Month: March 2012

Ok, I did try. I wanted to create a living sculpture of a heron.

They say that having an artificial heron in the garden is a deterrent against the ‘real thing’. Mr. Heron has been a regular spectator, but hasn’t attempted to land in the garden over the winter to pick off the koi. However, the ‘living sculpture’ was not supposed to be a deterrent, just a challenge. Bill (Head Gardener) kindly donated some willow whips for me to make a start on just that. They did well in the first season. But not so good over the winter, even though it was so mild. I admit defeat. My ‘living sculpture’ is now dead! Don’t know what I did wrong. But if I were to be lucky enough to acquire more willow, I would give it another try!!!

I am off from Today untiL next Tuesday which is great. I know the weather forecast is not great but I will not be put off and there is always the tunnell. Some of the seeds  I set over the past fortnight has germinated – the usual suspects – Radishes, Lettuce, basil and chives,cauliflower and Cabbage , tomatoes ( have set six different varieties this year which if they all progress as planned will leave  me with my requirement of 30 plants)Cosmos, Sweetpea, Stock, Lots of others that I have set no sign yet but will have a good look tomorrow to see if anything more exciting has obliged.

The plans for the next few days is to get at least one day in the garden – I have a few more perennials I want to divide daylily and asters. I need to cut down some Fushia, penstemons and Hydrangea. I have poppies that I grew from seed that I want to plant out. I have more seeds to sow and one of the raised vegetable beds is ready for planting with garlic and onions.

Our next big project is to put a path in between the ponds and the man made bog garden – We do not agree on what kind of path to put in – I am an idealist and Gerry is the realist so he wins out for all sorts of reasons so it will be a path of stones that will go in, I am hoping that we will get started on this over the weekend but it needs to be dry and I am afraid the weather will not oblige.

Have put up a photo of the woodland bed – now that the snowdrops have gone over it is the turn of the daffodils which will be shortly followed by the bluebells – I can not believe how they have spread around over the past few years. The stars of the show are still the helleborus which are still flowering away happily

Happy gardening to all  

   

is really taking shape now. It’s planted up with mainly primroses, but also cyclamen coum and hederifolia, scilla, iris siberica, miniature tulips, pulmonaria, tete-a-tetes, sedum, fritillarias, I could go on. Pretty cramped at this stage (story of my life). Chionodoxa is open this morning. It looks really nice beside primula ‘Marie Croisse’.

Well, Terri, here is my little Primrose Bank. Maybe i should make an album so you can get a proper view.

Well we have half a polytunnel. The height will be great for Alan, who’s a big lad – the old one was barely above his head and sloped all the way to the ground so he had a permanent crick in the back. This one will be a breeze to work in. Thanks to our lovely limestone subsoil they can’t trench in the plastic so they’ll come back Saturday with base-bars and plastic – does that make it Plastic Paddy’s Day? About right for a couple of blow-ins, to be sure to be sure! Meanwhile we can start making the beds so not long now for the poor lettuces who are dying to get off the spare room windowsill and into a proper bed.

We had a few new pics taken of the rhodo, with people in them, so you can actually get a sense of size.

You know the way your in the garden and you see something or decide on something last year and you said ‘I must/must not do…’ . Yes well we’ve all been there I guess and last year I got fed up of the Veg, fed up of the digging, the weeding, the watering, the feeding and the pests/diseases. All this would have been worth it had my family extolled the virtues of my potatoes, or my peas or my tomatoes but I’m afraid they/ve grown accustomed to them so much I was thoroughly fed up last year and said thats it .. no veg next year..

Of course a year later I have a little girl is asking am i sowing her salad veg this year and a wife who’s pleading with me to do some veg. Boys looking for Carrots and Strawberries (my strawberry bed is toast this year in fact). Of course in March there are loads of volunteers who say they’ll help but if they’ll follow through is anyones guess 🙂 

Anyway I started to do it little by little in less quantaties and I’m determined to try cull seedling (just cos I have 10 tomatoe seedlings does not mean I have to plant all of them!!). Of course in preparing the potatoe bed I did some backbreaking work and it suceeed as bending over on Monday to pick up toys my back went.. for what is now my annual visit to the physio for some sort or injury!!

Perhaps next year I should remember when you’ve done no heavy work in the garden for 5 months it will take it’s toll on your body if you just start up again ithout easing yourself in..  although the day here has brightened up and I got out to do a little bit of weeding which Gabriel has done a great job on over the weekend (even though she too said hadn’t time to do stuff in the garden this year :-)). Will add some pic to my March/april folder if I can.

I have been putting a plastic edging along my new blue bed. This has not been easy due to the huge number of stones that I had to remove making the trench to bury the edging . Most of the smaller ones I could fling over the ditch but still have to move many that I dug up . Anyway the job is done thankfully. I will put up an album showing the mess and other nicer photos.!

I was in the garden today and noticed my tulips were gone all 158 of them !!! my heart sank i was competely puggled why??? then i got to work as to why the tulip leaves were cut off i dug some up and found the corms were eaten away does anyone know what this is that has devoured my lovely tulips PLEASE i bought these tulips last year in lidl and a man who is a bulb grower told me that all the bulbs from lidl and aldi flower well the first year and then destroy everything in the garden as they have a worm/insect  in them that invades your garden now i’m wondering if that has happened i have lost 158 tulips almost overnight have i destroyrd my garden as i believe this thing cannot be got rid of.. i planted all my lillies and other bulb’s.the other day as you know from my journal.. None of my daffodils flowered this year that i got in lidl last year only green leaves the one’s i got from the ladies house have all bloomed  i have put up small amount  of photos for you to see.. any help would be greatly appreciated.. 

P.S I AM UPLOADING THE FULL PHOTO OF TEH BUSH I THINK IS A VIBURNUM I’M OPEN TO BE PROVED WRONG AND AT THE END OF A LONG SAD DAY I FOUND A FOUR LEAF CLOVER SO PHOTO UPLOADED !!!!!!!!!!!! MAYBE THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?????

Isn’t it amazing how these gorgeous silky flowers burst out of these furry buds? 

This saxifraga was put in from a tiny pot many years ago – it has spread and spread and is just starting to flower now. When it goes over the flowers are cut back and it has a lovely carpet of green for the remainder of the year – an under rated plant which does exactly what it says on the tin without any additional TLC – I also have a white one which is also just coming into flower

Magnolia stellata, in my mother’s garden. Wish it was in mine! 

 

Some of the hardy orchids are coming along nicely in the greenhouse.

Haven’t been able to devote a whole lot of time to the garden on my week off, but I made a point of getting a little bit done each day. This afternoon I removed the rest of the daffs and planted them into the narrow bed on one side of the front. 

I was going to dig up a hydrangea, a couple of euonymus and a white-flowering hebe to make room for the Chamaecyparis I rescued from the skip in work. But I decided they would stay where they were for now. Loosened the soil where they are planted and gave that area a good weeding before planting the Chamaecyparis fairly close to them. This will provide the front garden with a small bit of privacy in the future. Then brought a few big pots of daffs from the back that were just making the place look cluttered. I have planted them all around the perimeter of the front now. I dug up the remaining wild garlic and replaced it with my indoor hyacinths which are now just at the front door. They will provide lots of delicious scent to anyone who calls, instead of the putrid smell of the garlic. I wish my neighbour would do the same with his garlic, as mine has all spread in from his garden. So I can see this job being a constant battle.

What a wonderful day to spend in the garden, so beautifully calm and mild.

I moved quite a few plants and dug part of a bed that needed redoing so a few aches tonight but so happy to get a lot done, I wont get in the garden again until after the weekend and I will be pleased if we get some rain tonight as the garden is so dry.

Was talking to a friend on the phone as I sat on the bench near the front door and I kept getting wafts of the most beautiful perfume. When I investigated I found that it was from my Skimmia Magic Marlot which I have in a pot at the front door. The sun was shining on it and there was no wind to blow the scent away. It was just lovely.

I have put up photo and journal on this plant before, but I just had to do it again as I hadnt realised what a wonderful perfume it has.  This plant gets 10 out of 10 from me!

This year never ceases to amaze me!

What’s this?

Don’t forget that your conifers have spring blossom too!  Some of the pines and spruces can have quite showy red and pink blossom.  This Chamaecyparis Lawsonia columna has pink flowers all over it’s blue/grey flattened sprays.  It looks as if pink ladybirds have taken over.

I did of course go back this week and buy the second Podocarpus salignus and am delighted with it.  That’s my big buys for this year over ….. definately…..

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING AN AD OVER THE ARROW WHERE YOU WANT TO SCROLL THROUGH MEMBER’S PHOTOS?  JOAN MENTIONED A PROBLEM LAST WEEK BUT IT IS ONLY NOW I TRIED TO LOOK AT MILLIEMOUSES ALBUM AND COULDN’T GO ON TO THE NEXT ONE GRRRRR!

I had a woeful day in work. On very times working with the public is the worst thing possible, but today I dealt with some of the most ignorant people ever, sadly I can’t tell them that, but I came dam close once.

I was dangerous getting home. But some deep breaths, the smell of Aoife’s muffins baking for her  junior mocks tomorrow in HE, helped big time.

It was starting to get dark but out to the garden and sat on the decking for half an hour, looking, listening and switching off big time.

Nothing could have turned  a day around as much.

Recipe for a bad day  =====  a half hour walking or sitting in the garden followed by a fresh Rasberry muffin. 

Bliss, and all is well with the world once again. 

  I got this Euphorbia x martini in Johnstown,at our last meeting,,,and love it!!!Can’t wait when it will grow bit bigger.

  Any advises for propogation?Cuttings yes?Is it easy,or need something special?

Hazel gave me last year nice red Euphorbia, so tell me was it easy?

Somehow i turn in to Ephorbias lover,,,every year something new :))

The lovely colours on the foliage caught my eye today but have drawn a complete blank on the name I think it begins with s…………

I got this from June Blake at the RPS last year and was delighted with the way it developed in the garden last Summer – due to the mild Winter it never died down fully and this picture was taken today really love this plant.

An other my new love from last year is peonies.Number is slowely growing,and i of course happy.One of last autumn new purchases was Paeonia wittmanniana.And guess what,,it have flower buds,,oh can’t wait to see it in flower(all other too of course :))