep going. Cheers x

Remember to keep yourself and the plants hydrated in this hot weather. Rain is forecast but it may be showery rather than useful watering rain. Early morning and in the evening are the best times for watering as its cooler and the water doesn't evaporate too quickly. I always find it quite a relaxing job especially with a glass of wine in hand

and you can check how plants are doing too as you water.

I've been emptying our behind the scenes stock beds and putting more plants out in the customer stockbeds and bringing more plants out into the sales area. Its awfy fu.  

Early morning chat, just me and the birdies chattering on and enjoying the apple blossom

I never in my wildest dream thought id be doing what I love for people who love what I do.

Its true life is a journey and if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger and its the people who make the journey, the ones who've got your back and journey along side you and one of the unexpected things about creating Quercus is the wonderful community we have created.

Especially exciting this week was the species paeonias coming into flower for the first time in the woodland garden. I sowed them from seed 7 years ago. They spent their first years in pots and when the woodland garden was planted up three years ago the got planted where you see them now. We have enjoyed Paeonia daurica and Paeonia mlokosewitschii which is yellow, but one of the plants has produces a beautiful pale with with suffused edges to the petals, apparently this is a thing Paeonia mlokosewitschii does. We also have an unknown tree paeonia which I've had for years and covers itself in dark maroon single flowers. Then theres P. officinalis in the herb garden and another unknown species paeonia in a pot in the scented garden.

The end of May already and another busy month in the nursery and gardens and finally some great weather, its hard to believe we’re at this point in the year already! The gardens are really coming to life now (always slower up here in our colder higher conditions) and there are plants coming into flower all over, its hard to keep up lol.

Highlights included the species paeonias coming into flower for the first time in the woodland garden. I sowed them from seed 7 years ago. They spent their first years in pots and when the woodland garden was planted up three years ago the got planted where you see them now. We have enjoyed Paeonia daurica and Paeonia mlokosewitschii which is yellow, but one of the plants has produces a beautiful pale with with suffused edges to the petals, apparently this is a thing Paeonia mlokosewitschii does.

David has continued with creating the paths infront of the tunnels and creating another 50 new info signs for plants in the stock beds which help our customers when selecting their plants.

I finally felt we could put the bubble wrap and fleece away until winter, fingers crossed as all the tenders and annuals are out now and there’s no going back. Work continues in the stock beds and I turned a corner and over into the next stock bed and into L’s, always a sign progress is being made. Mind you we are selling so many plants there's not many left to tidy but it makes room for all the new plants coming out the tunnel lol. I finished sorting through and propagating all the shade plants that live in tunnel two and started on the grasses in that tunnel, a great job for early morning as it gets to warm later on!

On Saturday Isabel and I had a catch up day, working through the endless to do list of small jobs that keep getting put to the end of the list. We planted out lots of new plants in the gardens, filling in spaces, tying up perennials ion the woodland garden, planting out more annuals and getting he left overs out into the sales area for customers to buy. Lots of watering too as the weather continues to be dry, we are not complaining though, its great to finally shed the winter layers.

On Sunday Fiona, Isabel and I blitzed the stock beds of weeds, its been a year for weeds, and everyone I speak to says the same, the good weather last year and mild weather has given them the edge but we will win the weed war lol. Lots of laughs along the way and a sense of achievement at the end of the day. Fiona got some cacti and house plants from our own collecions out for sale and Isabel dealt with the surplice shade plant stock beds behind the office before they too got out of hand.

I was also delighted to have an article pubished in the Hardy Plant Society Cornucopia Journal this spring, which arrived through the letter box today. Its always lovely to be able to talk about and share my horticulture and plant experiences with others.

So as we say hello to June, please do visit, enjoy all our fabulous plants in the gardens, then come up to the nursery on the top terrace and browse the sales area, wee shop and stock beds. We have plenty pots available, peat free multi purpose compost, ericaceous plant food, chicken pellets, garden gifts and good advice. We also have our charity day on Sunday 7^th and would love if you can come along and donate to support Breast cancer now in memory of my sister Mhairi.

Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, see you soon

The shade plants in the tunnel 2

Finishing another stock bed

All the blues, ajuga, Camassa and Forget me nots

The herb garden

Lychnis chalcedonica against a stormy sky

I love that chard roots are the same colour
as their roots

Annual plugs for sale

Vintage terracotta pots for sale

Lupins and Aquilegia

Big excitement in the garden at home this week, finally got an outside tap fitted :D no more walking back and forward with watering can after watering can to water the greenhouse and all my pots :)

In the back garden at home this week. I get so much joy seeing my plants doing well and the garden coming together. Because I’ve grown in quite conditions with my last garden and the nursery (both 850 ft above sea level, cold, windy and rubbish soil) for nearly 30 years I’ve forgotten how well plants can actually grow! I’m always amazed how big they are and how much flowers they can produce because they are in a more sheltered and sunny garden.

In the back garden

Fabulous Clematis 'Nellie Moser' and 'Miss Bateman' in the back garden

So much colour in the back garden

Sea thrift at Cove 

In the front garden at the beginning of June and explosion of colour

Experimenting with wedding colours

Hubby's generosity knows no bounds, last week it was an outside tap which we've been needing for ages, the week before it was a lovely orchid, this week hes given me his nasty cold I've too much to do to be ill

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