The bluebells are out and so are our visitors, flocking to see us in astonishing numbers. It was our NGS day at the weekend and we raised £1,000 - not bad for a little place.
Today's propagation workshop was booked up weeks ago and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves - like big kids in a compost sand pit. And who wouldn't?
On the upside, group visit tomorrow, Bank Holiday weekend coming up, plants flying out of the door, Tatton Show place confirmed, veg plot really popular. On the downside, I have missed two important college sessions and have seriously painful toothache. Two nurofen lasts an hour, and I spend the next three holding my face and counting the hours to my dentist appointment. Joy.
I'm also doing a morning demonstration on Manchesters' Channel M on Tuesday. Hopefully my face will be fixed by then and I'll be able to smile without wincing.
That's all folks - see addition to the Corrections entry re Geranium himalayense 'Plenum'.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Clarifications and corrections.....
To the couple who bought a Dahlia 'Bishop of Auckland' a couple of weeks back. We somehow managed to get the tuber batch labels mixed up and now that they are sending up shoots I'm certain it is Dahlia 'Honka'. If you read this, do drop by for a swap. Sorry!
To the couple who asked for a piece of Lamium orvale and I said I thought it was a bit invasive. It isn't. If the piece of rooted material I dug up for you isn't it, please drop in for some seed later in the year.
To the man who wanted to know what the tulip in the scree bed is - it's Tulipa clusiana var. chrysantha.
To anyone who has bought Geranium himalayense 'Plenum'. Really sorry but these have started flowering in the tunnels and are not the the double flowers that they should be. We bought them in as new stock and we'll raise the problem with the supplier. If you are dropping by, do call in for a refund.
To the couple who asked for a piece of Lamium orvale and I said I thought it was a bit invasive. It isn't. If the piece of rooted material I dug up for you isn't it, please drop in for some seed later in the year.
To the man who wanted to know what the tulip in the scree bed is - it's Tulipa clusiana var. chrysantha.
To anyone who has bought Geranium himalayense 'Plenum'. Really sorry but these have started flowering in the tunnels and are not the the double flowers that they should be. We bought them in as new stock and we'll raise the problem with the supplier. If you are dropping by, do call in for a refund.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Bluebells!
The bluebells have been emerging slowly for a few days, but as of today we have a proper show of flowers throughout the woods. I took these two pictures this evening:
So, I think we can declare the bluebell woods officially open!
Just as a reminder, it's our National Garden Scheme open day on Sunday. Entry fee for the gardens is £4.00 - no free entry to RHS members, all entry charges to the NGS charity.
So, I think we can declare the bluebell woods officially open!
Just as a reminder, it's our National Garden Scheme open day on Sunday. Entry fee for the gardens is £4.00 - no free entry to RHS members, all entry charges to the NGS charity.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Blogging from Martin Mere
Armed with my new iPhone, I thought I'd have a go at remote blogging. I'm at Martin Mere Wildfowl T
Reserve in Lancashire at a plant fair along with six other specialist nurseries. The weather is perfect,swallows are zipping overhead and the company is great. I'll try and post a picture in a mo.
Reserve in Lancashire at a plant fair along with six other specialist nurseries. The weather is perfect,swallows are zipping overhead and the company is great. I'll try and post a picture in a mo.
Friday, April 17, 2009
The joy of rain
Monday night's welcome downpour has brought the garden to life with an almost instant greening effect. I spent Wednesday lifting a final batch of plants for division and it was easy work - the soil felt soft and giving, roots falling away from soil effortlessly.
The greenhouse is stuffed with germinating seeds, amongst which are a few little treasures I've never grown before from seed - Orlaya grandiflora, Ammi majus, Lobelia tupa, Salvia patens and Rudbeckia maxima. All sown in peat free compost with a bit of vermiculite on top and all germinated beautifully. I'm especially excited about the Orlaya and the Ammi - I've tried both before, sown in autumn as recommended and got nowhere. These were all sown straight from the packet three weeks ago, and hey presto, seedlings.
The veg plot is coming on a treat too and is proving a hit with visitors who are eager to see what we are doing and share tips. The early peas are in now. The only problem so far is the parsnips - if they've germinated I can't tell them from the weeds!
A chicken update - our Copper Black has gone broody. Trouble is we sent next door's cockerel packing a few weeks ago, so she's sitting on infertile eggs. We're going to do a bit of egg swapping at the weekend to track down some fertile ones for her to sit on instead and see how she gets on.
The greenhouse is stuffed with germinating seeds, amongst which are a few little treasures I've never grown before from seed - Orlaya grandiflora, Ammi majus, Lobelia tupa, Salvia patens and Rudbeckia maxima. All sown in peat free compost with a bit of vermiculite on top and all germinated beautifully. I'm especially excited about the Orlaya and the Ammi - I've tried both before, sown in autumn as recommended and got nowhere. These were all sown straight from the packet three weeks ago, and hey presto, seedlings.
The veg plot is coming on a treat too and is proving a hit with visitors who are eager to see what we are doing and share tips. The early peas are in now. The only problem so far is the parsnips - if they've germinated I can't tell them from the weeds!
A chicken update - our Copper Black has gone broody. Trouble is we sent next door's cockerel packing a few weeks ago, so she's sitting on infertile eggs. We're going to do a bit of egg swapping at the weekend to track down some fertile ones for her to sit on instead and see how she gets on.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Easter sunshine - and a free bath...
The season is properly under way now - we opened the gardens on Friday and the first proper visitors arrived on the dot of opening time. The sunshine has helped, no doubt, and it's wonderful to see the nursery so full of people.
The garden starts quietly in April and gets better from now on. Though it is early, there are plenty of gems for visitors, notably the pulsatillas which are in full flush on the scree garden. The little woodland corner is at its best, full of pulmonarias, hellebores, narcissus and oxslips. I'll make this area much bigger one day.
The woodland corner
One of the many clumps of pulsatillas
And I've waited 10 years or so, but we now have our new hot water solar panels up and running - and what a clever bit of technology they are. Tonight I had a very hot bath fed from a storage tank heated by the sun to 65C. Yet the air temperature today only reached 15C. Want to know a little more....?
The solar panel is actually a set of vacuum tubes, each with a black finned tube running down the middle. These heat up in the sun and feed a mixture of water and anitfreeze to the storage tank (which replaced our old immersion tank) via a heat exchanger. The pump between the panel and tank only kicks in when the panel temperature is 2C higher than the tank. But get this. When the tank temp is below 50C, the hot water goes to our combi boiler to be brought up to normal tap temp of 55C (if the boiler is on). But when it's above 50C the hot water goes straight to the taps. The whole thing is super-insulated so in the morning there is still a tank of very hot water from the previous day. It's good - very good. We know it's good because there's a little display unit in the kitchen that tells us how hot the panels and the tank are. And if I fancy a bath I'll have one - blissfully guilt free.
Payback period? About 5 years for us - we're on oil here. Our supplier was Solar Flair in Warrington and I'd recommend them happily. Very helpful, prompt, careful and tidy.
The garden starts quietly in April and gets better from now on. Though it is early, there are plenty of gems for visitors, notably the pulsatillas which are in full flush on the scree garden. The little woodland corner is at its best, full of pulmonarias, hellebores, narcissus and oxslips. I'll make this area much bigger one day.
The woodland corner
One of the many clumps of pulsatillas
And I've waited 10 years or so, but we now have our new hot water solar panels up and running - and what a clever bit of technology they are. Tonight I had a very hot bath fed from a storage tank heated by the sun to 65C. Yet the air temperature today only reached 15C. Want to know a little more....?
The solar panel is actually a set of vacuum tubes, each with a black finned tube running down the middle. These heat up in the sun and feed a mixture of water and anitfreeze to the storage tank (which replaced our old immersion tank) via a heat exchanger. The pump between the panel and tank only kicks in when the panel temperature is 2C higher than the tank. But get this. When the tank temp is below 50C, the hot water goes to our combi boiler to be brought up to normal tap temp of 55C (if the boiler is on). But when it's above 50C the hot water goes straight to the taps. The whole thing is super-insulated so in the morning there is still a tank of very hot water from the previous day. It's good - very good. We know it's good because there's a little display unit in the kitchen that tells us how hot the panels and the tank are. And if I fancy a bath I'll have one - blissfully guilt free.
Payback period? About 5 years for us - we're on oil here. Our supplier was Solar Flair in Warrington and I'd recommend them happily. Very helpful, prompt, careful and tidy.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Sunshine and swallows
Three beautiful days have brought the Pulsatillas into full flower, helped the germination rate in the greenhouse no end and given me a bit of a watering headache. The frogspawn is now a writhing mass of tadpoles. And we've spotted the first swallows on the phone wires on the lane, about two weeks earlier than usual. What does this mean? A warm summer, by tradition. Let's hope so.
Veg Week is going swimmingly with plenty of inquisitive visitors dropping in to inspect our endeavours and pick up some supplies. Today's questions included 'Why did my Brussels sprouts go to seed?'. 'Can I grow beetroot in a container?' And 'sorry to ask a really stupid question, but how many cabbages do you get from one cabbage plant?'. Not a stupid question at all. How many peas from a pea plant? How many carrots from a carrot seed? How many beetroots from a beetroot seed? See what I mean? If you don't know, it's not obvious.
Most encouraging is the interest in green manures. We've had to take some packets of the racks for ourselves before they all go. We've sown four different ones in a section of the veg plot that we've reserved for brassicas. I've never used them before so this is an interesting experiment for me. I'll report back...
Back with some piccies when I get a mo with the camera
Veg Week is going swimmingly with plenty of inquisitive visitors dropping in to inspect our endeavours and pick up some supplies. Today's questions included 'Why did my Brussels sprouts go to seed?'. 'Can I grow beetroot in a container?' And 'sorry to ask a really stupid question, but how many cabbages do you get from one cabbage plant?'. Not a stupid question at all. How many peas from a pea plant? How many carrots from a carrot seed? How many beetroots from a beetroot seed? See what I mean? If you don't know, it's not obvious.
Most encouraging is the interest in green manures. We've had to take some packets of the racks for ourselves before they all go. We've sown four different ones in a section of the veg plot that we've reserved for brassicas. I've never used them before so this is an interesting experiment for me. I'll report back...
Back with some piccies when I get a mo with the camera
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