Drumanagh's Journal

Lecture in Leeson park tomorrow.

Border at Glenveagh Castle last summer

Wednesday April 21st
'Designing a border' - A lecture by Laura de Beden, at 8pm in THE WESLEY CENTRE, Leeson Park.

A Joint lecture with the RHSI.

Hoping to make it to this if all the homework/housework is done on time!

http://www.habitas.org.uk/igps/activities.html 

Full circle maybe?

Aquilegia Chocolate Soldier (Better pic to follow)

I ordered seeds of Aquilegia viridiflora 'Chocolate Soldier' a while back but when I realised they were poisonous I decided not to grow them at that stage as with a toddler, what could be more appealing than a flower that has petals that look like flakes of chocolate? So I sent them to Rachel (whos kids are older and I did emphasise the fact that they were poisonous). All aquilegias are poisonous along with many other commonly grown plants, but I thought the chocolate aquilegia one would be much more tempting to little ones if left to their own devices. Anyway, when at Belvedere, Liga very kindly offered me a lovely looking plant of guess what - Chocolate soldier and I was delighted. And yesterday I was examining my pots trying to decide what to plant in the newly cleared little shade border, between the patches of lily-of- the-valley, and I saw this little exotic beauty in flower so it went straight in. The kids have been warned not to pick mammy's flowers in this area and of course I didn't mention the name of this particular plant.  I'm just wondering where did Liga get her seeds? As people on the site are great at sharing, especially Rachel, is it possible that there may be some connection? Hmm I wonder!

UGOs - Unidentified Growing Objects.

Lily of the Valley - Hopefully!

When I moved in there were lots of UGOs in the garden. One of them was this, and I now think it is Lily of the Valley as the flower spikes are appearing.  Early on the leaves were similar to Hostas but a bit thinner. I thought they must be a bulb but I was a bit stumped. It was coming up everywhere - even in the grass. I think there are worse things to have than an invasion of Lily of the Valley!

The Height of Peculiarity

Protected Climbing Geranium

I've been driving by this house for years and was always intrigued as to what was behind the grey blanket. Turns out its a tender geranium, and an impressive one at that. I'm not sure that I could live with the grey covering either side of my front door for up to 8 months of the year. But then some might argue its not that much different to a mass of bare twiggy growth, like the matted stems of a clematis montana or the bare branches of a climbing rose. And this geranium appears to be flowering already under its duvet. It looks like it has been there many years - I wonder exactly how long and who it is who has taken such good care of it. I'll take another photo when the veil comes off. It must be spectacular in full flower to be cosseted like this.

Budding Moving Buddies

My babies awaiting planting

Last night, under the cover of darkenss, an invasion took place and this is the result this morning. I feel like a mother bird with a nest full of squaking babies looking for attention. I'm finding it hard to ignore the calls of 'Plant me, plant me!' I'm glad the rain is at least dampening the voices, as I have too much to do at the moment inside. The garden will have to wait a little while, although as I unpack,  I am finding my mind drifting to plant combinations and wondering wheather a circular, oval or kidney shaped lawn would work best. There are two definite areas of planting to be considered - one side of the garden has a high stone wall along it and will only suit shade tolerant plants. I have dierma, ferns, astilbe, and some geraniums lined up for there. The other side gets sun until the afternoon and I'll be able to plant the sun lovers here. But I have a bit of work to do before any planting takes place as there are lots of dandelions and other weeds to be removed first.

Belvedere revisited

Amarylis in the greenhouse at Belvedere.

Apologies for the lateness of this journal but I have been meaning to put something up about Belvedere all week but with moving house and Easter it just didn't happen. I really enjoyed the day - I had visited Belvedere several times as I lived just a half hour away but had never had a tour of the gardens or the house so it was enlightening and I'm considering going back for the self sufficiency show on the 18th. It was interesting to hear about the box blight and how it is being tackled and also about the future plans for the garden. They have a lot of work ahead of them, but I'm looking forward to seeing the results. Thanks to everyone who gave me plants, and of couse to Fran for being chief organiser.