More Plant Retail Therapy

I had said to Allan that I may go over to watch some of his BEST match against Ed Rossiter today, so Allan had said to come for lunch.

So I made plans to visit Edrom nursery in the afternoon, having spent the evening before going through their website and making a wish list. I had specific requirements. Plants must either provide ground cover (although not be invasive) to fill in gaps in LB 11 and 10, or be capable of filling the little nooks and crannies. Pluses awarded for plants that will be easily propagated, either by division or will layer root. And they had to be in my colour range of white/pink/purple/blue...

As it was I arrived at Allan's about 11.15 a.m. just in time to see the last four moves of the match, Allan winning 8-2. While Allan took Ed to the railway station I spent a pleasant half an hour wandering around his garden, and then we had lunch when Allan got back.

Then off to the real business of the day. I got several of the plants on my list, and a couple of impulse buys, but there were three plants that I had earmarked as really wanting that I could not see. The lady in the payment hut took my list with the three ringed plants over the road to see whether they had them in stock. She came back five minutes later with three pots newly labelled up for me.

So my latest Edrom nursery plants:

Cyananthus microphyllus

Phlox Nettleton variation

Pratia angulata Treadwellii

Rhodohypoxis baurii Confecta (impulse buy, but looks as if I can get several plants from the pot)

Saxifraga Silver Velvet (impulse buy - a large variety with the most amazing purple and silver foliage)

Saxifraga farreri

Saxifraga paniculata Lutea

Scutellaria indica parviflora

Sempervivum Rosie

Sempervivum Triste

Teucrium pyrenaicum

Veronica prostrata Lilac Time

I had also wanted some gentians that I couldn't find but decided I would drop in at Lamberton on my way home as they are one of their specialities. Not only did I succeed with the gentians but also managed to find a few others that met my criteria:

Campanula cochlearifolia 'Alba'

Erodium 'Cezembre'

Gentian Bernardii

Gentian Silken Seas

Gentian septemfida lagodechiana

Saxifraga fortunei 'Rubrifolia'

Sedum spathifolium 'Cape Blanco'

Action-Packed Weekend

MIL and FIL arrived on Thursday afternoon, Colin and Maureen on the Friday.

On the Friday evening MIL, FIL, Maureen and I went to see The Resurrection Man at Coldingham village hall whilst Paul and Colin went into Duns to watch the rally stage through the town. The original two nights of the play, written by local hero Mike Fenty, had been when I was in Malta. They had sold out so this extra performance was to satisfy local demand. A good time was had by all.

On to Saturday with fingers crossed. The weather forecast had been for heavy rain but the morning dawned as overcast, not too cold and, most importantly, dry. There were two planned stages past us, one in the morning then another mid afternoon. There was enough time between the two to allow people to get to us for our planned barbecue and get away again if they didn't want to watch the cars. As it turned out the morning stage was a damp squib - early in the running there was a bad accident with one of the cars around Billiemains and the stage was stopped. The barbecue, however, was a great success. And perfectly timed - we were just packing up and people thinking about heading home before the roads were re-shut when some light rain started to fall. Reg stayed on to watch the afternoon session - a good view from our patio and easy to dive back in to the sunroom if the weather deteriorated.

What could we do for entertainment on the Sunday? I had been planning an afternoon out with MIL and Maureen to Edrom and Lamberton nurseries but the rain had set in. However, it stopped late afternoon, the sun came out and a glorious evening followed on.

The question being asked was 'Have you seen the hole?'. Margaret had asked Paul so he had gone to look a few days earlier. The previous evening Paul and the dogs showed Colin. So Sunday evening we all had an expedition to take a look. Through the field just before the bridge and then turn left towards the river.

The first photographs I took could not convey the size of the hole, but this one gives an idea of the scale. We don't know what happened but are guessing that the river/burn backed up here when it flooded and then just carried away the soil when it receded again.

Colin and Maureen were going home the next day. I suggested to Maureen that we reschedule the garden nursery outing to the next morning, weather permitting, followed by a late lunch here and they depart in the afternoon. And so it came to pass...

We three set off around 10.30 a.m., with lunch scheduled for 2 p.m.

Edrom nursery first. I had never walked around their woodland plant garden before, but we were drawn in with the rhododendrons putting on a magnificent display. Then a browsing of the rockery and scree beds before on to the serious business. One slow walk around the plants and then the second pass with basket.

Plants bought, a drive across Coldingham moor to the A1 and back towards Berwick. All was going well until, rounding a corner, and traffic jam. Luckily this turned out to be road works/traffic lights - replacing a section of crash barrier - and we weren't held up for too long. Turn off shortly afterwards towards Lamberton. Some more purchases and enough time to explore the garden there before setting off for home over Lamberton moor. We had timed it to perfection, pulling up into the drive with a couple of minutes to spare.

I carried my first box of plants up to my bench, and Maureen brought the second one. Colin 'She's not bought all those plants has she?'. I quite truthfully replied that they were mine... her's were already stowed in their car :)

I couldn't get around to positioning/planting them yesterday. The latest excitement is that the Duns/Preston road was shut for resurfacing yesterday and the same appears to be true today. As a result the road past us is the diversion route! More than making up for the lack of cars from the rally. We even have a number 34 bus going past on a regular basis...

To get over my gardening withdrawal symptoms I weeded the herb bed yesterday evening. Oh what joy when I discovered baby lavender plants hiding in amongst the weeds. And the garlic chives that I sowed and had given up all hope of germinating were hiding in there.

The other ongoing entertainment has been the progress of my peas. I am now up to 31 germinated out of 36 sown. I don't think the missing 5 are going to come through now. But on the whole the ones that have made it are growing rapidly. They should be ready for planting out before the week is out.

Planning and Planting

After seventeen hours of work LB10 was completed yesterday lunchtime.

I celebrated by planting my contorted hazel into it.

And as I was sitting on the wall drinking a cup of coffee and admiring my work I thought 'I'll just clear up the stones and crud along the rest of the wall'. Three bucket loads just from the surface. And then I started to dig out a few more... And then I thought that I really should determine the bank edge of the path so that I would know how far back to clear the stones from the wall edge. And before I knew it it was 7 p.m. and LB9 was well underway.

I promised myself a reward day today. I spent yesterday evening scouring the plant catalogue of Edrom nursery and drew up a wish list. Armed with my list off I went this morning.

Back and forth along the benches I went looking for my plants. I started off quite well, sticking to the list, and picking what I thought was the best specimen. And then I went off list. I started a second basket for 'ooh - that's nice' plants. And then when I had been around all the plants about three times I did something rarely done - I put some back! I had given myself a limit of fifty quid, but obviously something was off on my radar as I came in three pounds under :(

Still, I was happy. Fifteen plants bought and the sun was shining so I put the car roof down. Three hours of entertainment from setting off to getting home.

On List
Prunus incisa kojo-no-mai
Cyananthus lobatus Giant Form
Lathyrus vernus
Brunnera Silver Wings
Hepatica nobilis
Clematis x cartmanii Moonbeam
Pieris japonica Little Heath
Off List
Primula Hall Barn Blue
Primula David Valentine
Corydalis flexuosa Purple Leaf
Ledodondron Arctic Tern
Picea glauca Alberta
Gentiana gracilipes
Veronica prostrata Lilac Time
Campanula cochlearifolia


I spent the afternoon placing them around LB10 and 11 before deciding on their final positions and planting them. I also kept my promise to Janet's hellebore.

Poor Penny had come along and ended up picking up more stones...

I ended the day having a slow meander around the rest of the garden spotting what was new, what needs to be done and what plants I can divide/transplant into the new planting areas. And what is not happening - no neat little rows of veggie seedlings yet...

Afternoon Out at Edrom Nursery

Today is not a gardening day - dull, windy, cold, drizzle turning to occasional rain. So I did the next best thing - I went to Edrom nursery. Jean declined the offer to accompany me and there was no answer when I phoned Anne. Oh well, I coped just fine on my own. I had a list...

I got the two daphnes (retusa and cheriton) and the juniper squamata blue star from the list. I also wanted a dwarf rhodo collection and a roscoea collection but the owners of the nursery were away at a show so I left a note with my phone number.

And then I went off-piste...

Three more pulmonarias:
Blue ensign (plain green leaves with the bluest of blue flowers), Diana Clare (silvery green leaves with dark blue flowers) and
Opal (silver blotched leaves with pale blue/lilac flowers)
I am hoping that I will be able to divide these in the autumn to increase my stock.

Two primulas:
Dark Rosaleen (dark green/purplish leaves red/pink flowers) and
David Valentine (mauve flowers)

Dryas suendermanii (cream flowers)

Fritillaria acmopetala (yellow flowers with maroon markings)

Aruncus aethusifolius (creamy white flowers)

Cassiope martensiana (small strange looking foliage with lots of small creamy white bell-shaped flowers)

Arisarum proboscideum (dark brown/purple spathes)

Andromeda polifolia compacta (pink flowers)

Cardamine waldsteinii (white flowers)

Dicentra cuccularia (white)

Aquilegia saximantana (blue flowers)

and something unlabelled that the lady on the till thinks begins with a P and was £2.50 - sold! If anyone knows what this is please leave a comment telling me :)

I had just relocated them to top of LB8A when a car came by slowly. A lady got out - I assumed it was someone who was lost, but no, she introduced herself as an avid reader of my blog and had come past to see my garden!

Note to Judy: Sorry but it was blowing a gale and raining and you took me by surprise, else I would have shown you around. If you want to come by in better weather I will give you a tour :)

We Are Not A Garden Centre...

Part of my daily routine is to check the weather forecast on the BBC website. I don't know why. It is rarely correct and even the 24-hour forecast disagrees with the daily summary, which always seems to take the most pessimistic view possible. It has certainly been a lot hotter than they predicted.

So on Sunday afternoon I had the roof down on the car on the way to Jean's for our postponed trip to the fuchsia nursery. A friend of Jean's had told her she had been disappointed on her visit but we weren't. There was a small tea shop, some tables out the front with fuchsias and a few other plants and in the back a much larger selection of, surprise surprise, fuchsias. The proprietor was quite helpful - Jean is not backward in coming forward and had collared him. We both bought one and then continued on to Edrom nursery.

Edrom nursery used to be in Edrom but is now located on the road out of Coldingham to Coldingham moor. I had my first (of usually half a dozen) cars stopping on Saturday when I was gardening to ask me where it was...

We were like kids in a sweet shop. I stopped myself going too mad as I do not intend to plant up LB7 until next year. I am guessing that many of the problems in the long bank are due to it being planted before the nettles/ground elder were eradicated.

We had both been adding plants to our baskets and were 'just going to have a quick walk around the greenhouse on the other side of the road' when an elderly lady came out the gate and crossed the road towards us. It was not open to the public - so is presumably where they propagate the plants. Just as well as we already had more than we had planned. I ended up buying three different varieties of pulmonaria (the ones I brought up with me seem to absolutely thrive here), an allium (hopefully actually about five in the pot - I will find out at some point) and another dwarf rhododendron. Jean bought a lot more. I will certainly be back next year - for plant lovers it as an absolute dream of a nursery.

We followed her in to the wooden hut to pay. I noticed the gold medal from this year's Gardener's World Live. We got chatting and she has given us both one of the mail order catalogues, where I see they won Best in Show at Harrogate last year. Whilst we were paying a car pulled in with some tourists who asked if it was a garden centre as they wanted to buy a heather. You could hear the disdain in the voice when she replied that 'No it was not' and that the garden centre at East Ord would sell that kind of thing.

I spent yesterday going back over the section of LB7 that I had 'cleared'. The dogs were very well behaved in my absence despite me being late for all their appointments.

So I have now lined the edge with large cobble stones gleaned from the building site, dug over the area with a fork, removing a lot more nettle roots, and started putting in stepping stones at strategic places. (Jean had mentioned some fancy foot-shaped ones at the Kelso show but one thing I do not need to spend money on here is stones). The slate I have been digging out is being pushed back in to make small planting areas and will hopefully keep the bank fairly stable.

I have various splinters in my fingers but only a couple are sore when I knock them, and I seem to have insect bites of varying degrees of itchiness in a variety of places :(