September 2013 News from the Nursery

From June this year we have been potting everything on the nursery in peat free compost.
For 2 years we have been using a biological (instead of chemical) control against vine weevil grubs, incorporated in the compost by our supplier. So far the results are good and we have had no species of plants take a dislike to it.

The coming winter will complete the first season of peat free, so all the results will be in by then. We are pleased so far and the nursery is full with late summer perennials and flowering grasses. Best of all heaving with butterflies including Clouded Yellows of which we had none last year and moths. The migrant Silver Y and Humming Bird Hawkmoth are back again in some numbers.
Huge bumblebees are a bit of a hazard - they object to dead heading and get flustered if thrown into a pile of almost over flowers and get buried!

Sales have been good for July and August althou gh they usually drop due to a) holidays
and b)the garden was pepped up in the spring after any winter losses or just an inspirational ''its spring'' sort of urge.

Although the weather is still lovely the lawns seem to have recovered, so we must have had sufficient rainfall to satisfy their thirst.
Borders can be dry though and perhaps some nice gentle rain would be welcome.

The shrubby Salvias are flowering well and will continue until it gets into winter.
Some varieties we have available in 2 litre pots and others like the delicious dark red Dyson's Crimson are in 9cm pots ready to pot on, plant out or put in a tub for late colour.