Month: October 2014

This is the first year this tree has coloured up properly for me.

It had been a bit worrying since I’d bought it for its autumn colour.

I think acid soil is key to good colour and, although I have acid soil, the place where the tree is planted is against the drive so would have been back filled with whatever.

I think what has happened is the roots have finally stretched far enough to avail of the surrounding acid soil, leading to good colour.

Starting Monday at 7pm on BBC 2, runs over five nights.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04mpwmf

Just had a look at these on Google ……….so different to the one I have and now looking forward to having these beauties ….from JoanG ….

I bought this fairly recently, purely for its chocolatey foliage. And then I discovered a tiny white flower on it a few weeks ago. Didn’t think it was even worth mentioning. But today I take all that back. It has gone up in my book. All those insignificant flowers are now making quite a show for a plant that was originally bought for just its foliage. It’s onwards, and upwards.

………..today!

This is a great plant as an edger or groundcover and it is like this all summer and this photo was taken yesterday. I know people worry about lamium spreading but I dont find this a bother, so easy to keep pulled back. If anyone wants a bit just ask.

No not me but this Lupin. It’s just flowering non stop all Summer long. I’ve cut it down I don’t know how many times now with the withered flowers and each time a new one has popped up. 

This one is now here a couple of weeks and with these high temps in October we really are getting value for our money In the garden  

Hopefully that wind and rain forecast for the latter end of the weekend won’t cause too much damage or disruption out there.

 Stay safe everyone 🙂 

Thanks for suggesting we nominate our favourite new plants Fran; I’ve enjoyed looking through all the photos again even though my choice was pretty clear to me from the start.

The credit for my favourite new plant this year goes to PeterW who gave me a tiny cutting of Fuchsia ‘Hawkshead’ at our January get-together.  It grew amazingly well and is now a two foot high plant with these lovely delicate white flowers with green tips.  After the front garden revamp, I planted it close to the window where I can enjoy it from inside and out and it’s still flowering away despite today’s wind and rain. 

And for a bonus, two little cuttings are coming on in the greenhouse …

Thank you Peter, I’m so thrilled with it!

That was my thought when I was out doing a bit more work on the new path. I wanted to get the last bit dug out as Elizabeth is coming down to “test drive” the steps and the path levels before I put the finishing surface on it.

So it is working out well – the soil from the path is being added to the Shrubbery border raising the level a bit which is what I want.

So I was beavering away and delighted with myself – when you are just throwing the earth to one side this kind of digging out is much easier! And the soil is still pretty workable despite the recent rain.

So I’m about two feet from the end of the path when I thought I felt a few drops of rain but I just put up the hood of my jacket and ignored the rain. Unfortunately it wasn’t just a few drops – as I dug the last few spadefuls the heavens opened so I had to head indoors. now one of the disadvantages of a fairly large garden is that it is quite a distance from the garden to the house – and as you know, you need to close up greenhouses and sheds and put away tools and empty wheelbarrows before you can go in!

So when I eventually made it to the back door Puss was scolding me loudly – so that meant he had to be fed ….. 

As I filled Puss’s dish I could feel the wet on the back of my legs so once he was fed there was nothing for it but to shed the lot! Just as well I live in the country and have no near neighbours to see me streaking!

As you can see in the photo feeding Puss involved walking across the kitchen making interesting footprints across the floor. So glad I didn’t clean the floor before I went out to the garden LOL

since I was here! Put it down to birthdays and a computer that is driving me round the bend and of course lots of work in the garden! Well thats a bit of a fib. Things are not in that mad rush of may june july when things overwhelm one. Actually i was out the other day, beautiful weather, autumn leaves drifting down and it was so lovely, a gentle melancholy in the air and seeping into everything.

Much of the time has been spent weding a long border and edging the grass there-speaking of edging and grass-I was in a garden last wednesday or thursday and the quality of the grass and the purity of the edging-well it was amazin@. I am not going to embarass the owners but suffice it to say i was collecting bulbs that had been left at the garage door for me by Pa..  oh I nearly let it out there!Well I was doing my bit of edging and weeding and lots of raking of leaves already and then I got an idea re Elizabeths corner and put in another ledge in it which helped support the slightly sagging baseof the corner and it now looks much better. Ill try to do a phot soon but this blessed computer is driving me bonkers at present.

Then I collected a lovely magnolia Susan in glanbia- had to save for that one despite  a generous discount and put it in in the lawn and nearby added about 150 tete a tete and down further in the scrub 25 Thalia so I am anticipating a nice spring showing! Its so nice to be working away ‘Tipping away’ as paddy modestly calls it and to be surrounded by such beauty-most of it natural and owing little to scrubber’s work. Sometimes the joy is really palpable. True thee’s going to be oceans of leaves to be collected but its no price to pay as it gives so much happiness.

Also its nice to see how all the little bits help to come together and a garden is gradually emerging-but without losing its essential wilderness so that  the odd pheasant  or fox or hedgehog is very much at home down there and so is scrubber!

The storm is whipping up out there now but most of my tender plants are safely in the greenhouse.

It’s a tight squeeze this year and if I run out of space (highly likely) this brugmansia is going to be left outside.

It seems that the plant is producing flowers now, in an attempt to soften my resolve. It seems to say :

“No, no, don’t leave me to die. Look how beautiful I am”

I don’t remember it in flower this early last year, but it has definitely started now! (not winter, just the jasmine 🙂

John and I have been off for a trip to England and Wales for the last 10days now the garden is finnished we even put the wallflowers in before we left. A trip to Powys castle was on the books, we went last September and had a lovely day with the Grandchildren.

My favourite plant this year, and every year, must truly be Tetrapanax rex. Great for the tropical look but can also be planted into a mixed border (at the back).

Not my own photo as I tend to delete a lot as I go along.

I’m delighted with this tree that I bought in Johnstown at our get together.

I remember afterwards having a coffee with the ‘hangers oners’ and Peter ‘Scrubber’ asked me had I seen it’s Autumn colour? I then remembered Seamus O Brien advisings us to buy trees for Autumn colour when you can see the leaf colour as sometimes, just sometimes these trees can fail to produce the desired results

So since then it was a case of fingers crossed, I have not been disappointed. It will only get better with age, just like a good wine.

Fran this is my favourite plant …it is Shirley Tulip as it is our daughters name and love the name and Shirley……………..

Strelitzia Reginae Mandela gold arrived yesterday. I am looking forward to seeing it bloom

A couple of weeks ago I had thought that my remaining tomatoes were going to be used to make chutney. But thanks to the extended sunshine most of them have ripened. Still picking, and a few more to go.

………in the garden here. I think I have to admit I am developing a liking for form and shape than colour in the garden. While colour is important, I am leaning more to the leaf shape, foliage colour and form. That seems to be what really rocks my boat LOL

I had to laugh yesterday as I was driving home from the National Garden Centre.

Actually, I was driving home from Avoca because I nipped down there after our visit.

A text came in from Fran, saying :

Put down those plants! You don’t need any more plants.

Well, it was like Fran was psychic because I had a beautiful Brugmansia sanguinea sitting in my boot at that stage, which I certainly didn’t need.

But it was a bargain at €14.50 and, although I didn’t need it, I certainly wanted it!

Maybe Fran wasn’t psychic enough and should have caught me a little earlier. lol.