26 April 2011 14:16:38
Plants by Post
Got a delivery last week from Future forests and have been busy finding homes for everything. In the picture is a Korean Fir which has lovely cones when only a couple of years old and was an absolute bargain at €4! Got some lovely Lilacs for the new area and lots of other stuff especially soft fruit for the allotment. Happy days!
19 April 2011 20:00:30
Tulip Greenfly
Tulips are everywhere at the mo and some lovely varieties have been added to my list for next year thanks to people on here. I'm not impressed with mine at the moment though as they are covered with greenfly and I'm not sure what to do about it. Has anyone had this problem? I think I'll be giving them a squirt of something tomorrow!
14 April 2011 21:33:56
What fern might this be?
This was growing in the pot of my Taxodium when I bought it so I decided to leave it there. Would anyone know what it is? Martin, please?
11 April 2011 14:58:50
Thank you to my sponsors!
I've been playing around planning what to put where and thinking how great it is that gardeners are so generous as how grateful I am to the many sponsors of this new border! I'm thinking a sort of rainbow scheme starting off with yellow(helenium, lysimachia, kerria, rudbeckia, goldenrod) then orange (lillies, calendula, begonia, Bill's willow) then red/pink (teasel, geranium, foxgloves, cosmos, pieris), then the blues and purples (purple hebe, veronica, Echinops, rosemary, sage, lavender, asters) with a little hedge of box cuttings and Liga's heuchera along the front, Honeysuckle, cotoneaster (not my favourite plant but good for bees) and of course Buddleia along the back and then Holly,Willow, Viburnum and Olearia macrodonta (also known as New Zealand Holly) for Winter interest. I also have wildfowers from Denise at the herbgarden such as Musk Mallow, Soapworth, a wild rose, st John's wort and a little Wood sage. Thats the beginnings of the plan anyway, we'll see how it works out!
10 April 2011 20:14:02
This is how far I got
When I started digging I uncovered a little brick edging as it seems there was a garden here probabaly 30 years ago when the cottage was inhabited. It was used as a place to bottle beer for the pub nearby at some stage too but recently it has just been used for storage. Anyway, the brick edging makes life easier and will make cutting the grass easier too. So I got it all dug but have left the clods on top for some of the soil to dry out to make it easier to shake off the roots of all the weeds so hopefully tomorrow I'll get the prepartion finished and get planting.
10 April 2011 20:00:20
Ripe for a Makeover
This is an area in the yard behind our little garden. It's not technically part of our rental agreement but we have the use of it so I decided to make a start on a new area for planting yesterday. It was full of dandelion, dock and scutch so it was a tough job. Apparently there are 6 species of Butterfly under threat and 5 near threatened in Ireland and there has been a lot about the decline of bees recently so I plan to make this area a Butterfly and Bee border as it is very sheltered and gets a lot of sun. I have loads of stuff in pots still from the old garden and lots from generous gardening friends so by summertime it should be a haven for our winged friends.
08 April 2011 14:09:43
Bath beds
We've all heard of bed baths but here is our bath bed! We planted broad beans and sunflowers in it which we will move on soon and then we'll sow some flower seeds. A good use for the baby bath once the baby has outgrown it!
07 April 2011 10:45:33
Seedheads of Fritillaria pyrenaica
Love this pic too from the same site.
07 April 2011 10:32:59
Sedum, white Allium and hordeum
After planting Hordeum jubatum seeds from Rachel I searched the web for pictures and info to get some ideas of planting combinations and came across this photo. I think it is a simply lovely mix. There are some other lovely planting combinations on the site http://www.dryad-home.co.uk/Garden%20Images.htm and there is also a catalogue of unusual bulbs including unusual snowdrops and ferns due out in June.
Had a brief but lovely visit to Liga's yesterday and came home with lots of new plants for my new project, thank you Liga. And also a Thalictrum delavayi from Rachel, thank you Rachel!
05 April 2011 08:05:00
Coast Guard Helicopter searching yesterday
You may have heard on the news about the two local fishermen lost at sea off the coast of Skerries since friday. They were fishing for lobsters behind the islands and did not return. Locals have been trawling the beaches from Howth to Clogherhead and the RNLI, the Garda, Coast Guard and Naval diving section as well as local fishermen have all been involved in the search. Donations are being sought to help with the cost of fuel to continue searching so if anyone can spare a few Euro the people of Skerries would really appreciate it. You can donate directly to the Skerries RNLI here
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/g_mckennas_event/
or to help with fuel for the local fishermen this is from the skerries facebook page "The account details for the fund for fuel for the volunteers is Bank of Ireland Skerries, the name is Lady Linda, the sort code is 90 08 93, the number is 818 38 744" Thank you.
01 April 2011 14:57:42
Ardgillan
Hi folks. I've been busy studying for my exams for my cert in Horticulture this weekend so I'm off to Dromcollogher this evening but as if I didn't have enough distractions I got Jane Power's new book this week. I absolutely love it. Highly recommended for new gardeners and those more seasoned gardeners alike. There are fab photos from gardens all around the country and lots of tips on how to encourage birds, bees and butterflies into the garden. Jane is doing book signings in Newbridge and Dublin this month - see her blog for details if interested!
http://onebeanrow.wordpress.com/
A very nice gift for Mother's day!