Rebuilding a nursery - Copton Ash

[Tim Ingram]

My thanks David. I became interested in eucalyptus (and S. Hemisphere plants in general) because I worked for six months in Tasmania in the 1980's, but we planted a few too many in the garden, so we should have plenty of firewood for a few years to come! Some of the other woodlanders (such as epimediums and erythroniums) are now beginning to make an appearance, so it will be interesting to watch spring progress.

[Tim Ingram]

A few sunny days, seeds are germinating (including weeds in the garden!), and there is a need for the new set of frames in the nursery to line out young plants. This is the beginning, now almost finished, and gives about 50 feet of frame space. The wood is tanalised timber saved from renovating the old nursery area we used to rent next door but we will need to make new frame lights for next winter - an interesting joinery exercise. Slowly the range of plants propagated is broadening and it is always nice to see serried ranks of young plants lined out in spring.

[Tim Ingram]

Faversham seems to be getting more colourful! This is the market square and Guildhall at the 'Best of Faversham' market yesterday. The local plant trader has a good spot under the Guildhall. Our stand is a little more modest but we made a small display of alpines and bulbs and there was a lot of interest and a good following for the market. The two of us growing plants have such different things that we are not really in competition, and you could say that the 'Bookshop' syndrome might come into play (like at Hay-on-Wye) if even more growers came along too. The market has really perked up the town and is a great credit to the organiser, Grahame, who is up at 5.00am in the morning getting the canopies put up and generally sorting out the layout. We are very grateful.

[Tim Ingram]

There is a lot of imagination and vitality associated with this, like many refreshed enterprises. What is particularly stimulating is how so many traders are selling home produce - it makes the market very genuine - and it also is cosmopolitan, here with Samovar food and two Russian ladies (echoes of the Forum methinks). The local butcher is a touch more interesting than Tesco just around the corner - a good collection of game including pheasant and rabbit (they also make very good pies!). For those with a sweet tooth the spring special from 'Kate Makes Chocolates' is 'Gardener's Delight' (I would send a sample up north but they are full of cream and don't travel well - and anyway I have eaten them all!).

[Tim Ingram]

In the garden spring is really getting going - many plants beginning to flower (so we hope Faversham people might walk up the road to discover us too). These are a few, the last - Adoxa moschatellina - is a fascinating and modest native woodlander which I had from Nigel Rowland (Longacre Plants), definitely one of the very best nurseries for sylvan species and ferns. Primula 'Maisie Michael' was from Aberconwy - a golden version of 'Garryarde Guinevere' and equally appealing.

[Tim Ingram]

For anyone who propagates plants this is an especially busy time as seedlings and cuttings need potting, and the nursery is steadily consolidating in between weeding and shredding after the winter storms. The new nursery frame is rapidly filling up and more space will be needed soon. There is a nice batch of Origanum dictamnus in here, not always so easy to propagate, but perhaps the most striking of the genus?(except maybe for Marcus' great find shown elsewhere on the Forum) The raised bed containing a whole range of stock plants is looking good and really benefitted from its winter cover. One of the most interesting plants on here, just budding up, is Catanache caespitosa, with short stemmed yellow flowers (will show a picture when they open).

[Tim Ingram]

The new Mediterranean bed is growing out nicely but notice the large plant of Sophora tetraptera growing above it! This is spectacular in flower but as it goes over every flower and all the previous year's leaves are steadily dropping onto the bed below (in my defence the sophora was planted a long time after the initial planting of the bed over twenty-five years ago) - we have devised a simple way of overcoming this problem using a fine netting frame that used to cover a seed frame to keep off birds and mice. The yellow shrub at the left-hand end, flowering incredibly freely, is Corokia cotoneaster, a really superb garden plant.

[Tim Ingram]

We have an old 50ft cedar dutch-light house which stupidly used a less rot resistant timber for its base and is in need of quite a bit of repair. For the time being though it gives a good covered area for young plants, and the second picture shows a nice batch of Jeffersonia diphylla seedlings in the foreground (one seedling pot down, three to go). Elsewhere the pile of shreddings resulting mostly from the huge eucalyptus blown down at Christmas is gradually being reduced and is providing nice material to cover the woodland paths.

[Maggi Young]

No two ways about it in my  opinion - a shredder is one of the most useful machines for the garden.
It must be very satisfying for you, Tim, to see all those plants for sale growing along so well.

The problem with the dutch house is a tricky one - wonder if there might be a possibility to jack it up perhaps bit by bit, to replace the under-pinnings?  It's the sort of puzzle Ian seems to enjoy contemplating..... don't know why 

[Tim Ingram]

Finally a couple of plants to give a little cheer - Edraianthus niveus in a trough - nicely camouflaged against the stones! (my wife didn't even notice it) and the very beautiful double form of Trillium grandiflorum, a hugely generous gift from Sheila Brown (and it will be while before I dare dig this up and divide it!).

It will be very interesting to see the attendance at the new AGS/RHS London Show this coming Sunday, and nice if it stimulates significant new excitement amongst south-eastern gardeners in these plants. We might stop off at the Chelsea Physic Garden too and have a look at the famous 'volcanic rock' garden that dates back to Joseph Banks... and then back home for more work on the nursery.

(Maggi - just seen your reply. The shredder is brilliant, but exhausting, and gloves seem to always disappear when you need them! The greenhouse will need something like jacking up, but step by step as you say, so that the old wood can be removed and fresh properly tanalised wood put in its place - I have various ideas but no time at the moment).

[Maggi Young]

Super close-up shot of Edraianthus niveus, Tim - showing its fuzzy, cobwebby nature.
ZZ  wrote about it in the IRG of August 2011
Did you get seed from Mojmír Pavelka  or spot the plant in the Czech garden visits after the conference ?

[Tim Ingram]

I think it was seed from Mojmir - I'm trying as many of the genus as I can discover, but couldn't quite go to seed of the true E. owerinianus which was offered earlier this winter! The first time this appears at a Show will be a revelation.

[David Nicholson]

Very interesting Tim. It shows us just how much work is involved in running a small nursery. I'm pretty sure I couldn't be organised enough to cope with it.

[Tim Ingram]

Now I understand how rare Edraianthus niveus is Maggi - thank you for the link to the IRG. I only have the one plant but will pollinate it and hope to get good seed set, it is certainly very distinctive. There are some beautiful pictures in that edition of the IRG, especially the ice-blue Onosma which is such an interesting and frustrating genus. Some time spent looking more closely at the IRG from when it was started would be well spent!

[Maggi Young]

Next issue of the IRG, online from late tonight, is number 52 - so quite a bit of reading there for windswept rainy days, Tim.
IRG 52  describes  new Crocus species from Janis Ruksans - not to be missed, I think.