Month: August 2013

You mentioned the shade in your garden coming from a sycamore tree. In my garden there is a sycamore, that actually cost me nothing. It goes well (in my opinion) with the size of my front garden.

This trip I made it my business to try to see some private French gardens, ones that open as part of the regional ‘Rendez-Vous aux Jardins’ scheme.

I made a number of phone calls and got either answering machines or found that several gardens had packed up for the year due to the effects of very hot conditions earlier this summer. Such is life!

I also wasted time trying to find a particular garden that had been marked in the wrong place on the map and was actually on the other side of the département! In the end I had to phone up and cancel that appointment. The owners were very apologetic although it was hardly their fault.

But I did make it to the garden shown in the photos.

Like gardeners the world over, the owner was as nice as anything, very pleased to see me and very happy to talk gardening. Her husband was completely bemused by my visit 🙂

However, from an Irish perspective, the garden was not really of a standard to be opening to the public! There was a very laissez-faire philosophy.

As I only saw the one garden, I cannot say if this was representative or not.

The garden did contain some unusual fruits. There were walnuts, persimmons, pomegranates, camellias in fruit (I didn’t know they even did that!) and feijoas – not to mention plums, grapes and the usual.

And the garden also featured one of the original Hydrangea ‘Vanille Fraise’, gifted to the owner by M. Renault who bred this variety in his nursery in Brittany (I think she said), before the variety had been registered.

So, have a look at the album if you’re interested…

Rendez-Vous aux Jardins

The photos in this journal are 1) What the lady called feijoa. Having spent some time googling, I’m not 100% convinced. Perhaps someone can advise?

2) One of the many colours in morning glories growing in her garden. They had all crossed, giving rise to some nice variants.

3) Entrance to the potager.

August was another generally sunny and dry month with rainfall well below average but the gardens have coped pretty well. We are struggling with low water levels in the rivers and bog garden area, and as a result we have had to turn off one of our waterfalls.

Our newly sown wildflower meadows were very slow to start this spring but have now caught up and provide a great splash of colour for walkers, as does the fuchsia hedge that is in full flower on the lake walk. We intend to introduce even more wildflower areas next year. They are a wonderful feature and greatly benefit the local wildlife.

We have just completed our wigloo (willow igloo) in the lower rock close by the dolmen. It was woven from living willow and sits nicely alongside our existing willow tunnel. This makes good use of a very boggy area of ground that we have been struggling with.

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.

It’s the time of year for pruning hedges, mulching beds and general tidying up in the vegetable garden. We have been cutting back our old raspberry and loganberry canes and tying in the new ones for next years crop. We have dug up the last of the potatoes. Lifted shallots, garlic and onions and planted out brassicas and leeks. Now is the time to sow spinach, winter lettuce and rocket to take you through to the autumn. We are planning some renovations in our walled garden over the winter and intend to build a large fruit cage and some new raised beds which should make things easier to manage.

We have our first proper apple crop from our 5 year old Irish orchard. All of the trees are heritage varieties and it is very interesting to compare the differences between them. As the crop improves in future years we intend to make our own apple juice, and I might have a go at cider. In the mean time our indoor grapes have also had a good year, and our newer seedless variety has been a big hit.

Bulb planting can be started in the next few weeks. The fresher they are when you plant them, the better they perform. Make a few notes as to where you would like some extra colour in the garden, then select bulbs that suit. Too often bulbs end up as an impulse buy that get stuck in a corner and forgotten about, so don’t forget to label them.

We will have to start thinking about winter protection of less hardy plants over the next few weeks. Some of our tree fern varieties and specimens in our tropical border will have to be lifted and brought indoors for the winter months. Others will be protected with straw, fleece or a heavy mulch. We will then pray that we have a mild winter.

I look forward to seeing you in the gardens. Adam

Still haven’t stumbled across the name of this mystery plant in the greenhouse. Look at the height of it already, and it’s only in a pot about 8 inches deep. No sign of any flowers either. But if it keeps on growing at this rate, it will be out the window very shortly.

Tina and Bruno recently mentioned Solanum and seeding.

I have the strangest thing this year where one bed, far away from where the original (now deceased) Solanum was planted, is covered in seedlings.

It is, of course, a good thing as when seedlings spring up they are always sturdier than ones you may have nursed in pots.

This is the biggest one, complete with flowers.

As my daughter has now gone back to work, she is a school teacher, I have the great job of minding my two granddaughters Cara and Mae. 

While Mae, who is 1 was asleep, Cara and myself decided we would do a little bit of gardening. 

She doesn’t like getting her hands dirty but by the time we were finished she didn’t mind at all. She loved it. 

We planted some Calendula seeds that I had plus potted on some seedlings. She loved it and all I kept hearing was ‘nana can I do that’ She put compost in pots and watered them in. 

As you can see she was well chuffed with herself. A great day 

Gez!! Has it really been 74 days since my last post?! Time really has flown by, my recent absence from the site is all down to my laptop meeting a watery end to its life when Alanna accidentally knocked a glass of water onto it..and I still haven’t replaced it, I write this journal now using an old desktop which is “as slow as tar”.

But all the while I have been taking photos on the phone, almost like a photo journal of various issues, failures and successes too. The desktop is too slow for uploading pics, etc but I do hope to buy a used laptop in the next week or so and there’ll be no stopping me then!

All in all, this being my first year involved in true gardening has been unbelievable so far…….it is so true when you hear people say that veggies which have made their way from soil to plate in minutes really do taste completely different and delightful. The sweetness of carrots, the depth of flavour from much fleshier tomatoes really caught me by surprise. Then there’s the joy of watching Alanna “secretly” checking the strawberry plants for red fruits and nibbling on any found immediately is just super. The herb spiral is also paying dividends, the raspberries have been and gone with next years canes much longer and thicker than this years’.

Finally, some may remember the limestone I got from a local farmer a few months back which in the last month I used to build a raised bed along my rear North-facing wall. I barrowed 15-tons of sweet smelling topsoil into it and also began planting some of the low growing foreground plants which I have been nurturing all year in pots.

I hope to post stories of the above in greater detail with pics/albums to boot when I get the replacement laptop. As usual I will be looking for info, etc from fellow ier’s on certain topics to improve things for next year. For now I hope you’ve all had a great summer and I look forward to swapping tales in the coming weeks.

This plant has appeared in Angela’s corner.

I eithe know or have noted and labeled most of the plants in this area.

Have no idea what this is.

Thanks as always ;-))

Relax folks, relax.

Hosta striptese is looking really hot just now.

Nothing scientific about this, but this Hosta has not been touched by any slugs/snails since it peeked above the soil in the spring.

Maybe it’s luck, but there are no shortage of these critters in this dampish area of the garden.

Watering the greenhouse this evening and spotted what looked like a peach on the ground. When the time came in Spring for me to pollinate my peach flowers with a brush, I realized I had been too rough with the brush as all the petals fell off immediately. So I figured there’d be no peaches for me this year. But I continued to water them regularly throughout the growing season, without giving them a second glance. 

So when I spotted this peach on the ground I investigated further. Wahoo!!!! Two more still on one tree. Happy Days!!!

This opened here today and lve it, no name as i can’t even remember buying it but april’s aunt did give me some tubers so this must be one of them

Today we had business to do in Dublin 8  so we had a look at this Kilmainham  yellow brick and granit houses dating back to 1918 .

I had read the article by Shirley Lanigan in Garden.ie so it was great to see it . Lovely old area and so peacefull  it is near Royal Hospital  and Kilmainham Jail if you are in the area it is worth a visit .

I planted this one in the front garden last year shortly after the ‘make-over’. It was doing well. Then one evening I spotted a couple of youngsters hurdling over a row of garden walls, and trampled this poor little baby, breaking off one of the main branches. However, it has recovered well, and looked more like a bonsai today the way the trunk is now growing horizontally over the rock beside it.

Next hurdle is to protect it at the weekend when Steve chops down the two prunus. 

Just a reminder to anybody who is free this week-end and would love a visit to a garden to end the Summer, well Mount Congreve is open on Saturday 31st and is well worth a visit. The walled garden is at its best in late summer and it gives a glimps of a time that has disappeared. If you go I am sure you will enjoy and will not be disappointed.

Rachel gave me a hardy ginger ‘Tahitian Flame’ 2 years ago and it’s looking great at the minute.

Bruno gave me a hardy ginger ‘Stephen’ 3 years ago which is planted in the greenhouse border. And it’s looking a bit worse for wear at the moment. Obviously slug/snail damage. But at least it’s still alive.

But how long are they going to take to flower? You all know that patience is not my forte!!!

Tina got me this orchid and it’s in flower for the first time.

I think I remember that it had a spent flower spike when I was given it so this will be its second flowering within a year.

It has a whopping four flower spikes!

Isn’t it pretty? Thank you, Tina.

Now the 1st one i know is Rudbeckia, but not sure is it Black Eyed Susan or something else as i did grow some Black Eyed Susan from seed this year but they haven’t flowered yet so wondering if the 1st photo is it? And the second photo looks similar but different colours and didn’t buy seed for this and has popped up in the shake and rake so wondering a name for both and are they perennial?

Went to Castlebar this morning to get my car tax and try as I might, I couldn’t resist a visit to MONEEN gdn centre.  It’s a nice little centre on the Dublin Road as you leave Castlebar heading east.   I was looking for some different houseleeks but they didn’t have any.  A lovely pink plant caught my eye – Chelone obligua – which I hadn’t come across before.  Got talking to the extremely helpful lady and she pointed out the Eucomis plant.  To be quite honest I’ve only seen pictures of this.  Anyways, she who is ‘not going to buy anymore plants’ bought the two for 4 euros each!!   I’m sure Fran has the Eucomis and am wondering if anyone has Chelone growing in their garden.   Whenever I visit Moneen gdn centre I always come across something out of the ordinary. 

I have not posted since my moan, still having pump problems but took a few pics today, such a beautiful day.

I was never one for Gladiolus but a kind friend gave me a present of some so of course they were planted. What a pity they need staking as I am enjoying this vivid red one.

Tetrapanax continues to thrive and is getting really big now, huge leaves.

Around the pond the various crocosmias are flowering and the Restion doing very well.

There is still a good bit of colour and lots and lots to cut back.

I think it was Fraoch who was writing lately about hibiscus and I have four of them, three of which will flower but the one I am showing is the largest and it puts on a great show every year. The second photo is of Clethra alnifolia ‘ruby spice’, which I added to the garden a couple of years ago. I love scented shrubs and am very pleased with it and its lovely scent. It is a really good shrub with Rhodos etc. The last shot is of my Kniphofia, which is a star at this time of year.

Hydrangea ‘Vanille Fraise’ is looking wonderful right now and has been for weeks! Its blooms have mutated from white to pink.

I can’t say enough good things about this fabulous hydrangea. And to think – it was ousted from Myrtle’s garden :O

The wife of the person minding my garden when I was away (who is not a gardener herself) was raving about this hydrangea, above all else in the garden.
I must say, I see her point.

Another one looking good now is Hydrangea aspera ‘Villosa’.

I bought Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky’ in France this year so I’m looking forward to seeing how that one turns out in time.

Dahlias are looking good right now.