Month: December 2011

Well, I had a great Christmas and got a load of super presents. The two younger boys bought presents properly this year, for the first time, so it was lovely to see what they chose.

Surprisingly not everything I got was gardening related and my book wish-list was ignored except by my teenage son, who got me The Bad Tempered Gardener from it. Were they trying to tell me something?

Besides the biggie of the camera and The Bad Tempered Gardener, I also got the following books…

Gardens of Europe by Charles Quest-Ritson

Orchid Fever by Eric Hansen

The Language of Flowers by Mandy Kirkby

Orchids, The Original Classic Edition, by James O’Brien (reproduction of a very old book)

Posted up an album from November it’s so unusual seeing flowers blooming in the month of November after last years big freeze. Elsa Spath decided to bloom again mid November, the gales mid December caused the arch to come apart so one job to be sorted is will the gothic arch reasemble or do I need a new one at the minute the clematis and also the Iceberg roses are blowing in the wind.

Clara gave me some clumps of this plant last year. I planted them at the back of the Fern area. They grew well last year and I noticed the first flower stem appear the other day. This is the first time here for this plant, and I think it works well with the ferns.

Thanks Clare. 

Hubby was out doing some emergency re-staking in the garden today. A few of the Elaeagnus ebbingei, in the front hedge, has gone dangerously wobbly. There was also some membrane lifting, with all the wind.

I took a much more leisurely approach to the gardening and did a round of photo taking.

By the way, I seem to have lost the ability to delete photos from my albums. Did Bruno say he had the same? Can someone else test this? So apologies for the duplicate Melianthus and  Centaurea in my December album.

Following from Rachel’s journal on an evergreen grass the other day, this one I would recommend highly. 

Stipa ‘arundincea’, grows to about 2ft. An autumn colour slowly emerges but the grass itself stays upright. It seems to grow and stay in a tight clump. I really think any border can but only improve with the addition of some grasses.

I have been reading Rachel’s article in the last issue of the IG. In it she wrote that in the old days Alchemilla mollis used to be grown by her mother, but when she saw a photo of it in her garden she got rid of it.

Years ago I was in a garden club and a sub-committee used to check out gardens for visits. A friend of mine (the one who asked why plants looking well in others’ gardens looked like weeds in mine) claimed that they were checking to see if the garden had Alchemilla mollis and if it had the club would visit it.

My wife thinks I should banish Alchemilla mollis from my garden, but so far I have not. Cutting the flower shoots after flowering and before seeding prevents excessive seeding.

Another indication of my age occurred yesterday when I was trying to plant bulbs. I dug up a lot of old yellow plastic and aluminium labels, which were, I would think, over 25 years old. This brought home to me how many plants I had died.

It’s amazing how something as simple as looking out a window can suddenly unveil a treat that money can’t buy. Yesterday as I was looking out the kitchen window at the bank we have planted with heathers, skimmias etc, I saw one of our resident blackbirds
feasting on the pernettyas. This is unusual enough as birds don’t tend to take
pernettya berries (unless as a last resort) as they are supposed to be
poisonous. Our boyo must have a strong constitution. It was then I noticed that
there was another bird up to the same thing and then I realised it was a bird I
had never seen before. I am far from an expert on birds, but am delighted to
have them in the garden and was delighted during the summer to have finches
join us for the first time. There are the usual residents like the
aforementioned blackbirds, robins, loads of sparrows and some others, but this
fellow was different. He was well able to stand his ground with the blackbird
and when I consulted my book on birds it turned out that he was a blackcap,
which is a type of warbler. Seemingly they are uncommon winter residents here,
so needless to say it made my day to have seen one and I hope he and hopefully
his family settle in well.

I had a great relaxing day, I even slept till 9.30, unheard of for me. 

Everyone most out for most of the day, Garden mag and some programmes I had recorded. I then looked back over some albums of garden visits from this year. One photo stood out from the visit to Scrubber’s garden. I looked at it many times and can not say what is so special about this one photo, but I think it looks like a perfect area.

Well done Peter.

I have added it to my albums, so you can see it better. 

i need to get out and start marking out the new garden layout, no point diggin yet, it will need at least a week if not 2 to dry out before i can dig plus my spade needs a new handle, hubby broke it when he was moving the tree out to the front. i am really itching to get it started. cant believe that johnstown is just around the corner and seed sowing  will start soon.

i have been keeping containers like the mushroom trays and anything that will make a good seed tray for all my seed sowing, really into spending very little on seed trays and more on the important things that will bring the garden together like another tree or two and seating

Hello everyone, well i have enjoyed a fantastic day, I adore birds and especially Birds of Prey and i knew about a falconry just outside Gargrave where I used to live, at the end of last year I wanted to treat myself to something special for my 50th which was in March this year, so I decided to book a Hunting Day, because they are mainly carried out in winter this was the best time to go, the weather was terrible cold, raining cats and dogs and the ground was muddy, nevertheless I had a lovely time, Matt the guy in the photos is the handler of the birds and has a great love for them which made me feel so proud of him, the day started at the hotel with a bacon sandwich and coffee, a tour to see all the birds and a talk about them, then out in the mud to fly them, unfortunately the weather was so bad that the birds did not catch any lunch, then back to the hotel for a lovely warm lunch of lamb with mashed potatoes and veg followed by raspberry cheesecake and coffee, in the afternoon I was back out flying the birds and handling them, they are such beautiful creatures, I am completely exhausted but it was a much better workout to get fit.

Today was a bit mixed weatherwise but my visitors were determined to help me with the next stage of the Sedum Garden before they head back to the Big Smoke. Taking Bruno’s advice, I have gone for the gravel solution for this area so the first task was to get Brendan and the trailer to collect a load from the local Glanbia.

In the meantime the visitors were laying out the brick design (no photos, as this area is still under wraps). With four of us working at it, two trailer loads of gravel have been spread over this area in a few hours! It is incredible how quickly we get through these really tough jobs when team-work is the order of the day.

The sedums in the greenhouse need a bit more TLC before they will be ready for planting out, but at least the area is prepared so I can plant them at my leasure over the next few months.

I am so much indebted to these kind visitors, so I thought I’d put their photos up and let them take a bow themselves! 

Its been a hard day’s work and Scrubber’l be sleepin’ like a hog! But it was satisfying. As usual he set out thinking ‘Ill do this and this and then that’ and of course ‘this’ takes up huge amounts of time! Well the Mucky Corner’s siren call was answered and for a while he was really at sea as there seemed to be no way he could organize the slope and the longed for big boulders were not appearing. And then, He should be used to it by now. The Cherub thing happened. There was a suggestion over my shoulder that three very big boulders, that I had hitherto considered immoveable might just  move if the crowbar was inserted. Yes Folks! They all shifted at its first touch and then were inched (they were biggies) into different places which finally gave Scrubber levels and direction. So from then on it was a question of pulling out a load of debris that had been dumped there, branches leaves twigs etc over the years and dumping that in the bottom of the scrub. Finally as Scrubber was shifting the last debris from the top he unearthed a massive boulder-which thankfully did not need to be shifted so he decided that was a special present from Cherub!

Now it will take a few days to clean out all the debris and replace clay that got thrown down but at least there is a plan and an end in view as Tom Dooley once very boldly said about Sr Josephine when she picked up a pencil he had dropped beside his desk.

I put up a few pictures at the end of the Christmas album to charter the course of things. Also some lovely moss shots.

I have not done much in the garden for some time , only do a clean up when the birds clear out the gutters, so nice of them it saves us doing it.

I am guilty of not taking time to look at Garden.iers lovely photos and yesterday I just did that and what a lot ,and what a lovely way to pass the time . I then went to some non active members some have not been on for 200 days  you would wonder what they are doing …. maybe doing a make over of the garden but what a lot of beautiful gardens hidden now and so many no active for so long.   You would think I had not got a life but I do have plenty to do but just need a little injection to get going and I thought this morning was the start and just looking out its a dreary day, but maybe a day for looking at what books need to go. 

Could someone tell me where I got this photo I have it in a garden file for ages, but maybe I robbed it from the internet!!.

 

 

This photo was taken at Rachel’s open day, this year.

Just for a little fun can we have some ideas for a caption on it please, I have put my one on it.

We have 45 confirmed people for our Christmas get-together at Johnstown Garden Centre, Naas, on 8th January. We will meet in the restaurant from 12:30 onwards. There is one maybe.

It should be a great day and I hope everyone will take part in the Kris Kindle, bringing a wrapped gift. Festive headwear would add to the atmosphere so I hope everyone will manage that.

There will be a raffle, with star prizes of 5 Johnstown vouchers. If you would like to donate to the raffle, let me know. And if you should be on this list but are not, then please send me a message. We would love to see you at the meeting.

I have ordered an additional five calendars to cope with the demand so, unless someone books them before hand, I will bring them along for sale on the day at €10 each. Let me know if you want to book one before hand.

It should be a great day and I can’t wait to see you all again.

Profile	People
AitAlainn	1
BrunoCork	1
ClaireE	1
Clara	1
Cliona	1
Damo	?
Dick	1
Drumanagh	1
Eilish	1
Elizabeth 7	1
Fran M	2
HeadGardener	1
Hoeys	1
Hosta	1
Ingrida	1
Jacinta	2
Jemo	1
Kate & Graham	2
Keego	1
Kitty	4
Liga	1
LindaB	1
Magiclou	1
Mairin	1
Milliemouse 1234	1
Monkells	1
Moya	1
Myrtle	2
PCON	1
Rachel	1
Scrubber	1
Simon Craigie	1
TheH (Hazel)	1
unagrant	1
Violeta	1
Wellie	2
Yellow Rose	1
Yuko	1
Total	45

I was just reading Deborah Begley’s excellent article in the latest Irish Garden about bark.

Deborah mentions that once the white-barked birches loose their sheen and form green algae, it is time to get a brush and bowl of soapy water to them.

Hmm, I think mine might be overdue…

Colin (who has his first art time job) made a big thing of buying Christmas presents. He have me a voucher for Woodies, so as they have 20% off everything, I paid a visit there this PM.

2 Saxifraga ‘touran’ (deep red)

4 Buxus (good size)

2 Vinca ‘minor’

3 Aubrieta deltoidea varigated (great leaf detail)

1 Phormium ‘red sensation’ 

Trilled with them, and most were plants that I had planned on getting for things I have planned.

Thanks Colin. 

hi everyone!

yep think i have my forever home stitched and yet again a ‘sale agreed’ this time round got the survey done first and it has proven in far better nick and i got it for 15k less than the last one!

so hopefully this will come true and not bite the dust, probate has not gone through so will have a bit of a wait.

i am trying to put up some images here for all to see but havent done this in a while so fingers crossed.

hope everyone got over christmas well! i did, i love greystones and feel very very happy here, and safe!

i am having a ball, but yearn to settle finally. hopefully by spring! take care, happy new year everyone, xann 

I soooo need to get stuff done in the garden. Like Kitty, I am getting serious cabin fever. But at least I can get a bit of a ‘fix’ in work. Today was very, very wet, but grand and mild. Not one customer came out to join me outside. But it meant I got lots of little jobs done that nobody else would even notice.

My Hippeastrum (not using the name Amaryllis any more) decided to open during the day. It looks like it will only produce 2 flowers. But it’s gorgeous, and in my 2nd favourite colour.

My New Year Resolution is to stop buying any Gardening Magazines (except for The Irish Garden, which doesn’t really count as I have a subscription anyway), and instead treat myself to a really good book – food for thought on the choice. 

I think the weather here hasn’t been quite as bad as elsewhere as I’ve managed to get a few bits and pieces done–cutting down and shredding perennials, weeding and so on. Having said that I have to admit that I had to leave the shredding half done today as rain stopped play! My Cosmos has finally given up the ghost so it went in the shredder too, but Antirrhinum, Petunia and some Lobelia are still making an effort!

If you could choose one – now I really mean it – just ONE gardening book as your favourite, what would it be?

Mine would have to be…

Dream Gardens: 100 Inspirational Gardens by Andrew Lawson & Tania Compton published 2007

It may not be written by any noteworthy writers or contain any detailed horticultural advice but not all books need to do that.

I have received more inspiration from this book, especially on cold winter evenings, than any other. It has so many pictures, covering all the seasons, that I keep on dipping right back into it and either seeing something new or noticing something afresh.

Some ‘inspirational’ books can show gardens that are daunting and clearly unattainable, often because of their hard-landscaping (a book co-written by Dan Pearson that I mentioned on Elizabeth’s journal earlier springs to mind) but this book is not one of them. Yes, the gardens are all fabulous but they are proper gardens which rely on plants for impact.

Well, I love it anyway.

PS I got a late Christmas pressie today – Christopher Lloyd’s ‘In My Garden, The Garden Diaries of Great Dixter’. Don’t you just love straggler Xmas pressies?

Wishing all ie.ers a Very Happy Growing Year in 2012 as well as Health, Wealth and Happiness 🙂

Bring it on!!!! 

Having read the bit in IG about early Hellebores i went out for a look and sure enough one of mine is showing colour! So I cut back all the old leaves and shredded them and what I didn’t get done yesterday and some other bits and pieces.

Like people I suppose, plants come in all shapes and sizes. Some have it all, like R.loderi King George for example,
with its lovely foliage and magnificent scented flowers. Others have one area
in which they excel and Chimonanthus is certainly one of those shrubs. It is a
deciduous shrub which ultimately can grow to a few metres and is similar in
shape to Hamamelis. For most of the year it is unspectacular, but if you are
lucky enough to have one that flowers (as they can be slow to bloom), then you
will have a shrub with one of the most divine scents of any shrub. I have mine
for a few years and I have found it to be slow growing, but it has opened a few
blooms for me every year so I am one of the lucky ones. My one is the cultivar
‘luteus’, which some say has the finest scent of all the Chimomanthus. The
flowers on ‘Luteus’ are as the name suggests all yellow and have a lovely
translucent quality about them. This season the mild weather has ensured a good
supply of flower buds so I’m a happy boy. I have mine planted inside the front
gate backing on to a south facing wall so it’s in an accessible area to enable
the appreciation of its wonderful scent.