Month: September 2014

Any guesses about the identity of this unusual vegetable that grabbed my attention on my recent visit to RHS Harlow Carr garden in Yorkshire?

One i have grown from seed and I believe is a short lived perennial but will collect seed and let it self seed aswell. It was sowed quite late hence why it is only starting to flower now

I spent the day clearing leaves potting on lots of plants waiting in the ground ….I aim to have all in the ground soon …..only ones that need to be over wintered will stay in pots 

..We got a new bin that takes garden rubbish  and food stuff and is a great help to get rid of some bits that would take forever to break down ….and I do not have a shredder and do not want one ……as I have no room for one ….

I have this Sedum  for about 4 years and it just gets better every year ….I love it and will be taking cuttings  of it for my friend in Shankill …….

                        Sedum “Amber “.

It’s great to see so many garden plants making a final encore.

This catlleya has flowered for me.

It has five blooms on three spikes.

Happy days!

Sanguisorba ‘Pink Brushes’ is looking exceptionally well at the moment!

Sally sent me some Scarborough lily bulbils back in 2010.

I was feeling very disillusioned about South African bulbs in general this year but then I spotted this!

Thank you, Sally 🙂

Every time I pass this lady, I can’t help but think she’s wrapping up for the winter with a lovely soft scarf around her neck. LOL

Gidday,

            is looking more like haven for the bird life especially the smaller birds whom I never manage to get a pic of,they,re to quick for me but I keep trying;) 

I think it was when I had my ‘Friends’ Day’ here three years ago that Kate, of ‘Kate&Graham’, gifted me with this lovely trailing geranium. So far it’s been in a planter. But it’s looking so lush that I think it deserves a permanent home in the soil. 

Thanks again, Kate.

thats this beauty in the evening sunset, it stood out in the garden. 

Sitting having a coffee with Steve this morning when we heard a commotion outside. Saw a GREY SQUIRREL trying to clamber over the roof of the greenhouse. He managed it eventually and leaped about 7 feet over onto the ivy. Well, I never! And all in Suburbia! What brought him into the area. No gardens with trees around here. And just a SCRUB of a field ‘over the wall’. 

Nature never fails to amaze.

I usually take my Dad out to lunch on a Sunday. Before lunch we popped into Aldi. Got some Tulip tarda for €1.99 to replace the ones vandalised by the birds, and a few groceries. But lost a bit of money out of my bag when I took my phone out. Luckily it wasn’t too much but definitely not a good start to the day. Then got a puncture in the carpark. Argggghhhhh!  Luckily Steve was close by to get me out of a fix.

I was determined not to let the mishaps put me off for the day. Got out to the Acid Quadrant. Cleared away lots of cat poop, and dug up the 7 Blueberry bushes and moved them around to give them a bit more space. I was going to wait until they all ripened. But in truth, there has never been such a bad crop as this year. Got the two bamboos planted at the back. If they grow rampantly, so be it. Interspersed some of Dad’s lovely tulips (red, yellow and orange) towards the front of the bed so they can be seen from the house. And added some lovely violet Tulips, and Tulip tarda in front of those.

Topped the whole lot off with barkchip. And gave them a good soaking. After taking the photo I decided to cover any bare soil with garden netting to try and deter Holly from using it as a toilet.

Another area completed – I HOPE!!!

I love the late do’ers in the garden.

This ia a great one Boehmeria ‘platanifolia’. I like it more for it’s foliage, but there seems to have really settled in as there are lots more flower spikes appearing this year.

I went into the garden today fully intending to do some shredding – the compost area is full of prunings to shred and I’ve been pruning like a mad thing and of course not “shredding as I go” as I vowed the last time I got it cleared.

But you know how it is …. I had got some bulbs in Lidl so they had to be planted … that meant emptying the planter they are to go in … Monty Don gave a good demonstration of how to layer bulbs in a planter and top the pot so it looks good between now and when the bulbs appear so mine got topped with a pretty persicaria and a miniature Sedum (thank you Jacinta!) and an Ajuga that was in need of a home. In the centre I put a little plant I got in Terra Nova this summer that has lost its label – I have no idea what it is so it will be interesting to see what develops!

And then there were two blue  Alliums that needed to be planted in the small pond bed alongside the white ones doing well there. Of course when I went to plant them I had to take up a self-seeded Potentilla that was getting too big for its boots. Its potted up now ready for a new home.

At this point I almost made it to the shredder  BUT NO! That Rhus Walk that I started clearing on Thursday would only take a few minutes …. then when that task was completed it was far too late to start dragging out shredders! 

So instead I started the task of clearing along the hedge that caused such problems earlier in the year when Kevin was trimming the hedge for me. I dug like a mad thing trying to get as much lifted as possible before the light went. I concentrated on the Kniphofia first. Dumped them into the wheelbarrow and then of cours had to pot them up or they would perish! I’m helping some people with planting their gardens so these will come in very handy! I think there are about 8 so far – and each of them could be further divided if required.

By the time I finished it was pitch dark and I was working by the light from the shed!

….. and as for the shredding !!!!! Not today anyway LOL

I have two identical bowls filled with Tulip tarda, and a good thick mulch using blue crushed glass. They put up a lovely show in spring.

During their dormant season they are placed down at the back, underneath the shrubs. I had recently noticed quite a lot of flight activity with birds in that area. But only discovered today that this bowl has been vandalised by the birds. It looks like they may also have eaten some of the glass. None of it is visible in the immediate vicinity. And the second bowl hasn’t been touched.

Is needed to keep this Dahlia dead headed, but it’s well worth the effort.

Earlier in the year I was trying to clear a bit at the bottom of the garden of nettles, ivy etc. etc and spotted a Nasturtium seedling, with 2 or 3 leaves at that stage. So I managed to work round it and now it’s taking over the world! Hopefully it’ll keep down some undesirables.

Did anyone see the glorious sunset tonight?

It’s a pleasure taking photos with the new camera. No more splodges to ruin my pics. I promise NOT to take it out in the rain!!!!!   🙂

‘By Jove, I think she’s got it!’, as Professor Higgins would say. I’ve never quite got why people love ornamental grasses, l though I can see that they have a structural value and have cautiously been adding one or two.  But this morning I glanced out the window and saw the early sun catching the seedheads of the ‘luzula nivea’ that  Fran gave us at Johnstown 2013, behind ‘Pure Gold’. And suddenly, by Jove, I got it. Now I’m not saying that this time next year the garden will be one big prairie bed, but I can think of a patch where one would work….

These three were planted the same time. Left and Right are doing well but herself in the middle looks a little weak ?

All bloomed well and then put on another show recently..

Any advice anyone ??

…. put away that hose!!!!!! Can’t actually see the rain bouncing off the deck in the photo but trust me it is! And has been hopping all day! Might even have to do the ironing Ugh!