Month: November 2015
posting up some better photos of the plant I need an menu_order for. The flowers are small and about fingernail size . Leaves too and so soft to the touch . Lovely lemon smell from plant . I should have taken a photo of the bush/shrub too. It’s about three feet X three in size .
I have two Ricinus plants growing at the moment. One is planted out and the other one is in a pot.
I was first introduced to this plant by Hazel and I just love it’s foliage. Having grown this now for a couple of years, I’ve yet to see the flowers that grow on it. But if I’m honest I really don’t mind as the foliage is exquisite. I have one in the greenhouse now and see if I can over winter it. Probably not. But all is not lost as I recently bought some more seeds to keep me going for next year 😉
It was great to get a couple of hours of sunshine today, although it was chilly enough. Spent time in the greenhouse dead-heading pelargoniums and cleaning up lots of fallen leaf debris.
On closer inspection of the garden, I noticed that my Senecio is about to flower. According to Google, flowering time is late winter/early spring. And the flower they show is yellow. This looks like it may be pink. But flowers couldn’t have been further from my mind with this plant as I had fallen in love with its felty foliage.
Ricinus is still looking well in the hot border.
Two treats coming up:
National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin: Lecture – Exotic Escapism
Bruno Nicolai
Thursday 19th November
Details from Botanic Gardens events guide: Using both hardy and tender plants, Bruno has developed colourful planting schemes oozing with exotic elements, all within the confines of his Cork city garden. Join Bruno as he shares stories of some of his favourite plants and takes you on a journey from desert to jungle.
Time: 8.00pm, Visitor Centre
Organised with the Irish Garden Plant Society
Rachel’s Talk, Tuesday 24th November – Foxrock Garden Club
Never even peeped my head outside the door today. Gales of up to 160 kilometres. I wouldn’t be surprised if my Tetrapanax has no leaves at all tomorrow. It seems to have been taking the full force of the winds today, I suppose the huge leaves were acting as a sail.
This is a photo of my Clematis ‘Bee’s Jubilee’ that I took yesterday. Hope it’s still there tomorrow.
And an indoor Fuchsia that hasn’t suffered in the bad weather, completed today.
Having gardening withdrawal symptoms here at this stage. It seems absolutely ages since I’ve done a decent bit outdoors. Am I getting old and soft? There was a time (not so long ago) that I wouldn’t let the elements stop me doing what I love doing.
Another bad day today, and the cold is to seep in for the weekend. Just seems like there’s no break in the weather. However, it could be a lot worse. At least the winds seem to have died down a lot.
My Hyacinths have begun to open up in the dining room and the fragrance is gorgeous.
to go & the temps will be back to normal mid 20,s, 35 today to hot for this time of the year,god help us come Jan, Feb.
Having the use of the bore water is keeping the patch alive & at no cost helps,our council charges an arm& a leg for the town water,after encouraging us green was the way to go they upped the the water prices.
From the beach just north of Bray Harbour earlier this morning.
Have a good day whatever your up to.
I took a photo of Gladiolus Tristis seedings yesterday to show you, these were sown this year and will be the same but the growth bigger for the next two years till they reach flowering stage. Good drainage at the bottom of the pot and these and my parent plants are out side all year round.
Cotinus ‘Grace’ is holding onto its leaves very well considering the weather we’ve been having recently. It’s making a nice splash of colour while a lot of deciduous trees and shrubs have already lost their foliage.
To see Winter Jasmine, in flower here for about two weeks, months of flower still to come. Great plant for winter interest.
As we were about to sit down for Sunday breakfast, I spotted something in the corner of my eye on the garden wall.
A little squirrel coming to have a look!!!! As the bird feeders are out now and the place is heaving with birds, the squirrels like to have a nosey too. Once he spotted me taking a few snaps, he got shy and did a runner. But only to the safety of the tree near the feeder. Here his mate was already there before him, tucking into the nuts and anything else that had fallen down.
It was a real free for all as to who got what, but the Starlings and Doves won out in the end and the racket they made was unbelieveable. They were too quick for me and the camera lol so these were the only two I got of any use.
The only thing missing in the pics are the bloody chooks at my feet demanding extra tucker.
P.S. The upload speed lately has been great,so thanks Craig& the team@ I.E.
The last three leaves on the Liquidamber the other day.
Finding it very had to keep all the feeders full at the moment. It’s like an aviary here with the couple of Squirrels thrown in. Lol
Yesterday evening just before it got dark I filled up the feeders again. I’ve 3 on one stand and 5 on the other and my birdbath feeder, so that should be enough right?? Apparently not.
Anyway I had just about sorted one out when I heard a small tweet. Looking around here was this tiny Robin who just landed near me, ready to lay into the food. He looked at me, let out a chirp and tucked in. Almost as if he was saying…..thanks yum yum lol
Amazing how close we can get to the Robins. As I type here now this morning there is a real racket going on outside. ‘The eagle has landed’ as they say 😀 Grubs up and it’s not even bright yet!!!!
Moved the Begonia Escargo inside last weekend, was delighted to see some flowers happily hiding under some of the leaves.
Nice grass down at the back wall looking good at the minute. But can’t remember whether it’s a Miscanthus or Carex. Can anyone help please? It’s about 4ft at this stage.
This Argyranthemum is actually quite a dark reddish colour, but when it flowers at this time of year it is almost pure white! Can’t find a photo of it when it’s red unfortunately.
I really love my Cotinus Grace. I already had another Cotinus but when I saw Grace in Headgardners I knew that I had to Get one! It adds a lovely emphasis to my Small Pond and this year it is in no hhurry to shed its leaves. It captures the late afternoon light and really goes on fire!
This Acer is over in Angela’s corner, nicely sheltered. I don’t know if the shelter is what helps it keep it’s leaves longer than any other Acer I have, but it is a real joy to see. This tree is growing really fast and I think it’s impact will just grow and grow over time.
Haven’t opened the curtains yet, but sounds like a terrible day, really wishing I was off today 🙁
doing their Spring thing.
What a beautiful day it was today, good for saints and souls. The new Rhodos have started to settle in. I needed to move one of my dwarf Rhodo species as it was going to become hidden in a year or two so i have now planted it at the base of R.aberconwayi ‘his lordship’ and this should be a better location for it.
My Camellia sasanqua has started to flower and how good is it to have a Camellia flowering at this time of the year. Wonderful.
The last photo is of Aconitum nappelus.
Finally getting around to cut back and dig up the dahlias proper this weekend. It’s a job I hate doing but I know it’s worth while and have taken note of what I am keeping, what’s getting moved and what can be divided for next year. Trying a new tagging system this year that should do the trick this time with plastic labels, permanent marker and string. The ones that have been lifted were tagged and washed down on the grass and then left to dry for while before being put into a canvas bag to store over winter like I do every year. Still a good few more to do but should have it done next weekend. Also cutting back loads of my perrenial stuff that finished and just piling everything up in a bundle for now until I get a chance to bag it all up…oh how i’d love some big compost heaps.
I was away for a few days and the garden is fairly sad-looking, but a couple of things are good. One is this Cosmos, which had loads of buds before i went away and I was afraid might be caught by frost before they opened, then another late starter, Dianthus, and the Rudbeckia, Cherry Brandy is really doing well now.
Of Dahlias that are still flowering their stems off 😉
