Month: January 2015

I’m really looking forward to our get-together on Sunday.  Below are the plants I have to offer.  Don’t be shy about asking, you know I have a small garden and mostly can’t keep what I’ve propagated!

Agapanthus (blue, deciduous) x 1 (Elizabeth7)
Campanula ‘Elizabeth’ x 2  (Fleurette, 1 left)
Chelone obliqua x 2  (Hosta, Jackie)
Cuphea cyanea x 1  (Doreen)
Francoa sonchifolia ‘Pink Giant’ x 2  (Eilish, PeterW)
Fuchsia x bacillaris (aka Fuchsia microphylla) x 2  (Joann, 1 left)
Fuchsia ‘Hawkshead’ x 1  (Joann)
Geranium ‘Rozanne’ x 1  (AitAlainn)
Geum rivale ‘Leonard’s Variety’ x 1 (PeterW)
Hellebore seedlings (pot luck) x 4  (Moya, 3 left)
Parahebe catarractae x 1  (Hosta)
Primula ‘Drumcliff’ x 1 (Liztai)
Schizostylis/Hesperantha (pink) x 1
Winter Jasmine x 1  (Jackie)

Also:  White muscari x 2 pots  (Scrubber, Moya)
Snowdrops (G.nivalis) x 3 pots
Bluebells x 1 pot  (LindaB)

I will bring some plants for Maureen’s project, and the following plant promises.  If I have promised plants to anyone else, do please remind me!
Agastache ‘Apache Sunset’ (Elizabeth7);  Begonia ‘Red Undies’ seedling (Eilish); Parahebe catarractae (Terrishoos)

Look forward to seeing you there!

Sr Josephine in her wisdom used tell us not to put all our eggs into the one basket! Tom Doorley used to add  ‘’In case Mother Agnes sits on them!’. But she was right. Tonight for example Scrubber was quite irate as he had lost from his computer the journal that he had carefully made last Saturday night so as to have it ready. Gone , vanished, totally ‘pissapeared’ as a dear little friend of mine said of her cat. But then Scrubber thought of Sr. Josephine and her baskets. He did NOT think of mother Agnes sittiing on them! And he remembered he had done the journal on the laptop! He searched and here it is! Thanks Sr. Jo! Ill put this up on the lap top and later will add in the pics which are on the main computer!

Saturday 3^rd January 2014

Woke to a wet drizzly morning but it cleared up before ten o clock.So  I went out and to the surprise of all the Scrub residents except perhaps  Cherub, dismantled yesterday’s work, the new bed answering Josie’s bed. I felt it was a bit too regular. As soon as it was done Cherub nodded and I knew I was right. Two  stones went into a rough new step at the bottom of the lord Buddah’s steps. Another two went into the  wall dividing Scrub from ‘dad’s garden’. Then, a gargantuan task!!! I began to remove the wood and brushwood of the last 25 years! There was a boundary wall of boulders there long ago. I used to  pile all the timber behind it and in the intervening years it had quite disappeared. It was a lot of work but at the end of the day most of the wall was there to be seen and I was lucky enough to discover and unearth some biggies to fill the two gaps. Its still not finished and Im afraid the snowdrops got a hammering but Ill get it cleared the next fine day and the snowdrops are tough little divils and will recover-there are so many this year, the mild weather is bringing them on.

So now Dad’s Garden has the two Camellias with lots of buds and they are a good size. A planting of Paddy’s yellow crocosmias, a ginko , a large c. Japonica, some ferns, two white quinces lots and lots of snowdrops,  and it all seems to have happened by accident! A bit here a bit there…and surrounded on two sides by a lovely rough rock wall and overlooked on the third by the main slope with its newly defined paths.

I often think how funny it is that one gets dug in to a certain part of the garden and almost forgets about the rest and thats what seemed to have happened in this case. But now one walks down the sleeper steps, through dad’s garden and then through the wall into the Hellebore, snowdrop and cyclamen woody bit. So there is a unity about it I think. Anyway I am looking forward to seeing the result of todays work as it was quite dark when I finished today. There’s still a lot of cleaning up to do but that will happen as well.

Monday-too wet to work but its looking nicely cleared. The pictures may show it a bit better. They are very unfocused but it’s just an idea of where things are.

On pruning back my Chrystamums today I discovered a young Cordaline growing under one of them . Never realised Cordalines can self seed but I certainly didn’t plant one here! Decision time now as it’s in the middle of a flower bed . ??? It could make a nice feature here and space is not a problem . Too dark now for a photo 

I am not putting up a plant list this year folks, sorry. The last few months has seen me distracted from the garden. I also doing a make two small garden make overs so spare plants are been used there.

I am bringing plants that I promised folk during the year (hope I have them all recorded) and I also have a selection of bits and pieces for Maureen’s group.

I am going to enjoy watching the mania of the plant swap with a coffee in one hand and camera in the other recording the mayhem LOL

A great buzz starting to build now, see you all next Sunday 😉

Thank you all of you who have let me know if you are planning to make it to johnstown.

This journal is about one of the features of our get-togethers.  Each year we have a raffle  for all the attendees and each year the prizes raffled are donated to us.

This year is no exception. 

The first prize we have been promised is from AitAileann (Nuala). She has put up a voucher of €100 towards a stay in Sandhills House where a few of us had a fabulous break last September – click the link to see more!

We have also been offered a second very special prize by Maureendid (Maureen) on behalf of the group of special people she looks after as a way of saying “thank you” for the surplus plants we have promised to them. She is putting up a beautiful hand-made rug.

I am also hopeful that Johnstown Garden Centre will be as generous as in the past and donate some gift vouchers too.

After that I’m sure there will be a few miscellaneous items donated by generous members.

All there is left for me is to thank Joan (JoanG) for offering to look after the raffle on the day and I’m sure there will be plenty of volunteers to help her out!

So have a rummage and see if you have anything you can add to the raffle – the more prizes the better!

While in Waterford yesterday ( for fishing tackle) dropped into a charity shop close by. Any three books for a fiver so these two and one other (Sports ) were purchased. A quick browse inside the bedding plant expert lists many of the common and not so common ones alphabetically. The other is very useful too with many tips and advice . Great value . PS . Discovered that when taking photos with iPhone for uploading to hold phone in landscape orientation otherwise photos appear rotated sideways …..

Spectacular sky out there this evening. Check out some photos in the album I just posted.

It seems as if this Magnolia is not far from blooming.

While none of the flowers are open yet, they are well advanced and if we get a few more mild days, who knows when they will be open?

I loved this one hope you do also …………..

Hi for those of you attending next weeks get together, can I ask if any of you have your name badges from last year. You may have forgotten to hand them back.  

If so could you please let me know if you have one and also will you bring it with you when you are coming next week. 

I know most of you probably know each other at this stage, but I’m sure there are a few new faces in there also. And Im sure there are some of you, if like me anyway, you know the face but just can’t put a name to it. 

So …….if you have a name tag please let me know here and for those who don’t I will have one for you on the day. 

Many thanks. 

I took this picture this morning, I thought it would be my way of wishing you all a Happy New Year!

This Aloe was one I got in Dublin for Christmas.