Last Post 783 days 20 hours ago
31 March 2011 20:37:46
Temperature good, maybe not as high as yesterday and no rain so with more time available I got at the garden. The piece of ground which I had reclaimed was such that the Mirabilis jelapa went down into a suitable place there. The first of the rhubarb was picked 2 kg. This will be made into jam to night or later. I went to Woodies in the afternoon. Bought one tray of Aubretia, 4 plants, Bellis (1 tray for €1) Greyhound cabbage seed and lettuce seed (All the year round), tomato seed (Beefsteak, Faworyt) and wildlife seed (free). A bed was made for the cabbage seed and lettuce seed and the seeds sown. The Aubretia was planted in the rockery and the Bellis was planted in the portion of the new piece of ground that remained. I am looking forward to a better garden than last year. this time last year, I was just out of hospital and had to take it easy for some time. i retired from the garden shortly after eight. I might have got more done but watched Dermot O'Neill at 7 p.m. and enjoyed it. He is making great progress despite his health position.
30 March 2011 20:23:23
Those who met me at Johnstown thought at times that I was asleep but it was a problem that was dealt with to day. I had an appointment with a Dr. Fiona Molloy in Beaumont Hospital. I was to get injections around the eyes. On account of that I was to go to Dublin by train rather than by car. I was up about half an hour earlier which gave me plenty time to get to the railway station. I parked the car and went to the parking meter which I found was out of operation. I had been delayed such that I had to hurry to the booking office to get my ticket. I told the booking clerk about the problem, gave him the number, make and colour of the car. Very soon I was on the train and relaxed more so than in the car. I got to Heuston Station, went to Abbey Street by Luas (the first time I was on one) and then on tho Eden Quay where I got the bus to Beaumont. I met Dr. Molloy and got the injections and then made my way back to Heuston and back to Carlow. When I arrived at the car park, I could see that the car was clamped. I reported the case to a booking clerk not the one I met in the morning. He got me on to the company that deals with the parking and when the operator arrived he stated that he would not remove the clamp until I paid €130. His argument was that while that meter did not work, two others did. Eventually I paid and while my train fare was free, I finished paying more. The effect was that while it turned out to be a lovely day although a bad start, I got nothing worth while done in the garden. The good effect was that the eyes are much better now and should have less trouble driving and also not give the impression that I was asleep..
29 March 2011 19:32:20
Most plants including shrubs are doing well. One shrub which seems to show little or no growth is Hypericum hidcote. every year since 1985 it has been excellent but at the moment there is hardly any sign of growth. I will have to get pruning it and see if it will do any good.
29 March 2011 19:27:14
After a great spell of dry and sunny weather, the rain came at last. The rain was welcome as it can be impossible to water everything. Also at night in this kind of weather there is no frost so GROWTH which is what we want now. I noticed the rockery where i had been working is improved immensely. Plants are standing up. The lawn got the fertilizer at the right time. I am looking forward to good growth here. I believe we will get a fair bit of rain in the next few days and we can look forward to good results.
28 March 2011 21:04:53
The magazine arrived by post to day. So busy in the garden that I hardly got a chance to read it.
28 March 2011 20:30:29
Isn't it great to have the summer time once more. Now we can work in the garden until 8 p.m. or later. I retired from the garden at 8.15 p.m. Knowing that the rain was on the way, I spread NET Nitrate on the front lawn and now look forward to plenty of growth. Some of the bulbs I got from Bakker were planted. Some digging was done in the front garden and weeds removed, some Ajuga was lifted and transferred to the rockery. I am now about to watch the new gardening programme.
27 March 2011 19:28:06
Wellie & Phil
Photo taken in Wellie's Garden
26 March 2011 17:37:02
Rockery
Spent almost all of the afternoon at this. There were lots of weeds especially scutch. This was the site of a poplar tree which came down last year. It is still in its infancy.
26 March 2011 14:44:31
Isn't it great. The clocks move forward to night. Now we will have daylight at 8 p.m. Plenty time now for the garden especially for those who have to go to work.
25 March 2011 19:18:59
Attended the Country Market this morning, sold nothing. The plants I had for sale included the first of the tomatoes. They should be much bigger this day week. In the afternoon, attended a meeting in Tullow and by 3.30 p.m. was free to get at the garden. Most of the work was pruning a considerable amount of Senecio. Like last year it had been hit by the cold weather. it should come on again. Fertilizer is ready to spread on the lawn in a few days time when the weather is about to break.
25 March 2011 18:50:42
Tulip
Up to recently there seemed to be no sign of a tulip blooming. Now I am looking forward to quite a lot.
24 March 2011 20:51:48
Morning Glory and Antirrhinum
In January, I sowed some antirrhinum seeds. They came from last year's flowers. January and February and perhaps some of March passed by and no sign of the seedlings so I took it for granted that the seeds were dead I disturbed the compost a bit and sowed Morning Glory in same. To my surprise up came the Morning Glory and antirrhinums at about the same time. You never can tell.
24 March 2011 20:20:24
Magnolia stellata
We seem to be spoiled with this glorious weather, really warm during the day but a bit chilly at night. Noting that at this time last year I had a hernia but thank God they did a great job on it. I tested it to day by buying 50 kg of NET Nitrate, in Glanbia. I found that I was able to lift the bag of fertilizer from the boot of the car. Some of it went to give nitrogen to the rhubarb and some to the back lawn. I will probably do the front lawn to morrow. Magnolia stellata at the back has made good progress. I watched Dermot O'Neill's programme this evening and enjoyed it. His garden has made great progress.
23 March 2011 23:12:23
Plants from Bakker
A box arrived by currier to day from Bakker. There were two Chilean Jasmine, pink and red together with hanging basket cost €9.95; 6 Mirabillis Jalapa cost €9.50. There was a free gift: wooden well plus pump and bulbs. No instructions were given. Can anybody help?
22 March 2011 18:15:10
Heather
Heather in front of house.
22 March 2011 17:56:40
The words of Haydn in the Seasons relating to Summer, even though it is still Spring. What could one do when free but be out in the garden enjoying the sunshine. So many things to do and the conditions ideal. The tomatoes which are potted up and potted on are in the greenhouse. At about 9 a.m. the temperature was 30 degrees C so vents had to be opened and the blower operating giving cold air. Already new shoots are appearing on the Cordylines whereas last year they did not appear until about July. Two rose beds were sprayed with fungicide. For some years I had been using Dithane but this time I used Nimrod-T. Quite a number of roses are prone to black spot. Others are not. I will see how the roses behave using this fungicide. Dermot O'Neill has suggested using bread soda, Phostregen and wash up liquid but Gerry does not agree. He says it is no use. Some tidying was done to the heathers which are getting bigger every year. They are Erica as Caluna does not tolerate alkaline conditions.
21 March 2011 21:15:36
December like the previous January destroyed all above ground. While the plant grew well again the arctic weather in December did the job on it again. I put one of the plants I recovered into the greenhouse and this one survived. Now that the mild weather is here, it is out for good this season.
21 March 2011 20:05:22
Forsythia
Last year the Forsythia was not good but this year has made up for it.
21 March 2011 20:02:30
Campanula
This is the first of the Campanula potted up. I never grew it before but last Summer at Rachels I was presented with a sample of this planted so I bought the seeds and now I am potting it up. There is plenty more to be potted.
21 March 2011 18:04:10
Magnolia stellata
Isn't it great, days and nights are the same length. It was a real spring day here, no cold although a bit cloudy. After the rain on Saturday and temperatures up. There should be plenty of growth and great to be outside, with temperatures climbing. Most of the time to day was taken up at flower beds. Plenty of moss removed from some, new shoots coming on the Cordylines at ground level. Glory of Snow looking good although I could have planted them closer, Forsythia looking glorious and Magnolia stellata, almost open.
20 March 2011 20:53:56
A lovely day, travelled to Dublin leaving at about 1 p.m. Meeting lasted over three hours. It was the same venue where I met Liga last year. Left Dublin at about 7 p.m. and home at about 8.30 p.m. After the rain on Saturday night and good temperature to day there should be good growth. While I was not out much to day i will make up for it to morrow. In the morning, I was unable to get the computer working. No problem now. Did anybody else have this happen to them?
19 March 2011 19:18:36
Yesterday was a lovely day for the garden. I had expected that to day would be even better considering I would have all of the afternoon free to give to it. I got a fair bit of digging done and must say that I am ahead of last year. A piece of ground was not touched last year but I got well into it this time. At about 4.30 p.m. the rain came. While it was welcome, I would have liked if it waited another hour or more. The lawn needed it as did some flowers. We will be getting a rise in temperature over the next few days and probably no frost. It is raining now at 7.15 p.m. and the roses which got fertilizer also rhubarb and vegetable seed should do well.
18 March 2011 19:34:13
Due to other comitments I was unable to get at the garden until about 4 p.m. What a change, the soil in top class condition. I dug the bed where I had the Japanese onions. There was hardly one left after the Arctic conditions in December. Now that bed is ready for something else. To morrow I hope to get some more items planted and Met Éireann tells us that the temperature will be well into the teens maybe 15 degrees so we will soon forget about the frost and snow. The temperature in the greenhouse was up to 30+ before I got the fan working.
17 March 2011 17:58:17
Did you hear about the woman who served very weak tea to her husband who was very fond of strong tea? He stated "I see that is Shamrock tea." She asked :"What is Shamrock tea, I know of Lyons, Barry's and a few more but never that brand." He replies "Three leaves."
17 March 2011 17:16:08
Shamrock
I have shown that in January I discovered a large piece of Shamrock in one of the rose beds. More recently I found plenty of same outside the front gate. We had a vigil a few miles away(Tinryland) and what I collected was more than enough for those who required same.
15 March 2011 23:46:49
What a disaster. The digital camera I use (Sony) was made in Japan. It has given me great pleasure since I bought it in 2006. When I look at it now I think of what has hit that country. I sowed Japanese onions late last August and looked forward to a good crop but the very cold weather in December had its effect, very few survived. Looking at the onion bed I now think of the thousands who died. God rest them.
15 March 2011 23:24:08
Spent some time removing ivy which had grown quite a lot. As a result some shrubs like Hydrangea, Flowering Currant and Berberis are now getting plenty of light. They would have had light excluded (not the Hydrangea) if I had not done the pruning. Isn't it great to see the stretch in the evenings, less than a week to the equinox. The solar lights in front are lighting well. I reported on pelargoniums in the greenhouse yesterday. To day the other lot of pelargoniums in a leanto at the back of the house were examined and most of them are sound.
14 March 2011 19:41:07
At this time of year, one can look at the Pelargoniums and see how they have survived the dormant season. About half of the plants were put into the greenhouse and the others into a leanto behind the kitchen. Normallyin the past, very few failed the test and were safe for the new season but only about half (in the greenhouse) survived this time. Nevertheless I still have plenty. Some were potted on and in the case of the others, the compost was put in around fruit bushes. To my surprise when I emptied a few pots which I thought had nothing but compost, what did I find but Freezies which were coming on. I had put them into the greenhouse late in the year, so I am looking forward to something here.These plus Fuchsias were watered. the temperature to day in the greenhouse reached 30 degrees.
13 March 2011 16:18:12
rhubarb
Rhubarb almost ready to use.
11 March 2011 23:04:53
Not the weather one would expect for outdoor work due to rain and no sun. Nevertheless the rain was welcome. Vegetable seeds which went dawn during the past week were sure to benefit. I had done nothing in the house due to the good weather so some house work was done. I attended the Country Market in the morning and travelled to tullow in the afternoon for a meeting. All of the seedlings sown are doing well. I will probably pot on some tomatoes to morrow. Campanula which I never grew before is doing well.
10 March 2011 19:01:10
Tomatoes
These tomatoes were sown on January 1. Now they are ready to be potted on.
10 March 2011 18:47:56
Helleborus
Plenty of blooms on this Hellebore. Has the time come to divide it?
08 March 2011 22:44:41
Having bought some seeds, I got some more seeds from my sister in Dublin and again some from Jacinta, after her good offer. Some antirrhinum seeds from last year's flowers were planted early in January and as they failed, I sowed some more. They like the other types are now germinated. I am going to have some work laid out potting up what I have. I was listening to Gerry Daly on RTE Lyric FM on Saturday morning and he spoke about the idea of sowing your own seed for flowers and vegetables. At present I have parsnips and beet root as well as tree lupins sown and perhaps more of the garden tilled than last year. How fortunate we have been having so much dry weather. I can remember some years when we had so much rain and were waiting for the odd fine day. I know that there is a change coming but we need the drop of rain and mild nights.
07 March 2011 20:21:15
Cymbidium and Denrobium
Totally overcast on Saturday and Sunday but to day Monday how different. Plenty of digging to day and soil really good. Parsnips were sown on Saturday evening after an enjoyable afternoon in Johnstown. To day beet root was sown as well as onion sets. In certain areas where on Friday and perhaps Saturday the soil was not yet ready to work on but to day, lovely. As I mentioned, over three months ago I had builders here, putting facia and soffit on the house. The small pieces of PVC were recovered and put at the edge of the beds with the names of the vegetables marked on them. I planted in the rockery Saxifrage and Gallium Odoratum which I got from members at Johnstown. Rudbecka Goldsturm has to go down yet. I will be looking for a suitable place for it. A Fuchsia also given to me there is in the greenhouse for the moment. I would like to know who was so generous to give them to me. In the same rockery, several pieces of Arabis are showing white flowers and all around, the daffodils are coming to bloom every day. Helleborus nigra is in bloom now. I have it some time and perhaps I could divide it soon. Inside, I have Cymbidium and Denrobium which Rachel gave me.
05 March 2011 20:33:21
What a day, not that sun was shining but meeting so many that I never met in the flesh before. Interesting how some travelled so far, Periwinkle, Hosta, Nuala and perhaps some others. All were in great humour and we need so much of that to day, unlike what we might otherwise. Gardening has that effect. Thanks to all who gave me plants and I regret that I did not bring more with me. Thanks Rachel for organising the get together. I felt that Saturday was a day I wanted in the garden but it was worth while meeting the members. Actually after I got home, I had some work done in the garden, sowing parsnips and digging another portion of the garden. I will treasure the plants, some which were put aside for me especially the two orchids from Rachel. The next time we get together, I should bring along much more plants. Also don't get a wrong impression that I was asleep part of the time. It is simply a case that with very bright light the eyes tend to close. I am to meet a consultant in connection with this.
04 March 2011 22:18:19
First Daffodils
Attended the Country Market in the morning. Very little custom. Off to Tullow for a meeting shortly after. Got home about 3 p.m. and got at the garden. Several beds prepared and some new ground tilled. I hope to get to Johnstown to morrow so there are the plus and minus, meet the group but miss the garden. Took a photo of my first daffodils. There are plenty more and will be open within a few days.
03 March 2011 20:09:13
Started quite cold here to day, temperature -1C at about 9 a.m., seemed that it would last all day. Then around mid day the sun came out so it was possible to get at some digging and making seed beds. Yesterday was so different, I fed the roses with 7-6-17 and raked it in. Plenty of digging was done in the back, some wildlife seed (Butterflies and Bees) raked into blank spaces in the front garden. Finished off the painting of the front wall. Great weather for same.
02 March 2011 23:59:13
Wall looks better now
This morning I tackled the wall at entrance. It had been in a bad state an the paint was scraped off. It remained like that almost free of paint until to day. I stared that it was emulsion but realised this morning that it was Weather Shield. Jacinta told me that emulsion was not the type of paint for it. I actually bought a drum of Weather Shield but it was never opened. I took out a drum of white paint and realised that what I had used was the proper stuff, the Weather Shield.
02 March 2011 23:50:30
Crocus in Hydrangea
This crocus by accident came in surrounded by hydrangea.
01 March 2011 19:10:11
Tomatoes
These tomatoes Alicante well advanced. They were sown on the first day of the year. I have other seed Gardeners Delight. They should go down to morrow.
01 March 2011 17:13:12
Hippeastrum
Yesterday I noticed a bud appearing in a Hippeastrum bulb. I am looking forward to a flower in it this year. I did not get one last year.
01 March 2011 17:06:46
Some more snowdrops were divided to day and I should have the daffodils in bloom this week. Some gladioli were planted but many more not planted yet. i am looking around for a place where I can plant them. Yesterday I sowed one packet of Wildlife garden seeds. I am about to sow some more now. The seeds are described as Butterflies and Bees mix. It reminds me of the song which won the Eurovision contest back in 1970 All kinds of everything.