Month: April 2009

This shrub is providing a lovely showy burst of orange now.  I plan to cut it back after flowering as it has got huge. It takes well to pruning – sometimes it is used as a hedge as the leaves have spikes that make it impenetrable –  good for security but not for the gardener who has to prune it.  Apparently the black berries are edible but I haven’t tried them yet……

The sunflower competition is hotting up with the ruler having been taken out already! The seedlings are on a west facing window sill so are stretching a bit for the light but hopefully that won’t matter.

What another day of rain throughout most of the day.Had a quick look in the garden at lunchtime today and the place looks so washed out.Even the nip was in the air so not to pushy about opening the polytunnell door to long.This evening i sowed some more Cobea[Scandens] Amaranthus[Ribbons and Beads]and some Zinnia all in the room, along with some more beans [purple queen] and some cabbage.

 Today we had visitors from West Waterford, Ann"s sister and her daughter they live on the slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains, above Lismore, having toured the garden, and several cups of tea later they left loaded up with Tomato and Pepper plants, We have spent the day potting on the Begonias, Salvias, and African Marigolds; We are supposed to be cutting back on the workload this year, ( no sign of it yet ) We had a stroke of luck tonight, Ann was given two Koi Carp, they were in a very small pond locally, they will give an added attraction to our ponds

Courgettes, Broad Beans (thanks Rachel), pumpkins, cucumbers all doing well, can’t wait to plant them outside.  When I came back after a weekend away I can see outside my carrots, potatoes, garlic and onions are all coming up, I can’t believe it having never down this before!

As it is such a wet miserable day, I decided to sow a few more seeds. Top on my list was Pumpkin, Atlantic Giant, which I bought in Springmount Garden Centre when I met up with Cooper there for the first time. Linda (Cooper) has plants at this stage yet I haven’t even sowed my seed yet. I planted two seeds to each 4" pot, filling 11 pots. The pumpkins will go outdoors when the weather picks up and are destined for one of our raised beds. Maybe I could grow a single pumpkin plant in a giant pot in the greenhouse! Has anyone tried this???

I also sowed seven pots of Sunflower, Russian Giant, for planting outdoors. I have some nice little plantlets of this sunflower already growing in my greenhouse border. The newly sowed pots of sunflowers went in the greenhouse but the pumpkin pots are staying indoors.

Encouraged by the 100% germination of the Lion’s Tail seeds I got from Bill (seed number 5 germinated this morning), I sowed the remaining Lion’s Tail seeds in the same way, watering the seeds with a dash of tomato feed in the water.

And then, remembering this summer’s motto – you can never have too may sweet pea – I sowed another 10 sweet pea. As some of my previous batches have not yet germinated in the greenhouse, I decided to keep this batch indoors until it germinates. I think I read on Lorraine (Casakelly)’s profile that they are having problems germinating sweet pea this year too.

Today I’ve found that saintpaulias in northern room are in bloom. I have 4 sorts – pink with plain flowers, double pink flowers, double deep violet and white. Pink varieties are blooming now.

That is about how to talk to flowers, if they become freakish and dont want to bloom. I said in autumn ‘Well, this flowers don’t bloom for so long… Should I give them away?’

If plants don’t take the hint, give them away without any doubts 🙂

The girls went gardening mad last week and wanted to plant a bit of everything and they labelled them – we even found seeds from last year which we did not plant called Warty’s – anybody know what they are, I think they are from the pumpkin family but quite ugly looking, I must have thrown away the packet!  It came in a childrens pack of seeds which we had last year, we did grow the white stock (put it in a glass of water and food colouring and they changed colour over night – great fun), the sunflowers and some others.

I let myself to add this post, realizing that it has nothing to do with the site’s main theme. The reason is that on 12 April we celebrate Cosmonautics Day (it is just between the Birthdays of my uncle and my Mum).

On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human in outer space and the first to orbit the Earth. For me, there isn’t any politics about this great event. Everybody who looks attentively at Yuri’s photo will understand that he was an outstanding person! He was open-hearted and friendly, he was a true investigator and a real patriot. And what is more, he was a great lover of life.

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was born on 9 March 1934 in a little town Gzhatsk (Smolensk region). He couldn’t start his education in 1941 because of the war. In 1949 he finished the 6th grade and entered the industrial college to study the profession of a caster. The country was in ruins and all the industrial professions were in great value. At the same time Yuri continued his education in the evening school. He graduated from the college and the evening school in 1951.

Then Gagarin studied at Saratov Industrial Technical School, where he became a member of Saratov aeroclub. The year 1955 witnessed his first flight on the plane ‘Yak-80’. In 1955 he joined the Soviet Army and entered the aircraft school. And since 1957 Yuri worked in the North flying in trans-polar conditions. In 1960 Yuri was one of those on the list of 20 candidates to become the first cosmonaut.

On 12 April 1961 at 9:07 a.m. Moscow time the spaceship ‘Vostok’ was launched from cosmodrom Baikonur. The first space flight lasted 108 minutes.

Later Gagarin worked in the cosmonauts’ training centre, and continued to work as a test-pilot. On 27 March 1968 his supersonic plane crushed. He was only 34 years old.

In 1957 Yuri Gagarin married Valentina Goryacheva and they had 2 daughters Elena and Galina.

He had a heart of gold and his smile is the best symbol for the beginning of the space epoch.

Today we have put some more photos on line of flower beds full of forget-me-nots. Some are of our bedding plants outside and new plants potted on from the propagating house into the tunnel. Our new fish have settled into their new pond. Ann took a photo of them before we released them . In the garden to day we cut back the Hebes that had been damaged in the winter winds.

A happy evening for me. I finally got the last of the seed potatoes in. It was a struggle as I got home late from work, the clay was wet and unyielding, and it was hard to motivate myself to change into the working clothes and do the job. I finished as the light started to fade. In the next couple of days I hope to put in the cabbages, cauliflowers, peas and leeks. In the greenhouse the tomato plants are doing well. I have grown scallions, onion sets and silverskins inside as the weather is so bad, but later in the month I hope to grow them outside. I havent a clue what the garlic is doing so I am just keeping it slightly damp. Don-t know whether this is right or wrong. Its a matter of trial and error. I want to also put in two new roses and I have to put some order on a climbing rose. Sure I’ll get everything done eventually.

Went mad with the Camera today. Amazing what you can fit in to a small garden!!

Poor Kiwi is beng eaten!! But have come up with MASTER PLAN. Will put up photo tomorrow. Cant do any more.. New plants on gazebo doing great. 3 Clematis now have flower budsand are wrapping themsleves around gazebo. Am impressed!!!!!

One of Yuri’s impressions after his return to the Earth: 

I find it continually amazing how simple jobs are never as simple as you think.  Sowing carrots and parsnips for example.  I always sow alternate rows of carrots/parsnips and onions in order to prevent carrot root fly.  It has worked thus far so I am going to continue.

The onions were planted already as sets so all I had to do was a small bit of weeding and sow in rows along with radish (they germinate quicker than the carrots and parsnips and therefore mark the row for easy weeding) But no I forgot about the over wintering crop of celeriac and couldn’t get over the amount of self sown foxgloves.  I had left the foxgloves there in January when this bed was thoroughly weeded.

So before any sowing could be done a new home had to be found for the foxgloves – among some Euphorbia Grifithii in the circle bed.  But of course there were some weeds there to be removed before planting could take place. Then I took some rooted cuttings of the euphorbia as I found it straying outside its home.  These had to be potted up in the greenhouse.

What was I doing again?  Oh yeah – sowing carrots and parsnips. Finally I could get to the job I set out to do in the first place.

But it was all enjoyable. Especially the twenty minutes or so where I felt the sun on my back.  I love gardening.

I am absolutely thrilled to see the first ever buds on my seed raised Paeonia ‘Molly The Witch’. I sowed the seed about 6 years ago, never expecting to wait so long to see the flowers. The first three years seemed never-ending, each spring would be full of anticipation only to be followed by disappointment. Then I forgot all about it.. until today. Will it be worth the wait? I’ll post another pic as soon as they open!

Thought I’d do a bit of spring cleaning this afternoon, pulled a garden table towards me intending to sweep out the leaves and debris lodged behind it, but didn’t remember the bench that was stored underneath it until it came crashing down on my big toe. Ooouuuuchhhh.. and some!

It does"nt seem to matter what the weather is doing ,There always seems plenty to-do in our garden, Having spent the morning moving the latest batch of French Marigolds seedlings into six cell packs, we put the hedge trimmer around the Lonicera hedge that surrounds the centre bed, Ann planted out three Phormium Yellow Wave and two Platts Black on to a new raised bed/bank we have created we have built a three foot high  dry-stone wall around it, in a few years it will be quite eye catching. The Sweetpea plants have been put outside to harden off prior to planting  hopefully next week weather permitting, We have also moved the young Chrysanthemum plants into the cold greenhouse. The dead and browning bottom leaves of the Cordylines have been removed in an effort to tidy them up.

Today my husband thinned out the Lollo Rossa lettuce in the greenhouse.

These leaves are our first harvest of the season.

Even my two youngest, who won’t eat lettuce normally, had a taste.

The tulips are coming on stage this last day or two in brilliant sunshine. How beautiful the maturing buds  of some types are. Some red and yellow varieties appear year after year – I used dig up the bulbs and dry and store them but it’s too much trouble – if they survive in the soil , well and good, if not, the new ones replace them. I have a few Rhododendrons flowering or getting ready to flower – one is half healthy but the leaves on the other half are curled, dry and dead looking – maybe somebody can tell me why. Gave the lawns their first cut this week – I like the result but it’s a time consuming chore. Bye.

I was spellbound to see how the sun caught my tulips this afternoon.

A few parrot tulips have opened and they always make my heart skip a beat. They are my favourite tulips and when you look at them you can understand how the Tulipomania Craze took hold in Holland in the seventeenth century.

I lived in Holland for two years (before I was interested in gardening) but stupidly never visited the Keukenhof. I even briefly worked in the Bloombollen fields, for God’s sake. What a waste!

Today was just beautiful.  I went out this morning to visit a new-to-me garden center and fell in love.  It’s huge with a wide, wide variety of plants to choose from. All reasonably priced and looking healthy.  I bought as much as I could fit in the car and spent the day arranging them, planting them, loving them. 

 I’ve also noticed that someone has been munching on my sunflower seedlings.  I planted them directly in the garden and they were looking good for the first few weeks.  Now it seems a little critter has been snacking on them.  I’ve made little copper rings around them, hoping to keep the critters away.  I’ve also encased a few cabbage plants that were planted today just in case. 

Here’s hoping tomorrow is as beautiful!

Well the exams are nearly done….. 9th of May I won’t be in the garden…. I plan on being in bed with a gin induced hang over.

After my hangover though I want to put in raised beds for veg. I’ve already deeply dug the area to the west of the garden (yeah like you need a compass to find your way!) But the east wall is still a mess, as is the central area where some lawn type effort will eventually be.  

Today I felt rotten. I have some sort of cold. My husband did the weedkiller thing which made me think of my problem area.

I need to start thinking seriously about the job I’ve been putting off – the bed that got away!

It’s a large bed with a serious weed problem. Looking at this picture now you would never believe that I had it cleared of weeds last summer. Put there are large perennials, whose roots I am obviously not getting, including scutch grass. It needs to be sprayed. I partially sprayed last autumn but I think I need to spray more extensively.

Firstly I need to dig up any surviving perennials I want to keep – arum lily, two mums, some hostas, two Japanese anemones. I don’t know if I’ll loose them or not as this is not the time of year to do this kind of thing.

I think I’ll leave the rhododendrons, camellia, artichoke, red hot pokers, potentilla and some of the bushes behind. There are too many bushes so most are for the chop, including the numerous rosa rugosa (what was I thinking). Then I will need to spray, protecting the remaining bushes.

Any words of advice? This is going to be a hell of a job.

Today whole Orthodox world is celebrating Easter Sunday. The brightest holiday in any Christian tradition. The happiest and most joyous, long-expected day!

How do we celebrate it here, in Russia?

All begins on Easter Eve – in the evening of Great Saturday. There’s a special night service, which usually starts between 23:00 and 24:00 by local time in every church. We also have full TV translation from The Cathedral of Christ The Savior, Moscow (on the picture). It lasts 2,5-3 hours, and all this time people stand because we mostly have no benches in church (only a few for very old people).

The church service in The Cathedral of Christ The Savior always ends with reading of Easter Greetings of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Since this winter we have Kirill as new Patriarch.

On Easter Sunday everybody who wasn’t in church last night can go there any time they wish. And of course, we celebrate Easter at home, with traditional Easter cakes and eggs.

As for me, I watched night service on TV till 2:30. This morning we had a family tea with Easter baking, then I went to church with my friend to lit candles for health of relatives and friends.

The weather is grey, cold and windy, but everybody looks so happy and inspired, almost shines inside! Happy Easter to all of you!

Hristos voskrese! Voistinu voskrese!  (Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!)

What a glorious day we have been getting today.Quite amazing to,all doing so well with the sun.Water,water,everywhere.The hose needed to be in full swing with some beds beginning to get a little thirsty at times.Planted some S.pea [everlasting] in greenhouse. Dwarf runner beans [yellow] and some sweetcorn [Incredible F1]in tunnell.Started some mari,in new tubs [French] Dwarf Double Mixed]Also in the tunnell cleaned down the table and washed out the floor.Outside in the veg area one final check on watering was given.All going to plan on a fine day.

I spent a very fiddly morning transferring my morning glories to the greenhouse. The 25 plants have been growing nicely in the kitchen in 3" pots and reached the top of 1.5 ft bamboos. However some leaves are pale, even white! Has anyone grown this plant before? Are they supposed to be like this? Also, I noticed when transplanting that the roots are not very deep!

I had to unwind each plant from its cane and then the fiddly bit really began – putting up the string for them to grow up. I used tent pegs to secure the string in the ground (no camping for us this summer) and tied the top of the string where ever I could. After that was done it didn’t take long to rewind each plant around its string.

By the time I was finished and giving the plants a water with tomato feed (maybe that will help the white leaves), I felt like I was suffering from heat exhaustion. It was 40º in there!?! And that was with everything open. I hope the nights are not too cold for the Morning Glories.

I continue to harden plants – shifting trays out and in daily. It has become obvious that I will need to transfer most of my plants from the 24 cell trays to little pots soon so I’ve started doing this. However, carrying 24 pots out and in daily is a lot more demanding than carrying just one tray!