Month: January 2009

hi i am a avid gardener my garden is new this is my 2nd year so it’s a new garden, i spend as much time as i can in the garden i am as mad about flower , shrubs an veg. from my photo,s u see i am big into old cottage type flowers as they need less looking after when established and the scents from them are much better than the new flowers. also i am very wildlife friendly no sprays i also grow a lot of veg and fruits. i am trying a lot of unusual veg an fruits, peaches, apricots, kiwi, olives, oranges along with apples ,plums, cherries and pears. also i have yellow carrots and tomato’s this year and have asparagus set which i hope to crop next year along with all other type of veg perhaps i am a bit ambitious for a garden in north east Donegal.

These are such a pretty delicate colour and one of the first to flower in the cold garden. They are called pulmonaria. I was just reminded about covering the dahlias, with all the hustle over christmas I didnt do it. Tonight is supposed to be -3 brrrrrrr. Wonder will they survive.

Lungwort or pulmonaria

I went to the top of Tountinne today to take pictures of the house. We’re very lucky to have the mountain in our front garden. No need for helicopters to get aerial photos. We’re able to get a good idea of the overall plan of the garden too.

I took a few photos of the mountain and the the views, which clearly give the reason why this mountain is called the "wave of fire". Iim putting these photos on the photos section.

The overall view

It really was cold last night. Everywhere pure white with a hoar- frost. I didn’t take the camera out today. This photo was taken 2 days ago. The branches are like snakes!

Very bare contorted hazel

My garden is very much geared towards wildlife and the native species. I built on a two acre blank canvas three years ago and since have transformed it into a slice of paradise. I enjoy the resident fox, ferret and buzzard and in return they keep my garden mouse free!

I planted over 300 trees and over 600m of gorse hedging and rosa rugosa rubra, again as well as a wildlife magnet its a great security barrier. In addition is a hedge of escallonia mccrantha and a plethora of lavatera, foxgloves balsam and hidcote.

I think it will be a magical place for my three young daughters to stretch their legs and wander around in a few years time.

We celebrate Christmas 7 of January. So – merry Christmas to all!

Wish you joy and happiness during all this year and much more!

S Rozhdestvom Khristovym!

Webmaster is keeping silent… My journal still is not corrected.

But! About my plans for next year.

As I told, I want to revise my indoor plant collection. I want to give away all senpolias as I am tired of them. A couple of years before I was interested in senpolias, but now I do not.

I want to try orchids, and as well I will have more space without senpolias – why not.

Maybe

The weather over here has been very cold in recent days down to -7 some evenings. I covered my main tender plants with fleece. I have been in the garden today and the weather is somewhat warmer and we have had a rainfall overnight which has helped the garden and freshened everything up. My hellebore buds are making lots of progress and I also found one of my Osteospermum plants still flowering in January. The ground is not workable at the moment and I also bought myself a pot of snowdrops to remind me of spring.

Osteospermum

Not much going on at the moment. Have to to look about some shrubs for my lawn, and it will soon be time to get the pollytunnel going again.

This is the evergreen Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postil’. It is has flowers at this time of the year and they are powerfully fragrant.

‘Jacqueline Postil’

This picture I took today is really for Olga. This tough little plant has been in flower right through our frosty days with temperatures of -6 oC It is in a pot at the back of the house, not even up against the wall.

Wild primrose

I photographed what I think is one of the funniest looking plants in the garden today. Its a Juncus called the ‘corkscrew rush’. There are lots of rushes in the fields but not too many of these.

twisting rushes!

Rain Rain Rain, that is the weather here today and a bit cold out too. Went down to the local garden centre and looked at the bargains again bought myself poppy Patty’s Plum been wanting this one for a while now. it was in the reduced section and a bargain at £2.49. It usually retails at over £6.00 here. Hoping to plant it out but the forecast is rain again and possibly snow on sunday. Been looking through my gardening books for some inspiration in re-designing the garden this year. Looking for lots of colour and height with the perennials. The front garden is small but is in a good position for lots of sunshine and the poppies should do well when I have continued to prepare the soil for them.

Poppy Papaver Orientale Patty’s Plum

If it wasn’t for this hedge and shelter belt of pine trees we would have been blown away today. Behind the leylandi hedge (which by the way is a pain to keep trimmed because I let it grow too high) is a drop into the woods so the pine trees behind are very tall.

Shelter from the south west wind

Today is one of the most wonderful kind of winter weather, in my opinion. Temperature is not very low, just -9 -11 centigrade, no wind, no clouds. And everything is touched with frost.

Magical, enchanting winter world!

Some pictures are in my winter album.

‘Sugared’ winter plants

I planted some geranium seeds about five days ago in my heated propagator and was delighted, when I checked them today, to see that some have started to germinate. What a lovely sight on a dreary winter’s day! Each packet comes with just six seeds and so far I have 100% germination rate – important, since the seeds are quite expensive. I use them in Summer containers and lost all last year’s to frost. I also planted a variety of Eupatorium that is supposed to flower in its first year if germinated early – they need to be covered in a polythene bag, kept in a fridge for three weeks and then put back in heat to germinate – I’ve just explained this to my wife and she’s very understanding! Perennials that flower in their first year suit my impatient nature so I seek them out in the catalogues. The others I buy as mature plants. This last few months’ frosts have really caught me by surprise and I fear for the survival of many less than fully hardy plants which I had grown accustomed to surviving outdoors – a sequence of mild winters had left me complacent!

Geraniums.

Hi All,

Well the snow storm that hit us on Saturday last left us with no greenhouse to be honest. Its missing the roof, one whole side, the whole front and … no… I think thats it – SO anyone travelling in the Laois, Kilkenny, Carlow area please be advised of low flying greenhouse parts.

We have our first daffodil out – just waiting for its white head to peak out any day now. We have some hyacinths from last year which are just about out also. Everything else is cold and wet – even the primroses. Mind you we did see some nice ones last weekend on a country walk.

Our Lavender seems to have died back, its gone all black and i have no hope for it. As is one of our Kniphophia – it just does not like the area of the garden i put it in and with all this rain its certainly not a happy plant. Mind you – I planted 2 others which seem to be fine.

The Bamboo and Pampas is doing really well, maybe we should re-consider and plant them everywhere! especially if the climate is to change and we get more rain.

We are enjoying all the seed catalogues – at the moment i am trying to convince himself that we really do need one of everything! so he is talking recession, budget… credit crunch and seed swaps…… which could be interesting.

Even to dogs are refusing to go out in this cold miserable weather so how can we convince ourselves sto get out in it to finish planting our spring bulbs – very late – i know, but with one thing and another we never did get to do them. But this weekend they will be planted. Sure – they will only arrive late and there is always something nice about unexpected late arrivals.

I hope everyone else is starting to look to the spring this year with all the seed catalogues and there should be a lot of seed out there for swaps – if anyone is interested I will get together my list and put them on the forum. That way i can do my bit for the environment,

Happy gardening

Let us mark the historic day ..as Barak Obama takes power in the USA ..and the bitter cold wind invades my Garden.What joy as two thrushs come to live in my tree,beside the peaceful Budda…Im beginning to believe my in reincarnation…it was the tree ,my neighbour always trimmed..His presence is strong there…..Guess he likes his memorial!!

Nice day here in Leeds, the sun was shining for most of the day a few showers about but not much. Cold and a frost is imminent tonight. I have been busy planting up some peonies and hostas which I bought for a bargain in the local supermarket, i don’t usually buy plants in bags of compost but luckily I could see buds on them so I took the plunge, great for three peonies £2.99 and five hostas for £2.99, i will let you know if they succeed. I soaked them overnight and have covered them with fleece.

Two of my hellebores are in full flower see photos for more detail, my Witch Hazel is also in full flower and I potted this up in ericaceous compost as my garden soil is not suitable. I have also got a few Cyclamen Coum coming into flower which is a bonus as the pink colour cheers up the dreary winter.

There seems to be alot of birds about due to the lovely food I give them, they eat better than me. I have noticed we have a blackcap too and I gave blackie an apple I had cut into small pieces. It is the RSPB Birdwatch this weekend where you watch the birds for an hour and record how many you have at one time then send the details off.

Happy gardening

Cyclamen Coum

The internet connection has finally been fixed after the storm on 17 January.

The internet wasn’t the only casualty, however.

This tree began to lean last year. I couldn’t get the stake in near enough so we dug up and replanted it, with two stakes, last autumn. The winds actually broke one of the stakes in two.

Storm Damage

I recently acquired a number of house plants. They are in a state of bad neglect, with very pale leaves. I cut off any bad bits and watered them well but would like to know if anyone can give me any further advice.

I am not sure of the names of some of them either (particularly this large sorry looking succulent) so your help would be much appreciated.Individual photos are in my "acquired house plants" album.

The Clivia (label was attached) had one flower, when I got it, but the flower spike has since turned yellow and collapsed, letting the flower flop – not a good sign, at a guess!

All advice welcome.

What is it?

Thanks Ternie for your comments. The geraniums I am growing are the ‘World’s Top 6 Mix’ from the Thompson and Morgan seed catalogue (www.thompson-morgan.com). Six packets, 5 or six seeds in each – Geronimo (reddish-pink), Hollywood Star (pink with white centre), Horizon Salmon, Picasso (red), White Orbit, ( I like the white ones ) and Tango orange. All are growing nicely inside the patio window. I turn the pots frequently to stop the young shoots from bending. A heated greenhouse would be nice instead of my ageing unheated one with three missing glass panes lost to the recent storms but the window area will have to do for now! At the moment we are enjoying the lovely white flowers of an Amaryllis – such power in one bulb! ( Photo in new album ). Bye for now!

Geraniums from the air!

During the past few weeks I have been doing some routine tidying up in the gardens, front and back and adding old or decayed plant material to the compost heap. Today I noticed that some of the shrubs, were beginning to throw up long shoots so I got out my extendable guillotine pruner (this was a birthday present some years ago from my son Kevin) and I have made great use of it. It reduces the of number of times I have to take out a ladder to prune the tops of the shrubs.

The guillotine pruner can reach to almost 14 feet when fully extended. I also cut back two clematis plants, Clematis Montana and Clematis Jackmanii both of which are vigorous growers. The Montana had extended long shoots many metres into my neighbours’ garden while the Jackmanii had grown against a wall and into a large shrub. Clematis plants are easily pruned. The secret is to leave the main framework alone, in the case of the Montana and Jackmanii, and just cut back some of last years growth. One year I made the mistake of cutting back all of the last years growth completely and got no flowers.

A third Clematis, Tangutica, I always cut back to the ground because it flowers on the current years growth. I then pruned a large Pyracantha which is growing against a partition wall. It is a yellow-berried variety and not popular with the birds for eating. I would have preferred the red berried variety but at the time there were none available.

I gathered all the prunings together in a heap and set up the shredder. This is another worthwhile gardening tool I have and I would encourage any serious gardener to invest in one. I have mine twenty years or more and it has saved me a lot of hard cutting work with the secateurs and supplied me with material for the compost heaps. The mound of prunings would be offputting if you were left to cut it up with a secateurs. However the shredder got through it in about two hours or less.

I put all of the kitchen waste, except cooked food onto the compost heap. Teabags can be used provided you tear up the teabags and release the contents into the compost heap. I read somewhere that teabags are made from banana leaves, which means they must be bio-degradeable.

A few weeks ago during a dry spell I mowed the grass with the cutter set at a medium height and got a nice cut. The electric cylinder mower can be used in situations where a push mower would slide, at times, creating muddy skid lines.

I (perhaps unwisely) bought my echeveria last summer in full flower. It has since decided to die on me. Did I read somewhere that some succulents do this after flowering!?!

Anyway, I attempted to take cuttings, using instructions from a magazine, and placed leaves in a pot of cactus compost. I hope the plant was not too far gone. I wonder should I put plastic over the pot to keep it moist? I thought, maybe not, given that the plant itself doesn’t like too much moisture. Fingers crossed!

Echeveria

My camelia has nice fat flower buds, bursting with spring promise!

Camelia

Month: January 2009

Garden.ie free newsletter