Month: February 2015
Forgot to take in my little white Agapanthus at the beginning of the winter. But luckily it’s not suffering any ill effects.
Boy, am I getting tired waiting for the weather to improve drastically!!! I need to be out there in a t-shirt, and paddling my feet in the Greenhouse pond.
Somehow all my gardening happening on Sundays , my first day out in garden(not in polytunnel) was 2 weeks ago,on sunday 🙂 Did some bits and bobs,,soil still is to cold and wet for real work.
Bit fed up with these cold night,heater in polytunnel is on almost every night,afraid to lose my precious plants 🙂
Got my seed orders last week,so actually spring is in air,,or better say,more in my head 🙂
Will try to uploud some photos
I was at the garden, yesterday. Having finished using the Dutch hoe on the last of the three rose beds, I tackled another area where there was what I termed drift wood. Some bits of trees were taking up space in an area where I was eager to plant something, when the time was appropriate. Eventually, at about 5 p.m. I left the garden and tackled something else, the computer. The night before I was trying to print something from same. It would not print. It was 1 a.m. by the time I got to bed over this problem which still was not solved. Just after 5 p.m. yesterday, I got at the computer. It needed spring cleaning. A large amount of material was moved to trash until I had about half of what had been there. Then I had another go and Eureka, as Archimedes said when he had his bath, it printed. This morning I saw very few of the small birds. Normally when I take out the bird seed the robin, sometimes two would be waiting for their breakfast. No, they were not there. I looked out shortly before 12 and what did I see but Rossini’s bird, the Thieving Magpie.
I just got a cat down under this area and he /she was just about to do his business here ….I got him in time T.G. as I just hate having to get rid of it .
These Snow Drops are doing so well in this area and are multiplying every year …Fran gave me a clump 2/3 years ago and I have to thank him for this every time I see them multiplying….
I have been dividing them up and now there are 16 clumps ….it will be one large clump in a few years ….I have added 2 different ones and hopefully will add more ……that is the bit of gardening I did this morning was clearing some leaves in this area …we are heading to Wexford now for the day it is lovely out there so get out if you can and enjoy…..
Just saw this on FB about winter aconite for sale in Woodville. Looked at your profile and saw that you are from Galway.
Hi all, what lovely weather, hope you are all enjoying it. Have been out tidying up for the last few days. Found this self seeded hellebore yesterday, was delighted.
This little beauty is starting to really shine now. I got this last year in Tesco and it is just lovely. It was left to its own devices and has really turned out well. have it in my new flower bed near the house.
I am heading out to the garden once the dogs are walked. It’s a bit misty here, but that’s to lift and be sunny later. Plus milder too. Havent been able to do anything for the past 3 days so really looking forward to getting my hands dirty today 🙂
Whatever you do today have a good one 😉
i am hoping to head back to uk this summer, i am hoping to take in wisely, great dixter and kew. i have been looking it all up and staying in brentford is the best place as it has a train station not far from the hotel and is pretty central to all three places, great dixter is a little further away than the other two but with trains and buses you would get there in no time. i loved brentford when hubby and i went in march so that is my favourite place to stay. when i stayed with my cousin in october it was lovely too but too far away from kent to london and i dont want to put them out dragging them all over gardens when they dont have the same interest as me. i like my own freedom so i prefer to do my own thing
just want to say a masive thank you to everyone that commented and helped me with my queries on winter aconites.
i have been on the NIGHT PARK site and i have made contact just waiting for the therese to get back to me and fingers crossed they will be able to get me the aconites, i spoke to someone there and they said they have the winter aconites.
thanks a mill
If you are interested or would like to find out more please let me know. There will be ample time at this event to buy and swap seed.
Have just looked at the Telegraph gdn page on-line. Nice articles – amongst them, snowdrops and bare-root peonies. Just google ‘telegraph gardening’. Off out now to tidy up my shed……………
These a nice sight in the garden near the back door.
Pot luck!
Last week we were in morgan’s garden centre just outside Carlow and i spotted a lovely terra-cotta like pot on a foot with a broad bowl, that would go exactly into a small area at the side border. Anna who usually doesn’t take a huge interest in gardening matters was very taken by a fine highly glazed deep reddish pot.
Neither were cheap as they were both large. I went back in the following Tuesday when I was on my own and ordered the red one and asked Liam to hold the other for me as I would buy it later. Wasn’t 100% sure whether it would be an acceptable present so said Id collect it this week.
This morning I was told mysteriously that someone ‘had left a present for me in the boot of the car’.I went out and lo there was the terra cotta pot! And it fitted as well as I thought it would.Then I was told there was a higher one in Morgan’s if I’d prefer’. I then confessed I had the red one on hold! Anna said she’d like it so off we went to Morgans where I berated liam for selling my pot! He graciously said he couldn’t resist the lady! The other pot ,though nice and a bit dearer was not as perfect or as suitable as the original but i was glad to be able to have a choice. We collected the red and they are now both outside waiting to be filled with suitable plants. Anna has suggested a cordyline for hers.
I was so surprised and delighted and have been out a few times to enjoy my unexpected gift. And that’s the 14th settled for both of us!
This is the first time I have ever seen a pair of robins in my garden. I’m guessing most birds are beginning to pair off in readiness for the mating season. So now I reckon they are checking out their housing arrangements. Today I filled my little terracotta container with fleece to provide them with nice warm nesting materials. You can also put out the hair from yours or your dogs brush. Every little helps.
This is one of my favourite Heucheras in the garden. I love its veined leaves, and it has wonderful sprays of deep pink flowers in late Spring. I’m thinkng of possibly splitting it up this year to spread it around.
No I did not sneeze. But this is my ‘what I learned today’ item. I thought some of you just may not know about Mashua. Well in fact you all do because it is Tropaeolum tuberosum ! Never heard of the other name until today. Apparently it is grown as a crop in countries adjacent to the Andes where the tubers are harvested and eaten . Not great reports concerning the taste! So interesting to see fields of it growing and there am I struggling to establish it here. Thanks to Moya and Deborah I have another chance this year . Some of the articles I read refer to getting pounds and pounds of tubers from one plant. So the next time I visit a garden and there is a Trop. growing I may ask..’ have you had trouble establishing your Mashua’ !!!
I received more plants in the post yesterday. This time they were as a result of an epiphyllum competition I won at Christmas time.
Happy days!
Today I noticed this Brugmansia sanguinea flowering in the greenhouse !
Well it’s that time again. Chitting the potatoes. Found a net of Home Guard first earlies in Lidl, only €2.49, the only net hiden in some house plants I was looking at. Bought a lovely Anthurium too for €5.99, I know I shoulden’t have but it was looking me straight in the eye asking for a good home. Succer !
However the Home Guards are now sitting on the hall window sill, chitting I hope. I had a very good year last year with the main crop spuds Maris Pipers. We are still eating them and have half a small sack left at this stage. I’ll have to go out and source some 2nds and Main croppers now for this year and get them chitting too.
Better weather now and the ground drying so I think it’s time for the rotovator. What is any ones opinion on rotovating the weeds into the ground to act as a fertiliser. Should I spray them with roundup first ?
I must keep up my journel better this year. Promise. Nice to say hello again….Ivor
A little dose of cheerfulness, every one…. 🙂
My Callistemon ,Bottlebrush shrub, seems to be a bit in trouble.
Im not sure if it was the -8c temperatures that has affected it or not. But it was doing so well but now I’ve noticed that the tips are gone very brown and paper like.
I have it well mulched and it has lots of ericeaous soil also, so I know it’s not that.
What do you think? Will it come back good again? Should I just cut out these tips?
Thanks guys
A couple of red Cornus here, and I have another one to add as soon as I get some planting space beside these two. They’ll look all the better having three together at least until they become more mature. Then I may split them up and spread around.
It’s the new growth that shows the flush of colour in winter, so to encourage fresh growth, they should get a hard annual prune this month. The stems should be cut right down to about 5cms off the ground, then each spring. A bit scary to be so drastic, but that’s what I’ll be doing today.
reading through gardeners world the other day i came across sarah ravens online store for bulbs has anyone ever used this site?
does anyone on this site ever grow them? i have noticed in this country you cant get them very easily and i was wondering if there is a reason why?
i never see any journal entries about them
sorry so many questions in one journal i am just curious
i opened up the tunnel this eve and the scent was just fab there is snowdrops in there and the christmas box and other bits it was just a great welcome after a hard day
Some hoeing around the rose beds carried out in third rose bed. Some digging carried out in the back, facing south. I was visited by the two robins. I see the two a lot now. Another lot of tomato seed germinated to day. The first lot should be ready for the greenhouse and Country Market, a little over a month from now. The same Country Market opens to morrow. Photo taken of roses that were slipped in September. There are six doing well. I should be lifting them later in the year.
I have spent a few hours for the last number of days weeding the borders. Once you wrap up well it is bearable. Getting a good bit done each day so worth the effort.
Late this afternoon the sun showed up the stems on one of the acers against the blue sky.
Thursday 12th February at 8.00pm, at the Visitor Centre in the Botanic Gardens, Paddy Tobin aka Mr. Gallanthus is giving a talk about you know what.
I’m not sure if I can make it as yet, but having heard this wonderful talk last year, I seriously say if you can make it at all, do, you will not be disappointed.
Paddy is as we all know well informed to talk about his ‘minor passion’, but he does it in such an easy and entertaining way, that at the end of the talk you just want to hear more.
No excuses now, you have plenty of notice, so mark it in the diary.
Have a good one Paddy, enjoy, as I know everyone who goes, will do just that.
