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22 May 2013 13:00:48
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Another beautiful morning here in Waterford and while there was plenty done in the garden there was also time to ponce about for five minutes with the camera.
The first of the deciduous azaleas have opened here - bright and brash and sunshine in themselves.
Hosta 'Great Expectations' has unfurled and looks lovely when it is caught in the sunlight.
Polygonatum hookeri - hard to see it is related to the Solomon Seal - is a tiny little thing, about 3cm tall, and it is growing in a trough with miniature Hosta 'Dawn'. Over the years the two have grown into each other and make a combination I love.
Paddy
21 May 2013 21:48:46
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Hard at work today while Paddy was poncing around with his camera. I weeded, freshened and edged a long border and two beds. Also, I planted out a few of the Ladybird poppies and Paddy put out a few primulas, both grown from seed.
We divided a Hosta 'War Paint' even though the season is getting on for doing such but I gave it plenty of water. Also planted out a few salvias, S. uliginosa and S. involucrata 'Boutin', a few of each.
I have a batch of white cosmos waiting to be planted out but will wait until we return from holiday, heading off at the weekend and should be back in early June. I'm hoping that our son will keep them watered while we are away.
There is a batch of cannas, some nice ones from Bruno among them, and some gingers waiting to go out as well. Some dahlias have been put out and a few still in the glasshouse.
Watching recordings of Monty Don's programmes in preparation for the holiday.
A photo album from today put up as well.
Mary.
(Some of the work, by the way, was done by the garden slave; the photographs were also taken and album posted by said slave; the journal above was dictated by the lady of the house and garden and typed by the same slave. Paddy)
21 May 2013 12:54:08
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Lovely day here, beautifully sunny and warm; a morning spent outside weeding and picking about with a few nice flowers also enjoying the conditions.
Paddy
15 May 2013 19:03:16
A new gardening programme has just started on BBC2 at seven o'clock called 'Get Up and Grow' with Chris Beardshaw. Looks good.
13 May 2013 15:21:22
Irish Garden Plant Society AGM in The Kingdom
On Friday last Paddy and myself headed off to Kerry for the Annual General Meeting weekend of the Irish Garden Plant Society.
On Friday, we headed down to Kells Bay where we visited Billy Alexander's garden. It seems the woodland area of the gardens is managed by Coillte and it was sad to see how badly the work was done - they have being clearing out the woodland, removing undergrowth, thinning out etc and the debris of the work is simply left piled all around. The number and quality of the tree ferns in the woodland glen was very impressive - big specimens and all thriving in the mild moist Kerry air. A large area to the front of the house, an area for palms and succulents has obviously not done well.
On Saturday, after the AGM meeting, we headed off to the first of the gardens of the programme organised for the weekend, that of Stephen Austen, situated on an exposed hillside running down to several aces of bog which are being gradually developed. Despite this, rhododendrons and other ericaceous plants flourished. To the side of the house a small cottage garden was created within the shelter of dry-stone walls. Many of the plants here were of a yellow or golden tint which created a very cosy feeling.
After lunch, in Sneem, we took a boat trip to the privately owned island of Garinish West on the invitation of the Head Gardener who is a member of the Irish Garden Plant Society. Garinish West is not to be confused with with Garnish Island/Illnacullen. "Garinish" is a name applied to many islands in the area as it simply means the "near island". On the trip out we saw many seals sunbathing on the rocks and we also saw a pair of sea-eagles flying across the bay. This garden is a lush woodland garden with tree ferns seeding throughtout. The Gardener gave us a tour of this beautiful woodland garden which was full of rhododendrons and deciduous azaleas if full bloom.
On our return to our hotel we had a delicious dinner which was part of the official weekend programme.
Sunday morning saw us heading to Dhu Varren Gardens in pouring rain where we were met by Mark Collins and his delightful wife, Laura (?), who welcomed us with a hot cup of tea which was much appreciated. Dhu Varren Gardens hosts an extensive collection of plants with two glasshouses, one for cacti and succulents and the other for tender plants. In summer, he told us, this latter glasshouse is home to tropical butterflies. There is also an ornamental Japanese teahouse with a bridge and koi tank in front.
We went back to Muckross Park for lunch and were met by the Head Gardener for a guided tour afterwards. As we were about to set out on our tour who should arrive only Margaret (Hosta) and her husband, Stephen, so we had a quick chat before heading off. Our guide (can't think of his name at the moment - Gerry...) told us of the history of the house, the family, and the gardens. We were brought into the walled garden and into the Turner designed curvilinear glasshouse, not normally opened to the pubic. We continued into the woodland which was started only in the 1960s with many plants coming from the Mount Congreve Nurseries who supplied over a hundred different camellias. The growth rate of trees is phenomenal in the area due to the mild conditions and abundant rainfall and many of the trees were truly imprssive specimens.
Our final visit, not part of the official programme, was to a fellow IGPS members' garden outside Killorglin - Michael and Christel Rosenfeldwho had kindly invited us to see their wonderful garden. This garden is set in wonderfully scenic surroundings and had a very large pond which the owners had created - it is large enough to be used for bathing. It is flanked on one side by birch which blend perfectly naturally into the surrounding countryside. There are wondderfully built stone walls which both shelter the garden from the windy conditions and give some protection from the local deer which have become a nuisance especially in the vegetable garden. After another cup of tea, it was eight o' clock before we began our journey home to Waterford.
Despite the showers we had a great time on the weekend and I can see the society returning to Kerry in coming years.
I will put up an album for each of the gardens visited.
Mary
08 May 2013 08:56:24
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Photographs taken in Hillsborough Castle Gardens last May.
07 May 2013 07:44:21
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These two, along with several others, wait for me to deliver breakfast each morning. While sitting inside drinking our coffee we were watching them as they came to the pond for a drink after their breakfast this morning. We have been feeding these pheasants, and various collections of hens and chicks for about two years now. The cock is quite at ease with me in the garden but the hen is a little more shy.
06 May 2013 21:06:53
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Good day, dry and bright, so cut the grass as rain is forecast for tomorrow. Had to go out for the afternoon but came back and snapped a few photographs which I added to the May 2013 Album
http://www.garden.ie/albumUpdate.aspx?idalbum=20534
Paddy
05 May 2013 21:33:30
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A nice few days this week, good weather and an opportunity to be in the garden. I have posted an album of a few things in flower this afternoon.
Mary
23 April 2013 23:03:27
Supergardener Returns
Next Thursday sees the return of the Supergardener programme which is run in conjunction with the Bloom Garden Festival. There is a series of six programmes to choose the winning designer and are being filimed in Galway, Monaghan, Limerick and other locations around the country.
Have just been reading the journals posted earlier this evening and so glad that everyone is getting a chance to enjoy the great weather, long may it last.
Paddy was out with his camera today and took some photos which I will add to my April album
20 April 2013 20:01:45
For Scrubber
Peter,
Mary has had her nose in a book since Thursday and is onto the second one now so I am deputising for a moment.
She put a little posie in a vase and said, "I must show this to Peter" so I am taking the liberty to do so unbeknownst to her.
A little posie from the garden - a visual "Thank You"
Paddy
13 April 2013 21:17:29
Altamont Gardens on a Rainy Day.
During last week we were supposed to go to Altamont but due to a silly problem with a domestic appliance we had to cancel. This morning when we woke the weather was not bad and we decided to take a chance on a visit. However, we did not leave the overcast skies on the south coast and as we headed north the rain started to fall and continued during our short visit to the garden.
As we were walking around the garden, we met a friend who invited us back to see his garden which was delightful with a path that led to the front door, planted with scillas and daffodils for Spring and cat mint and lady's mantle for summer and at the front door two standered wisteria. In the back a rock garden constructed with large granite boulders was planted with choice alpines. An apline house tucked away in a corner of the back garden was home to alpine bulbs and primulas. A lovely and unexpected visit made our day.
The gardens at Altamont are looking beautiful with the hugh stretches of daffodils on the main drive. The area under the beech trees on the Nuns' Walk is now a sea of yellow with daffodils. The woodland garden is reaching its peak with the flowering of so many woodland plants as you can see from the photos.
11 April 2013 23:15:14
Rain and Sunshine
Today we have had beautiful sunshine interupted by some heavy showers. The rain has washed the weed and feed into the soil that we spread on the grass on Monday so hopefully it will kill the hugh amount of moss that has grown as a result of the dull wet summer last year.
We went for a quick visit to Mount Congreve this afternoon and a good number of visitors were enjoying the garden.
Paddy took a few photos this evening of plants flowering in our garden at present which I have put into an album for April.
04 April 2013 20:44:51
Mount Congreve April 2013
We were delighted to hear this morning that Mount Congreve has opened its doors for the Spring/Summer. The garden is suffering with the bad weather and a number of the blooms on the plants have been spoiled with the wind and frost. However, it was great to see the hard work done over the winter by the garden staff and they have the garden looking wonderful. If you get a chance to visit over the coming months, I am sure you will return again. The garden is open on Thursdays only and there is no entry charge. Mount Congreve nursery is selling plants, so you can bring a little of the garden back to your own patch.