Month: November 2008

This little geranium spreads like wildfire. I don’t know what it’s called because I bought it at a Fete a few years ago. I pulled up a piece by mistake this year and just stuck it in the earth. It grew – more of that please…

It looks so sweet in spring, with dainty pink bell like flowers and a neat habit. And now, in autumn, it really does look like wildfire.

 

I noticed that my irises have already started to sprout, in preparation for next spring. They’re not the bearded type – the other ones.

I’m looking forward to it already.

 

I’m taking bets on whether or not this purple birch is going to make it.

I bought and planted it about a month ago. It was already bending at this preposterous angle when I bought it but I got it cheap.

The ground in which it is planted is very stony. My husband and I spent ages trying to hammer the stake into the ground, giving up and trying again – a little to the left or right. I did dig a large hole for the tree, however, and put in plenty of compost.

I’m thinking if it’s not windy this winter, the tree has a fighting chance.What do you think?

23 Feb 2009

The tree came through the storm of 17th January unscathed. It hasn’t rectified its stance but it is doing well.

The birds really enjoy the rose hips on my Rosa Rugosa hedge.

They eat the fruit but they don’t bother with the seeds.

Unfortunately this Rosa Rugosa hedge overhangs the drive so you can see what a mess they make of the tarmac! The seeds are really hard to sweep out of the pits in the tarmac : (

I timed myself badly – stepped out to do some rose pruning this afternoon but was scared back in again by the rain. 

My bare root copper beech hedging is ready for collection.

I intend to plant a hedge along my drive of alternate beech and copper beach plants. The beech is already in place since last year (it’s a long story), with gaps for the copper beech.

Today my husband kindly dug the 44 additional holes necessary for the copper beech plants – between the existing beech ones.

I’ll pick up the copper beech plants on Friday.

Here is my drive. It is lined with white-barked birch trees and will soon also be lined with a  hedge of alternate beech/copper beech plants.

The original intention, with the hedge, was to hide  the view of the garden from the road. However, as one of my kids pointed out recently, if I grow a hedge there I won’t be able to see my flowers, from the kitchen widow. Also, the hedge will somewhat obscure the lovely ghostly white bark of the trees.

So I’m having doubts about whether or not my hedge is the right thing to plant but it’s a bit late now!

I have dug two of the late sown turnips and they are turning out a tasty treat. I haven’t grown veg for years but I am definitely growing these again next year. I didn’t pull any of the parsnips yet. Is it true they taste better after a frost. I think there is supposed to be a frost tonight! 

I took stock of what came out of the front garden today and yesterday.  Eventhough 2 of the veg beds are full of plants there are still loads of plants left to be freed from the tangle of  couch grass and buttercup. It has proven to be a far bigger task than I thought.

 I spent an hour today saving about 50 (no exageration) red euphorbia that had self sown in the gravel.  I noticed lots of oxe-eye daisies that will need a similar intervention before the weedspraying starts.  I have a spot for them too. 

There is about a full day of rescuing plants from the front garden to go.   I didn’t think that I could possibly make the front garden look any worse but I did.  Don’t despair I tell myself.  It is always darker before the dawn. 

I know that there are plenty of bulbs in there too so I had better prepare for some back breaking digging.  I’m running out of enthusiasm – so – baby steps.

Imagine this Fuchsia still hanging on. Its a tough plant. This was one I grew from a slip and most of them root quite easily.

Even though it was a dull drizzly day today  the colours of the Phormium brighten this corner. I’ll have to try and stop slashing the tips of the leaves with the lawn mower! I tried to dig out a bit of this plant but it was impossible!

Today was definitely a Bad Gardening Day. I decided to plant out a few bits. It started to rain, which really set the tone.

The David Austin rose, Crown Princess Margareta, refused to come out of the pot. When I eventually got it out, it was obvious that it was a bare root plant, recently put in the pot – and hammered in with lead weights I think! I don’t think I should have paid €18.99 for a bare root rose!!!

I decided to split the lamb’s ears (Stachys Byzantina) before planting. It looked easy – there were several distinct clumps. However, my spade slipped and I managed to sever half the top growth, leaving the root mostly intact. I planted the two pieces anyway. Life…

I am deeply depressed. I went to plant out my 131 Flaming Parrot tulip bulbs today and found that the majority were covered in blue mould : (

Normally I buy gallons of  tulips from Lidle & Aldi. They are €1.99 for 20 and I am still planting them come February. They haven’t gone mouldy on me yet.

This year I decided to treat myself and bought 100 Flaming Parrot tulips from a reputable mail order firm. Only 75 bulbs arrived so the company sent me the "lost" 25 and an additional 25 bulbs, by way of compensation. I also had six Flaming Parrot bulbs I had bought from Aldi.

And, although I stored all 131 bulbs in the same box – get this – the bag of six Aldi bulbs was the only one untouched by the mould!

What a terrible waste of money. Not sure what to do, I planted all the bulbs regardless. Lets see what emerges in Spring. I feel sick!

 

 

Crocuses are sprouting.

 

The irises continue to grow.

 

And my greenhouse has arrived!!! : )

It will be erected on the grassy slope directly behind it in this photo. That is the uncultivated part of my garden.

 What beautiful sunshine today and so nice to be able to garden in bright sunshine at the end of November! I’ve been cutting out the dead wood of some shrub, rambling and climbing roses most of the day. It’s hard work and difficult to avoid getting scratches on one’s arms and those nasty remnants of thorns in the finger tips, especially when tackling the larger and  more neglected ones. I stick random slips of the shrub roses in the ground also  – if they root, it’s a plant for free, if they don’t,  nothing is lost!  And the leaves – I’ve been clearing them for weeks now! They seem so numerous and large this year – could this be the trees’ response to the extra carbon dioxide in the air?
As I make my way around my herbaceous borders, clearing away this year’s dying growth ( there’s an oxymoron! ), I notice the daffodils beginning to peek through the soil already. This and today’s sunshine really lift the spirits – "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?". I even cut these roses ( in photo ) from my garden today!  Bye. 

 

This year I sowed Cosmos seed for the first time and I was pleased with the result.    They turned into sturdy bushy plants and have been flowering continuously since about June.   The flowers at the moment, the final flush, are not as large or as colourful as the ones which bloomed in summer.   I think they will last until Christmas at least. 

The seed packet I purchased was named Candy Stripe but lo and behold I got more than I bargained for.   There were colours other than Candy Stripe on some of the plants as you can see from the photos.   I also collected a lot of seeds so it will be interesting to see next year what other colours might appear.

In early October I noticed a clump of Snowdrop plants which needed to be split so I distributed them around the borders.   Much to my surprise several of them are in bloom at the moment. Has anyone else got Snowdrops blooming this early?   I discovered later that the so-called snowdrop plants were in fact wild garlic which I promptly dug out and put in the brown bin.

My outdoor Cyclamen are running wild.   I find them to be very invasive and prolific producers of seed.   They also flowered twice this year.   The first time they flowered I removed the seed heads before they could develop and maybe that is why they flowered a second time.

I have been spreading my compost on the flower borders to keep down the weeds (hopefully) and to enrich the soil for next years growth.   Usually I keep mowing the lawn throughout the winter months but I read recently that it is better to allow the grass to grow about three inches before mowing at the mower’s highest setting.   It is supposed to keep down the weeds and strengthen the grass roots.   So, I am giving this idea a trial run this winter.   During the past month or so I have been tidying up the garden, removing annuals and their surplus seedlings and cutting back the perennials and bushes. 

These are all different varieties of daffodils, planted in rows, in the cut flower area. Once they are finished flowering I cover them with an old carpet so I dont have to weed the area. I just have to remember to lift the carpet before they get stunted!

Finished putting weed suppressant fabric and bark mulch around my Beech/Copper Beech hedging. I decided to discount the advice given at the Springmount talk. The hedge is right along my front drive so it needs to look neat.

Grow hedge grow…

My husband pruned the fruit trees and removed some overlapping branches on other trees. I only let him take out one branch each from my Jacqumontii.

Today I noticed the plumes of this Pampas grass. I think they are late this year. I didn’t get any plumes on this plant for the first five years.

Despite the dreadful frost, the local company who agreed to build my greenhouse base arrived.

With much talk of Pythagoras, they marked out the greenhouse area with yellow. I have  gone over it in the adjacent picture as the photo did not properly show the line. My husband is inspecting proceedings in the photo.

Left of the photo is directly south. There is a native hedge along there (the back of the garden). It provides the best shelter in the garden but is not high enough to cast shadow on the greenhouse.

Note the hole in the foreground where the rhubarb was hastily dug out and removed this morning. Brrrrr…

Digging of the foundations is underway as I type.

Well, the base has now been dug out.

Unfortunately it is so cold that the sand was frozen so could not be mixed into cement.

To be continued next Saturday or, hopefully, before if there is a cancellation and no frost