Month: July 2013

I love the way Darmera peltata is taking on its’ autumn colours.

I picked this grass up on a visit to Kilmurray in Wexford last year.

After planting it, it seemed to fail rapidly, I was left wondering what I had done wrong.

Not one to give up on plants too quickly, I left it where it was.

It was very slow to come back this spring, but in the last few weeks it has really taken off. This grass can grow to about 2m, if it does annthing like that here I will be well pleased.

The fun you can have with a camera that has a movable viewfinder is fantastic,

the fact that it also saves the back, legs etc etc from having to bend and twist into all kinds of dangerous positions is a bonus.

New babies from from my Visit to Tatton Park.                     

Does anybody know what this bug is, found it the other day, with a bigger one Black and dark grey stripes, again with 4 eyes type markings on back. 

I have been digging out corms of montbretia at the front wall for years. I thought I had finally got the last of them out. But there are still a couple more to go. Although I must say I like it coming up through my white hydrangea which is now fading to pale pink.

It’s no secret that I like my food. But harvesting your own has got to be the best thing since sliced bread. And it IS possible to sow edibles no matter how small your garden is, if you are determined. I grow all my onions in window boxes and get a good enough crop just for myself and Steve, mainly me. 

when these tomatoes decide to ripen i will have a brill crop

my plants arrived from johnstown yesturday was delighted with them. they included two paninted ferns, helenium, euphorbia and two different heuchera. feeling to lazy this eve to tackle the weeding or anything else for that matter, hopefully friday eve i will get out again. i will get my walk done though, its a great way to clear the head. 

i got these ecomis in dunnes as bulbs, i didnt think anything they would grow but the heat that we had a couple ofweeks ago really brought them up they look nice now.

i tried the new rainbow tomato this year they are nice and colourful and tasty i have a feast of tomatoes everyday in the tunnel yum

but I just felt today that the Summer had passed-(admittedly a great one) that the veg were disastrous , that the borders were empty of everything except weeds and that the garden, in fact was very much the worse for wear-all the spring promise and the early may abundance was gone. Then jackie reminded me of rudbeckia and I went out and again last years abundance has thinned to neglibible-And I planted loads, courtesy of paddy.

So I could give in to melancholy and wander around moaning miserably like this or I could say now what had Rachel in her borders and remember them for next year!

Anyway the next cut of the lawn-once the rain gives it a charge will smarten up everywhere and I bet we’ll have better weather again so welcome August and there’s always another year to look forward to!

What I’d give to have this sofa in my garden!!!  This ‘rock sofa’ is down on a little beach that we go to quite a lot.  Remembered my camera yesterday evening – don’t you just love it and it’s so comfortable!!  

I have just read on FB that Rachel is on her ‘Bike’  on holidays to England. I did not realise that you were off this early in the week. Have a great time and lot and lots of photos please. Enjoy your adventure and have a great time. 

My gladiolus are just blooming now – i had forgotten i’d even planted them so had a nice surprise when they appeared. Don’t know the variety.

I just love this plant. 

This is the first flower of many,  I hope, to open in the garden yesterday. 

Im looking for Echinacea but can’t seem to find it in any of the garden centres I’ve visited. So picked up some seeds yesterday. Love all these plants. Lovely late flowering. 

Having a quick look around the garden yesterday, as we are trying to get the decorating done on our new extension!!! I noticed that at  last the Gladoli bulbs I planted back earlier in the year have some buds. 

These seem very late indeed. not sure now what colour they are as of course I cant see a label. I’ve others scattered around the garden but not a bud in sight. 

We moved this fireplace from its original home in cottage gdn (photos back 18 mths ago) to out at the front end of our wild Fuschia Hedge between the two front lawns.  Although it was lovely in the Spring with the drumsticks and candlelabras it then became obscured by new growth.   To to be quite honest I love it!!!

I bought this Monarda last year to plant over the cave. But work hasn’t even resumed on this area at all this year due to other more urgent jobs. However, a few months ago I must have planted it anyway, and totally forgotten about it. For the last few weeks I have been searching the garden for it.

But yesterday I was off, and was up on the cave pulling up spent poppies to throw over the wall, and there it was in the very corner. It’s still very small and two flowers on it. Lovely colour though. Delighted I bought it.

I’ve just re-read my journal ” Garden Visit or Garden ordeal” and I’m hoping that people who were so nice about that journal will be equally kind if they come to visit my garden this year!

Some of you may have seen that I had put in either Saturday 10th or Sunday 11th August and now that we are coming closer to that time I’m settling on Sunday 11th August. We should be ready to greet you from about 2 pm – with the kettle on and the bickkies all ready!

As some of you may know Brendan hasn’t been well lately and has recently gone to a Convalescent Home for some TLC. so I’ll be relying on my long-suffereing family to assist on the day!

With all that has been going on I probably haven’t had as much time this year to get fussy with the garden, but there have been some changes since last year, particularly after the infamous Cattle Invasion!!!!

So please come meet with your .ier friends in a definitely relaxed garden which will be reasonably tidy and mostly weeded 🙂

contact me by PM if you need directions! We are near the junction of the M7 and M8 motorways so very easy to find.

When we changed our front garden last year we got rid of this plant …as we thought  …it is a thug but a nice one as it keeps peeping up all along the wall even there is black out membrane and plenty of stones but it keeps coming through  so now I just let it until it is gone over and will tackle the problem then ….

Hey, what do you think of my cool new ornament.

It’s a solar powered Buddha!

I think he’s the business!

Escallonia Iveyi is a great shrub with glossy dark evergreen leaves and at present is covered with panicles of white flowers.

I planted this shrub perhaps 20 yrs ago and it is now a large bush in the shrub border on the west corner. From the lower Garden it sits high on the bank so I find it difficult to trim the top and from the front of the Shrub Border it is situated behind lots of other shrubs, as can be seen in the pictures! So every year when it is finished blooming I try to squeeze in to trim it – NOT EASY!

But I would not like to be without it as it is making a great show at the moment.

I bought this in Terra Nova a few weeks back.

Like it a lot.

I was in Mr Middleton’s earlier in the year. They were sorting and changing bulb boxes around.

I was offered two Lily bulbs that were on the floor, no idea what what they were but by the look of them they are both the same.

The first one opened today.

On the way to meet a friend, I had half an hour in hand and popped into the Botanic Gardens for a flying visit. 

The herbaceous borders were looking good with lots of summer colour and also these very tall and frothy flowers caught my eye as I wasn’t familiar with this plant.  I’ve checked and think they are plume poppies, macleaya cordata.  Would look great in my back border … if only I had more space … but at least I could admire them in their setting.