Month: November 2015

What a bargain I got in this plant at the talk Thurs night. There was a members plant sale on so when I went I saw that people were already buying stuff and to my delight I saw this Begonia for €5 so had to be snapped up straight away, a beautiful tropical looking plant I have wanted here for awhile now.

This is my second time overwintering my Chillipepper plant (‘Apache’). Someone had told me that they wouldn’t be as HOT as the first year. Not so!  They would blow the head off you. Lots more to ripen. And plenty more small ones growing well. Should be kept in chillis for a good while yet.

How can I ask Ken to flower before November?

First photo about a month ago, second a few days ago.

these Ranunculus were left overs so I stuck them in a container … Please go back to bed guys ….. They shouldn’t be waking up now should they ? Think I’ll place the on the new table 

Here are this Wednesday’s two videos.

The ‘outdoorsy’ one is episode eight in my Year in the Life of a Border series and we look at the border in October. It includes a discussion on the pros and cons of lifting leaves.. Many thanks go to Fran for the original idea behind this and I really look forward to Mary Tobin’s ‘lane’ series of photos…

A Year in the Life of a Border – October, Cherry Border – YouTube

The second video, the indoors one, is about how to reflower Christmas cactuses…

How to Reflower Christmas / Thanksgiving Cactus – YouTube

I hope you will enjoy them.

My Acers and Fern are providing lovely colour contrast down at the retaining bed at this time of year. 

Not sure if this plant is hardy but have taken cuttings as a precaution. I’m just wondering though if this plant dies back completely over winter?

It’s in it’s first Autumn here and I’m really delighted with the Autumn colour it is producing. Some planning has gone into an Autumn garden, but this is a total surprise to see this, one I will be enjoying for a long time to come.

The plumes on my Cortaderia looked like an Indian head-dress this morning. No?

Ok, I’ll keep taking the tablets!!!

Iris White Van Vliet was bought at Murphy and Wood GC a few weeks back. I was really surprised to see it peeking up already. I’ve downloaded a photo from the web to show what awaits.

It has been a lovely afternoon here in Waterford today. However, the ground is very wet after the rain of the last few days. We did manage to lift the last three dahlias, Dahlia ‘ Glorie van Noordwejk’, a beautiful yellow dahlia which was still flowering. We tackled the others during the nice weather earlier in the week. The tubers have grown big over the summer and we were very pleased with them. Will leave them to dry a little and then pack them away for the winter. There are more leaves on the grass now then on the trees and the next few week will be spent bagging them up. One shrub looking good now, after all it’s leaves have fallen, is Callicarpa ‘ Profusion’.

As I carted my three aeoniums off to the greenhouse for the winter, it really struck me how much they have come on since they were repotted into larger pots earlier this year. I wonder when they’ll need repotting again; not too soon I hope, as I bought nice pots for them thinking they’d last a good while!

They came from Rachel as little cuttings a couple of years ago and are giving much joy, many thanks Rachel. 

Melianthus major, one of my top ten plants always looks great but is at it’s best with rain drops sitting on it’s fantastic leaves.

While it is mild here to day, there is no sign of the sun and no drying. Yesterday was similar. I took photos of the Liquidambar and Cedrus atlantica Glauca. It is probably the last time for the Liquidambar but it still looked good yesterday. From now on, it is the evergreens that will stand out. Both trees were presents from my sister. I consider the cedar to be great as it is evergreen and for months it will be standing out showing colour while the deciduous trees will be bare.

I had planned to tackle some of the fallen leaves last week, but total laziness took over and I did nothing at all.

Looks nice, but will have to be dealt with next weekend.

Sisyrinchium striatum has opened up a late flower. Silly Billy!

The South Westeely wind overnight had done a wonderful job overnight so nothing for it only to get stuck in . The grass was beginning to yellow a little too. Lawnmower man can now get the final tidy up done when conditions are drier. 

The only good thing about leaves is that they don’t weigh heavy in the wheelbarrow. The leaf mould cage is now full once more . 

I have this Chrysanthemum ‘Alex Young for about three years now. Not fully hardy so it goes into the greenhouse over the winter.

It has gone from strength to strength since I got it. And it’s got such a profusion of flowers on it at the moment. For the last week I’ve had it out during the day, and into the greenhouse at night – just in case of frost.

I bought this plant a couple of years ago and really it just gives a bit of extra colour and oomph to the border at this late stage. Probably not one of my most favourite plants. Very slow growing which is ok but it’s not doing much else really. It’s a plant I just pass by most of the time. 

But looking closer yesterday, the leaves really do look like they have been painted in silver paint!! Looking quite healthy too. I’ve read they look great among grasses so I’m going to do a bit of moving around in Spring and see how they all work together. 

Hello from a very wet Wexford.

Here are this week’s Wednesday videos. The first shows a sunny garden in France last summer, to cheer you up on this soggy day…

French Garden Visit – Cadiot, Dordogne – YouTube

The second was about orchids (not a popular subject on garden.ie) so I thought I’d put up one from a few days ago instead.

This video is about the Oct/Nov Irish Garden magazine. These monthly videos now have a little ‘behind the scenes’ bit from my page in the magazine and, since chrysanthemums are still the subject of journals here, perhaps it is timely. I will continue to do this if I continue to write for the magazine next year…

Irish Garden Magazine, behind the scenes, Oct/Nov 2015 – YouTube

Enjoy!

As I walked by Larrys yesterday I was assailed by a lovely lemony aroma . Then I noticed this flowering shrub outside Larrys wall . At least I think the aroma was coming from it. Larry was my neighbor that died last January so I’ve labeled the cutting so ” larrys ” for the time being .

a small soft leaf with yellow flowers. From a distance you would think Furze Bush !! The slips I took some days ago seem to be taking too . A name would be nice . Thanks all 

Having watched Rachel’s excellent video on how to overwinter Begonias I finally got round to following her method.

I have about 6 tubers – so 6 out of 6 planted this year actually grew. This is a much better success rate than my previous attempts.

So once the earth was cleaned off them i noticed that one of them must have been planted sideways judging by where the leave shoot came out.

So they are all safely in a paper bag in the wardrobe and I have until Spring to figure out this conundrum. This one that I accidentally planted sideways this year – do I plant it sideways next year? Or should I try to let it go right way up instead?

planted(in the rain) I think I need more than retail therapy.Dwarf beans & tomatoes are the first of the vegies to be planted.                                                                        PS Grosse Lisse,Beefsteak,Black Russian are the tomatoes & Brown Beauty the beans.

Surprisingly I got some gardening done yesterday morning before the wind and rain really took hold.  Got the loppers out and chopped up the remains of the echium; well, as much of it as would chop, the thick stem is now propped up beside the shed awaiting disposal later.  Then tidied one bed and mulched it with some garden compost.

Though there were still buds on the sweet peas, the obelisk they were growing on was starting to lean in the wind and, not wanting another casualty, I decided to cut them down, saving the last few flowers for the kitchen windowsill.  

Then I spotted the first of the primulas starting to flower.  Gardening comes full circle.