Month: June 2015
Yesterday Peter and I went over to see John and Ann’s garden. We had phoned them the previous day to ask if we could. I have been a few times to see this garden but Peter had never been. Here in Westport it was a beautiful day so was surprised to hear when we arrived at Knocknakillew that they had had a rainy morning. We could do with some rain here!!!! It’s always a pure joy to visit this garden – so much interest, so much colour and so much enthusiasm from its owners!!! And what did I do – FORGOT MY CAMERA!!! I was mortified but Anne kindly said that she’d put up a couple of photos – now I see this morning that she has actually put up an Album!!! Thank you so much Ann and all the photos are of my most favourite parts of your garden. The foxgloves are just stunning – always reseeding from the year before. The Lupins are another eye-catcher especially the dark red ones. The Clematis pictured apparently flowers every year for months on end!! The veggie plot pictured is just part of the veggie scene – there’s a strawberry bed with covered protection from the birds, there’s a cute little cucumber house, there’s a melon growing frame, there’s the tomato tunnels, there’s the propagation shed – I could go on and on!!! John has treated himself to a new shed (much closer to the house than the old one) which really is an office and a place where he does his pictures – where does this man find the time to paint!! Terrishoes came to mind………………… I won’t even talk about the wood-turning. I did ask John if he had a TV – he does, but I should have asked him if they watch TV!!! I know I have missed out mentioning glorious parts of the garden and am just now reminded of the heavily scented rambling roses. I can only suggest that if you are ever in the area of Ballinrobe, Co Mayo that you call in to see this little bit of heaven in Knocknakillew. Thank you John and Ann for, as always, an interesting and delightful visit to your garden and thanks to you Ann for putting up the photo Album.
How many of you in Garden.ie saw this programme on RTÉ this evening with Mary Kennedy visiting Helen Dillon’s garden in Ranelagh and then a Japanese garden in Tramore. Great to see some gardening on RTÉ.
Fran has been looking for the name of a couple of geraniums. Can we have a close-up of the second one please, Fran?
Here is a photo taken just now of my G. ‘Mrs. Kendall Clark’, which appears more blue in the photo than in reality. It’s lilac, and has veiny petals.
Some of my Kaffir Lilies are flowering now, a bit out of season but still welcome.
Hi all,
Had to put up my windmill palm with its wonderful show of yellow plumes,
It has these plumes with the past few years, and are quite stunning to see, i think they look like bananas from a distance.
Oh I love Chocolate!
But this is chocolate of a different kind…….. Cosmos ‘Choca Mocha’. I bought this plant two years ago and I was told they are hard to get them through the Winter. But I have been very lucky because I have come through 2 Winters with this one and now I have some flowers starting to open. Really pleased with it and the scent off it is just divine 🙂
Two videos for you today – a tour of the peonies in Mount Congreve…
Peonies in Mount Congreve, Waterford – YouTube
And one on cattleya orchids (and dactylhoriza for no relevant reason)…
I was totally amazed when this pretty plant flowered – I know there was alabel beside it at some point but it has now disappeared 🙁
The photo is not quite accurate – the flowers are really a definite Navy blue. They have the format of Campanula takesimana ‘Elizabeth’. I know the plant came to me from a .ier so I would really appreciate a name for the plant and also a clue as to who gave it to me 🙂
Our mini odyssey visiting three gardens in the Dublin Gardens Group on Friday 10th July is now confirmed as follows:
10.30 am Van der Lee Garden, Glenamuck Cottages, Carrickmines- with tea/coffee on arrival.
12.00 Noon Knockrose Garden, The Scalp, Kilternan
Then, after a lunch stop enroute, we visit Shirley Beatty’s Garden in Blackrock at 3.30 pm.
Admission to each garden is €5, plus €3 for refreshments at Van der Lee. Shirley Beatty’s charge goes to the Hospice.
Attendees confirmed so far are Gracedieu (Mary & Paddy), Jacinta, Gretta, Jackie, Keego (Mary) and myself, with possibles being: NoelFitz, Fran, Myrtle, ClaireE, Krista, Fleurette (Margot). If anyone can make part of the programme only, that’s fine, you’ll be very welcome.
I’ll be confirming final numbers with the garden owners on 6th July, so those not yet confirmed please let me know by then. I will send you all directions to our meeting point at Van der Lee garden (we proceed in convoy from there), plus lunch details, before the visit. Looking forward to seeing you all and let’s hope for a nice day for our outing!
I mentioned in my journal, a year ago that we don’t see the bonfires in the eastern part of the country at this date but we do in the west. Well here is a change. Pieces of paper were accumulating in the house including wrappings, paper bags etc, etc. To day I decided that I would have my bonfire, so I took a bagful of such materials out to the back garden and lit a match, so I had my bonfire.
You just gotta love the white one for its lastability (new word in my Dictionary) LOL Still doing the business! The pink one is long gone over.
The compost heaps had really got out of hand recently. I had one bay with beautifully shredded material that had turned into great compost over the winter so that was spreaded as a mulch around the garden where the blackbirds have had great fun scattering it about.
Bays two and three were a different story. I just threw everything into them and hoped for the best. When Bay Two was over the height of the sides I covered it to let it “cook”. So Bay three has been at the receiving end of everything since about March I think – and it had become a towering mess of all sorts.
So I began yesterday and turned Bay two into Bay one. It looked pretty good on the top – just in need of a bit more time. As I got down the heap I found a dense layer of what must have been shredded willow – only rough shredded as the second shredder was out of action at that time. It was completely dry and hadn’t any signs of starting to break down. So I mixed it through as I continued on. Only now I was watering the new heap copiously. There is a big lesson for me to learn there!
As I was going along I was adding some of the “greens” from the top of Bay Three! It was great to get to the bottom of Bay Two
Today it was the turn of Bay Three. Turning it into Bay Two I broke up the chunkier bits – mostly stems of herbaceous stuff I think – but there was quite a lot of partly done stuff so I was trying to layer the greens and the half-done stuff. This time the hose was in play the whole time as a lot of the stuff was quite dry.
By the time I got to the end of that heap i was totally amazed to find that the bottom part was totally compost! I took a full barrow of this lovely new compost up to the potting area where it probably won’t last too long 🙂
And almost the last shovel full i hit something hard – and out came my shears that I’ve been looking for all year!
A fitting reward for my two days of totally non-gardening slog! Looking forward to a bit of REAL gardening tomorrow LOL
I noticed these to day, Hybrid Tea slightly scented but haven’t got the name.
It’s the new craze – soon to sweep the nation.
You’ve heard of extreme sports. Well here’s Extreme Weeding…
I took Saturday off and hit Mount Congreve!
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!
Seriously, did I say wow!
The peonies are just amazing there and at their peak. I was completely blown away! Needless to say, there will be a video on Wednesday.
Other than that, check out it out – our open days are in yesterday’s Saturday’s Times, today’s Sunday Times and the Sunday Business Post.
My garden, Douentza, is opening in conjunction with Philip Hollwey and Walter Kelly’s Tombrick on 27th and 28th June. PM me for further details.
Thrilled to see this flowering finally after sowing last year and planting out at the end of the summer but I have a fine big clump if it now. Question, does it come back year after year or will it die after flowering? Love it tho. Flowers are actually darker than the photo.
Dianthus Sooty, love it.
This I got last year at bloom but the flower was nearly going over when I had it home. Seeing others flowering the last couple of weeks I was wondering would this show up but it has and isn’t it beautiful. A good few new shoots around it that def won’t flower this year but looks promising for next year and really looking forward to this bulking up.
A while back I chanced my arm in taking cuttings of this U4BA. Afterwards I read that it is propagated from division. But the cuttings had already been taken so I decided to see how it went.
A couple of months later I am happy to say the cuttings have taken. No room here in my garden for it. So if anyone who is going on the 10th July Garden Trip wants it, just say the word.
I can’t bebieve it is Midsummers Day!!
A lot of lush greenery but perenniels slow to “emerge”. I have a lovely container purple scented rose that has lots of flowers and buds ..it is drawing my eye away from the Hydrangeas,Sweetpea,and lilies that are taking their time to bloom.
Carrots and Beetroot doing well.. but brassicas got a set back with Cabbage root fly despite my best efforts to prevent it.
Any tips ???
Hi there,
I have just posted my weekly blog update which you can find here https://happinessandhazelnuts.com/2015/06/21/909/
It covers blackbird nests, strawberries, blackberries & pak choi amongst other things.
Michelle
Hi,
My name is Michelle & I have a garden/kitchen blog diary called Happiness & Hazelnuts www.happinessandhazelnuts.com where I blog about my urban garden in south dublin.
I record all my success’s and challenges and take what I grow from the garden and use in my kitchen.
I would love you to have a look at look at my site & feel free to leave comments regards advice or thoughts you would like to share.
Michelle
it’s only when taking photos of different areas of the garden that I notice how some colours just seem to blend together. My planting scheme would be organised in some areas and an absolute accident in others.
I think this particular photo works with some pinks and purples together. This was most definitely an accident!!
My North-facing border is planted up mainly with Galanthus, Hellebores, Astilbes and a selection of nice ferns. Dryopteris erythrosora is providing that bed with almost Autumnal colour in a sea of different greens. I love this one.
Happy Father’s Day to all you brilliant Daddies!
When I showed this Rose, there was possibly one bloom to be seen. Look at it now, true you will say it is not really blue but I am told that it is the nearest to blue. i bought it in Altamont, two years ago, i think.
