Dick's Journal

Kerria japonica Pleniflora is at its best here at my front gate. A bit cool to day compared with what we had, A lot of my time was taken up in the greenhouse potting Ricinus, Hollohocks Antirrhinums and late tomatoes (beefsteak). I am about to turn on the heat in the greenhouse as we will have a clear night and probably some frost which we hadn't last night.

Well sounds like it . It is the Vine I got as a present in 2006. Looking at it in March, well I haven't seen it like this so far. I am looking forward to good grapes this year.  And speaking of the word divine, wasn't the weather such that one would describe it in that way. I enjoyed the sun to day like I did for the last week. However, we will have it cooler from to morrow. I did some watering to the Helleborus which were taken from the parent plant and transplanted. The Irish Garden arrived this morning. Weather too good to read only a little.

Not so long ago I showed one flower of the Magnolia. To day we have a more complete view as several flowers have opened. What great weather especially that we have the extra hour in the evening. It was really warm here and it seems that to morrow will be similar. Flower beds have been cleaned of weeds, some pruning carried out, some digging at the back and every day further growth in the greenhouse. 

It was a beautiful day here in Carlow and my day was mainly in the garden. As well as finishing the rose beds, the grass which had been cut was taken to the compost heap. Some time was spent removing grass and weeds from around the trees. Some edging was carried out along the borders. Of course we had another hour in the evening and some watering was carried out on flower beds.   Some bedding plants were potted up. Greenhouse was watered. While it was warm for most of the day it was getting cold by 8 p.m. so I retired to the house.

All three rose beds complete including edging. What a lovely day, still March and nearly a week left.

These Bumble bees seem to be all over to day on the first day of Summer time. What a day Deo Gratias. 

The sun shone over us to day and gave us temperatures well above normal for this time of year. They tell us in Met Éireann that it will be even warmer to morrow and of course to morrow we will have Summer time. That will mean we can be outside at 8 p.m. To day, I really enjoyed the garden. There was more than half of the front lawn to be mown and that was done. Two rose beds are looking good now, not only is the edging done but also the weeding. I was so busy that I didn't have time to take a photo but to morrow is another day with more daylight in the evening so plenty time for photography. I have still to bring the grass cuttings to the compost heap and do the edging on the third rose bed. After tea, I got down to digging in the back garden and how easy it was to do that work. However I had to stop as the daylight was over at 7 p.m. After this with Summertime here it will be different . I hope to have more photos to morrow.

It was really lovely to day up to about 4 p.m. The sun shone and I found it warm. Two of the rose beds are complete. All of the early tomatoes are potted. Late in the afternoon we got little or no sun and it was less enjoyable. At one stage when the two rose beds were complete, i noticed a ladybird enjoying the sun. How welcome such a little creature can be.

Some work was done on a second rose bed as regards edging. I didn't quit finish it as it was a bit windy and unlike yesterday when the wind was fron the South, it was a little more from the East to day. Some work was done in the greenhouse as regards potting of tomatoes. There are 48 in pots now and four were sold at the Country Market on Friday. To day, I potted up into cell trays twelve tomatoes of a different variety, Beefsteak. They were sown about the end of February while the Alicante which are generally ready to be sold or given to friends were sown in early January. I notice the Kerria coming on at the moment and it should look really good at the end of the week.

This was a day to enjoy in the garden. after the last two days being cool at the most, it was really mild to day. I had decided that to day, all of the tomatoes, about 70, would be moved to the greenhouse. Now the only plants in the house are the house plants including the Orchids. Of course the amount of space in the greenhouse is diminishing. Six more tomato plants were potted. Una's Cerinthe Major is doing well. Now as Caesar said when he crossed the Rubicon Alia jecta est (the die is cast). I had been reluctant to take out the lawnmower as I had not been well but now I felt capable of doing the job. About half of the lawn (1/4 acre is the total area). Soon the job was done and I didnt feel any bit the worse. The reason I didn't do the whole job was not that I was not capable but about half has to be sprayed with ferrous sulphate, for moss. Next the rose beds must be tidied and using the spade, one of the three rose beds was trimmed. So about 5.30 p.m. it was time to retire.

To day was another dry day and even though we didn't get the sun, it was great to be in the garden. I had a number of seed beds prepared so seeds for flowers and vegetables were sown. Beetroot, gypsophylla, Calendula were sown. I had a lot of Shamrock in the garden and outside the front wall near the road. It was lifted and washed and will be taken to Paulstown where we are holding a Vigil to morrow (Friday) night. Some time was taken up potting on a number of Tomato plants. I have 40 potted at the moment. More (33) will be potted over the next few days.

These tomatoes, were sown in January. Forty plants are in pots now. If anybdy from garden.ie would be interested.

This morning, nothing was done in the garden as I was on Meals on Wheels. On my way home, and I had the camera this time I took some Photos, one a flower bed with Yucca, heather and Snow in Summer. In the afternoon, I got at the back garden. Carrots were sown. The soil was in better condition than yesterday. More digging was carried out. In Photos you will see some Daffodils at Hurling Club.

No, it has nothing to do with a programme on TV! In fact I never watch it or any of the soaps that take up so much time when we might prefer a programme on gardening. What I have in mind is that I did a bit of gardening in my own place and in the Hurling Club to day. Before lunch, I went to the Hurling Club and I have to confess that I had done nothing there this year until to day. While I had pruned the roses in my own garden as early as January and sprayed them last week, the pruning at the Club had not been done until to day. That bit of work was very easy as there are only a few roses there. After that I pruned the Hydrangea and disposed of the mop heads. A few more jobs are waiting to be done as there is one flower bed which is infested with weeds. A bit of digging is necessary here. Another flower bed with heather in bloom, a Yucca and Snow in Summer, is looking good while the daffodils which I planted in the Autumn are looking great. They are in rectangular flower pots outside the windows. Unfortunately I did not bring the camera but probably will take some pictures to morrow. It was now coming up to lunch time so back home with me. In the afternoon, parsnips were sown in a bed I had prepared last week. I had some more seed packets but decided to wait until to morrow as the beds prepared will be in better condition.  An other bit of ground was dug. I had a look at the lawn and feel that I have the energy to do the mowing this week. Thank God the health and energy are improving and am rearly as well now as I was in Johnstown in January when I wore that famous hat. The seeds are germinating by the new time and I hope to have tomatoes for the Country Market on Friday. The only other thing I did to day was to read about Cork's win over Dublin, a game I saw on TV yesterday. While I was naturally shouting for Cork, I think Dublin were a bit unlucky not to have beaten the Rebels. Kilkenny can watch out when Jimmy Barry Murphy's men are at their best this Summer.

These wallflowers are among the many that are so early in bloom. In January they were in the vegetative state and I had the feeling that they would be early. There are plenty of Antirrhinums which have survived the winter. Normally they don't, at least in my garden. Many of them had been such that they would be destroyed by the frost, but not this time.

To day was a lovely day, getting a bit better every day. More ground tilled at the back and knowing by the weather forecast some planting of vegetables should be on the way. Most of the Gladioli were planted. While they normally are planted at the front, this time they went down at the back. The reason was thata large number of tulips were planted there (at the back) and they were devoured by three hen pheasants. Roses were sprayed with Nimrod. They are looking very good at present. I ran out of the solution so I will make up some more to finish the job. I took out the mower for the first time and tested it out. To be candid, I had the view that nothing like this would be done at all but if I continue to improve, it will be a great year for me in the garden. I was at the Country Market yesterday but sold nothing. I hope to have the tomatoes ready next Friday. Above is Kerria japonica pleniflora. It is very early. I would expect it about April. I gave some to Rachel. I hope it was a success.

 

 

 

 

Things are improving every day. More and more energy coming back. I had the fork and spade out to day, the best day we had recently. A piece of ground which was under onions, had been tilled after harvesting the same onions. To day, I felt that I could get digging and that  I did. Now that patch of ground looks good very open and generally free from weeds. This was followed by digging out the parsnips of last year. While they are a bit forked due to the soil structure, i was pleased to get that far. I must thank the Lord and the doctor that I am on the way back.

While we all enjoy the sunshine, there are times when we can welcome the rain. It was very dry here for a long time. Yesterday, I spread some fertilizer 7:6:17 on the rose beds as I had been told in the weather forecast that the rain was on the way and Deo Gratias the rain arrived this afternoon. The roses which were pruned in January are looking very good, plenty of foliage and now that they are fed, I can expect good results. Later in the week Thursday and Friday, it should be fine and temperature good so I can think of spraying same.

I bought 12.75 kg of bird see in Aldi yesterday. It should last a long time. The blue tits were delighted with it as were a few others but alas no sign of my friend the robin the same bird that would come over to me on the bird table. I saw one blue tit flying over to the new bird house but did not go in.

Wasn't it great to see Nationwide this evening and learn so much about trees. I have six trees in my front lawn, which is about 1/4 acre. I have a sycamore in the centre (too big for a small lawn), In other parts a cedar, not the one shown on TV but the Atlantic Cedar, my favourite; a Liquidambar, beautiful late in the year; two Silver Birches, getting very tall at present and an Acer Crimson King (Norway Maple). All were given to me as presents at particular stages. I also  have a dwarf  maple, Acer Crimson Queen, given to me by my late niece Josefa. The front garden looks quite good when all are showing their foliage. Of course the Cedar is evergreen and when I was given a choice at the time I chose that one.

To day, these four are among 16 tomato plants potted on. The pots are Yogurt containers with holes drilled at the bottom. The height of the plants is about 10 cm.

What a great Day. They tell us that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. It is more like the lamb to day. The greenhouse thermometer reads almost 30 degrees with a window open, no heat on and the heater blowing cool air. More and more seeds germinated, buds open in Hydrangeas and as Wordsworth' view A host of golden daffodils, even though we had plenty in February. One will find it warm outside. Look at the grass the colour of it and the height. Then Met Éireann tells us that it is the first day of Spring. How do they work that out? 21 March is the Vernal Equinox, equal day and night so it should be the middle of Spring. So the first half of Spring is only 20 days long in that light and so the total length of spring 41 days. So the Spring ends on 10 April.  The Spring of course is 3 months long or 13 weeks. We in Ireland look on the first day of February Lá 'le Bríde as the beginning of Spring. Nevertheless it is a great day and let us thank the Lord for it. There is abundance of Shamrock here for St. Patrick's Day.