Drumanagh's Journal

Bloom Blues

Front garden in need of an overhaul - maybe bloom will help to inspire

Feeling a little frustrated today as I can't go to Bloom til Monday and I don't know how I'm going to get through the weekend.  I feel like I'm walking through a desert with a burgeoning Oasis in sight, but 3 days walk away!!!  Well, maybe that is a little over dramatic, but you get the idea!

Not much gardening going on here at the moment as there is so much work to be done indoors - like painting, which I have been doing all week, and will probably be doing for most of Saturday and Sunday.  I did manage to replant my strawberry pot with a fresh crop of alpine strawberries that I grew from seed last year.  They were very overcrowded so hopefullly they will appreciate their new home and do me proud.  I'm also planning to dig up some of the area in front of the house as it is imposible to keep on top of the weeds there and the soil is terrible as it used to be coverd in tarmac.  I'm going to put down some gravel and put a bench there as it gets the evening sun. 

Looking forward to keeping up with everyone's reports of Bloom.  Enjoy! It looks like it will be a great show with lots and lots of inspiration, and if you're like me and won't be going until the last day, I hope you make it through the desert and your horticultural thirst is well and truly quenched on Monday!

Aquilegias at Chelsea

Granny's Bonnet

I was happy to see Aquilegias featured so prominently at Chelsea yesterday.  They have to be my favourite cottage garden plant, with so many different varieties and they are so easy to look after.  My Nora Barlow (profile picture) and Black Barlow are almost in full bloom and the self-seeded purple and pink ones have been doing their thing for a few weeks now. I saw Blue Barlow and Ruby Port mentioned yesterday.  I nearly bought a load more at Woodies last week but decided to hold off.  There are a few named varieties I'd like to get first like the  'William Guinness' and 'Green Apples' which is a limey green when it opens and then fades to cream. There is also one with bronze foliage and deep purple flowers called 'Roman Bronze' which looks interesting, but I think I prefer the old fashioned ones.

Time to call Anti-pesto!

Gromit and his prize Marrow

Reading of Bill's touble with Rabbits in his journal reminded me of the movie 'Wallis and Gromit and the curse of the Wererabbit'.  I watched it again last week with the kids and really enjoyed it.   I would recoommend it to all gardeners, especailly those suffering from rabbit infestations, although the outcome is not helpful!

Tullynally revisited....

Eimhin liked this girlie rhododendron!

My four year old said to me the other day 'Mammy, why does everything with you have to be about gardening?'  I think I may be a bit too obsessed! 

Yesterday we returned to Tullynally for the first time this season.  It was a wet day and we could have done with our Wellies but it was a lovely visit.  There are several places to wait out the showers - the Chinese Pagoda, the 'Gingerbread house', Queen Anne's Summerhouse, or the delightful Limestone Grotto. Some of the Rhododendrons are still in flower and the lakes and glades are so tranquil.  I'm amazed they don't get more visitors.  I will definitely be returning at the next possible opportunity as we didn't even make it to the Lower lake or the Grotto yesterday.  I put lots of photos up in a new Tullynally album.

Diggin' it!

Future gardener

Here is a man who loves to dig!  He helped me clear some weeds the other day and we plan to plant some mangetout peas here.  The tomatoes on the window sills are getting so big I feel like I am in the jungle as every view out is blocked with a haze of green!  A new house with a pollytunnel would be ideal!

The grass is greener...

Overcrowded Shrubs battling for space!

We have finally made the heart-wrenching decision to move!  We have been thinking about it for a while but have been putting it off, but there is no point in delaying the inevitable as country life no longer suits us.  My other half comutes to Dublin four days a week which is not sustainable, and we want to be closer to family and friends.  So, while I am saddened to think of leaving my garden, I do relish the thought of a blank (much smaller) canvas.  The truth is I could probably completely furnish a new garden with plants that I have in pots and ones that are overcrowding this one.  This picture shows a common mistake - I planted three shrubs way too close together about 5 years ago and now they are all growing in to each other and at least one will have to be removed, but not before I take lots of cuttings!

Geranium macchorrizum

Geranium macchorrizum

This hardy geranium is great as it bulks up quickly, has lovely scented foliage and nice pink flowers.  Here it is growing around an old apple tree - I just stuck cuttings of it into the ground and now it surrounds the tree and looks  great.  It smothers out most weeds, although I do occasionally have to dig out some creeping buttercup but for the most part it looks after itself.

Lovely Lilac

Sensational syringa

With the sunshine the lilac has opened its flowers and is spreading its gorgeous scent all around!  There are three varieties here.  My native lilac didn't flower at all this year, not sure why as it has been there a couple of years now, but it is flowering well along the road nearby.

Cowslip crossover

Cowslip hybrid

  This primula I think is a hybrid between a cowslip and primrose, or other primula.  It is a very strange colour - kind of a 'dirty' orange!

Starry clematis

Reaching for the stars

This is my Father-in-laws clematis which clothes his shed and is a profusion of flowers at the moment.  I planted a 'multiblue' clematis at the side of the house a couple of years ago but it never did much and was eventually overrun with weeds and ended up being strimmed! However I notice today that there is a new shoot so I hope to dig it up today and move it somewhere more suitable where it will hopefully have a better chance.

Perennial Corflower

Centaurea montana

This is looking good now - it is a little invasive and tends to flop out from the centre as the season goes on but it is a great mound of colour at the moment.  If anyone wants some just let me know as it seeds everywhere - but be warned, it may take over!

Lilac Blossoming

Skerries Lilac

This lovely lilac is in flower in my parents-in-law's garden.  I think it might have been pruned to within an inch of its life, but it still managed a couple of flowers! Its a bit ahead of mine as my flowers aren't quite open yet.  I have a dark red wine one and a white one which I am looking forward to cutting as the scent is so gorgeous.

Johnnie's bluebells

Johnnie's Gate

A neighbour of ours passed away a couple of months ago.  He was in his 80s and was great character.  Walking by his house today I took this picture.  I thought the bluebells that grow by his gate and around his house were a lovely sight.

Spanish Oat Grass

Stipa gigantea

Its probably a little late in the year already for dividing grasses but this one was in danger of being totally overgrown by a neighbouring shrub so I thought I'd give it a go. I planted some in the border and potted up other bits to have to swap or take with me when I move!  I should probably cut the leaves back a bit .... will have to check the books.  I dug up and moved some crocosmia too as it was also in danger of being shaded out.  Studying hard for exams at the end of the month.  Can't wait for them to be over!

Primroses and Violets

Primroses and dog violets

A picture of Spring in the country.

Castlepollard Gardening club

First Class Tulips

I had been thinking about going along to the Castlepollard gardening club for months but something always got in the way.  It wasn't until last friday, thanks to the encouragement from garden.ie member Janette that I actually made it.  There was a talk about Birds by Birdwatch Ireland and I learned a little bit about the Swallows that returned to our barn a couple of weeks ago, and the Jackdaws that are trying to build a nest in the chimney.  Pictured is the tulip competiton, with lots of gorgeous blooms.  See you next time Janette!

Should it stay or should it go?

Should it stay or should it go?

Trying to decide wheather to get rid of this tree or not.  I think it is out of proportion in the garden  - it was here when we moved in and I now have the urge to get rid of it.  I plan to extend a bed out from it with cottagey plants  - I bought some Aquilegia 'Black Barlow', some purple heuchera, siberian iris and herbs the other day and I have a few other things from cuttings I want to plant out.  Try to ignore the untrimmed hedge (tomorrow's project) and unedged grass !

Japanese Knotweed

Knot in my garden!

Thank goodness I don't have this weed in my garden - not yet anyway. It is growing in the ditches just down the road so I'll have to keep an eye out - if it moves in, I'm moving out!