kitty's Journal

happy new year

happy new year

wishing you all a very happy new year and all the best for 2012

serious cabin fever

serious cabin fever

i need to get out and start marking out the new garden layout, no point diggin yet, it will need at least a week if not 2 to dry out before i can dig plus my spade needs a new handle, hubby broke it when he was moving the tree out to the front. i am really itching to get it started. cant believe that johnstown is just around the corner and seed sowing  will start soon.

i have been keeping containers like the mushroom trays and anything that will make a good seed tray for all my seed sowing, really into spending very little on seed trays and more on the important things that will bring the garden together like another tree or two and seating

a new book for my collection

RHS allotment journal

my borther in law was my kris kindle, he bought me this book, cant wait to get stuk into it this eve and tomorrow, it is a book i would have picked for myself so thrilled to bits

hope santa was good to you all

cheers my dear friends

my new birch tree

betula utilis jacquemontii

well i got my tree after my dear hubby played a trick on me, he came home from his mum and dads and presented me with a flower pot with a twig in it and said here is your birch, i stood there looking at it for a few mins not knowing what to say. he said it will grow he was acting so serious, kept a brave face although i felt like crying. myself and the kids went to my mum and dads he said he would follow. was so disappointed but tried not to show it, didnt say too much to him while at moms, when i came home he had the pot and the twig left on the table again and a perfume set, i got up and went down to get hot water bottles, when i walked into the bedroom there was my real birch, i let off a screech and could hear my hubby in colvunsions in the kitchen, was so happy to see my tree that i waited for ages for.

i also got some money as a gift so i am keeping this for the front garden makeover, hoping to add a red barked birch and maybe a witch hazel or 2. so excited to get working on the garden

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL ON GARDEN.IE, TO GERRY AND CRAIG AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE THIS SITE THE BEST AND IN MY OPINION 1000 TIMES BETTER THAN FACEBOOK OR ANY OTHER SITE

THANK YOU GERRRY AND CRAIG

THANK YOU ALL MY FRIENDS

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

have a merry merry cheer

have a merry merry cheer

happy christmas and new year to all my garden.ie friends and craig and everyone that has made this site happen. hope santa is good to everyone, cant wait to see you all in johnstown

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

plants of distinction

plants of distinction flowers and veg 2012

i got these catalogues during the week, was just wondering anyone has any experience of this company

for 2012

all set for 2012

while out shopping thursday i picked up my diary for 2012. i made great use of my diary this year so i have something to refer to in the future and can compare what i did and will do on different dates will be fun. so looking forward to getting stuck in to the garden after christmas, need to buy a new spade and boy will it get lots of use. maybe santa will throw some magic dust at my back

so excited

my little tresure

the helleborus i got in lidl has just opened fully, so delighted. can i plant this in the garden for next year?  this time next week we will be all awing an ohing at our pressies and falling asleep after the christmas dinner  or swearing not to eat as much for the next year. i will have hopefully have my birch that i asked for and the kids are so excited to see all their pressies

litlle roses and 1 helleborus

litlle roses and 1 helleborus

while shopping yesturday i picked up 4 roses @ 1 euro each and 1 helleborus, these have replaced the propagator

potted up

potted up

potted up my cordylines, redhot pokers and hostas

red currants and other bulbs

red currants and other bulbs

the red currants and other bulbs. i will be putting the red currants into the big tyres next spring

bulbs planted

even the basket got planted

went out this morning determined to plant the bulbs that i got in the christmas market 2 weeks ago and i did i even made a container of the basket they came in. i also planted up the red currant plants i got in lidl a couple of weeks ago, there were 6 plants altogether  then i went in and watered the foxgloves and potted up the hostas and redhot pokers and other bits that were in the propagators on the window sill now it is all put away until after christmas when i will be sowing again towards the end of january. i also potted up the rooted hardy fuchsias that had been rooted in water.

i am very happy with it all now so i just have to mind all my stuff that is in the spare room and front hall and of course in the tunnel. 

its too cold

yuck what a cold and dreary day, my mood matches the weather at the moment. felt too cold to do anything gardening today plus i need some compost excuses excuses. i am just to cold to bother , need some motivation to get going.

another day of magazine catch up, nice and relaxing and then get dinner. i was very good this morning, cleared out ashes and brought in sticks and coal, fed and let out the hens and took care of the rabbits and cleaned the house  so i wasnt completely lazy and i will now give a drink to my foxgloves in the front hall. 

night night

closed up for the night

with the promise of frost i went out to close the cloches, while i was in there a gust really felt like it was rattling the tunnel, even poor rio was afraid

delphiniums

hello my little darlings

went in to the tunnel this evening to check on stuff and close the cloches and spotted my delphiniums peeping through yippee

another beauty

alstroemeria

another beauty to look out for in 2012. they said that it is hard to get them, must do a bit of research

a few new plants

allgerian iris ( iris unguicularis)

while browsing through one of my garden mags i found this plant, must look out for the bulbs for next summer as they flower now. it from africa this plant also flowers in spring and loves a hot dry baked bed. it was in the garden answers december 2011

gold holly

golden holly

sorry folks the picture of the silver holly is terrible i will take a better one tomorro here is the golden one

why have my holly trees no berries

why have my holly trees no berries

i have two holly trees, they are a good size but no sign of any berries, the trees are at least 10 years old, one is green with yellow margin and the other is silver with margin with green centre, they are about 10 feet away from each other. would love to have berries.

can someone tell me why this happened

what a day

what a day today every possible element was thrown at us today, i didnt get any gardening done and i am not too bothered, had planned to sow the bulbs i got at the market, but just couldnt muster up the enthusium to do it so i just done a bit of housework and laundry, hopefully tomorrow i will feel like doing it.

i also did a magazine catch up and drank hot choc, boring really

hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

my christmas tree by day

my christmas tree by day

here is my christmas tree by day

seedlings

seedlings

i had to move these out to make room for the christmas tree, it would look weird with the christmas tree. so far the best ones are the redhot pokers( the third pot from the left and the hosta first pot from the left oops just relalised that the photo of the first pot got chopped

wet and windy

seed catalogues and a mug of hot choc

its pouring out of the heavens here, and windy, glad i am inside looking out rather than outside looking in. got thompson and morgan and king seeds catalogues over the last couple of days so with a drinking choclate and the seed catalogues and a warm fire i am set for a pleasant evening ahead, where i can dream and wishfully think about 2012, and hope it stops raining sooner rather than later. the hen run resembles a mud bath, the rabbittes are in their cosy shed and the tunnel is secured with a pallet against the door (lying down) so i cant do much more

what a big surprise

what a big surprise

i started these off a while back, on the pack it says to put them in darkness and i did and took off the cover just over 3weeks ago there was still no sign of life so i had just left them there and hey presto there was life great life actually. cyclamen persicum giganteum scentsatuin mixed a greenhouse perennial. they are lanky put i dont mind they can be put deeper into the pot. these were seeds i got from thompson and morgan in august/september.

oh christmas tree

oh christmas tree oh christmas tree

at last my christmas tree is up. we put it up friday eve and saturday moring the lights wouldnt work on one of the sets so after going through the lights and trying to solve it even opened the plug to see why but no good, this was a brand new set, we had to strip the tree after beckys hard work, felt so bad for because she decorated the whole sittingroom. i found a set that did work and just put one set on it and got lovely multicoloured baubles in pennys for three euro a pack got 2 packs, they are small ones but so cute in green, tourquoise and blue and purple and pink, went for less is more it is true less is more sometimes. its up and i am glad

0 degrees

0 degrees

just came in from the tunnel a few minutes ago and it is 0 degrees in the tunnel Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. i closed off the cloches but i may have to go out with fleece later. i will check on the temp after 9 oclock news and if it has dropped more i may put some in as an extra insurance policy.need to pick up some bubble wrap and maybe saturday afternoon i will do the tunnel.

while i was sorting out the cloches yesturday and tidying up plants and taking dead leaves off them i spotted three pelargoniums in flower, not as big and beautiful as jacintas but still lovely to see, i had cut back these after potting them in september and with such a mild season they have put on new growth

books and dvds

happy bunnies

happy bunnies

with the weather forecast as dreary as the budget the bunnies are happy in the shed now. but will still be able to go into their run on nice days and back into the shed at night untill spring again.rio watching on in the hope of catching a glimpse. kieran put up a light for them that is low voltage but they wont be in complete darkness

my bargains

my bargains

these are the bargains i told you about last night. i got 5 euonymous alatus"compacta". got them for 2 euro each.they couldnt sell them without their leaves so i was thrilled, they are normally 14.99

all cleaned and sorted

all cleaned and sorted

oh boy am i going to be sore tomorrow, even now i am feeling it, but now i can relax as the bunnies are taken care off. finished the cleaning and sorting of the tunnel and put back the table that i had put in the shed a while ago to make room for the bunnies. a hot chocolate and irish garden and other mags are waiting to be read.

i moved the three cloches to the other side of the tunnel as i couldnt get mypex so i used ordinary fabric weedblock, it wouldnt be great to put the racks on that side as it is easy to tear the weedblock so i decided on moving the cloches. very happy with the result

is it just me

taking shape

2 down one to go

after running around all morning trying to get mypex i ended up not getting it, they were charging nearly 40 euro for 50 foot long which i dont need all that. i ended up using ordinary weed fabric. i moved the cloches to the left hand side so that i could wash the other side of tunnel and putting in racks to make room in the shed for the bunnies.

one more bay of the tunnel to do and the back and then i can attack the outside on saturday when it will be sunny(if the forecast is right) it looks a mess at the moment but its getting there and looks so much brighter with the cleaning it is getting. i will see if i can get bubble wrap in woodies in the next couple of days.

while i was out this morning i picked up some great bargains in horkans. will put up picsand   info tomorrow

bubble wrap

fuchsias still flowering

fuchsias still flowering

these cloches are worth so much with the protection they are giving to the plants, alot of protection so far. i will put up some pics tomorrow of the tunnel when i have it sorted out. i am trying to get plastic barrels for next year that i can cut in half and use as raised beds for tomatoes and other veg in the tunnel.

poinsettia

poinsettia

i finally gave into temptation and bought a poinsettia in lidl while i was doing the shopping,

attacking the tunnel

i got up to not a too bad day apart from showers. the rabbittes need to come in so i need to make space in the shed and i cant do that until i sort out space in the tunnel. i cleared the beds in the tunnel and took out the first couple of inches of soil, all i need now is some mypex which i will pick up tomorrow morning i also got one side of the tunnel washed down and disinfected, i had help from hubby so i didnt overdo it. i have to take some of the racks out of the shed and put them in the tunnel to make room for the rabbits for the winter.

i will get the rest of the tunnel sorted tomorrow and clean the other side and then i can clean the outside an other day. we had it all done at 2 o clock.

dinner and fire to sort now and then retire for the evening

my banana

my banana

i am so thrilled about how this banana is doing. i got more seeds lately but i will wait till after christmas before starting them off, when the days are longer

all my babies

all my babies

here are all my babies enjoying their lap of luxuary.

christmas cactus

christmas cactus

the christmas catcus is still flowering its socks off.

rain rain rain = flood

the clare river

with all the rain that we have had the river is fairly up, luckily we are on a height so it would take alot to come near us. that river should normally be 2 big fields away. i would rather a bit of frost because a beautiful day follows, when i say frost i mean nothing below -2 degrees, and definately not like last december. its actually amazing what a bit of sunshine can do for the mind

christmas market

a basket of fun

myself, hubby and the kids went in on the park and ride to town, its great value @2euro and no need to worry about parking and you can spend all day in town for that.there were alot of markets there but the one i was only interested was the plant stand.

i got a lovely basket of bulbs for a 10 er and then 3 extra bags for a fiver tulip apricot parrot, tulip salmon parrot, tulip greigii red torch, tulip trumpet cheers,tete a tete daffs, narcisus trumpet las vegas and anemone de caen. these were in the basket and then, three packets of crinum, there is only one in the pack but they were gorgeous