Month: May 2014

Like everyone we are suffering very cold north winds again today the Fuschias are turning blue with the cold.luckly they are on the south side of the cottage away from the north wind. looking around the garden today the weigia is a mass of flowers this time .John is spending time making frames to go over the strawberries .

been from galway i havent a clue what luas might bring us from heuston on sunday to or near bloom so if someone could tell us that would be great or is it not far. geography was not my strong point at school and if i wanted to get from bloom to the botanics can you get a luas to there. sorry for the questions i just dont know dublin that well

Some of you may already know that I have several stony banks in my garden. They pose their own set of problems.

The hero of my steep bank is Persicaria affinis but I never wanted to plant it on the small bank (pictured). The reason why I didn’t want to put such a good do-er on the small bank is that it flowers pink and I have a yellow Hypericum hidcote hedge along the top of the small bank. Pink and yellow – ugh!

After much messing about two autumns ago, I was digging Geranium magnificum out of the garden. I really don’t like its foliage but it does have nice blue flowers. And the thought struck me – why not try it on the small ditch! I had nothing to loose, the plant was otherwise for the compost!

So I did and before long any unwanted geraniums were finding themselves spliced ond on the bank. I must confess that in my fixedness I forgot about the pink/yellow thing completely 😛

But the end result is that now most of the small ditch is finally clothed. It is no longer a headache and the last horrible job I have to attend to before any Open Day. And, actually, it doesn’t look bad at all. So my new best friend is the geranium.

So, who can tell me what this medicinal fruit is?

No prizes for the correct answer, just glory!

It’s stopped raining here but I have absolutely no energy today.

I spent a while walking about and hanging out in the greenhouse but nothign got done.

The laburnum is at its peak and the irises in the iris bed are just opening. Champagne Elegance, a repeat flowerer, is the first.

While I had to retreat to the greenhouse yesterday because the rain came down and forgot to go!!! I decided to do some potting on. 

I bought some more compost , gosh I do get through a lot.  

I rarely use gloves when I’m in the garden that’s why my hands and nails are so bad. Unless it’s something really bad I don’t use them and especially when I’m potting on or general work with compost. 

So yesterday I noticed this label on the compost!!! 

‘please use thick gardening gloves when handling compost‘ 

Does that mean I should wear them when I carry the compost? , which of course I don’t, that’s Jimmys job…….or when I’m working with the compost?? I have visions of my hands dropping off as I never use them haha

Any idea why this is on the packaging?? 

I managed a bit of weeding before the rain came down and then continued for a bit while the rain came down!

It’s quite windy out there now – lots of damage done to the lupin trees.

But I’ve been moving some plants around lately in the garden so the rain is welcome.

When weeding in the Long Border I unearthed a round white object.

I excavated further and discovered a whole cluster of them buried at the foot of Cotinus ‘Grace’.

They are squidgy and I thought it was really unusual that they were all buried underground.

Although I originally hoped for the excitement of snake eggs, I am sorry to say that they seem like mushrooms on the inside!

I bought a gorgeous white Camassia a few years ago. But I never had the pleasure of seeing it flowering a second year. Could never figure out why.

Earlier this year, I juggled around the plants and removed some in my North-facing Border and was very happy with the result.

Yesterday something white caught my eye. Went out, and ‘lo and behold, what did I see?  You guessed! I am overjoyed. Obviously giving it more light and space was the way to go, only I wasn’t aware of it. 

Florettes are few and far between this year, but as soon as it’s finished it will be moved to a more sunny and open spot. So happy!

Gidday,

           I,m afraid I could,nt deny Frans daughter more bird pics & honestly there,s not much else to take pics of so bird photos are it,hope you enjoy them Aoife.

                                                                                                           regards roofy.

I got some Kaffir lilies from Jurgita at the get together in Johnstown. They are just coming into flower now. It’s a lovely colour. So deep and red. 

Sorry about the photo, it’s not great as the wind was tossing it about!!!

so thank you jurgita 🙂 

After I started working on and planting part of the far corner two years ago, I spotted what looked like an Iris, it was tiny so I decided to leave it alone.

It grew away happily and earlier this year I moved to a brghter position on the edge of one of the gravel parts.

I was delighted the other day see four flower spikes, really made my day.

There’s loads of plants that are described as having white flowers, but if you look at them closely, I mean really study them you’ll often find that they’re not pure. Many will have a tint of blue or purple, I think it was Christopher Lloyd dwho escribed some as being dirty and I know what he means. Some look like they’ve been through the wash where a sneeky black sock has dyed everything a nice shade of grey-white.

Abutilon vitifolium ‘Album’ does not have dirty white flowers, they’re as pure as the driven snow.
Mine has been slow to grow as the soil in this corner is very poor. I think there must be some builder’s rubble under here too as plants don’t do just as well in this bit.
I’d find that when I dug in the front garden I’d hit a hard layer about a foot down, so as a result parts of the front garden had to be dug out with a pick axe. It was necessary to remove a two inch thick layer of set cement, which must have been the washings from the cement mixer when the house was bring built.
Still, despite being much smaller than it should be (only five-six ft) it is putting on a great show of flowers this spring. I just wish it would grow into a proper small tree like it’s supposed to!

I planed Primula Bullyeana beside a small Libertia the other day. I think these will look great as they develope over time. Great contrast in colours.

Terri gave me a candelabra primula seedling at the Johnstown plant swap; in fact there were two squeezed together and they have now started to flower.  The flowers opened white from pink buds and some are now turning pink.

It’s very pretty, many thanks Terri; would you have a name for this one please or perhaps someone else may recognise it?   It looks similar to the possible Apple Blossom one you posted recently, though that was a new purchase.

This morning, just before 9, a man had two boxes for me from Bakker. It included a banana plant Red Abyssinian (outdoor), Hen Crackle solar lamp, Sundial Bird bath (Free), 2 roses “Royal wonder”, Exotic Ginger Lily, 6 Egret flower, Plastics cleaner, Rickshaw + Bulbs.

Here comes another rose. This was given to me years ago by my next door neighbour who has since moved to Wexford. Don’t know which one it is but I call it after her. It’s a great repeat flowerer and suffers very little with blackspot.

…When you see the first glimpse of colour on a new rose. It’s like Christmas morning!

This trend is definitely catching on, green shoes a must!!!! 

All available at usual outlets nationwide 😉 lol

This pot of Chives will look great when they open against the backdrop of Acer Orange Dream.

Isn’t this one a beauty, loved the colour of purple and yellow. Picked it up in Johnstown awhile back.

Saw this gorgeous Rhododendron keysii on a visit to Kilmacurragh at the weekend. Love the flower shape and the colour – one to look out for 🙂