Month: August 2014

Well my friends for those of you that have had the chance to browse through my journals today I hope it,s given you a picture of my part of Oz,not so much in the pics but in the general seasonal change.

It,s amazing how such a small shrub can produce so many flowers.

Long threatening comes at last! With the chill in the evenings my mind was concentrated on getting the fuel store sorted out properly! Last year we did a temporary job in the shed – just put up a bit of a partition and stacked the turf up but there was no room for the logs so I ended up having to store them  in the gardening shed. Downside of that was that I haven’t been able to get at anything in the gardening shed all summer!

Drastic action was called for – a complete redesign of the layout of shed number one (previously known as Brendan’s shed)was called for. It is a large container where all the workings of the water supply for the house are stored but with a bit of reorganisation the back half of the shed is now cleared, the turf is stacked and next task will be to move the logs in – then I’ll be all set for winter! And I even might find that really useful one-handed shears I’ve mislaid:-)

Of course I had help with all this stuff but when it was done, and Kevin had driven off, I was inspired to continue the tidy-up. The area behind the sheds is always a bit of a dumping ground. It has a sink that is usually so full of junk that it can’t be used to wash pots which is its real purpose. The pots end up all over the place, and when I need to sort the compost in the “Dalek” the place just gets totally wrecked! 

The clear-out of the sheds meant that there was a spare set of shelves so that was enough for me to get cracking and sort out that area. I’m really impressed with the results! Lets see if I can keep it like that!

Another bunch of seeds i threw in a pot towards the end of May start of June and just hoped for the best and then put into the ground when they were big enough and hey presto they are now starting to flower. It is a mix so looking forward to seeing what other colours i get.

Here is the photo…

I was waiting for this to open and lost the name anyone know it ? 

I also have a few more so will put them up tomorrow as it has been raining here.

Hi Myrtle. Just took a photo of my ‘Miss Bateman’ today for you. As you can see, the flowers are pure white.

Leucothoe ‘Curly Red’ is looking great right now.

I haven’t been up to much this week!!!! taking it a bit easy as they say;) 

but I took out the camera yesterday to have a look about. 

Everything has taken on a new look. The colours are quite intense at the moment which I love. The Rudbeckias, Echinacea, Knautica, Helenium all looking fantastic as are some of the plants that are ‘hanging’ on from the early days of Summer. 

It’s lovely to take time out and enjoy the garden. But I do need to get back into the swing of it pretty soon….albeit a bit more gently ;). 

This is a picture of the view down my sunny border from my patio doors. This is what I love about gardening. This is what I’ve always dreamt of and now I have it. I love it. 

After my walk in the park this morning, the day is totally MINE!! Yay! It seems a good while since I’ve had that luxury.

Looking like a perfect gardening day, so if you can, get out and enjoy your garden.

Did I say Chillies on the 8th Aug post?? Ooops of course I meant Peppers….Only a complete amateur would mix up his chillies with his Peppers.

I have no idea how this happened but thats gardening I suppose. These guys are cute but soooo sall for this time of year I fear for their future.

here come the Asters 🙂

I was thinking of Myrtle has I headed to the back garden this evening with notebook and pen.

It took over an hour and a half to get through the plants in the long border in the back garden. I wanted to have a note of them all as it will help when I start taking plants out of this area later in the Autumn prior to the revamp to a tropical area.

I was really surprised at the amount of plants in the area, I was also trying to remember spring plants that are nowhere to be seen at the moment.

A non gardening brother inlaw and his wife are going to be well pleased next year after I replant a lot of these plants into a large raised border that surrounds two sides of their garden in Leixlip. Trish told me the other evening she wanted plants that didn’t grow big, spread out, drop leaves, or need cutting back. Would they need watering I was asked?

I told her to try buying plastic plants and see what they would cost. It was then even suggested I could maintain it for them a few times a year.

Sometimes I wonder why don’t I keep my mouth shut. But maybe, just maybe, when they see the finished thing next year, a little interest might be spurred into growth.

Whether it’s invasive or not, I love the way it’s really filled out to soften the edges of the Lower Pond.

Clematis ‘Polish Spirit’ is starting its second flush.

Ann put up a brilliant journal with a trough and how well it is doing with all the annuals. She said she feeds it with Miraclegro. 

I swear by the stuff and have used it for years in my containers and baskets and I have never been disappointed. I don’t find the tomato feed as good. But that’s just from my personal experience. 

This is a picture from last year of some Petunia which were planted in a ‘cradle’ which as you can see is completely hidden. This too was fed with MiracleGro. I think you will agree the picture speaks for itself!! 

It does exactly what it says on the tin 😉 

I have these from last year and they put on a great show. The problem being that they only last a day. 

So this year after all the revamping of beds wtc I thought they were gone. And to be honest I had completely forgotten about them But then I noticed some leaves but wasn’t sure what they were. Then a bud appeared and now this morning there is a lovely flower there. Problem is, it’s only one flower on one stem and one bud. 

So thought it best to snap it quickly as it will be gone tomorrow!!!! 

This is one of the plants that Steve requested me to lift for the work. So far, all the plants are still alive and doing well despite their temporarily cramped quarters.

I like the colour this one is taking on now.

I’ve lots of different Cosmos but haven’t ever seen one with turned back petals like this one. I thought first that it might be something wrong, but they all seem to be like that.

How much bigger can this trough get !!!!