Periwinkle's Journal

Still good!

14 May 2013 10:55:13

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The weather here, like so many other places, has been awful over the past few days. Cold wind and heavy hail showers, more like early March weather than mid May.

The ground is so wet than all work in the garden has had to stop, but this morning I took a walk around with the camera. It really is amazing how things are still coming on, especially in the herbaceous borders. Shrubs and trees have suffered most. Photinia 'Red Robin' looks very sad, also hydrangeas and escallonia 'Ivyii'. They need to get some heat soon (:

The tulips are almost past their best but the pot in the second picture still has to bloom, but I was just thinking this morning how lovely it looks in bud.

Rhododendrons and Azaleas are all coming into bloom and give a great splash of colour.

I was delighted to see several flower buds on my Magnolia seiboldi and "Granny's rose"= 'Old Blush China' has lots of buds! Some newer roses are rather battered looking.

I will put some pictures in May Album if anyone is interested.

"A delicious little thing"!

01 May 2013 22:10:39

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Another great day but very little time for gardening!

But I just had to take a picture of this Clematis Alpina that I have scrambling through my Albertine rose on the arch that leads to the Lower Garden. I gave Albertine rather a severe cutting back and the poor thing is struggling to put on any new growth in this cold wind, but it does mean that this "delicious little thing" (to use a phrase of Helen Dillon's!!) is seen to best advantage.

The colour is white!

30 April 2013 20:36:09

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This was a great day for getting some gardening done, dry and sunny. I started off by re-potting some plants that had been sitting about since last year and needed a boost.

Then put a good mulch around some roses, before cutting the grass in the Lower Garden. Not that there was much grass on it but it did make it look neater. Then back to mulch some more roses.

Sowed some more Cosmos "Purity" as the first sowing has very few seedlings coming up.

It is lovely to see the garden filling out and looking colourful again, I took the camera out for a picture of my Spirea and then took some more! When I put them up on the computer now I realize that the three plants are white!

Lighting up the garden!

25 April 2013 22:32:23

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The view from my front doorway is well known on this site! I do love it and cant help trying to capture its beauty and trying to share it with anyone who will have a look!

Tonight I just wish I had the camera and skill to capture its beauty and share it with ye all!

The full moon has come up over the far horison and is creating a golden/silvery path across the Bay! It is sssooooooooo breath-takingly beautiful! I feel like Scrubber felt when he stood in his garden yesterday and just took in the beauty of the unfolding spring garden.

What a wonderful world we have! To be able to see and appreciate it is wealth without price.

PS Can anyone tell me how I can avoid the 'rainbow'effect in the pictures around the moon?

A new Nook!

24 April 2013 22:33:49

A new Nook!

I'm totally shattered but very happy! Only a gardener who has spent hours doing what we enjoy doing most would understand that statement!

I spent the whole afternoon and evening gardening!And at a casual glance one might wonder what I had done but I know!

It all started when I found 2 Crinum Powelli in a brown paper bag underneath some things in the shed! Poor things, they looked rather sad, and no wonder as I had bought them as a souvenier weeks ago on a Weekend to Bangor, Co. Down and they should have been in the ground long ago.

Where to put them? Requirement? a well drained soil.

Now I knew just the place! I had planted a new Eucryphia a few weeks ago in a sheltered spot on the bank, facing south, in the Lower garden. It is an area that the pheasants love to use as a dust bath so I have to put stones around plants to keep them from being scratched out!

I decided to clear a nice area and put an edging of large stones along the front to prevent the soil from sliding down. I planted a Crinum on either end. Some other plants that like a well drained sunny spot, such as salvia East Friesland got planted up too. I already had Two clumps of Diarama planted there. A couple of pots of dwarf dianthus went in along the stones.

Of course, that was just a good start to the day! Primulas had to be divided and planted. Some weeding done and some summer flowering Spirea cut back also some Potentillas. Etc, etc. etc!!

Sorry the Eucryphia doesnt show up in the picture.

Launched!

19 April 2013 22:48:54

No,I have not taken to Donegal Bay in a new pleasure cruiser! (I'm far too fond of having my feet on solid ground for that!)

Today was the Launch of Donegal Garden Trail 2013!

We all met up at Carrablagh House for the event and what a wonderful day for a trip up the Fanad Peninsula! Blue skies and blue sea! Just wonderful! Carrablagh House sits in a sheltered corner high above a cove on the edge of Lough Swilly. The spectacular views have to be seen to be believed.

It was lovely to meet up with other gardeners who are willing to open their gardens to the public over the summer,mostly for charity. And, although we all lamented the late arrival of spring, we were all optomistically looking forward to a great summer with plenty of visitors to our gardens! "Hope springs eternal" !

After the 'official' business was done we enjoyed refreshments and chat before taking a walk through the Carrablagh gardens where the Rhododendrons are just coming into bloom - somewhat later than usual. All around were promises of great colour to come. If any of you happen to be in that part of the country over the next few weeks the gardens there would be well worth a visit.

You will find the details for Carablagh Gardens on www.donegalgardentrail.com along with all the other Gardens in the Donegal Garden Trail.

Planted! Thanks, Conrad!

11 April 2013 22:36:02

Not much time to garden this evening but I did get my Tiger Lillies planted out in the Outer Circle of the Lower Garden! They are about 9-12 ins tall but stems are quite fine so I am not expecting blooms this year, but delighted that they have got to this point.

Thanks, Conrad! You have joined the ranks of my many friends whose contributions to my garden ensure that they are thought of many times when I do the daily tour of the "The Estate" LOL!

On the Move!

10 April 2013 20:58:19

No,no, not me! (that possibility doesn't bear thinking about!).

What was on the move today was a Phormium (Cream Delight) and a Sambucus nigra "Black Lace"!

It was a job that, even if there had been someone to ask to do it (and there wasn't) I couldn't have asked because they would have thought I had really lost the plot! Both plants moved no more than 3ft, if that! But it really was a significant move as far as I was concerned!

The brightly coloured Phormium is now in front of the dark green of a native holly and sufficiently well back from the edge of the border to ensure that it wont be a nuisance when I'm cutting the grass! The Sambucus, which is just over a ft. high and grown from a cutting taken last year, is now in a better space for when it grows up!

What are we gardeners like at all?? :))

Promises!

08 April 2013 12:21:34

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Springtime is all about "Promises"!

I had a walk around the garden this morning and everywhere there are promises of good things to come! Since the onset of this cold spell many plants turned brown and rather dead looking. My Agastaches turned to bare and very dead-looking stems.

But today I had a close look right down at the base, and sure enough, there are new shoots appearing! Thrilling!

Flower buds are already formed on many shrubs and trees! It's such an exciting time of year! I just cant wait for it to turn milder as I know when that happens everything will just burst into action!

Who wouldnt be a gardener!

Up close and personal!

18 March 2013 19:06:56

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Today was a day of catching-up on housework, enjoying visitors and doing some potting up.

Of the three, housework is the least appealing! But it was while I was doing that today that I had my most interesting experience.

I took the bucket of kitchen waste and some shredded paper out to the old byre where I have my wormery and added it to the bin that is filling up nicely. As I was closing the shed door and locking it I heard a little squeeking noise and looked around to see what it was, and there on the edge of the door beside the hinge was this little bat. At first it had its wings spread out but then closed them before I managed to get the camera.

I checked a few minutes ago and he is still in the same position as when the pictures were taken a few hours ago. Rather a cold spot!

Although I have seen bats before, I have never seen one up so close. It's a lovely little creature really, like a fieldmouse with wings.

I do hope it will be alright.

Neighbours.

11 March 2013 21:59:31

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What a boon good neighbours are! Especially if they have an interest in gardening and own a tractor and trailer!

About 3 weeks ago my young neighbour arrived in the yard with a load of seaweed! What a gift and no need for wrapping and ribbons to make it acceptable!

Over the last couple of weeks I have been mulching the Shrub Border with this wonderful stuff and finally got it all on.

Last year a farmer delivered a load of farmyard manure and much of that is now in good condition for mulching around camalias, rhododendrons and azaleas. So some of that got put on this evening.

Just for the weather record, we had a beautiful sunny,if cold, day here. Perfect for working in the garden. But expecting a hard frost again tonight, same as last night.

A race to the finish!

06 March 2013 21:19:09

It was obvious this morning that rain was on its way and there was so much I wanted to get done before it arrived!

First I must plant my new hellebore! I had chosen my spot in the shrub border - near snowdrops and close to a pink heather. Deborah will be pleased to note that I was paying attention on Monday night when she pointed out that the white hellebores show up better in the border but I did notice in one of her pictures that a dark one looked particularly well near some pink (I think it was) tulips!

When I went to dig the hole I discovered the root of a deceased hebe still in the ground! No doubt that is why something had not already been planted there! Grrr! After much effort with spade and pruners I eventually got the root out and my hole dug and my lovely hellebore planted!

Then the race started in earnest. I have been weeding in the Lower Garden at every available opportunity but there was still much to do, so that was where I headed next. By 4.30pm the rain had started and I had to finish up and come indoors but by that time the Lower Garden looked reasonably tidy and I was happy, if very tired! There are one or two areas still to clean but that will wait for the next spell of dry weather.

There was no time to take pictures!

An enjoyable evening!

05 March 2013 20:49:59

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Last night was our monthly Garden Society meeting and "our own Deborah" was the speaker!

It was lovely to meet up with Martin and herself again and then we had the added pleasure of a visit from Feverfew and her friends, so it felt like a mini Garden.ie Get-together!

Deborah gave a most interesting talk on the "Weird and wonderful world of a Plantaholic" and showed pictures of her garden that made us all envious! Most inspiring and informative as well as entertaining! (A few of us were wondering if she would be willing to share Martin when we saw pictures of his handiwork!!!!!).

At the plant stall afterward Martin reigned supreme! So many 'different' plants, what to buy?? We were all like children in a sweet shop!! Many customers went home happy, but some had to hide their extravagance from their spouses!

A beautiful dark wine helleborus "Red Lady" somehow just had to come home with me as well as a sweet little pink Corydalis!

It was a great night enjoyed by all, many thanks Deborah and Martin. Some day I hope to make it to Terra Nova.

Memories are made of this!

28 February 2013 20:21:21

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I didnt have much time or energy left for gardening when I got home today. But it was such a lovely evening I went out with the hoe in hand and pottered rather than did much. Although I did knock off a few weeds in passing! I got so enthusiastic at one point that I knocked one of Sallysarah's primulas out of the ground! I quickly pushed it back in, so I'm sure it will be fine!

It is great to see signs of growth everywhere.

I took these pictures as the plants brought back lovely memories of our trip to Blarney last March. Myrtle, Ron and I stayed over in a lovely B&B outside Cork. Our hostess was lovely and in addition to providing us with very comfortable accomodation and good food she gave us a tour of her garden and generously took pieces of her plants that we admired and gave them to us!

I love this little hellebore (am I right in thinking that it is H.foetidus?) and I'm looking forward to the dierama blooming later in the year. And there is a cutting of a shrub in a pot somewhere too!

Plants and good memories go together in my garden!