Month: January 2010

I need to change being impulsive as its not doing me good, like today I was mad buying seeds at Tesco… as it wasn’t planned at all…I only dropped by for some groceries, if i could have resisted it i could have save a lot at Lidl’s 4th Feb sale…which i just found out here… learned my lesson the hard way…

I got this plant… Alocasia as a bday present from hubby but noticed its leaves turned brown one by one maybe I drowned it to die… as I tried to keep it moist over winter… oh… what a waste…

Just got through with my son’s birthday party.

Thankfully the weather held and the kids got to play outdoors.

Gardeningwise? Well, someone gave me a packet of Hyacinths, which was very nice.

Fantastic day although it was still very cold there was a skiff of snow this morning around 8 am but this cleared away by mid morning. I decided it was time to spend to do some work in the kitchen garden while lifting some leeks for soup. The soil had a frozen layer in a lot of places and any plants that had suffered in the freeze have now been removed in preparation for this years crop. I’m not sure that the over winter onions I planted in November are going to survive however the garlic planted at the same time looks as though it’s okay. I had also planted rhubarb and from one root there is some growth, also had planted gooseberry bushes but I think they may not have survived but I have decided to leave them be at present. Hopefully this digging will allow the thrushes to remove slugs or snails and I had only finished when a robin landed and removed a big juicy worm.

Still a lot of work to do for this season, plans need to be made to weed or spray the paths between the raised beds and the vacant end, the hedge needs to be faced or tied in as it provides a break from the wind so lots of work to be done. Compost bins need to be set up and some kind of a shed for tools etc. and of course that polytunnel if I can swing it. There are also raspberries and gooseberry bushes that need moved from their temporary home there 3 seasons now but I plan to used this area for salads as it’s adjacent to the house.

Few more photos up of the swans in our iced up pond and winter scenes of the area.

I am collecting 30 year old dry dung from an old disused cow shed in the field not far from me. It is very hard but when I drop it through the shredder it turns it into powder which I am spreading on the garden. Has anyone any thoughts on how beneficial this will be.

Arran Victory was bred in the Isle of Arran. Victory, the oldest of the ‘Arrans’ still grown, was named in celebration of the end of the war. It is rare and is one of only 2 blue-skinned varieties still available for general cultivation. It is high-yielding, given a long season.

Tubers are round to short oval with blue skin and snowy white flesh.

I bought these in Homebase today. 5 tubers for only €1.98. Good price if you just want to try something new. The others I bought today were in 2Kg bags for only 4.67

Went to Aldi on Thursday to get some wine!!!  Came home with Ornamental Quince, Spiraea Vanhoutte, Mahonia aquifolium, Hedgehog rose (Rosa rugosa) and my favourite from when I was a child Philadelphus Virginal (Mock Orange) – We had one in our front garden and the smell brings back so many happy memories!!! Now the problem is – what shall I do with them. Can’t plant them in the garden – frozen solid. Have them all in the shed at the moment. Still in their packs. Is this ok to hold them like this. Think it may be too warm for them in the house????? They all seem to be healthy so far !! Hope they are all ok!!! If it is Spring tomorrow (which there seems to be some debate about!!) I don’t fancy our chances yet!

Beautiful and sunny here though very cold. The garden was neglected though as Sunday is one of our walking days so it was a couple of lovely hours in West Cork.

Another bonsai project I have started is this Acer Palmatum group planting which I hope to show you again in a few months time when it will be in full leaf and looking at its best. I have planted five tree’s here as you should always plant an un-even number unless you have more than 11 tree’s when at that stage it does not really matter. Four is very unlucky and avoid it if possible.

Well there you go another bonsai and I think there will be a great deal more to come. I have not forgotton about my garden though and I will feature it again soon.

I really love primroses and have a large collection of them throughout my garden, particularly doubles and any of the ‘barnhaven’ strain. But I am not alone in my passion for them. These shiny little wrigglers, the grubs of the vine weevil,  find the roots VERY appealing and will quite happily munch their way through the entire root system, resulting in death if not caught in time. So I check plants at this time of the year and if a tug on the plant results in it leaving the ground and ending up in my hand, then I know that they are at work. I replant once  have cleaned the ground of all the grubs. If a robin happens by, they soon gobble them up as I unearth them.