Month: August 2012

The weather this year seems to have been a great year for Bamboos.

The amount of new growth is great and this plant is bulking up great.

The most striking thing about about this plant is the culms (stems). The green stripe is on alternative sides up the stem.


Yesterday we visited these gardens and was surprised how much the walled garden has improved since last year. I am about to post some photos to an album.


Isn’t nature wonderful. I took cuttings of this dianthus last year from God Knows Where, so I don’t have a name for it. It has finally flowered. Love the shape, form and colour. In my eyes, it looks like a perfect circle.

 

This Dahlia has been at this stage for about 4 days now. Not sure if it is fully open or just shy.

I will post a photo if it does open fully.

It’s subtle, but I like it.

Yup autumn or winter interest matters too

This beauty opened to day.

Really disappointed that there is no scent at all.

 

I must say that certain items were neglected for some time. In some instances it was due to rain while in other cases it was due to something else. To day as usual about the first thing to consider was deadheading the roses. while quite a number have been deadheaded, there are still quite a number present. The rain did very little damage. Remember September is only a few days away and I must say that I enjoyed these roses as much as any other year. Some rose cuttings were taken last September ans put in the back garden to root and I hope to lift them to morrow and replant them where a few roses in the front had failed. Quite a bit of raking was done, around the tree where there had been a lot of cuttings, now it was simply a case of putting the finishing touches to these areas and that included the area where I had removed cuttings, the same area where little light gets in. A portion of the back garden where there were onions was dug and to morrow I hope to put in some strawberry plants. Some of the blackcurrant bushes were pruned lightly, especially removing dead wood and old wood. Finally Rhodochitons which were in small puts were planted out. I know this could have been done earlier but other types of work got preference. They are now planted close to where I have Ricinus. The seeds of same came from Rachel. The combination of the two seems good and the first flower of the Rhodochiton has appeared. The seeds of Rhodochiton were given to me in January at Johnstown. I don’t know who gave it to me. By 5 p.m. I had to retire from the garden to have something to eat before travelling with four others to Paulstown.

Ricinus & RhodochitonRhodochiton in bloom

When myself and Steve visited Hazel and Brendan a few weeks ago, I came home with a very welcome big pot of rooted Willows. But surprise, surprise, there were a couple of stowaways lurking in the soil apart from the willows – Nasturtiums and more of the sedums that Hazel presented me with. Delighted with the extra sedums as the other ones  were planted around the Upper Pond in the hope of disguising the blue liner. Looks like with the stowaways, they will knit together even more quickly than previously anticipated. Thanks again, Hazel.

Stowaways

…………to place anywhere

I like the colours in this dahlia but it does have very heavy big head which is not the best in wet weather. But it is a good colour combination with the pink arctotis.


These are the beds in the front that were started in March of this year!

new bedThe Diamond!

Bit disappointed with Dahlias this year – for all the work involved you need to get a big performance but not to be this year – Weather, slugs etc saw to that. This one is doing ok though even though it never got out of it’s pot.

Dahlias Marigold and Cosmos

From karenmccarthy

Can I grow a swiss cheese plant in sheltered position outdoors in Cork?

We were in Clare for the weekend. Weather was great – as was the day.

Started off with a disappointment as I went to the Market in Ennis expecting to find Caherhurley Plants and there they were – gone. Not there. Absent. I could have sworn that they were there on Saturdays previously but maybe this late in season they restrict to Saturdays.

We then drove on towards the Burren.

It must be at least twenty five years since I first drove through Corofin – not that I do it regularly but there was a statue in a tree outside Corofin that had me somewhat intrigued for a while but had never stopped. This time I did pull in to find a Holy Well under cover which cannot be seen from the road.

Then on to Carron and after a soup, managed to persuade the boss to don the walking shoes and go for a walk – admittedly the shortest looped walk from there but that is progress with the boss.

She did enjoy finding the directional signs en route – and we all enjoyed seeing more butterflies that we have seen for a while

It wasn’t long but it was great to see the limestone features. There didn’t appear to be much of a range of wild flowers on our route but I did like the drooping flower pictured. What amazed though was the extent of hazel nut trees/bushes. If one wanted to go foraging in a few weeks, one would definitely be laden down with the amount of nuts.

Speaking of foraging, in Clare (as well as Cork and Kerry) the blackberries appear to be suffering this year. There are only some in clusters and many appear to have rotted on the branch with the weather or not ripened at all. Methinks the birds may be a bit hungry this winter as my own apple trees and also crab apples that I foraged last year all are not great.

We then drove on to the Aillwee Caves. The boss and I, not having visited the caes before did the full tour which was very enjoyable and en famille we then went to the Birds of Prey demonstration where they had Harris Hawks (the boss got to put on a glove and a hawk landed on her hand), buzzards (which were walked through the crowd in the seats) and falcon – well worth a visit

I had details of Caher Bridge Garden in Ballyvaughan just in case we had spare time and I could steal a visit – maybe next time.

Not much in the way of a gardening journal but maybe it was just a new experience for me but walking (even a short walk) in the Burren was a great experience in terms of the visual landscape and the flora.

The sun definitely helped the day…..

Burren FlowerButterfly
Aillwee Carving

Looks like I should get some seed. Top two are same as Jacintas, smaller green one is a different variety  – supposedly wild collected

Ricinus communis gibsoniiRicinus communis gibsonii
Ricinus communis Zanzibariensis Unguja Green

Our red hot pokers glowing in the evening light over the weekend


Got a 4pack of basket plants the other day with a different kind of Cuphea to Fran’s. No name on this except ‘Cuphea’. Fran did give me a seedling of his one with the ‘beady eyes’ earlier on, but I killed it. So hopefully this one won’t be as susceptible to a premature death.

Cuphea

Spotted this on an Acer in the garden this evening.

No I was not messing about with a paint brush !!!!

My memory fails me just at the moment.

But I think someone may have done a journal on this fern recently. I just can’t recall who it may have been. No idea at all.

Anyway, since planting it this little fern has come on great. It is placed at the front of a step so can’t be missed as I go walkabout.

 

I have to say of all the ferns I have added to the garden in recent time, I have lost only one. The wet year this year has helped settle them in well and hopefully give them a good start for the future.

i just bought this today as i seen it, i thought it had a lot going for it, flowers from June to

September, 30cm high and spread 25cm its not fully hardy so needs a little winter care,

so is it yay or nay.?

Antirrhinum mature leaf.the flower
the entire plant

August was another disappointing month weather wise. A very damp and dreary summer has continued and we seem to be already seeing a start to autumn here in the grounds, with certain trees showing early colour. If we look at the pattern of the last few years though, there’s still the chance of an Indian summer. Fingers crossed!

Cork craft month saw a craft village here over the weekend of 18th/19th, and a sculpture display through the gardens. It was a great success and will be repeated again next year.

Ragwort has been a big problem this year in the estate. This noxious weed is toxic to cattle/livestock and is on the increase. You can see it all around the roadside verges into Cork. It is actually illegal to allow it to grow on your land. We have spent a huge amount of time removing it from our riverbanks and ditches throughout the estate, but unfortunately it is a nationwide problem and really needs to be addressed as such by the local authorities and the government. If they cannot clean up their areas, then what chance do we have of stopping it’s spread?……Anyway, enough of my rant.

We have struggled with control of our lawns and weed growth this year. Now is the time to start thinking about the autumn feeds for the lawns and treatment of moss.

The herbaceous borders are starting to fade in places and we are dead heading and tidying as required. Overall it has been a good show this year and we are very pleased. The damp weather has really helped with establishing a lot of our new plants both here and elsewhere in the grounds. Our bamboo garden has seen growth of tropical proportions!

It’s the time of year for pruning hedges, mulching beds and general tidying up in the vegetable garden. We have started cutting back our old raspberry and loganberry canes and tying in the new ones for next year’s crop. We have dug up the last of the potatoes, lifted shallots, garlic and onions and planted out leeks. Now is the time to sow spinach, winter lettuce and rocket to take you through to the autumn.

Late summer is the right time for taking a lot of cuttings and we are starting to look at propagating some of our more unusual specimens. It makes sense to have some ‘up and coming’ stock plants to replace possible winter losses. We have just finished building a new extension to our glasshouse with the help of our Friday morning volunteers. It will be our new prop unit.

It’s also the time of year for wine making! There is usually a surplus of fruit, be it windfall plums, pears or wild blackberries and all of these can be used for home made wine. It’s a very simple process and well worth a go. Of course, there’s also jam, but I’m going with the former. Reports to follow!

Adam

Had a laugh when reading a comment about my “pink” pot from Sallysarah! I went straight out and took a photo! My son asked what I was doing with a “rusty” pot when he saw it (same son who asked about the “gallows” when I had my pergola/arch put up :D) So the colour must be somewhere between pink and rusty!

I think it has understated elegance (a bit like myself!) maybe its because it cost more than I would normally pay!

I bought it for a Red Robin which I am growing as a standard but until it has “grown up” I got this Torbay Dazzler and am using that for the moment. I think it looks very nice and a bright contrast. A year or 2 ago I lost a Torbay Dazzler which I loved so when I saw this one in a garden centre in Donegal I bought it.

The plan is when my pergola is well covered and you walk through it will make a nice statement to a different part of the garden.


Cynara cardunculus (Globe Artichoke) is looking great at the moment. This has been moved from pillar to post in the last two years. It gets better and better each year.

I took these cuttings in early June and just left them to get on with it. When I checked them this evening they had flowered in the plastic bag!

Sedum Purple Emperor - cuttings taken in early June

I went mad doing cuttings in early June and the majority of them seem to have taken. I did mostly hydrangea, buddleja, viburnum & wiegela with a few other odd bits stuck in as well. I have potted on a few of them, but need to do the rest fairly soon.

If anyone has a surplus of 1 litre pots please let me know! I find they are the ideal size for potting on cuttings as they dont take up too much room or use as much compost. I got some from Ebay lately but need alot more.

Cuttings