Month: November 2011

I know some iers bought this during the year. I was unable to track it down here so got it from the UK; however it seems to have vanished!! How are yours doing? It was one I was most anxious to have to add to my much loved Geranium family. Maybe it will appear in the Spring but it is most unlike any of the Pratense to disappear.

I would also love to know how those with the red leaves Victor Reiter and Dark Reiter came through the frosts; mine did not fare well.

For those of you with an interest in local history I will be giving a lecture to the Old Dublin society in Tallaght library on Wednesday 30th November at 6.30 pm titled "Crime and policing in 1830’s Tallaght". Would love to see you there.

But there will be nothing about gardening!

www.wigglywigglers.co.uk

the wormery i have is called can-o-worms.( the round tiered one) i bought it from a

girl called nova who is at

 wrigglers worm farm

ardvoley, dromahair, co leitrim. 071 64880.

as far as i know she is not on the net.

i picked up her flyer in the organic centre co leitrim years ago.

prices vary. i have googled homemade versions. i am currently collecting polystyrene boxes with lids, for stacking to try out one. also plastic boxes with lids. see you tube "how to build a wormery" good luck with whatever you try.

 

i have a few lovely potenillas that i need to move from the circles to make room for new plans. the last thing i want to do is kill them as they are lovely yellow and orange ones.?

yep, on another day at the park they were digging up these. and another days up to me ears planting them.

twin has them overwintering at her place right now.

still no house, still no garden.

i dont think i even will be getting the one mentioned!

it could be quite some time before i have a home i can call home. i am in for the long haul by the looks of things… 

I spent the best part of Saturday afternoon raking up fallen leaves from my front garden and bagging them in a black refuse sack. Unfortunately I forgot to take them in- the bag was full. I do believe someone stole the bag. Now who would do such a thing!!!!

Luckily there are just as many leaves in the garden again. Will repeat the process and take care of my leafmould properly this weekend. 

Only work done to day re garden was in the greenhouse, continuing with the bubble wrap. The progress was a bit slow due to moving all of the tables. Now they are all back in position and nothing  will be an obstacle. I should finish the job to morrow and less energy will be used. What a wet day but a mild one. There was a nip in the air yesterday even though it was sunny. To day the thermometer in the car registered 15 degrees, so unusual for November. I was at a meeting in Baltinglass to night. Wellie was there and it seems that she is on the air again.

Hope you have a good day;)

Every year i divide my herbacious plants and pot up the divisions.This morn i hope to go out and turn them on their sides,the more tender ones i put into the cold frame or greenhouse. plant mortality can be great in potted overwintered plants…Brian  đŸ™‚

Does anybody have experience of growing Puya the chilian bromeliad, i saw a beautiful specimen in the eden project, its monocarpic so apparently after years of nourishing it it flowers and dies.A few years ago there was a series of radio progs.out of rte cork featuring gardens around the country and on one of these a lady grew a Puya and it was in flower.Any gen. on this beautiful plant would be much appreciated….B……:)

nothin was done in the garden yesturday or today, my back went in to spasm again so i am on more muscel relaxing tab. i know you all told me to take it easy. apart from some transplanting and bulb sowing that is all that is left to finish the long border. i am so frustrated with not being able to do stuff and was at a very low ebb last night, with presure of not having a job and my back problems it all came to a head yesturday was really fed up.

but today i am a little brighter but stressed, i walked around the garden taking photos and making plans. chris said he will cut the grass for me tomorrow and then i can mark out the paths, but thats all i can do, no digging allowed, need somethig to mark out paths that i can see then where the beds are going to be and where the paths are going, this will keep my mind busy then i can plan whats going into the extended beds and the stone will be used for the paths.

if i didnt have my family and pets and garden i think i would be gone insane by now.

 

i want to kill the grass organically so i decided if i get weedblock it would kill the grass and making diggin easier in spring when i take off the weedblock, any other suggestions? it would have all winter to die off.

This was the day Oakbird got moved.  It was some job but he is now in his new place. I will post a picture tomorrow because he needs his third annual coat of linseed oil and hopefully  it will be dry tomorrow and I can do this.  I am so pleased that I can enjoy him more. He also need the stones to be put around him but this will have to wait a while until the concrete dries. Scrubber, it would have been too difficult to raise him higher than he is and I know you suggested having him sit on wood but for the time being it will be the stone.   

Well im off to bed after a loooooooong day…Nite all till the morrow!

After getting home grom the country Market, I got working at housing the Pelargoniums. More than half are in and after lunch, I will get the rest in. They are all going into a leanto at the back of the house facing South. Plenty of sunshine to day although a bit cooler than the last few days. I believe the frost is on the way.

Hello everybody, i’m back again, this time i wont be dragged away too quickly, I cant believe my last post was 72 days ago, how are you all? Well i’m off to the garden, see you soon:))

This morning i sallied ALL the way into the botanical gardens in quest of the Puya.I was directed by a friendly member of staff to the curvilinear glass house where i was told i would find it.I could see it at a distance a beautiful silver leafed specimen.i lifted the leaf to find the label and i was crusified with thorns…its vicious(as in sid),My hand looked like it came out of a mincer!I thought of Rachels sheep and how they must have suffered at the hands of this monster.Bruno thanks for the advice its not a plant for the feint-hearted…Its a plant that looks good at 60mph but do not touch!

Now that November has arrived, a lot of the work will be pruning. I have apple trees, fruit bushes and a number of ash trees that are in the small back lawn. I didnt plant the ash trees. They came naturally so every year I prune them back so that they will not grow out of proportion.  There are some also at the side of the house. One tree is half pruned and another almost fully pruned. I propably would have more done except that the darkness arrived. I hope to finish the job to morrow. I hope to have photos to morrow.

Hi Folks, i collected seeds today of phlomis,dierama and eucomis, do i sow them now or in spring…..:)

Some of you may remember me mentioning an Astilbe "Sprite" that I bought at Kiftsgate Garden in The Cotswolds while on holiday in August – I divided it and later planted it out to make an edging along my "Woodland" path? Well I didnt have enough to finish the task so have been on the lookout for another plant.

Today I found it on the HALF PRICE STALL at the local garden centre! It is still in the boot of the car as I didnt get home until dark this evening, but Im looking forward to planting tomorrow and, who knows, there may be more than one plant going in the ground!

See journals: Aug 24 and Oct 3.

Has been a strange year with the weather so bad gardening has only being done in fits and spurts.  Took this week off to get at the garden before the winter attacks and finally got a start yesterday.  Its amazing how much work you can get done when you don’t have school runs, homework etc. and of course a wee bit of sunshine to boost the soul.  Got all my roses pruned and have started tidying all the flower beds, weeding, deadheading etc.  Bought over 200 bulbs 6 weeks ago and have only half of them planted.  Hoping to finish it over the weekend if the ground is not too wet (very heavy soil here).  Normally at this time of the year I would be pruning back the laurel hedge but have had no growth this year at all….strange considering how well everything else grew so well …. apart from my dahlias very disappointed but it maybe that I was late in setting them…gotta lift them tomorrow as first groundfrost forecasted tonight

i have these seeds ordered from seedaholics for the last month, i finally was able to get them this week and they arrived yesturday, cheered me up no end.

i got:chrysanthemum maxiimum " crazy daisey"

Dahlia variables " red skin"

Dahlia "pompom double"

dicentra spcectablis "alba " and dicentra " bleeding heart"

dierama pulcherrimum "angles fishing rods

digitalis "elsey kelsey", large yellow foxglove, "foxy mixed" purpurea f albaflora "alba"

canna "crozys new hybrids"

stripa tenuissima "pony tails"

geranium pyrenaicum "summer snow"

moluccella laevis "bells of ireland",

this will definately keep me busy over the winter plus reading up on stuff. its amazing what a little parcel can do. thank you to whichever of you garden.ier friends told me about seedaholics. i have got some great stuff from them and not that expsensive. cheaper than thompson and morgan and a lovely presentation with all the info i need to know

hello my friends,does planting by the lunar phases make a difference to plant growth or is it just a load of what makes the grass grow green in kentucky?

………….that the astilbe got divided into four pieces and planted! It completed the edging of my path in the "Woodland", so Im very pleased. I’m looking forward to seeing it bloom!

Unfortunately that was all the gardening I had time for today.