Month: March 2009

I had a big scrub-up today and transformed all my ceramic pots that aren’t currently in use.

Some of them were filthy.

I now have a nice collection for planting. I love to plant lilies in ceramic pots as they tend to fall over in plastic ones.

 

I seem to have mostly yellow crocus – only a smattering of the larger purple ones.

But the yellow does look cheerful.

Got 6 pullets last Tuesday! ISA BROWNS, or so I’ve been told, hope the ladies settle in their new home, Setanta thinks their great, he doesn’t want to lock them up, he wants run around the garden after them! oh boy…………..

Threw some granulated lime on the lawns last Friday, try to kill of the moss, its like a spongey carpet at the minute. So the little bit of rain we had will wash it in. Pottered in the garden, putting in some shrubs that were sitting in pots for X number of months, they’ll have some chance in the ground.

The daffodils are just about to open, but not before St. Patricks Day, well in my garden anyway! The pink & deep purple tulips I set in September are peeking their leaves out of the ground…. should make a nice display later this month.

Purchased my first apple trees on Saturday, JAMES GRIEVES and a BRAMLEY SEEDLING. So a step in the right direction, have to get some stakes and straps soon.

Took a mad notion the other day and moved some tete-a-tete daffodils (found them at the back of fence, forgot all about them) and made a fun Fairy-Ring in the play area???!!

Hubby is busy these days and the planned Greenhouse has been shelved for a few weeks, don’t mind so much, the weather is changing again, cold & wet March!

J

 

Got to move on the morning glory and the basil to single pots.Some sunflower were moved also.Time to start getting some trays out to the greenhouse.Still rather let down at the outcome of the leeks,and some onions on trays.All the other veg coming on well.Parsley needs moving to single pots asop.Pansy,lob,pet,and  swan r daisy all doing well on trays.Cant forget to get some sweet corn started tomorrow evening as well.

Please, help me to identify this plant. I think it is clivia, but I’m not sure. My doubts is in flowers and also clivias I see before are smaller. But looks very close to clivia.

What do you think?

 

 

My daughter, Ishtar, planting seeds.

 

My daughter, Ishtar, planted up one tray.

She had fun choosing what to plant, although she did favour seeds with pictures on the packets.

She sowed four each of Giant Marigold, Nasturtium. Poppy (thanks, Linda), Lupin, Cosmos (thanks, Lorraine) and Sweet William.

I’m a bit slow off the mark with ordering vegetables seeds this year but with no greenhouse, and limited windowsill space there was no rush, and thankfully Brown Envelope Seeds in Cork still have a great selection to choose from. I ordered Crimson flowered broad beans which look and smell so lovely they could be grown for their flowers alone! They have grown well for me in the past. I also ordered some peas, kale and the summer salad mix which can be grown in a container so I’m planning to sow some of that in a box at the back door.

Got my bag of seed spuds today, I haven’t grown potatoes since the early 1990’s. I am getting great enthusiasum from all the web members. I hate the job of spraying for blight I don’t even spray the roses. I will cut them and get them to sprout in the garage and hope the outside temperature comes up by St. Patricks day. Glad to say my ‘Sidalcea’ Elsie has sprouted but no sign of the ‘Lollipops’ yet.

 

Be happy, dear women!

Wish you always keep Spring in your hearts!

 

The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.

When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here.

 

 

I continue sowing for balcony – phlox drummondii, pansy rippling waters, petunia pendula mix, petunia f1 grandiflora double Glorious mix, petunia hybrida fimbrilata ‘Erfurt dwarf’, petunia pendula grandiflora ‘Strawberry with cream’.

 

The internet’s been down for a few days but I’ve been busy in the garden all the same.

Finished weeding the semi-circle bed in the West Garden and half did the final bed there.Put down some "bone meal" and compost on part of the semi-circle bed.

Weeded the bed across from the kitchen window and planted out my Christmas Hyacinths and some Anemones (thanks, Lorraine).

Started weeding the circular Aster bed in the "Triangular Garden" (as my husband calls it). Put down some slug pellets, prompted by the hideous sight in the picture to the right. This is an Arum Lily I bought last summer in full flower. Look at it now!

Put "bone meal" on my three new hedges.

Potted on my three citrus plants, using "citrus compost" so maybe I’ll get more flowers/fruit this year. Tried the last of my Datura seeds, having soaked them for 2 days this time, in a pot which is now on the reptile mat (which I am using instead of a heated propagator). Lets see if I have any luck!

I ordered 50 strawberry plants – 25 ordinary and 25 perpetual. I am hoping the hubbie will dig the raised bed for these. We won’t get much this year put, hopefully next… My daughter, Ishtar, also planted a second tray of flower seeds – she showed the boyfriend how to do it and even persuaded him to select seeds to plant.Very encouraging to see her taking an interest. She wants her own flower bed this year!

I was amazed to see a tray of HA Corn Flowers, which I had left covered in the greenhouse through the cold snap, actually germinate. They must be mad! I took the lid off and left them in the greenhouse. I will follow their lead but keep them well watered. Following this surprising success, I moved some more ungerminated trays of HA’s to the greenhouse and even moved out some trays of HA seedlings.  .

I cut these willow branches from the straight willow, I think this is the one they use for willow baskets. I hope to use these to repair my willow fence.

I finally got the camera out after the snow at the weekend. to see how the colour is only starting to come up.  My bulbs are being eaten at a rate that i cannot keep up with – is it mice or would the hares do it? I am at my wits end because we bought some lovely bulbs in Holland several years ago and it would be a shame to loose them.

The miniature daffs are out but not the regular ones, but they are on their way,  but we have some tulips out as from yesterday – which always surprises me as the early tulips tulips are always up before the daffs. 

Nothing much else going on at the moment – seeds being sown at an incredible rate and the propagator is on 24 hours a day.

I have a lovely plum pudding Huchera which is constantly being pulled up?? which i cannot figure out, because its been there nearly 3 years and its only now its getting pulled up, literally, when i go out there are bits of it everywhere and i am hoping they will grown again because its a nice one and was happy where it was.

As you can tell, gardening at this time of year is frustrating because of the animals looking for food:

I have never had so much colour in the garden as this spring, everything has been thriving, primroses, primulas, crocoses, snowdrops, heathers, I love it!

At last my daughter Caitlin and I planted half our seeds on Saturday, hope they grow and I got the first cut on the back grass this morning, hubby did front on Sunday!   It makes such a difference to the garden when the grass is cut.

 

I potted on my 24 Morning Glories today as they were dwarfing their tray. The pots are now in the sitting room, taking up a whole lot of space.

 

My husband sowed some chilli seeds, from a kitchen chilli, and they germinated today. My nephew wants a red hot chilli plant so one of these is earmarked for him.

I continued with the weeding and tidying around the garden today. At least I had the lovely scenery of these daffodils to enjoy. ( More photos on album page).I was lucky to have a nice dry day until around 3pm.

 

Really looking forward to this programme tonight. At last, some gardening on TV.

Its Friday 13th folks ! I believe for some people its lucky. Lets look forward to next Tuesday!. I was looking through some old plant packets and came across this. Look at the price its in old money(£1.75). Even though not in flower yet they have flowered every year since I planted them years ago…….

Started weeding the long border at the front of my garden. I had been putting it off but feel better now I’ve started. This border is going to have to get wider this year too, if I get my hands on the digger from my brother-in-law, as it is too narrow in places!

Anyway, some little dainty is popping up all over the place. I know it is a perennial that I bought at the Bay Garden in Camolin last summer but, for the life of me, the name isn’t coming. You don’t see these things until you get to weeding.

With a bit of luck I’ll sow my courgettes this evening. Yesterday I sowed Lobelia Cardinalis Queen Victoria, Echium Snow Towers (inspired by Nuala’s garden), more Cosmos Purity, more Giant Marigolds and more Sweet Pea. I need more loo rolls!

Hello Everyone, bit cloudy today but we did have some spells of sunshine, been in the garden fluffing up the soil and planting a few plants, my daffodils are coming out now and look lovely, planted a bit of colour at the front of the house in containers for mam. I bought my euro lottery ticket so hope it wins as 13 is my lucky number.  I could move to Ireland, have lots of time and have a huge garden and lots of plants bliss.  Been potting on some trailing fuchsias ‘la campanella’, I bought in my local super market and some white geranium plug plants. Smudge the cat was out with me and decided to have a nap in my greenhouse out of the wind. Happy Gardening. 

My lawn got its first cut this year, I raised the blades as they say you should do so it  looks neat not scalped. As usual its full of moss, every year I put sulphate of iron on to kill the moss but it still comes back because I have heavy clay soil. I also find that if the grass in yellow and starved looking it does green it up at the same time as making the moss black. I was reading that sulphate of iron kills the worms, so maybe I will go with biodiversity and make that as an excuse for moss in the lawn. I trimmed the edges with the little battery run edge trimmer from Aldi, it dosen’t give as neat a finish as the manual lawn edger and it gets stuck in tough grass! I cleaned out the homemade greenhouse and dug it over ready for the 6 cherry tomato plants which I ordered yesterday. I came across this lovely little double primrose in flower.

These ones are called ‘Ice Follies’

 

We went to Dublin zoo today. It was a while since I’d been there but I was most impressed by the planting – Gunnera, Fatsia, Bamboo, Astelia, Yucca and Echium (to name just the exotic plants I recognised).

The Echiums were dotted all over the place and looked really impressive – like giant aliens. This is a coincidence since I sowed Echium seed just two days ago! It would be wonderful if I could get them to grow.