Millions Of Plants

Is 14.4.14 any sort of palindrome? I remembered to notice, anyway.

If you have admired the floral displays in many of our towns from John o' Groats to Land's End, or purchased similar plants in a garden centre, it is likely that the plants were grown here.

The U3A Gardening Group 3 paid a visit behind the scenes at Pentland Plants this afternoon, guided by one of the family (who also appears on the BBC Scotland Beechgrove Garden programme ) Carolyn Spray.

In the nursery we were impressed by the automated systems, which save many man-hours of pricking-out and transplanting, were irrigated by programmed sprinkler, and learned about the computerised worksheet system that prompts the timing of every process, from seed-ordering to delivery, monitored by the barcoded labels printed as the seeds are sown (the white labels seen in the photo are purely to avoid staff bending over or lifting the trays to read these). Even the heating is generated by their own Biomass plant.

Make no mistake, this is a big, slick, organised business, but one which retains the friendly, family-run face of the garden centre. And the café is superb.