Month: September 2015

Took a few things into the greenhouse today as it seems to be much cooler at night now. Then potted up Dutch Irises ‘Red Ember’ which Elizabeth MADE me buy in Ballyseedy the weekend we were in Fota. Also some Allium ‘Christophii’, and Anemones ‘Bordeaux’ which I had soaking.

Was bringing my Aeoniums into the greenhouse and some of them broke as they are quite tall now. However, that means more plants. Will let them dry out for a day or two and then plant up the bits.

My little Birthday Girl is 15 yrs old today and was lapping up the sun in her favourite spot/pot.

It was a super day for a visit to the Botanic Gardens today. Thankfully we didn’t have those awful showers of yesterday. Myself and Gretta met up with Michelle (Kitty) and her lovely daughter. Had a grand stroll around in the sun, and what a super display of Dahlias they had. I think I’ll be growing some of the Pompom ones for next year. Their petals are so perfect. I have taken sooooo many photos so I’ll split them up into smaller albums. The Sculpture In Context exhibition is on at the moment. The restaurant serves very nice, reasonably-priced food.

Thanks, Michelle and Rebecca. Great suggestion to visit here while you were in Dublin today.

The gardening year is passing quickly, so here are photos of the beginnings of autumn colours in my garden.

My own fault that the bed didn’t turn out as hot as expected. When I was planting things out I thought that the Dahlias were all red, but when other colours appeared I looked at the seed packet and saw they were mixed| There were some Cosmos, Bright mix, earlier but they didn’t come to much. 

Just some butterflies I spotted today as well. Any excuse to take a break from working!

I’m wondering if someone here can id this cactus for me. I have it a few years now, I think I may have bought it in Johnstown at one of the Christmas Get-togethers (oops, I’ve said that dratted ‘C’ word!).

It goes out to the greenhouse every summer. I was just taking it into the house today and noticed its first flowers ever are beginning to open. Wahoo!!!

I’ve neglected this Eastern aspect border for years . It was already planted up when we moved in. Green and Varigated shrubbery and that was it. I’d forgotton the nice scalloped stone work until recently. Two huge trees at the southern end cast shade onto about half the bed. 

Its a project Iam not putting off any longer and Iam thinking Bulbs, Roses, Dahlias, Sedums and Hostas already. Any suggestions please ?  It tends to get plenty of sun from 12 onwards during the summer and lots of evening sunshine especially 

The first definite changes in the leaves of this woderful tree are staring to show at he moment.

Just back from a few days in Tramore and of course this included a visit to Mt Congreve. As the Cor.k branch of IGPS are heading there tomorrow I am posting only a couple of photos. I am sure we will get some much better ones from their photographers. We were blessed with great weather for the three days and the garden was looking wonderful. They  must feed the plants on steroids!! Eupatoriums so tall, Eucomis enormous and monster Dahlias. I spotted a Dahlia in the sales area , a must have. It was labelled Bishop of Canterbury a wonderful copper/orange, my photo does not do it justice.  BUT following a Google I think it is in fact Bishop of Oxford and welcome comments about menu_order. Vicki in sales headed out and found me two more so I am a very happy Bunny

For the second year in a row I have found myself at the Ploughing Championships here in Laois. Last year,as my first time there, I had no idea what to expect and while I found it very interesting I was disappointed not to find much to interest me as a gardener.

This year was different! I studied the map and the exhibitors list well before I went and so had some vague idea where i wanted to go …. but I was with friends so there was a certain amount of compromise involved!

However I did find the stand for Dunne’s of Durrow Garden Centre and met up with Angelo there – he had some beautiful Liquidamber trees there along with lots of other goodies but since I couldn’t carry home my tree (not being in my own car!) I’ve arrenged to go over to the Garden Centre in about a month – first to collect my Liquidamber and also to get some bare-roots as well.

Another stand on my list was the Foroige Gardens. There was a lot of publicity around these gardens – Diarmuid Gavin was an advisor for the groups but I was blown away with the creativity of these young people and the delightful gardens they created. Clare, Galway, Laois and Cork Foroige groups were involved, and Aldi provided the plants.

Well done to all concerned! I’ve put up an album!

Aldi also had some creative planting themselves outside their pavilion!

This is one of my favourite Sedums here. I particularly love its variegated foliage. But it’s very slow to bulk up.

We were down in Tramore, Co Waterford and in the area of the Glen of Aherlow in Tipperary.   On our way home we stopped off in Killsheelan, Co.Tipp, just because the village was so beautiful with its flower displays and beautiful river walk.   On the river walk we discovered a lovely garden (although it was just going over) planted up especially to attract butterflies.  Got talking to a local lady who is one of the volunteers and she kindly let me take cuttings of different perennials that took my eye amongst the planting!!!!   On our way home we stayed overnight in the Glen of Aherlow.  What a treat – such a beautiful area.  We just didn’t know that Co Waterford & Tipperary would be such a delight to visit and we were blessed with glorious weather!

Being away from our garden just made us appreciate the colour still therein on our return.  Attaching 3 photos.  The variegated fuschia has two branches that have returned to plain leaves – must cut them off today.   A gdn.ier did put up a Journal about this happening to their fuschia but I can’t rememer who!!!

Recently I received my copy of The Irish Garden for October and November, which is an excellent issue.

I note that on pages 4 and 5 there are three photos of plants I have in my garden, but mine have not coloured much yet.  But a far better picture is on the top left of page 2. Do you agree?

On page 2 there is also a picture of Hydrangea quercifolia, a picture of which I submitted some time ago (July 15).  Perhaps it is interesting to note that the Liquidamber and the Hydrangeas have been discussed here recently by several contributors.

This Ploughing lark is all very well but I was beginning to have withdrawal symptoms as I hadn’t a minute for the garden for nearly a whole week!

Yesterday was a lovely return to normal – first off the grass was cut (the usual 30 minute job!) and the edges neatened so they won’t need attentiona again this season. Then I started tackling the large clump of saxifrage under the multi-stemmed birch which has become inested with grass. Does anyone have any tips for this task? I seem to end up taking out clumps of the saxigrage as well! Got very tired of this activity as the birch was grabbing me every time I moved. Brainwave! Cut of the lower branches! Sometimes I’m a bit of a slow learner 🙂 I’m delighted with the result -the white trunks are much more evident now!

Then it was tidy the rest of that border and deadheading the Anthemis which looks lovely again!

After that it was into the main herbaceous border where a serious amount of dead-heading was called for. I’m really aware how few weeds I have to pull when I work on this border this year – the close planting is really paying off! 

The lovely sunshine had the butterflies out in good numbers and as usual the Sedums are the real magnet for them.

In the second photo I spotted this Marigold that had planted itself in just the right place to contrast with the Rudbeckia and the Echinacea!

Unfortunately the light went before I got that border done – making it really clear to me that we are rapidly moving towards winter.

Happy days! Back gardening!

Enjoying the beautiful morning, I took the camera around the garden and will post an album and/or more journals over the next few days.  (There are still difficulties with photos in Windows 10).

Here are a few general shots of the back garden.

The weather forecast looks good for this week, so I hope you all get some time to enjoy your gardens.

These were looking well in the autumn light this morning:

Aster amellus ‘Mira’ … it’s a deeper and more purple colour than in the photo.

Sedum sieboldii ‘Dragon’; thanks Fran for this lovely little plant.

Pyracantha on the back wall before the birds eat all the berries.  They’ve started already!

Got to love watching the flowers of Cortaderia aureolineata unfurl day by day. Also enjoy  looking at Panicum…..unsure which…..move in the breeze.

And then it is the time of year this little hardy Geranium flowers think it is G.thunbergii. Great ground cover. Compare with the stones and you see the how small the flowers are, so pretty.

I was wondering if anyone was interested in a visit to the gardens of Mount Usher in the next few weeks. The gardens are closed from the end of October until the springtime. The colour during autumn is spectacular from the trees in this Robinsonian style garden.

So, who gardens by the Moon?

It’s always nice to see the garden after being away as I usually go around it numerous times a day and never see much change but after being away in Portugal for 10 days it was great to walk around and enjoy some differences since we headed off. The Gentian is now almost in full bloom putting on a fantastic display, the virginia creeper has almost gone completely red and is looking great and last the rhodochiton is just exploding with flowers and flowing all the way back down the plant again.

I dug this plant out of the border yesterday, I could hardly see it.

No idea what it is, it’s about to flower so should know then but if anyone can help now it would be great.

Thanks as ever.

On our break in the west we visited Kylemore Abbey and the Victorian Walled Garden there, a large area of which is devoted to Victorian style bedding which is somewhat different from the planting we are used to seeing in public parks nowadays.

In one area a low-growing plant which I thought was Cuphea ignea (cigar plant) was used very effectively in a curve around a stand of kniphofia; then I came across a pot of the same plant, labelled Cuphea platycentra, a name which I hadn’t heard of before.  Perhaps they are the same? 

This is a different plant from the lovely Cuphea cyanea which some of us have from Fran and which is much taller, with yellow tips and “beady eyes” 🙂

The Victorian Walled Garden at Kylemore is six acres in size and was a major restoration project.  As well as the area pictured, it has a large fruit and vegetable garden, long double herbaceous border, a stream and woodland area, glasshouses, the remains of heated grow houses of old, a bothy and tool shed and a gardener’s house which would be the dream of many an estate gardener!  A very enjoyable visit.

PS  Sorry, you’ll have to do handstands to see the photos; they are the right way up on the computer!

Surprising what you find about the place by way of plants to divide / move when push comes to shove. I’ve divided 4 Hostas ( early I know ) found 2 Hydrangea new homes, planted out 2 Lychnis and moved a Hebe into the eastern border . I may not have to spend a fortune yet ! Today the compost heap was opened and I found a plentiful supply of dark compost which was wheel barrowed to the border. Seven full wheel barrows do at least three inches of compost added. I may yet add some leaf mould before the cold spell hits. 

Who mentioned ” seedaholic” here recently?? I immediately went online and purchased flower and veg seeds … Talk about impulse buying .. Nice site though . Ha ha , was it Moya who was shopping too ..

meanwhile the butterflies and bees are enjoying The Sedum ” Spectabile ” no end in this fine weather . I know I’ll be taking some root divisions from this too . Love it and it’s late flowering is just perfect 

are coming to the party & the parrots well they never leave;)

Haven’t been doing very much gardening lately. So today I made the most of the beautiful sunny morning and had a walk in Santry Park to shake the cobwebs off my limbs. The park is beginning to take on a bit of Autumn colour now. But my days plan changed quickly afterwards so didn’t get gardening at all in the end.

The walk was so invigorating and has made me look forward to Mount Usher even more now, and seeing the changing hues in trees and shrubs.

I liked this group of fungi especially.

A few blue plants still in flower. Iochroma Australe, Salvia Oceana Blue snd Campanula