Month: July 2010

Crowds in Rose Pavilion at Hampton

Evening programmes 2010

Monday 5 July 19:30 – 20:00 BBC Two

Thursday 8 July 19:00 – 20:00 on BBC Two

Friday 9 July 20:00 – 21:00 on BBC Two

Where did Sunday go?  I went out at 12.30 pm to wash a few empty pots.  I always have the best of intentions to wash them as I empty them.  Then I run out of time but I say to myself "there is only 2-3 pots"; also like ‘so what’.  By the time I had them washed and put away, it was after 2pm as I did a general tidy up in the back corner where I store them. 

After that, I had to re-pot a plant as the container split with the bad weather last year.  I also had to pot up a few plants into containers and then tidy up.  

Finished at 6.30pm – so I have absolutely no idea where the day went.  But it was a very enjoyable, relaxing and satisfying day.  

 

 

I have been searching for a suitable green fencing material to act as a screen atop a low wall at the front of our house which is north facing i.e. we get the sun all day at the front and for privacy reasons I want to get this screen. I have seen it a lot on the continent but can’t find anything suitable here. I don’t want to use the type of wire mesh available in garden centres here.

Can anyone help

 

Dinny

For some time now I have been keeping a watchful eye on wild bees in my garden.

They seem to have become very scarce in recent years.  This year however seems to be a good year for them,I seem to have lots of small ones  They seem very interested in my Kifsgate rose which is in full bloom at the moment. It is interesting to see how they seem to dive on to the florets and spin around on the stamens,presumably collecting pollen.They also visit  a small Hebe in large numbers. I am wondering if they were effected by yesterday’s high winds ? I imagine they would be blown all over the place if they were caught out in those conditions.

  Early in the year I saw a few large bumble  bees. I presume these were new queens looking to set up new nests.  I had a nest box set up in the hope of getting a colony but no luck.  

  I wonder if the small bees are workers from a bumble colony ? I have not seen any of the big bumble bees since the spring.

This year so far has been an excellent year of bloom.in spite of or maybe because of the harsh Spring.  Also there has been no Clematis wilt. Several large flowered hybrids which fell victim to wilt for seversl years past have had magnificent bloom this year  There is also a heavy crop of apples in spite of earlier scarcity of bees to pollinate.  If this is all down to the harsh Winter and Spring then roll on the next Ice Age!!

I have uploaded 8 grasses, 5 July 2010 (Grasses), and I only know the name of one of them.  I would be very grateful if anyone could give me other names.

Monkells and I are off to the Hampton Court flower show on Wed am. Cannot wait , I prefer it to Chelsea as it is set in larger grounds and is so easy to see everything without trying to peer over people 6 deep. Also there is a lot more on sale , hopefully I will have enough room in my bag!!!

Will take loads of pics between us, back on friday. temp 28 degrees, that will do …

 add to that our FAVOURITE brother who bought us the tickets, a very smart hotel and a days shopping  and brother wining and dining us ..what more could we ask for!! bliss

A big thank you to Jools for the invitation to her garden party on Sunday and for the lovely spread of goodies she laid on. The weather was very windy, but thankfully the rain stayed away.

It was a first garden.ie meeting for me and it was great to finally meet some members. Thanks to everyone for the plant swaps.

Roses which were looking very good are now beginning to lose petals and need to be pruned. Some people simply dehead by  removing the  part of the rose but the secret of it is to prune away part of the stem and encourage growth. I find that late June is best time for roses. By July, I normally have the secateurs in operation and before long the new flowers come along. Flowers on Hypericum hidcote are increasing day by day. I hope to take cuttings of same over the next few days. Now at this stage the creeping Hypericum, Hypericum calycinum, Rose of Sharon,  is appearing and is a great form of ground cover when required although it can be an invader. Libertia despite the fact that it seemed dead is making great progress. Grass in lawn is making poor growth and may requite some fertilizer. Geranium from Linda has put out some foliage. Hydrangeas are showing the pink flowers (mopheads). All tomato plants except those in growbags are out now. Tomatoes and peppers are getting feed every few days. I would have expected that some would be ripe by now but I suppose it is due to the fact that post hernia I was lothe to lift the growbags. Grapes are making good progress. PCON asked me about them I don’t know a lot about growing grapes. Am I a bit greedy not removing some of them? They are becoming sweet.

Well I have grown lettaces before but never have I seen germination so fast.  Growing Lollo Rosso and Butterhead.  Wish I had the camera to show you.  Wow!

Now did not get the cover on the Polytunnel.  Thanks for the advice on a clear day and warmth.  We have decided to leave it until a friend gets back from their hols.  He builds polytunnels where he works at the Knockvicar Organic Centre so then I will know it’s right.

The garden has had to take a back seat for the last while as my sister is coming down from the North tomorrow so the house had to overhauled! Mind you I did also visit two open gardens, one in Monkstown and one in Lismore, both of which were lovely in different ways, and also paid a quick last minute visit to Mallow Garden Show where I only bought one plant even though they were all half price at that stage (very proud of myself about that!). Hopefully I’ll find a space for it somewhere; it’s a lovely pink Salvia, kind of two-tone.

For anyone interested, there is a two day Festival next Sat and Sunday – opening 11am.  Venue – Claregalway Castle.   If you google ‘galway garden festival’ you’ll get all the info.  Hope the weather improves – horrible day here today with high winds and rain on and off all day!!

I am a member of a local gardening club – Atlantic Horticulture Association (AHA). The group meets once a month to discuss many aspects of gardening but mainly growing our own fruit and vegetables. I enjoy this as I learn something new every night from some very experienced gardeners.

I am in the process of laying out a small vegetable patch with raised beds beside my tunnel and I hope to grow some vegetables here in the coming season. I grew tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, salad leaves, spinach, beetroot & strawberries in the tunnel last season. I am also planning on getting a few hens whenever hubby makes the hen house!

We opened a self catering holiday home last easter so if any of you fancy a break in West Clare check out www.sandhillshouse.com !! 

Took cuttings of Hypericum hidcote and Potentilla to day. Weather deteriorated with drizzle for some time. I had some gooseberries topped and tailed for some days so the second lot of gooseberry jam was made. I have some yet to be topped and tailed. I was looking forward to making blackcurrant jam as there was a really good crop but the blackbirds are very fond of same and  so we can be thankful for small mercies.

to night was, Marinated Chicken, cooked to perfection on the BBQ. New potatoes freshly dug today, tossed in butter and fresh pasley from the herb corner.

To accompany this, again freshly picked from the garden today, Broadbeans and Mangetout.

No we were not out in a country guest house for dinner, we were at home, and boy did I enjoy it

I am planning a pond in the raised bed beside the decking area. it will have different depths, I need to know is there a minimum and maximum depth I can have.

All advice and comments are most welcome. Thanks, as always.

Morning attended funeral and was back about 3.p.m. 4-5p.m. usual visit one hour  and leaving house about 7.p.m. to collect people to go to a meeting in Tinryland. Only work done in garden was watering plants in greenhouse and deadheading a few roses. Back home and so many messages to open. I hope the weather is good to morrow. More greenery on the griselinia. I had nearly given up hope. The greenery is generally near the gound but here and there some greenery is to be found farther up. Hydrangeas coming on every day and flowers on hypericum all over the place. Some Yuccas ready to be passed on to member looking for one or more.

at your self, and believe my I’m calling myself some names also.

I am planning a split level pond. All day yesterday, I was dealing with the problem of an overflow system for the upper pond. I spent ages trying to work out a way that no over flow pipe would be seen etc.

Walked out there a while ago, and it hit me like a concrete block, the upper pond will  flow all by itself and gravity into the lower pond. You should have heard me, laughing and calling myself names………………….

Then the builder who was on the roof of the extension next door, asked if I was ok, I never even saw him. How stupid can one be at times (no comments) when you get bogged down with an idea.

Good way to start the day, with a good laugh, you’ve got to me able to laugh at yourself before you laugh at anyone else.

Have a good one.

Not much to add at the moment.  Just busy getting things ready for autumn.

Got raised beds to do, polytunnel cover still to put on if the wind ever goes away and trying to keep family happy too.  It’s all go at the moment.

February 13 2010

The winter had quite an effect on my garden. Cordylines, which I planted about 1978, do not look good. The leaves are hanging down and I wonder will they come back again. One of them seemed to be dead after the 1978-79 winter but it came back. Senecio greyi is not looking great but should come back. Hypericum hidcote appears very brown unlike other years but I notice the young grren shoots opening so I am optimistic here. I have pruned the roses, about one hundred of them. I did the pruning immediately after it became mild after the very cold spell in January and they look good. The grass looks poor and has a lot of moss but very soon I will give it fertiliser and ferrous sulphate to kill the moss which comes every yearl late in the year. Hydrangeas look good and the buds are about to open. Very soon when it gets a bit milder I will prune the mopheads. Snowdrops are looking good and crocuses are about to show flowers but the daffodils are slow to make progress surely due to the low temperature. I look forward to feeding the birds, robins, bluetits, sparrows and some bullfinches which I did not see in recent years. I hope these bullfinches will not do much damage to the buds in the fruit trees. I noticed a big rat climbing up to the bird feeder so I have set some poison inside a plastic pipe under a shrub. I hope the birds do not go in. My favourite among the birds is the robin. At this time of year there are two, surely male and female. They come near me when I am working in the garden especially when I am doing some digging. I did not see the rat again. It would seem that the poison worked

April has been great, into hospital 30March for hernia operation, out the following day and after that great progress. Two weeks after, got the all clear so generally right through April, got a fair bit of work done. Some shrubs like Hebe, Cordyline and a few more show no apparent life but there is still hope. Tomatoes have done well. Vine is very good , better than last year. I should be pollinating it soon. Blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, rhubarb all doing well.

July

Life is not dead only delayed, so many plants which seemed dead are showing life again. Of the three Cordylines, there is a sure improvement in one. Shoots are coming from the ground. I am hoping the other two will make progress. A Griselinia hedge had been cut back. Young shoots are coming out, first at the bottom, later higher up. Libertia which I was certain was dead is really alive now. The grey shrubs like Senecio and Santolina are safe. Hypericums and Hydrangeas are booming. Roses: what can I say, never had anything like them before. It must be the sunny weather, some flowers on rose bushes as big as your hand, no exageration. Fruit: Apples will be very good, both dessert and cookers; gooseberries picked and jam made from some 8 th. Will make more later. Strawberries: for the birds. For years I had great crops, ate as many as was possible sold some, gave some away but the blackbirds also love them and seem to have found that they are there. I used a net for a few years but they got through it. This year I just left them there. Black currants and redcurrants – they love them but while I got nothein out of the blackcurrants last year I should get some this year. Weeds: hard to keep them down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Spent a couple  of hours this a/m weeding my potatoes, until the rain set in and had to leave it for another day-got soaking wet. My early  crop are very poor this year, despite been well looked after. At lot of them did not flower and the stalks are just dying back- I wonder was it the dry conditions in June that caused this. Had anyone else similar problems

Is anyone else having this problem, I am getting two mail messages of each reply post to a journal entry, only started this evening.

 I Have had some large old leyandii conifers cut out at the back of the house reciently. Better out, as they could end up in the house some stormy night. This creates much valued space to replant, and thats just what ive been doing. Its surprising what space there is when the site was cleared. The weather is very dry, so a lot of watering to do. Plenty to do.

I am missing my garden at the moment as I am recovering from foot surgery and unable to do my usual pottering in the garden.  I have to use crutches to get around and I am not much good on them.  My husband cheered me up yesterday with a lovely dinner of baby carrots and new potatoes fresh from his vegetable garden, so there are some compensations amidst my trials and tribulations. 

hi everyone

well the day has come and here are the result 8 distinctions and 1 merit. Delighted with the results. now i must decide what i want to do, well i already know but to go about it will be fun and alot of hard work, Nursery work is what i want to do, set up my own preferablely.

Due to continuous rain, which for other reasons, no work was done in the garden. I was at the Country Market and sales were low. I had such items as Coleus, Aloe Vera, Peppers and Lady’s Mantle. I met again the lady who showed interest in the Club and she tells me that she has joined and she gave me her screen name. However I cannot find it in the Garden Club. Her name is Eileen. Gooseberries which were picked prior to this were topped and tailed and if the weather forecast is correct I should make more jam to morrow. Grapes in the greenhouse are getting sweeter. I test them one grape per day and there should be a very good crop. I got an e mail from Gerry asking me ………..