Month: October 2012

Spent part of the afternoon in the front garden. It was fairly cold and no sun but after some time became acclimatised to the conditions. There is a considerable amount of leaves on the lawn and with the grass rake got some tidying done. Tuberous begonias were lifted and put away for next year. Observing the state of shrubs, Hydrangeas were really affected by the frost we had earlier on while other shrubs look really good. I remember the time we had the really cold weather in 2010, it seemed that the Hypericums were gone for ever but look at them now. I am really pleased with them. I have four varieties of Cotoneaster, all looking well. They give plenty of red berries every year. The birds will enjoy them.

I never like the thought of removing a tree but, after much pondering, recently decided that our ‘Goldcrest’ had to go.  It was planted when I knew little about gardening and less about how fast and large this conifer would grow.  Gradually we pruned it up to get light for the plants around it and had it trimmed once a year, neither of which it liked and it was looking quite poorly after a chop too far earlier this year. 

I’ll miss its evergreen presence and its bright colour, especially in winter.  I will plant another tree and have one in mind that should be a better shape and size, if I can source it.  Meanwhile, the plan is to knit the pyracanthas together to fill in the gap on the wall (I’ve layered a branch and also have some cuttings taken).   And after spending half a day digging out the stump, there is now space for some more plants too. 

I’m sure many people on this site feel the same, but I always find it amazing how, no matter how stressed, worried, annoyed, etc, I feel, a couple of hours spent in the garden always make me feel happier. I don’t understand why, but it always has that effect on me.

Today, despite the good weather all day, I only made it into the garden in early afternoon, but stayed there till about half past four, so got a few things done. It was very chilly this morning, in spite of the sun, but by late afternoon it had got really mild, or perhaps it was the fact that I was moving a lot!

I tidied up the area at the back of the garden beside the pergola. Started by attempting to train the winter flowering jasmine up the pergola, it had never been trained and didn’t look great. Much better now, and in the process, I got 2 plants from bits of the main plant that trailed on the ground and had rooted!!! So if anybody is interested in these, I’ll bring them to the get-together in January.

After that, I planted some narcissi bulbs “Galilee”, which I bought for the colour and the scent. I kept a few bulbs for a pot indoors, and the rest are planted on either side of the pergola. I got these from Heritage Bulbs, and with the order, they added a few Scilla siberica for free, which I also planted in the corner where my ferns are.

I still have some tulip bulbs to plant: “Mount Tacoma” but it was getting late and we had planned to all watch a film in late afternoon, so I left them for later. These tulips were bought for for the same area at the back of the garden, where I want lots of white flowers, but they need to be planted in full sun, and that place definitely won’t do as it gets very little sun all winter, I have to think of plan B for these, perhaps a pot.

I’m off work tomorrow and Wednesday, so will try and finish planting these bulbs, probably tomorrow as the forecast for Wednesday is not great (rain rain rain!)

My Mr Middleton order has not arrived yet, but is on its way apparently, so more planting to be done as soon as I get this, hopefully tomorrow also…

Still lots of things to do in the garden, not least pick up the leaves from the cherry blossom tree, a lot of which have fallen in the last few days, but this year, I’ve decided to wait till they ALL fall before collecting them, so it will wait another week or two…

Exhibition hasn’t started yet, but I just sold my first painting after posting photos on Facebook.

with Cherub playing the part of Cranston and the younger people becoming at times a little unruly!

I think Elizabeth hit the nail on the head when she termed Cherub Lute and Cymbals as ‘giddy’ because that is undoubtedly what they are. Sr Josephine used say the same of us ‘Giddy, young and consequently foolish!’ Today for example they decided among themselves that Mr. Scrubber had lost or is definitely on the point of losing it. When an exasperated Cherub asked them how they had come to this conclusion, C.Lute piped up ‘Well today he was sticking a last stone into the side of the path’. ‘Yes’ said Cherub patiently,’That is known as ‘edging’. ‘Whatever ‘ said  C.Lute rather rudely. ‘Well he dug a hole and put it in and then took it out and dug again and then dug again and finally shoved the rock beside it a bit away and set it in’. ‘But that’s not unusual for him’ said Cherub. ‘He does that until he is satisfied’. ‘Well he was’. ‘So?’ Then he went in for dinner and immediately after he came out, looked down and said loudly ‘No, its about six inches too high’ and something about ‘sightlines’ and down he comes again and digs and shovels and resets the stone and the one beside it!’ ‘Six inches, I ask you????’ At this, Statue Scrubber’s voice came floating down the Scrub. ‘It’s a question of Aesthetics, Cherub Lute’ ‘But don’t worry you are not expected to understand what that entails until you have been here a much longer time. You will learn eventually’. This was so surprising as Statue Scrubber seldom pontificates but to Cherub’s delight it reduced Cherub Lute to stunned silence.’After all ‘he added in support of Statue Scrubber, six inches is a considerable difference when placement is considered’ ‘Indubitably’ came a voice from a little further below in the Scrub, a presidential sort of voice with a hint of a Galwegian accent.

What Statue Scrubber didn’t mention was that Mr. Scrubber had been very busy following Hazel’s and Dick’s example and took out all the Dahlias and put them into labelled pots of dry compost. Now he must spend tomorrow tidying out the garage so as to have somewhere to put them! It was not until the lengthy job was done and he surveyed the fifteen pots that this fact struck him. Oh to have space for everything! It was that near curved whitish stone in the third picture that needed to be sunk. ‘Aesthetics’!

I think I started her in July, I didnt really think about how big it was gona get , it just keeps on growing and growing!

This bed was planted with dephiums, monkshood, lillies, loosestrife and gladioli. It was colourful until the bindweed and the loosestrife took over.

I decided to sort it out during the fine autumn spell. It took a long time.

I’m sure there will be a few unwelcome visitors in the spring but I’m ready for them this time.No more Mr. Nice Guy!!

So in addition to what’s still there I’ve planted:

Delphiniums: Guinevera, Blue Bird and Galahad.

and for contrast:

Pink Didalcea ‘Brilliant’

Scabiosa ‘Chile Pink’ 

The plants came from a 50% off sale at Altamont Garden Sales. Great value.

We had a competition to see  which team could collect the greatest number of different fallen leaves in the garden today.

The boys won with 48, I cam second with 40 and hubby got 23!

A yellowed Abutilon leaf was voted the most beautiful.

But what will I do with them now? Thinking of drying them for cards or something.

How many leaves can you name?

At least for the moment… A few ominous clouds over the hills, so let’s try and make the most of the blue skies before these move too close!

 This grass was great in the bed to give some movement.

Less than two years later, it isa huge (to me ayway)

Do they all grow as fast?

To divide, do I dig all up and replant part?

He acquired a brush handle and planed it to fit nicely into the sockets of the blade and handle. He spent a lot of time sanding it until it was as smooth as a babys’ bum. It’s a bit taller than I would have liked, but it’s better than any shop bought one!

i want to put here what the place looked like at the beginning and end and what i looked like at the end…happy!

The first photo was taken last week-end, there were the last leaves left on my virginia creeper. None left now…

The second photo is of a bergenia leaf, which took a lovely red colour. The rest were still bright green!

And finally my little acer has also taken its autumn shade…

No gardening this week-end, but it is not too late yet, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for some dry weather tomorrow. Yesterday (Saturday) was a lovely day here, but I did not have a minute to go into the garden. Today was miserable until after lunch, at which time we had planned to visit some family, so not a chance to set a foot in the garden either!

A few days ago, I received an order from Heritage bulbs of a few “Galilée” narcissi, and some Mount Tacoma tulips, which I really need to plan soon. And they put some free Scilla siberica bulbs as well in the box. I hope I get the time and the weather tomorrow for this!

another small story in this one…a tip…and a guy lays it down.  the paving is leftovers from someones path laying, he got too many!  the bricks from a guy who was taking it up to lay lawn for a growing child and the width is i hope, wheelchair width.  the panic to get all this down this year was to try and get some maturity into it all for next.

i got two tips myself…from two physiotherapists…one telling me that the ‘type’ of gardening i was doing was simply ‘not on’  well i knew that!  and another saying the ‘type’ of driving i was doing was ‘not on!’ and i knew that too, the van is a commercial vehicle and the garden is heavy.

so glad for the fireside more now.

the path was put in place by my good self and awful proud too, but it took a long time to get a person to put the cement down.  finally it has been done and deserves a special journal.  its fantastic.

the removal of the shed and the laying of the paving has given the place a very flat feel, which i am not pleased about but i know you have to start some place, from ground level up, i guess but where can i put some shape on this?

i think where the shed once was, if the adaptations get going soon, i plan to get the men to dump the rubble where the shed once was, and i always wanted to retain lawn, so i think laying turf rolls over this and form an undulating surface like a mini golf course (!) or lay a wildflower garden.  

i do have the whole winter to plan it, which is a good thing.

so here we have the bones of the future, at least a decade of future, god willing.

knowing that i may have a rare dystrophy is not pleasing me, but i think i had guessed that anyway, and shortly back to london with twin for we both now presenting with the same, for further consultations, at least the garden’s bones are there.

so when i am losing flesh on mine, maybe this here will begin to gain some.

either way i am happy and thrilled with my garden, i have enjoyed every minute of it.

more images so…

it was a good summer.  a rectangle of grass became a-er garden of some shape, not all shape just some!

the shed that was slap in front of the kitchen window was miraculously moved to the end by a person who said he would move it! for free – like….the hard landscaping got down not too expensively either, so was very lucky there. 

there were plenty of skip finds as in windows for the shed, plenty of online finds as in another swingseat for a song and new friends as well.

visits from Gordon Ledbetter which i was thrilled about and one from Sheena Vernon which also thrilled me no end.  

so my first garden is up and running, my sixtieth birthday in two weeks time and only one stay in hospital this year so not bad not bad.

oh a few A’E’s including crashing my van, you win some you lose some…i lost the van…luckily not my life…this time.

I did lose a doctor, which was good news if not great news!

well, correction, he didnt die, which is good news but i still lost him, which is good news!!

I gained a doctor, which is bad news and gained another which is good news as he is my new next door neighbour.

I won a rosette which is brilliant news for a shapely best rescue chihuahua, rather portly.

I gained a pair of shoes, which is bloody brilliant news as my only had holes in them and considering they cost over 400e a whack it wasnt something i could provide for myself not to mention the expertise in getting them made-up.

I am still on lists…too many…lists to get back to the London specialist.

List for the electric wheelchair

list for the hearing aids.

oh, i lost my ceoliac prescript food, that again is bad news

I gained a doggie neighbour – bad news, add to the cacophany which is a lot of yowlers aroiund these parts.

but i gained a doggie – friend, as in a person who loves dogs and a dog who didnt mind mine!

I am still ‘out’ with another dog, promises of ‘training’ is nearly confirmed, lets hope that will be my birthday present from my nearest and dearest and it isnt my dogs that need it!

I regained my ‘arts award’ which i believe is still open and i can resume – now that its fireside time!

I have gained a house, which i could rent out!  the shed, called ‘cocaine’ yes, believe it or not thats what i have called it, and why you may ask?

well the owner of it, that who put up da shed had a dog called coco and as i had wanted this thing moved for a long time, and when it was and i sat watching the sun rise, i felt well ‘this is just what the doctor ordered, so it became ‘cocaine’ AAAAh, sorry, couldnt help that! so it remains high on my agenda…oops sorry – again.

so to end, images i shall add

Here it is. This is the first fern I hope to get planted into the mini-island in the greenhouse pond with the Oak structure that Steve recently acquired. Will add more ferns by degrees.

Today I braved the cold and wet to follow to the letter Monty Don’s instructions regarding my Dahlias. I’m quite proud of the dahlias because all but one of them came from a packet of seeds last year and I managed to lift them and get them through the winter (Ok – so it was a very mild winter but it was a first for me!!) and they made a great display this year in the new beds down near the stream. I even managed to sit for a while on the little white seat down there to enjoy them!

Apart from the plants from seed I also have a lovely tall red Dahlia given to me by Nuala I think – please correct me if I’m wrong- and the carefully placed label has totally disappeared 🙁 I’d love to know what the name of that lovely dahlias is!)

Anyway, I digress. the instructions from Monty were very clear – get those Dahlias out of the ground once the first frost has arrived! And make sure you label them!

Well I’m feeling so virtuous – I lifted the plants, shook off as much soil as I could, brought them up to the shed (It had started to rain again by this time) Taking one plant at a time I carefully trimmed off the foliage leaving a decent stump (as seen on TV) on each and then labelled. the labelling was interesting – will I remember next year what I meant by “Yellow”, “Tall Yellow”, “Crimson”, “Lemon” etc.? What I want is to be able to mix the colours better than this year as this year it was totally pot-luck (except for the named one) and I ended up with all yellows in one bed and a couple of reds not being properly visible so hopefully next year will be more balanced.

I was also encouraged by Dick’s post about lifting the dahlias and replacing them with Wallflowers … I may well follow his example if my wallflower seedlings bulk up a bit more.

Finished off the job by shredding the foliage from the dahlias and adding it to this year’s compost heap.

And why am I a REAL gardener? Well photo No. 1 is the answer – dahlias actually lifted in time and properly labelled!!!! Can’t wait for next weeks Gardeners World to see what I do next! LOL

It certainly was NOT a day for garden today, so we headed out to one of my favourite haunts – Ratoath Garden Centre in Ashbourne. Had a grand oul’ natter with John and his lovely wife, Bernie. John took us on a tour of their new borders that were started during the early summer. A lot of preparation went in to what they are today. They are full of interest even at this late stage in the year. John is very willing to impart tips, and growing requirements on the vast range of plants that he has planted into these borders. And a lot of them have been divisions of existing planting schemes aroundabout. I bought a few plants too – Hypericum inodorum ‘Magical Red Star’, Saxifraga cortusifolia var. fortunei, Helianthus ‘Sunshine’, Dryopteris affinis (Scaly Male Fern) and a nice little Anthemis for planting around the Upper Pond. I’m hoping this Anthemis will eventually trail over the edge to obliterate some of the blue pond liner. 

Great day, and I have now secured an exhibition of my paintings here starting at the beginning of December. Thanks a million John and Bernie.

had great plans yesturday to dig over the rest of the front wall project but my energy levels and enthusium were not matched so decided to take care of the birds instead. i set up the homemade bird bath (a bin lid) and filled up the feeders that i got earlier in the year in a discount store. i have two bird houses to put up be unsure where i will put them, i think i will have to try and find a stake of some sort, my trees are too young to put nails through to hold them, i will come up with something, will put on my thinking cap.

this morning when i got up and pulled the blind there were loads of little birds on the feeders, this photo i think is the cutest of them(third photo).

i also got the last of the daff bulbs that i had got planted the only thing was i was lucky to get one good lot out of the two packs as some of them were soft which is not good,oh well i can pick up a few more tomorrow.

in the morning i hope to get the rest of the front project dug then a quick run to lidl to pick up a few bits and maybe the bulbs

Clematis orientalis L. `Orange Peel`

This is attractive in flower but more interesting in winter when the tufted seed heads evolve.

This plant went AWOL for two years and came back this year for some mysterious reason.

I don’t understand the seed head. It’s too heavy to be blown by the wind. It’s too smooth to cling to something, so why its shape?

It looks good in an arrangement and as nothing can be done in the garden today I tried it in a small vase. My flower arranging wife thinks  I need lessons.

Havent we had some gorgeous days? and the leaf colour this year is really breathtaking. We are surrounded by beech so it’s technicolour all the way. Its funny how days differ.

In my last journal i had got so much done. On Wednesday i went out and cleared a bit about the rock on which the white urn sits! Then I set in the stone slabs into the clay of the path beside it. I put in 32 winteraconite under the beech and 40 crocii purple in barbara’s bed-ie  a small circular bed around a fern leafed beech. A lady came in to view the Ozakazuki at close hand as I was sweeping the front drive of early leaves.. I took out two ferns i had transplanted two days ago. Common ones but big but they spoiled the line of the lawn in scrub down to the white urn. Also took out two more ferns off the terraces so that theres a clear semicircular sweep in the path. Its odd to get so much satisfaction out of removing stuff! Spent most of the day trying to clear herb bed and thats  not gratifying work! Down and dirty wrestling! 

On Saturday which was my next free one i only got out for an hour and a half but got all the lawns cut and re-edged a path that is beside the new stone slab path-Ill call it the white urn path. I used the same rocks but set them a bit higher. I also tried on Tuesday to re- discover Fern Corner which is over run-even Fran’s Stone had disappeared completely and Fran’s stone is a ‘big ‘un!’ The nice thing is that fern corner now ties in with the white urn and path ! I think Cherub has a master plan and he only lets me in on it bit by bit.

Yesterday our Grandaughter asked if we would go to visit Powerscourt   as she wanted to see the biggest   Redwood tree as her Teacher was telling them about it ,   so off we went and I am so pleased we did as it was such a beautiful day …I was amazed she wanted to see every area of the beautiful place she had the Route map and we saw every part of it …..she did take plenty of photos  and 1 and a half hours later she and I were happy to go and have lunch.

This photo above was her fav. as Grandad had told her about it the last time we were there ..Princess Grace planted it in June 1978…

This evening I realised that I had forgotten one of the Aeonium when I brought them indoors yesterday. This one is a big boy.

Bringing it inside, I was astonished to see… a flower!

But it’s not great news really. It seems that some Aeonium are monocarpic and die after flowering 🙁

I checked out that Fern for you. it is as we thought the “Royal Fern”  I  took a photo of the plant label with all the details.  It is very hardy as it survived the two bad winters we had without any special protection.