Month: September 2013

On the same plant is this one weird bloom.

Just gets better and better ;-))

I picked this plant up at Mount Venus a few weeks ago.

The photos show all the different stages the blooms go through. All these photos were taken yesterday at the same time and all the blooms are on the one plant.

Have to say that a plant that gives such variety is well worth is place in the garden.

This flowered during the hot Summer and here it is flowering again about 10 flowers coming and one dropped of this morning …I had stopped watering it as it only needs water every week and I saw dead one on the ground so a little water was a treet and I took it up to the house ….have to pay it for being so good and giving another flush of flowers .

Lovely coloured foliage on Witch Hazels at this time of year.

Here are three plants, looking lovely right now.

Begonia ‘Red Undies’

Salvia patens

Hedychium ‘Stephen’

A while ago I brought back some palm tree seedlings from Tenerife.

The tree in this pot died but this exotic little weed has sprung up instead.

It seems to be a climber or scrambler.

I wonder what it is!

On Saturday, I did not get very much done in the garden as the replay of the All Ireland Hurling Final was on. I enjoyed it even though the team I favoured was on the losing side. Yesterday, I was back in Mayo again, not in Castlebar but Knock. I didn’t travel by car but by bus. We were back in Carlow about 6.30 p.m. so I was able to see the final of the Lady’s Football not live of course. To day, I got at the pelargoniums and potted possibly 30. There are many more to be potted. Weather was cloudy and very humid. I think the rain is not far away and the garden needs it. Some say it may be a bit early but to morrow is October 1.

With the wonderful weather we are having the garden has put on an extra display, with roses all showing new blooms and these Hemerocallis lighting up the borders and spreading their sweet perfume all around.

It is great to be able to get jobs done in the garden that quite often have to wait until spring.

I’m glad somebody’s working in County Clare this morning – the Fastway lad has just arrived, looking a bit the worst for wear, with a box of bulbs from Heritage. Chionodoxa Forbesii, Iris Reticulata ‘Katherine Hodgkin’, Anemone nemorosa, Scilla Sibirica , Leucojum ‘Gravetye Giant’ and two packets of freebies: Narcissus ‘Classic Gold’ and Anemone blanda. 

Very distracting when I’m trying to work! Though I don’t feel too guilty as the college accounts dept in their infinite wisdom have decided to stop paying me. Efficient they’re not! All this bulb-buying may turn out to have been just a bit rash, but never mind.  Who can be worried when they have a garden full of spring…. 😉

What a lovely last few weeks We have had and it was a great opportunity to get a few moves done. Our local priest has retired and moved house and the priest in my old parish has been moved to pastures new so I decided at long last to keep up the theme and move Camellia Pope John XX111, who has struggled the last few years and might thrive in his new location. Here’s hoping. I also planted a tree paeonia which my mother gave me which She rooted from one of her own and I also planted a herbaceous paeonia which appeared in one of our pots. I haven’t a notion how it got there. I have also finalised my autumn rhodo order from Glendoick, more of that in the coming weeks.

Shown is the late flowering shrub Heptacodium miconioides with its scented jasmine like flowers and lovely peeling bark. The second shot is of Primula vialli, a couple of which I picked up during the summer. I had seen photos of them in Rachels garden a couple of years ago and thanks to her got the name. The ones I have are P.vialli ‘red poker’. Thirdly is a shot of assorted sedums, which are terrific for bees and butterflies.Finally a word of congrats to the Clare team and management and commiserations to an equally valiant Cork team. We’ll be gunning for Ye next year lads.

On the 19th of July I pricked out the last neglected , forlorn Petunia seedlings in the hopes they might come on….and they have! And in the meantime I’ve moved a few of them into the ground from the container and they’re doing well too.

Isn’t this a beauty. It’s one of the last of my Dahlias to open. 

This was bought in Lidl and during the Spring there was great debate as to when to plant them out and whether to leave them out for Winter. 

All mine survived being put out early and I’m going to leave them in the ground over Winter. A few need moving around as they grew taller than expected. I just love Dahlia at this time of year. They give so much colour. Definitely think next year I will get some more and maybe just put them all together. We’ll see. 

But for now I’m just enjoying what colour I have left in the garden and for the day before 1st October it’s not looking bad at alL. 🙂 

I was in Co Antrim at the weekend and visited the Dark Hedges. This is a double row of Beech trees that are around 200 years old, and stretch across a quiet country road.  They are a spectular sight and draw people from all over the country to see them. The people who planted them would never see them in there awesome splendour that we do now. But then they planted for future generations to enjoy. The trees are close to Stranocum in North Co Antrim.

My cats are tired after a long and exciting day in the garden.

A bit out of sorts all day due to only having three hours sleep last night. Had to go out for dinner with Dad, and I was close to falling asleep onto my plate. Got home, had a quick power nap, and headed out to the garden. Started off by weeding all around my primroses and woodland plants. This little Pachysandra is really taking off, providing me with great variegated groundcover. I love it.

Emptied lots of summer bedding that are past their best, and replaced one pot with my recently purchased carnations.

After walking around with my new bamboo in my hands for about 30 minutes, I finally settled for planting it down at the back wall. It should get to about 12 feet max. Happy with its location.

Still picking lots of tomatoes. 

I’m a bit reluctant to post this photo of my overall garden. It’s not as tidy or finished looking as I would like. But here goes!

What a wonderful day for gardening today. Did a lot of bits and pieces and just enjoyed myself totally going from this to that when I saw something to do. Don’t always like working like this but it suited me today.

I am 99% sure the plant in the photo is a Salvia, would anyone know it’s name please?

I know quite a few of you are growing this plant for the first time.

I thought I would show you a seed pod. Not every flower will produce a seed pod so you need to look for them as the pod is hidden by the outer petals of the flower.

This seed pod is not ready. Wait till the pod is brown and paper like. The pod will be full of seeds, but be warned the germination rate is low so save plenty of seed.

If you have a greenhouse the plant can be over wintered there and will continue to flower all going well.

Also known as Climbing Snapdragon was given to us as a tiny little plant by Deborah when we visited Terra Nova on one of the open days.

It was totally new to me then, but I’ve come to see all the merits very quickly. A plant that will be here in the garden from now on.

Lovely spear shaped leaves, fantastic coloured flowers that will bloom all summer and into the autumn. The flower buds have a great shape and look white prior to opening. A plant with a lot going for it.

The buds of this had just appeared before I went away for a couple of weeks of leisurely cycling in the south of France so I probably missed the best of them, but even though it was getting dark when I arrived home they made a nice glow in the dark.

As we sit way down the back as we find it sunnier at times and great shade at other times and this poor bench had other things sitting on him/her  but I thought it made a nice picture ….

I wasn’t a bit happy with this corner of the border. The geraniums ‘Rozanne’ got buried beneath everything else, didn’t do well,  and it looked very untidy. So I’ve done some swapping and shifting and I now have lamb’s ears and lungwort on the inside, then heuchera, then Rozanne and aquilegia on the outside edge hopefully tumbling over the drive with daffs and crocus intermixed. Not let’s see how that pans out. 

I have a feeling that the border now has all the bits in place, but not necessarily in the right order, and the next few years will see a lot of rejigging and moving. Well, it keeps us out the pubs!

This is my haul from Fota today.  Of course I met Bruno there weighted down with bags!  I can’t talk as I too was staggering under a load. When I got home realised that one nursery had given me a bag that did not belong to me containing three Anemone Wild Swan.  Will have to return them somehow. Forget  order of photos but they are Phytolacca, general view of loot and Agastache Raspberry summer

Anemone White Swan

Thalictrum Elin

Thalictrum  Illuminator

Helenium Sahin’s early flowering

Rudbeckia Prairie Glow

Phytolacca

Geranium Sylvia’s surprise

Agastache Raspberry Summer

Having seen Elizabeths beautiful lot of Fuschias I said I would take a photo of the one out my front garden …Elizabeth I will take a few cuttings and hopefully you will have this one …Sorry I have no name but if anyone has it I would love to know .

MY FUCHSIAS at August 24 2013

(Editing this isn’t as easy as I thought)

Annabel
Auntie Jinks
Beauty of Exeter
Coralina
Display
Dark Eyes
Flashlight
Garden News
Genii
Harry Gray
Hanna
Lady Bacon
Lady Boothby
Lena
Lesley
Mrs Popple
Neon White
Pink Spangles also know as Mieke Meursing. 
Red/White large ? Lady Thumb
Red/White small ?Swingtime?
Southgate
Unknown
Waveney Sunrise
Whitney
Winston Churchill

NOTES ABOUT CONFUSIONS

What we have labeled WINSTON CHURCHILL is in fact almost certainly PINK SPANGLES, also known as Mieke Meursing. 1969 (Hopgood) (I have 2, Hazel has one)

 What we have labeled PINK SPANGLES may well be DARK EYES, though this was not listed on the boxes we bought. It is double, red tube and sepals with purple corolla blotched with red. Equally, it could be WINSTON CHURCHILL since it also looks like pictures, though I wouldn’t describe the corolla as ‘blue’. (I have 1, Hazel has 2.)

Then there is the Woodies DARK EYES which turned out to be a delightful Red/white, with the lovely habit of the Red Tube/sepals ‘cradling’ the white double corolla. Think it could be Swingtime, but not sure.

NO CONFUSION

I got a cutting of LADY BACON from Jimi Blake of Huntingbrook Gardens, and bought a pot of CORALLINA from his sister, June Blake who lives next door.

FINALLY …

In case you think I only grow fuchsias, here is a Japanese Anemone I got from Auntie Ede – who passed on her love of gardening which she must have learned from our grandmother, Edith.