Month: August 2013
That got your attention didn’t it?! What with it only being late August.
I know it’s early to mention it, but just as a heads up for whoever is organising this year, and no, I’m not putting my hand up for that job!….
I was passing Johnstown in late July and called in (it would have been rude not to) and noticed a big sign up outside saying that they were intending to carry out renovations/remodelling over the winter. So, depending on the scale of the works perhaps it may not be available as a venue for this years post-Christmas get together.
You cant beat your own veg, i mean the taste and smell of these peppers is fantastic, everytime i give someone one i always ask them to smell it first and my wife keeps giving out to me as she thinks im crazy but they just smell so fresh!!
All three on the same Buddleia bush at the same time and along with bees, wasp, flies and other insects not identified.
It’s been a great year for insects welcome and unwelcome.
I got very grumpy yesterday afternoon. Lovely sunny day so I’d finished work early so that I could get some bits done in the garden. Potted on some seedlings and cuttings and that was fine, but then I wanted to cut back the brambles invading from the hedge and got very frustrated because I couldn’t reach any of the tools hanging on the back wall because of the horrendous jumble of plant pots, boxes, bags, buckets etc on the floor. So I went and moaned to Alan, but he was raking up an afternoon’s strimmings from the meadow and seemed to think he had enough to do on his own jobs. (37 years of marriage, 2 children, hundreds of home-baked cakes, and this is what it comes to!)
And then I heard my dear old mammy’s voice in my head. ‘Come here to me now’, she said, which was weird because to my knowledge she hadn’t a drop of Irish blood, ‘Never mind asking him. Whose shed is it, may I ask? Whose name is inscribed in the concrete outside the door? Who made the mess? Yes, you did! So who’s responsible for clearing it up? That’s right, my lady, you are, and the sooner you get down to it the better.’
So I did, because even though she’s been gone for nearly eighteen years you still don’t argue with Doris Hilda. I’m still determined to get Steve the carpenter to put up a pot store between my shed and the studio, but in the meantime I can work in there again and it’s all nice and tidy.
I have a dream that one happy day, when my grandchildren are staying on their summer holliers with Nanny Bee, they’ll come to me and say, ‘Nanny, can we sort out your plant pots, please? It’s our FAVOURITE thing in the whole world!’ Dream on, but remember the wise words of Mammy!
I got a slip of this from my sister and planted it on top of a stone wall early in the Summer well you can see how well it has come on and it has flowered consistently all Summer. I am well pleased with this and would love to know the name of it if anyone can help. My sister got it originally from Huntingbrook
Commonly called the “Turtle Head flower” just coming into flower now. A no full plant does it’s own thing does not need to be staked and takes from slips easy peasy!! Not the most exciting plant but a good space filler
I got this seed from Rachel a few two years ago sowed it in Spring 2012 and it did pretty well last year but this year it has really taken off. I have also got “Sangria” I think that is what it is called but it has not done nearly as well. Thanks Rachel I am really pleased with this.
When I visited my friend in France recently I wanted to see how the cutting of Streptocarpus saxorum that I had given to her was doing.
My friend had said she would root it in water and indeed she had.
The cutting was already growing good roots when I saw it but that was not the interesting thing.
The interesting thing was the holder she had for rooting cuttings in water. It was like a science lab test tube kit and I just thought it looked so stylish and novel that I had to have one too.
Well, later, in my travels in France I found one. I think it is the business!
I just wonder has anyone come across this style of cuttings holder before?
Miscanthus floridulus and Thalictrum at the Upper Pond.
I have this Phormium ‘red sensation’ planted in a pot on a raised stand.
Beside it I planted Sambucus ‘black lace’ thinking they could look good together.
They look great in my opinion, but in strong sunshine the effect is stunning, really pleased with the result.
I loved this Lobelia when I saw it In Huntingbrook – looking forward to splitting this one and having more of it in the coming years. Does anyone know if it would take from cuttings
Hopefully at the weekend, Steve will be able to borrow a chainsaw and cut away these two huge Prunus in the front garden. I don’t like them any more. I cut them back severely either last year or the year before. But they have outgrown their spot. I don’t like to be ‘hemmed’ in, and also I think too much growth can be a bit of a security risk. Potential burglars would have plenty of cover with these two.
And besides, I have some lovely climbing roses trained and tied to the wrought iron divider between us and our next-door neighbour. The wrought-iron won’t last much longer (it’s the original one since the house was built in 1967), but I’m hoping the roses will take over and do their bit eventually, and form a natural and beautiful boundary.
Anyone who knows me knows I am a Lamp/Light freak I just love them and I found these and thought oh! yes I will have them..
I have 8 side lamps in our Sitting/dining room and have great fun when it comes to switching on and off lights ……Oh and that is not including the celing lights 3 in each branch….
I know there is never an end in gardening, but I have reached and end in the the garden makeover here.
The very last piece of Angela’s corner (right in the very corner) was dug over and some plants planted last weekend.
A Bamboo from Kindredspirit has shown sings of new Culms this year and as Kevin warned be I have place a Barrier around it to help keep it in it’s place.
More ferns and shade lovers etc. will have to be added but for now the feeling that the garden makeover is now finished is great.
I was down in the mini Bog Bed today trimming back all the Vinca. I nearly pulled up Soromatum venosum (Voodoo Lily) in the process. I remember nearly having the same mishap this time last year. So, the Vinca has to go. I might pot some up for other places as I think it is an invaluable evergreen, which gives great ground cover.
I also bought Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’ today, which will get planted into the greenhouse border. I cut back my Sanguisorba and Solidago, so that border is looking decidedly tidier.
Spent ages strimming and cutting the grass. I haven’t done it in two weeks and boy, was it a mess!
Got a couple of plants in the post today and planted them. One is a Hemerocallis ‘Sammy Russell’, but I believe this turned out to be yellow which suits my planting scheme nicely. The other was a cutting of the much-sought-after Buddlejah ‘globosa’.
I lifted and divided Hemerocallis ‘Stafford’ and have this ready to go in the first post tomorrow. Once again, thanks, Tina.
Finished off by watering and feeding a lot of plants. Tomorrow I hope to get into the pond and weed the areas that I can’t get to by foot as there are no gaps for a footfall.
I had to alter the plans for the double garden for Friday 6th Sept.
All going well we will at The Bay Garden, Camolin at 12.00pm (to be confirmed) and then on to Tombrick Garden, Ballycarney about 15 mins away.
So far, Clara and JoanG are joining me.
Anyone else wanting to join us, speak now or forever hold you Paeonia!!!!
To day was one of many small jobs. Early in the day, I got at the outdoor tomatoes. There are several fruits and one was ripe to day. The job was really to remove many branches that had no fruit and these went to the compost heap. They look much tidier now and the sun can get in better. This was at the back of the house facing mainly south. I moved to the front facing north and had a look at the antirrhinums and they are at their best now. I noticed some antirrhinums which had come up in the gravel from seed of last years plants.These were potted, close on 20 of them. They are in the greenhouse for a while. I find that when antirrhinums come up at this time of year that I can have them early next year. While I was at the tomatoes, I noticed a rose which I had rooted some time ago and I had already made a hole for it in one of the rose beds so it was planted and watered. The last bit of work I did was to take in the cacti, Christmas and Epiphyllum and move them to the greenhouse as August is almost over. It was a lovely day and I believe we will get a few more. Onions were lifted a few days ago, well saved but small probably due to the very dry warm July.
While I was out and about this morning I picked up Crocosmia ‘Emily McKenzie’. It looks well with C. ‘George Davidson’. Will get planted tomorrow.
Great day today.
I confess, I have a thing for clay pots!
I was delighted to find that in France they have a wonderful selection of all the pot sizes, including very small.
Here’s a few I picked up over there. The tallest one in the photo is 3.5″
They don’t have the old-fashioned charm of the Victorian ones in my earlier journal but they were not to be missed!
Tradescantia or Wandering Jew is usually a low maintenance house plant.
I had a dull green one so I was pleased when Fraoch offered a cutting from her fancy red-leaved one at the Christmas get-together. It’s really flying it (photo 1). Thank you, Heather.
I must say that I saw so many tender versions of this plant in the various tropical greenhouse I visited this summer in England that I thought I’d seen it all.
But look at this lovely Tradescantia, or Tinantia pringlei, that Bruno gave some time ago. This one is hardy and in flower at the moment. So thank you too, Bruno.
I’m so pleased that I bought this beautiful Streptocarpus in Wisley on my recent trip.
I originally wanted Streptocarpus ‘Harlequin Blue’, which had won Plant of the Year at Chelsea a few years back. And they had it. But when I saw this one, called ‘Harlequin Lace’, I went for it instead as I thought it was more beautiful. Of course, if I’d had space I would have taken both đŸ˜‰
The second photo shows Dendrobium bigibbum, which is just coming into flower for the second time this year.
Warning – more orchids are brewing!
My garden is nearly finished for this year but these Cosmos and Dahlias are still giving the garden a great splash of colour, i think Cosmos are my new favourite flower
This year has been my best year for pumpkins, i cant beleive how big they have gotten already and we are looking forward to carving them out for Halloween
This is Lysimachia ‘cleithroides’ is looking great now.
It took ages to get going , it was very small for ages. But once the buds formed it took off and is now is in full swing. I love it.
Bought two of these plants in Woodies they are both planted in the same place and both been looked after in the same way.
But if you look at the one on the right of the picture it’s about 18″taller than the other one. And it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Great colour too.
