Month: February 2016

….I missed a lot of it  

It was such an amazing day yesterday. After a frosty start, my favourite type at this time of year, we are almost always guaranteed a beautiful day. And that’s what we got. 

So I was up and out for my walk with ‘the boys’ Early to take advantage of the morning time  

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to do anything in the garden as I had an eye appointment in the hospital after lunch, but I did get to fill my feeders late in the evening. It was bright up to almost 6pm which was great to see. Only a few more weeks and the clocks go forward  then we can really get going in earnest  

While out walking I couldn’t help but notice these massive trees on this green which I pass through. No idea what they are. They looked great with the blue sky backdrop. You know what we have all around us is often lost because the weather might be a bit grim. And it’s only on days like yesterday that you really appreciate what is actually just on your doorstep 🙂 

Here is some of the crocus I planted in my front lawn as the ones I had in the back garden last year didn’t do to well and the grass is bad enough out in the front garden so I decided to plant some snowdrops and crocus out there and now that they are coming up they seem to look very well.

A real indicator of how clean the air is around us is the presence of Lichens growing on trees etc. Some great examples of these in Kilmacurragh the other day. These two photos I really liked.

Have a good day.

Snapped these photos of my Primula ‘Pink Ice’ which is flowering it’s socks off since early december and my Hellebore ‘Double ellen Purple’ which is now in full flower and happy to say it really has come on great since last year.

Lost my last journal so here goes again…

I started putting our own mulch on the garden today. Of our three compost bays, about a quarter of each is usable. I will buy more but there is something magically about mulching with one that was made by us 🙂

I also got strep potting underway, a job that was on my conscience for a while. Feeling happy that the guilt can be assuaged.

The two photos show Camellia ‘Debbie’ and a supposedly black cymbidium called Cali Night ‘Geyserland’. Those buds are looking alarmingly pink to me for a black flower :O What do you think?

I chuckled to see PeterW’s photo of his lovely ‘Double Ellen Purple’ hellebore earlier this evening.  A couple of years ago I bought two hellebores in Lidl, one called ‘Double Ellen Purple’ and the other ‘Double Ellen Picotee’.  They were not in flower and only one appeared the following spring.

What’s in a name? It’s nothing like Peter’s purple one, neither is it a picotee!  I’m not complaining as I like it and it’s doing well.

For many years I also had a white oriental hellebore in the back garden, alongside various pink ones.  This year it has vanished and I don’t recall digging it up.

It was a lovely day here today and looks like we’ll have a few sunny days this week; hope you can all get out and enjoy them. 

I was reading through the journals last night and saw Myrtles with her tulip. I didn’t get a chance to post mine so here they are!! 

I too noticed Tulips yesterday while out in the garden. It’s very early isn’t it. 

These two are dwarf Tulips but I dont have a name for them. I love the colouring on the first one. It’s a soft lemon and pink. It’s beautiful when it’s fully open. And then the little red one amongst the daffs. 

You never know what you find now. It’s amazing

Bought this Aeonium at one of the fairs two years ago. I managed to stop it flowering last year. But having brought it indoors from the greenhouse over this winter it has begun to flower.

It WAS such an attractive plant. That is, until I noticed a flower spike developing on it. The trick is with this plant NOT to let it flower as it’s monocarpic. However, I couldn’t stop nature taking its course. It’s about to flower now. And instead of it looking like a dinnerplate, it’s beginning to look more like an upturned soup bowl.  Very unattractive. Disappointed. But will try and get another one. 

Flowers are almost there. So I hope to save plenty of seed and try propagating that way.

My neighbours have acquired two very cute cats and I do like them very much but the problem is they like to scratch about in my garden, especially in my little veg patch.

As you can see my veg patch is all ready to go now. I weeded it out last weekend and raked over the surface. I intend to sow some lettuce etc shortly and I’m afraid the cats will scratch them out. I need to protect my seeds and young plants so has anyone any good ideas around this?

A friend of mine suggested laying chicken wire or netting over the surface but would it be difficult to lift the in time without destroying the plants??

Well, I have the propagator out now. Just need to give it a bit of a wash. Can’t believe that I don’t actually have any tomato seeds. I’ll have to rectify that tomorrow.

Mary, you gave myself and Gretta some seeds from your garden last year. They’re in an unmarked bag, but I think they may be lily seeds? Do you remember which ones, please?

Just got it cut before the rain started! Not great, but better than it was as it had got really shaggy.

Snowdrops, Daffodils Crocuses (a bit late) and flowering Shrubs.To day was overcast but good for gardening. Other days this week were sunny but a contrast between front and back. The back seemed warm, south facing while the front appeared quite cold. I never had the daffodils so early as this year. They were there not only in February which is early but also in January. Not only the ordinary daffodils but the small ones tete-tete. To day, I spread fertilizer into the rose beds treating over 100. The roses have shown quite a bit of growth and I am looking forward to very early roses. To day I also got down to digging at the back garden. As I was digging, two robins came along to get something live from the soil. It was not conducive to doing it early on and even though the soil is light, it will take some more time for it to be right. The seeds have germinated and are inside a window facing  south. Included are Antirrhinum (from last years flowers) Calendula, Alyssum. Nicotiana seeds were sown a bit later and should be germinated soon.

A very old daffodil, dating back to 1620, is flowering now in our bulb lawn. We were lucky enough to be given Narcissus telemonius a few years ago by a friend in Limerick and it has flourished in our garden since. This daffodil is also know by it’s common name ‘Butter and Egg’. You would still see it growing in the gardens of derelict cottage all over the country. Welll worth including this bright yellow daffodil back into our gardens again.

I am looking forward to the meeting of the Enniskerry Gardening Club next Wednesday as we have Zoe Devlin as our speaker. Zoe is a contributor to The Irish Garden magazine and author of two books on Irish Wildflowers. we shall beerring in the Parochial Hall, The Square, at 8pm and would like to welcome any garden.ieembers who  would be interestied in attending what promises to be a great evening. For more information look up the Enniskerry Gardening Club Facebook page. 

Here he goes again, I hear you say, pottering LOL

I had a few hours in the garden over the last few days, things needed doing but I wasn’t in humour really so I took the easy way out and pottered. Try it folks it’s really relaxing.

One combination I am getting to like a lot is this Euphorbia purpurea and the Daffodils, photos don’t do the real effect justice at all.

Have a good weekend and hope you find some pottering time at the very least.

Finding myself with a free day on Thursday, I made my first visit to Burtown House Gardens near Athy, inspired by the report and photos from Gracedieu Lass’s recent visit. I wasn’t going to post an album but was so taken by these gardens that the camera had to come out.

Burtown House was the home of botanical artist Wendy Walsh and now of her daughter, artist Lesley Fennell, whose beautiful paintings are displayed in the adjacent cafe and gallery.  Everywhere in the garden their artistic influence is evident, from the sculptures in the grounds to the layout and planting of the gardens themselves.  

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and plan to go back when the gardens reopen for the late spring and summer season. 

It’s not too often I get comments from the troops here about plants. But one growing in a pot right by the front door has received a few comments about the ‘funny’ flowers on it.

Nice that it is noticed I suppose 😉

A second Grevillea cutting that I got from Myrtle last year I think is producing a few flowers, which I was delighted to see. Myrtle if you see this, would you have the full name by any chance please?

Just out surveying all the work ahead of me in the garden and spotted the first wasp of the year. 

Smashing day out there so I’ll put the brushes on hold until I make a proper mark on the garden.

Good afternoon all, wet and damp here in west Cork, one of my succulents opened up to me this morning, such little flowers in a cluster, not sure of its name but it sure is a beauty

Its not easy to take photos of plants that are so minute AND with a dodgy back!!!! 

So I had to get down on my knees to take these photos. 

My Muscari are coming into flower alongside my Snowdrops. Soon that little corner of the garden will be awash with blues and whites and some yellows thrown in too. 

1st day of Spring today and it’s blowing a gale out there, but very mild too. 

I read in today’s newspaper “If things continue as they are, perhaps, in years to come, St Brigid’s Day might well mark the first day of summer.”  The weather does seem odd, especially if spring begins in March. I wonder if global change is influencing when flowers appear.

We all have different ideas as to when seed sowing should start. 

Some like to wait and others, well,  like me, have no patience and want to get get going now!! 

So with that in mind, I took myself down to Lidl just to have a look. Found a few of the ‘usual’s” that I thought I would get going for now. Have a huge amount of seeds collected and bought over the past couple of years too. Must check those out too. 

Hoping to get a free hour or so later today and I will get going on some of these. 

There is definitely a buzz in the air, Spring has arrived for me 🙂 

I was able to get out into the garden just after ten this morning. The grass was nice and dry in the front garden so I decided to cut and edge the two lawns. Not surprisingly there was a lot of grass due to the mild weather we had over the winter. The sun this morning had the snowdrops and crocus fully open, which is lovely at this time of year. 

I took a few photos of the garden after lunch and then cut and edged the grass in the White Garden. The plants in this garden are well ahead for the time of year with Primula ‘ Dawn Ansel’ and Primula ‘ White Petticoat’ in flower. I also noticed the blossom is on the White currant and  Brunner ‘ Betty Bowring’ and Lamium orvata have started to push through the soil. A lovely day to be out in the sunshine, but was rained off at about four thirty with a shower of really cold rain. It is nice to be back in to a warm house now  after a really enjoyable day in the garden.

Eilish kindly gave me this gorgeous plant at the Get together in Johnstown.

Now Im not great with house plants. I have 2 peace lilies for about 5  years and the only reason they are still alive is that they thrive on neglect!! Otherwise I kill them with kindness and probably too much water!

But this plant is  thriving now. Its still in the same pot, which I will change tomorrow. And the foliage on it is just gorgeous. There is a small pink flower just budding now. I believe this can grow quite tall, well lets just see how long it will last. I really hope I can do it justice.

So any advice would be more than welcome!

I was like a woman possessed this morning. Got all the housework done, shopping, phonecalls out of the way, visited Dad, and then out to the garden. It was a cold but lovely bright day. I was well-wrapped up and ended up too warm. Got nearly three refuse sacks of BROWNIES that I was too lazy to do in the Autumn. Seeing new shoots on Clematis now. Pulmonaria, Foxgloves, and so much more all coming into leaf.

I did a bit of weeding on the Spring Border but really didn’t need too much. It’s proving to be quite a maintenance-free zone, thankfully. It’s going to be a riot of Spring colour very soon. All the miniature daffs are almost there, and Muscari, Crocuses are out in full force. Sedums are looking so delicious with their new growth.

Over the cave, where I can’t climb up on at this stage, is relatively free of weeds. Shouldn’t take too much work when the time is right. Came in exhilerated after a couple of hours in the fresh air. 

Did a bit of weeding in the North-facing border and ‘lo and behold, I discovered growth on the little Aconite corms that Kitty sent me last year. Not in flower yet but looking very healthy. Nearly stood on a few. I do really love the smell of soil.

Then spent the afternoon painting. I was so busy today that I forgot to eat until just an hour ago. Boing! Boing! Boing! Spring is definitely here, and I’m lovin’ it!