Month: April 2013

While out walking yesterday I came across loads of this lovely looking what I would say a yellow big daisy ….it was near Greystones so nice.

I took a trip around the garden in the sunshine this morning.

I couldn’t help marvelling at the enormous difference between plants in the Fritellaria genus.

If I didn’t know already, I would hardly guess that these two plants were so closely related.

Can’t wait for the Imperial fritellarias to bloom!

Over the last few nights from time changed last weekend i can really notice the extra lighting time in the tunnel,without the need for added lighting.

Through out the summer,at least 1 night in the week,the garden will get a regular visit once of twice between dusk and dawn.

Then very quickly the flor,light will be used in the tunnel to make a quick round up of any slugs and snails.

Indeed slugs are the main enemy in every garden.Different traps can be used but one of the most used is the visit between dusk and dawn.

Beer traps can be used but one thing i learned many years ago is that the scent of beer from 1 trap will travel only app 30 to 40 cm either way.

Though the night is cold and all is wrapped up in the tunnel and greenhouse,the weekend according to the weather man says temp,will be up.

Lets hope so.

Now that most of the beds are ready,all is fine except for a quick paint job of the timber.Then my 4 way rotation will start.

I will have potatoes in one section,roots in the next,then legumes,then others,My brassica will be in a seperate area.Rotation can vary from a 3 way up to a 6 way or even longer.The 3 way is the normal way used or up from there.

The potatoes are a member of the night shade family and the stalks are not fond of getting wet during growth.I make sure to be careful there and keep the water supplier low down.

In the roots [carrots,parsnips etc]they will be moving into a bed already manured from a previous crop.

With legumes etc, i have them everywhere.In one of the great miracles of nature they attract atmospheric nitrogen from the air and send it down to the root nodules.

With brassica the ground will have been limed at an earlier date,but only where and when needed.

The water wells will be left in place hopefully next weekend.All made from 2 litre plastic bottles,2 litre milk drums and flowerpots of stones.

Some of the home made ways to avoid pests and disease organically will be added to my journal at a later date.

For the last few years each time i would walk up the steps at the arch,i promised to brighten my stone friends at the entry.That was put on the long finger again and again.

Finally i let it go no further in early 2012 and decided to add some of the colours from the garden colour wheel.

Each side of the arch i now have yellow,green and blue, with all especially to add some brightness.Needed it had been,but yet never done.

Finally i can be happy now as i pass through the arch on a sunny day especially, and see the brightness of my stone friends.

At the back of the arch i plan to remove two shrubs.This being their third year with no joy of any colour.The roots were dead.I will add a picture of them to my photos later.

I will need to train some of the clematis to the bare patches which were left after the removal.

The arch itself needs a visit of paint in places but maybe sometime later.

My statue friends will hold the brightness for me now.

Greg and myself decided to go for a long walk this morning so  we got togged out and headed for Greystones  via the cliff walk …what a beautiful day and we were followed by this little fellow as we stopped 3 times and yes! he was there …so  cheeky and we did not have any food .

On Thursday 11th April Aldi have Clematis on offer – 2 litre pots for just €5.99 – all montanas, ‘Rubens’, Grandiflora’, ‘Warwickshire Rose’ and ‘Broughton Star’ – 2yr old plants. And they also have some nice English grown patio/bush roses. Varieties include ‘Baby Bio’, ‘Sweet Dreams’, ‘Holly Jane’, ‘Pink Fairy’, ‘White Fairy’, ‘Red Fairy’, ‘Yellow Fairy’, and lastly ‘Nina Weibul’ all for just €3.99 each.

This is the Cymbidium Jacinta gave me some time back.

I’ve called it Miss Scarlet to fit in with the Cludo theme I have going with my Cymbidiums but it’s not a real name.

I love the rim of white around the edge of the petals.

Thank you, Jacinta.

is this combination of Phormium and Stipa arundainacea.

Both looked great at the weekend with the sun shinning through both of them. It looked much better in real life as the red in the Stipa matched the Phormium, photo does not do justice to the full effect in real life.

Moya kindly gave me seeds of her lovely Ipomoea ‘Star of Yelta’ at Johnstown.  With the coldest March on record, an unheated greenhouse and no electric propagator, it was looking like I’d never get them sown.  A google check indicated that they should be germinated at 70-80 degrees farenheit, so last Sunday week I resorted to desperate measures, aka kitchen radiator.

Nine days later, I’m well pleased with the result and look forward to growing them on from their current spot on the west-facing kitchen windowsill.  Thank you Moya.

No, it wasn’t a wet day here, surprise, surprise. But over the last few weeks you would think the reservoirs in the Dublin area have more than enough water. We are on rationing at the moment, and every drop after 7.00pm is monitored.

Another visit to doc today, and another week off. So I made the most of the water while I could. I had to water the plants I have planted in the last few days, and everything in the greenhouse. Tomorrow I hope to take everything out of the greenhouse to begin hardening them off.

Rachel gave me a lovely plant last year – Omphalodes cappadocca ‘Starry Eyes’ which has started to open. Lovin’ it. Thanks again, Rachel.

With the bright evenings now, I hope to get a copy of the arch in the top photo  made during the evenings this week, it will be fitted at the edge of the slabs in the second photo.

The plan is to seperate but at the same time pull the two areas together. I know what I mean LOL and that’s the main thing.

;-))

Sky is looking tops this evening. Hope it’s a good sign for tomorrow.

I potted up this over-wintered dahlia on 3rd February. I’ve already removed about 6 developing flower buds so it can put all its energy into growing healthily. More on the way. So I think at this stage I might like to have a flowering Dahlia houseplant for now. It measures 21 inches at the moment, nice and green and lookin’ good.

Oh, what a beautiful day it was today – blue skies and sunshine all day.  It was still cold, but I have The Dressing for the Garden down to a ‘T’ now – leggings under the leggings and t-shirts under the t-shirts, double socks and then the rest 🙂  

So here goes – I needed a little lie-in (as no school run!) then we had a birthday party to bring my little girl to in the afternoon.  So it was all about tackling the garden around the time that I get hungry, i.e. before noon and after noon (Inclusive!).  So, my hubbie, knowing this, brought me coffee outside to keep me going and I gave it my best!

We have made it 2/3rd’s of the way through this bed with only 2 days to go before our visitors come – I can’t really say much more than that right now except, this is where we have been and this is where we have to go… (see the photos which will explain!) 

Bought this little Hyacinth in Plantagen a couple of week ago. Its on the kitchen window and the perfume from it is to die for. It just fills the whole room. Gorgeous.

What a day!!!

Its been a while since that big yellow ball was up in the sky…and what a day it was too. It was still a bit chilly with that Easterly wind but so much nicer than recent days.

I got out today and did a little bit of planting. I sowed some more Cosmos and Nasturtiums in my new greenhouse. :)……hopefully they will come on and I will be able to plant them out, as the ones previously got too ‘stalky’ and I had to abandon them..obviously we planted them up too soon, like beginning of February!

Today I noticed a couple of ‘buds’ forming on some of my shrubs and plants. Some Iris that I have planted had buds coming through the soil…great to see that..so yes there is something happening under the soil, if a little slow.

Last week I bought a few bits in Lidl….so today I planted out some Osteospermum….a Senetti…..and the Marguerita bush that I bought too. I love the look of the ‘daisy’ like plants in the garden during Summer.

Bought Clematis ‘Mrs Bateman’ and put that at the bottom of one of our trees so that it will climb up through it.

I also planted out some more Lupins, Foxglove and Delphiniums also bought in Lidl….so a good day was had. Im tired now but I really enjoyed being out in the sunshine.

Its to stay with us for the next three days or so…….so if you can get out there, do and enjoy yourselves…Happy Gardening 😉

I wonder who is going to the Alpine Show in Dublin on 6th April?

I went last year and thought it was great, despite not being particularly interested in alpines…

Alpine Garden Society

They had lots of plants for sale too from the usual nurseries and, if you arrive early, there are members plants for sale.

I intend to go and it might be a good chance to meet up.

This time last year ALL my Camellias were in full flower. Getting impatient now. Mairin  dug one up from her garden about 2 or 3yrs ago and I gave it a home in a great big barrel. It has done really well considering it was up-rooted and had its roots confined. It’s almost there.

Whilst it is not weather for gardenig Gerry has been busy putting together a coldframe made from recycled materials that we had around the house. May not be as posh as Monty’s but it will do the job just fine.

The top is made out of a an old shower door and a door from our old Kitchen. I reckon it will hold about 20 6 inch pots at one time so will give me extra space as it situated just outside the polytunnel door.

No joking at all with this journal

I had planted several lots of Tete a Tete daffs in pots last Autumn thinking I would have the last section of the front corner finished sooner. I only got to plant them the other day. 

I noticed one strange thing in one pot. Looking closer I saw that one bulb had been planted upside down, now who could have done a silly thing like that?

It grew and grew, as I pulled the bulb out of the pot, it turned out the the bulb was making a run ‘Down Under’ to say Hi to Colin.

The growth on the bulb was 8 inches and it was still heading ‘down under’  LOL

but i really love it, this is a wild primrose i got off Elizabeth(7) awhile back, well one of many and they are starting to flower at the moment and have to say they really are a lovely one, sometimes original and simple can be the best. Also is a picture of one of my Acers starting to come into leaf at the moment Acer – Orange Dream.