As the title says, where is the time going, here we are half way through July already and no surprises, I'm behind here, while trying to keep everything going in the nursery as the to do list gets longer not shorter. At home its fairly ok, there were several reasons we opted for a smaller house and garden when we were looking to buy a house 4 years ago (yes we've been here nearly 4 years! (Hard to believe). I didn't want to spend my time off under pressure to keep on top of a large house and garden (been there before but I was 20 years younger and I firmly believe now no there's no point making life harder than it needs to be, I want to enjoy time too). The nursery has been busy, I mean there's always enough work for a dozen people at this time of year lol, the weather has been mixed with much needed rain (never enough), a really cold week then boom 28C for several days! So lets catch up on all things garden, lovely walks I would recommend and what ever else has caught my eye.
first Strawbs of the year, been munching a
few every evening, trying to beat the birds and slugs to them!
The birds got most of them in the end 😒
Every gardener one morning two weeks ago 
That was quite a storm last night, stood at the back door at 2am watching it for ages. The torrential rain was something too! No watering for once
This video is at the nursery, quite impressive!
All good parties, weddings and weekends away must come to an end and we couldn’t avoid turning the compost bins any longer. This big job gets done twice a year and it’s a few weeks overdue 
So we decided to go in on Monday and get on with the job, its also easier to do when we are closed so we can just bash on with it. I could also get everywhere in the nursery watered without watering customers too 
The score this time was 2 pencils, two toads and one ridiculous jack russell
Our regular 5 am visitor in the nursery! I mean we love our wildlife, and we do lots to provide a great habitat but........they repay us by eating the stock. Tbf the hares here aren't too destructive but the voles? They just take the #@%& and then run across the paths infront of us making faces at us as they go 
As it says on the label........ great plants, just not named, reduced to £10 
Every few years I will analyse our stock list and discontinue some plants on it and there are various reasons to discontinue plants. They are not good sellers - we tidy the same plants every year or they just haven't lived up to our tough hardy expectations...... What this process does allow us to do is focus more time and space on plants that we sell a lot of, that we love and customers love and try some new different plants.
I've spent the last week doing this and putting many of these plants out into the sales area, usually there are just one or two or a few, so do search amongst and look past all the bright flowers to find these gems and give them a home. I've also been moving lots of batches of plants from the field stock beds to the main stock beds out front, so there are more asters, erigerons and so much more now available for sale too.
Maisie the nursery dog however is priceless
Two weeks ago we had a lovely river and woodland walk from Bridge of Allan to Dunblane along the Allan Water. Lovely to be in the shade of the trees with the dappled light filtering through. The path meanders through the trees above the river, dropping down into a rocky valley and across a bridge then along the river side, past a cave that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson for the cave of Ben Gunn in Treasure Island. The stand out part of the walk was the walked walk way heading up hill towards Dunblane. A sense of many cenrturies of cattle being driven, carts lurching over the rough paving, people trecking between the towns, a very atmospheric part of the walk. We reached Dunblane and had out picnic by the river before returning to Bridge of Allan the way we had come. Stopped off to see Betty with strawberry tarts in hand and to drop off Dan’s birthday present for later in the week 😊
Into July and my youngest turned 25, scary I know! The gardens are looking great both at home and in the nursery and has stood up to all the horrible wind remarkeably well, thank goodness. I have managed to escape I's and now find myself in a sea of hemerocallis. At last back to painting - this one was inspired by the robin nesting in the ivy on the wall of our front garden. I've enjoyed watching them bopping about, nest building then gathering food for the young.
Its not often I cut flowers for a vase in the house, but as the garden matures and the plants get bigger I should get into the habit of bringing a bit of the garden indoors to enjoy 
One thing people often struggle with is what plants to plant together to get year round interest or a little montage at a certain time of year. Every month I’m going to put together a wee group of 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.
This month I've put together a white and blue theme. This combination always looks good against a darker back ground (evergreen hedge, purple beech, Sambucus 'Black Lace' etc as it helps the lighter colours really pop.
Borago officinalis
“Borage” is much loved by Pimms drinkers and bees when it is in flower through the summer, so well worth growing for this reason along (the bees more than the pimms of course). The vivid blue flowers are another reason, adding a punch of colour through the mixed border. I let them self seed around the nursery, pulling out plants where they are not wanted. H 75cm, S 75cm.
Cichorium intybus
“Chicory”. Most people only think of Chicory as an adulterant of coffee whereas it is in fact a most attractive native (probably) wildflower with lovely, clear bright blue flowers in summer and early autumn. Will seed around if it’s happy. H 1.2m, S 30cm.
Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ AGM
Big, carmine flowers with horizontal petals that open to reveal a bronze central cone from late summer into autumn. One of the original and best cultivars, a real show stopper in the border and a butterfly magnet! Moist, well-drained soil in sun. H 90cm.
Eryngium planum
“Sea holly”. Tall, branched stems carry numerous light-blue cylindrical flowers with blue-green spiky bracts that are ideal for cutting and drying. Plant in well-drained soil and full sun. H 1m, S 30cm.
Dianthus chinensis var. Lacinatus 'Dancing Geisha'
A tall dianthus with narrow grey-green foliage. Flowers are fragrant, with drooping, heavily fringed petals in shades of pink, but usually white, and are produced in flushes from early to late summer. Plant in sun and well drained soil. H 40cm, S 30cm.
Geranium sylvaticum ‘Amy Doncaster’
Bold leaves and exceptionally beautiful, richly coloured, true-blue flowers with a large, white centre. Flowering at the end of the geranium season this variety keeps the geranium love going just a little bit longer. H 70cm. 40cm.
Many of our new customers have recently moved to the area, often from a warmer part of the uk or from a sheltered town or city garden where growing plants is rather easier than up here at 850 feet or so in the Scottish borders, ravaged by wind, short season, deer, rabbits, and the weather in general. They find them selves struggling to grow plants, sometimes any plants and especially the plants they grew for years and years in their previous garden. That’s where the Quercus team come in, with our understanding of local growing conditions and what plants will grow. I myself have been growing at 850 feet above sea level in challenging conditions for 27 years now, 11 years here at Quercus and 16 years on the other side of the Pentlands.
We are always happy to help you understand your new growing conditions, what makes it so different from your previous garden and what plants you can grow. As you can see if you visit the nursery and gardens, we have 100’s of plants that love our exposed, wet clay soil site, so all is not lost. Let us help you learn your new conditions and what plants should grow for you.
Into July and the gardens are looking great both at home and in the nursery and standing up to all this horrible wind and rain remarkably well, thank goodness. Which also goes to prove just how tough our plants are. We are continuing in the stock beds and Isabel has finished A's, B's and C's which is fantastic progress. I have managed to escape I's and now find myself in a sea of hemerocallis, all with big fat buds, so if you fancy a day lily, they will be flowering soon. Did you know you can also eat day lily buds? 
I have also finished tidying and potting the shrubs and climbers that live in tunnel 2, so that’s all of T1 and T2 tidied, propagated, sorted which has taken since February, which seems a long time I hear you say, but
this is my job for the first 2 hours of most days, so little by little it gets done before I need to be out front for customers. Now that we are half way through the season its time to go back around again and propagate all the best sellers so we have enough stock for next year. The ever turning plant conveyor belt!
I have also started weeding the shrub stock beds, this is a behind the scenes area when the shrubs we propagate live until they go out to sales. It’s a bit overgrown and weedy so I’ll get it done in between other things over the next week, and most importantly before those pesky weeds start seeding around.
I’ve been putting lots of end of batches and interesting plants in the sales area, so have a good look around when you visit for these wee limited number gems, they are all part of the stream lining and reviewing
of our stock list so once they are gone, that’s it.
Other than that we’ve been helping our lovely hardy customers who’ve braved the rain this week, Fiona has been potting up lots of cuttings done earlier in the year and I’ve been lifting seedlings from the garden to pot up and put in the tunnels for next years stock.
Never fear good weather is forecast to return during the week, but its good to not have the pressure of watering the nursery all the time.
We spent our days off last week at home as we’ve lots to catch up on and I’m knackered and need a couple of slower days at home. Once domestic chores were done we went for a walk this afternoon and did the 7 mile loop from the house along the north side of the Tweed to Lyne Station then across the Tweed and back along the south side and back through the old tunnel.
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