28 November 2011 14:07:58
The Three Tulips
I have three of my very best 'tulips' flowering today as there 9 years old and had there great party on saturday at a play centre. I was just saying to Gabriel that now we have them half way through childhood we should celebrate a little :-)
Nothing much to report on really the Andrew Wilson lecture was thought provoking at very least so lots to mull over there. I'm still plugging on with the course and am now on my fifth assignment and hoping to get it and one more done before Christmas kicks in.
I finally tackled my compost heap and shifted all three bays of it to make a new bay ready to recieve stuff cut back from now till the spring. I was doing my Christmas list and was looking at the Mr. Middleton big circular rotary garden sieve as I have lots of sticks in my compost and was ondering if it was any good? I always look at these things and think could I make one myself but I have'nt quite made up my mind yet if I'd use it that much to justify getting one.
As lots of others have commented I see this year theres been no blanket of snow :-)
18 November 2011 11:20:56
Phalenopsis Royal Blue
Tomorrow I will be taking a break from studying Soil Structure defecits and my studies to attend a GLDA (Garden Landscape Designer Assoc) lecture by well know english designer Andrew Wilson on "Making money grow on Trees". Its about running your own garden design business and sadly not on growing money trees! I'm looking forward to it as I really want to try and see if doing a design course and trying to set up a business is a pipe dream or practical in the current climate.
Coincidently I was in Springmount about two weeks ago after one of Sam's soccer matches and picked up 'The Book of Garden Plans' a nice garden design plans book only when i got home did I realise it was edited by the self same Andrew Wilson! must get him to sign it...
My course is going well and I've completed 4 assignments already and hope to get to more in before Christmas, the sixth one involves scale drawing of a garden and making suggestions for improving it so not exactly the best time of year to be doing that but can't be helped.
On a different note I'm feeling positively cheery this morning and lucky for once that I'm behind the tech times. As while listening to Ray D'arcy show on radio I heard about old apple IPods posed a fire risk and were being replaced with a brand new one by apple. Knowing I had an old one I entered the serial number and wahayyyyy I'm eligible for a spanking new €160 one. Love my music as well as my gardening.
Saw this blue Phalenopsis in a garden centre recently... looks pretty good
11 November 2011 11:11:37
Frosty Mornings
I am attempting to post this journal at an auspicious time that won't come around again for another 100 years :-) (see date and time)
It is lashing and blowing a gale here and I've done very little work in the garden recently.. I have being trying to get through my assignment for the course.
My visits to the site have been sporadic and haphazard to say the least so apologies to regular garden.iers if I have missed journals.
I am typically looking out the window rain lashed at all the stuff I should really get round to in the garden which funnily I never do that on a fine day!
It's suppose to be mild over the weekend so I will really have no excuse but to get stuff done now, although I find the cold air really is starting to have a negative effect on my chest (COPD) which is restristricting me a little. Its funny as both Fran and I wtalked how we liked being out at this time of year, but even with my medication I'm struggling to do that now..
It's also funny how with the journal we often can't convey exactly what me mean and lets face I've had lots of misunderstandings on here. One recent example was rachels journal on compost bins with a tiny hint of a compliment to me which we joked about. On another journal Rachel had given Myrtle a cutting she'd lost last winter and I said what a nice thing for Rachel to do for her and that that was a hint of a compliment back. However Rachel replied saying she got the'hint' and that she' do a cutting for me... there was a life of Brian moment where I went 'But thats not what I meant at all' before I looked back at the comment and realised it read a completely different way from how I had intended it..
So forgive me (and no doubt others) for any misunderstanding on journals when I make a quick comment without thinking ...
Only 43 days 12 hours 49 mins To Christmas
03 November 2011 11:56:33
Aster laterifolius horizontalis
Much more spread out and really should be called aster l. flopallovertheplace LOL
03 November 2011 11:52:57
Aster laterifolius 'Lady in Black'
this is more upright and bushy but very similar flowers to horizontalis or 'Prince'