Month: February 2016

Today turned out to be a beautiful day. I took a trip to Plantagen this morning and the place looked so bleak. Apparently the staff only found out last Thursday that the shop was closing down, to be replaced by Avoca I believe. So by Sunday it was heaving and then today of course a lot of the stuff was gone. Bare shelving and stuff just thrown everywhere , a sad sight. But I didnt come away empty handed. Got a few perennials at half price, so not bad at all.

 Later on I went for my walk. It was quite windy, but not too cold. In the afternoon I decided to head out to the garden to have a little look around. I really couldnt tell you what Snowdrops I have. In fact I would say I have the usual ones that are in every garden. In fact it wasnt until I joined this site that I found out there are so many varieties. And then after seeing PeterW’s journal I was gobsmacked.

Then today after looking around the garden I found what I think is a different snowdrop lol. I do remember buying some before but wouldnt have a clue where they are!

Can anyone tell me what either of these two, first and second photo could be called. I think the second one I got in Dealz, not too sure. 

Also I found some Anemone coming into flower, another which I cant remember exactly where they are all planted!

Im hoping tomorrow will be another nice day, as I really want to plant up some of my Hellebores and other bits and pieces that should be in the ground! Fingers crossed!

Managed to get out into the garden and make the most of the dry days. Did a general clear and tidy up. Rachels’ youtube posts encouraged me to start cleaning and organising my cluttered and dirty greenhouse ! 

I also moved a willow tree to a new position – I hope I got the timing right and I haven’t killed it!!!

Found €100 euro in an old gardening coat so spent it on bedding plants to brighten up my dull sleeping patch.

Unfortunately I injured my knee whilst putting in the primroses’s so now I m sat in the VHI clinic with a knee the size of a football !! Atleast sitting here gives me a chance to read ur profiles and be more active on the site!!

It is a very dull and misty day here in Murroe but thankfully nice and mild. The second of my witch-hazels is in flower now and it is magnificent. I just love witch-hazels but then again i love a fair variety of shrubs. This one is H.jelena which has a light scent, the coppery hues of its flowers are very attractive and when the sun shines it is a beautiful sight. On a dull day like today it is well nigh impossible to capture the effect on camera. It has a lovely shape as can be seen in the second photo.

The third photo is of a Hellebore that i have planted at the base of R.loderi ‘king George’. This one has developed into a fine clump and this one, as well as another i have planted there has produced a lot of seedlings which i have left in situ, the plan being to have an ever increaing display as the years roll by.

Most of my daffs are just starting, but this Narcissus which has 3 or4 heads per stem and a scent and is usually well after the others has been in flower for nearly a week. The Anemone Blanda are just starting too, but that’s about normal timing i think.

Very little time in the garden today as the dreaded grocery shopping had to be done this morning. I did manage to get out into the garden this afternoon for a couple of hours and started to tidy up the Shade Garden. I have given different parts of my garden different names so the work doesn’t seem daunting at certain times of the year. The weather was warm and the sun shone from time to time. I have a few nice double white hellebores in the Shade Garden which add a little brightness along with the snowdrops at this time of year.  I am happy with a shrub of Lonicera fragrantissima, which I bought a few years ago, and which is flowering very well at present and has a sweet scent from the tiny cream flowers.

The weather for the week end is not very promising so unlikely I will get any more work done over the next few days.

A very good talk at our local garden club last night, given by Martin Walsh on plants from the Himalayias which do well in our gardens. His photos were stunning of both the plants and the scenery.

A member of the club had two lovely plants for me, Dahlia ‘Murdock’,a brilliant red flower ‘ and Phlox ‘David’ a sparkling white flower, so came home a happy gardener.

Another dash of colour in the garden now. 

I hope the rain that’s  due later won’t last too long. It’s been lovely getting out in the garden looking around and finding these nice surprises. 

…enjoy natures garden! Have enjoyed a lovely few days away in Westport and although there was rain there was also dry! Time to read Rachel book, walk the Greenway and do our favourite drive through the mountains. 

IAm know the photo will probably be on their side but… 

The hotel where we stay always have large arrangements of real flowers. So I quickly snapped these in landscape mode so hope you can enjoy without twisting your necks! If it doesnt come out right I give up!

Ventured out to move the tulips up away from the pup who has developed a liking for chewing anything that cannot get away . The sedum looks good, maybe the damp agrees with it ? The cordyline was saved from a wind felled parent when the stump developed sude shoots. Funny how nature provides a way . 

It was a lovely day today, before the rain came. It was mild and bright this morning when I went for my walk. But by lunchtime, the rain started and it came down in bucketloads!

It stopped raining here about 5pm and then the sun came out briefly. But then the sky changed to these magnificent colours. Really amazing after such a horrible afternoon!

Can anyone tell me what this shrub might be?

The stem is slightly brownish/red. It has no aroma off the leaves. I did think at first it might be some kind of Cornus, but as it has leaves Im guessing Im wrong!

Any ideas please?

Being busy with non-gardening matters, and with the dicey weather lately, I’ve done little or no gardening since the start of the year, so was really pleased to get out yesterday.  I started with some tidying and watering in the greenhouse, where nearly all the rooted cuttings and over-wintering plants are doing ok, just a couple of inexplicable losses.  Then tidied the border around the greenhouse and tried to make some plans for a revamp of the back border but didn’t get very far with that!  The big bamboo which I bought at Johnstown has had a baptism of wind since planting in its trough by the patio doors; it’s been more horizontal than vertical for the past few weeks and I’ll just have to hope it will forgive me and settle in. 

Spent the afternoon sweeping, weeding and picking up leaf litter in the front garden. Our neighbour’s holly bushes shed leaves all year round and guess where most of them land! Though Fuchsia ‘Hawkshead’ was putting out new growth and flowers (hasn’t stopped since last July), I went a bit mad and gave it a severe pruning, so fingers crossed there!  The front garden is coming on well since the revamp in Summer 2014; crocuses, snowdrops and two hellebores are now in flower, with daffs to follow and the shrubs and ferns providing a pleasing foliage backdrop. Finally came indoors at about 5.30 as the light was fading; feeling a bit stiff in the joints today but happy. 

you enjoy the February colour in the patch,it,s been a pretty good year for the roses I thank whoever that they are really hardy,survive they have & the fragrence is a real bonus.

As promised Scilla maderensis.

I was shocked to realise I hadn’t been here for a whole week! I’ve been doing other stuff this week but did manage to get outside in very short bursts. The small pond area has been tidied and there are plans for a bit of reorganising when my next garden helper arrives.

I decided to change focus down to the end of the garden on Wednesday and was disheartened by the scale of the tidying up required so I decided to focus on a small border along the edge of the Rose Garden fence. This border has a lovely yellow climbing Rose that gets a bit over-run by the Hymilayan Blackberry on the other side of the fence but this year the Blackberry has been properly pruned and tied in so the Rose may have a better chance this year.

Last year I removed aubretia that was the main plant in that border completely because it was getting too leggy and had become over-run with scutch grass. Instead I planted a couple of Monarda which at leaset survived, a Sage that is only half-hardy and a few other bits and pieces. I did a really thorough job on this small area and finished it off with a generous mulch of my own compost.

Then this morning I took a stroll around the fromt gardens – really my Spring garden – and was delighted with the variety of flowers already giving colour to the garden!

What a weekend! I got out on Saturday and continued mulching some of the beds but got quite wet and think I might have got a dose out of it.

Then got all enthusiastic and made a long list for today but the weather got even worse (if that was possible) so I ended up just working in the tunnel for an hour or so doing a bit of weeding and didn’t get near the list.

Took these photos as it was getting dark. Some of Iris Katherine Hodgkins which I always wanted but am loathe to put out when it is so wet.

Things are still carrying on in the garden. 

Haven’t had a lot of time this weekend, so only got out to look around yesterday before the deluge happened!! 

This little Kaffir lily is just about to open, yes in February!! 

Im also loving this Tiarella. ‘Pink Skyrocket’ which I bought in Johnstown. Throwing up these gorgeous flowers, but even the foliage is beautiful. 

This Hellebore, again bought at Johnstown, but last year, is now bulking up lovely too. 

Its great to see the growth appearing from underground too. It makes your heart swell and knowing that we are nearly there. Just hang in there for another few weeks and it will be go go go !!! 

I have this growing in a pot for the past 3 years and it has really grown up into a lovely shrub. 

Yesterday it opened up its first flowers and they look super. Thwy are so white and crisp. Lots more buds on the plant so can’t wait to see them all open. This Camellia is quite advanced to the other two varieties I have. One is C. Debbie, which is nowhere near flowering, nor one unknown Camellia I have which I got from my sister , red I think in colour, the buds are only for,img on it now. 

But they are great shrubs and I love their glossy foliage too 

is the last of the roses to bloom,fruity fragrance is abit different from the norm.

Your Spring must be just around the corner hope it,s kind to you all.

The Hellebores continue to open and the one in the first photo is a particular favourite of mine. The second photo is one i am delighted to show as it is of a flower from a seedling in my own garden, it is always special to see something new.

One of the finest foliage plants i have ever seen is R.roxieanum var oreonastes and it is a true delight all year round. If you ever come across it do not hesitate and you will have a treasure in your garden.

I was out on errands this morning and I took a wander out in the garden before my jacket came off. Gosh, it was bitterly cold today. Normally my Camellia ‘Debbie’ is the first to bloom. But I was surprised to see that C. ‘Berenice Perfection’ is first off the blocks this year. And it’s my smallest Camellia.

Tete-a-tetes are looking good at the moment. Will post a photo when they’re all open. Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’ is opening now too. Love this one.

I was introduced to this plant through Hazel a couple of years ago, when she gave me my first seeds. 

They grew well but not a flower in sight that first year, nor last year. So I decided to bring this one plant into the greenhouse and overwinter it. 

Its not doing too bad. I’ve limited the watering and it’s producing leaves all the time. 

To be sure of fresh seeds, I bought a couple of variety of Ricinus from Seedaholics before Christmas and will sow them around March. I really hope I see some flowers this year!!!! Although I do love it’s foliage too. 

A few photos of Helleborus orientalis from the borders in the walled garden at Altamont gardens, Carlow. A huge number of hellebores are for sale in the garden centre as you will have seen in Rachel’s video, one more beautiful than the other, but expensive.

Plants that do well in the acid soil of Altamont Gardens.

……….but they give so much pleasure at this time of year.