Month: April 2016

Gretta and myself paid Mary and Paddy a visit on a wet Wednesday in Waterford last year. Mary had a gorgeous succulent growing all around one of her greenhouses and very kindly gave me a good chunk to take home with me.

Happy to say it’s now looking well, and flowering away. Thanks again, Mary.

Ice follies, looking a bit soggy in the gale

Ice Follies, looking a bit soggy in the gale. One of my favourites.

I photograph my Lane every Friday between twelve and one o’clock in the afternoon and most Friday’s the weather is horrible, either raining, just about to rain or having just rained. However, yesterday when the sun was out and the sky was blue I took a photo of The Lane in it’s spring glory. So, here are two photos with sun and without, because with the sun it is really a lovely spot in the garden and not always a soaking mess.

I visited Urban Plant Life in Cork Street yesterday so I was on the bus. And on the way home when I got off the bus I spotted these lovely Chaenomeles planted up against a garden wall that’s painted white. Obviously there used to be a flower bed before the owners decided to concrete the driveway. And they’re still flowering. Just three plants and spread nice and evenly along the wall. They make a nice splash of colour.

I was so lucky today to be given this lovely camellia. Camellia ‘Bittermint’ is an early flowering white camellia and  I have seen it flower as early as Christmastime. It is only a very small plant at present, but has a very good root system and with any luck should turn into a beautiful plant.

My first Camellia of the year to flower is usually C. ‘Margaret Davis’. But this year there are a few different ones that are way ahead of this one. I was putting it down to giving it a severe hair cut last year. Loads of buds on it, but I was thinking that they would be too small to actually open.

Delighted to see today that it has finally opened. And sooooo worth the wait. It’s my favourite of all my Camellias.

Last Saturday the Spring Show of Derry and District Hort. soc. took place and we were treated to the usual blaze of glorious Spring flowers on the show benches. 

It was interesting that this year, we had a number of new and novice competitors, who had really nothing to learn as they won several cups.  One of these had tutored himself from uTube. His entries were perfect.  And here I am just bumbling along!  However, the trick of all the Cup Winners, is that they are growing their daffodils in Buckets in Cool shelter.  Mine are all out in the open ground and should be open in another couple of weeks.

The 1st picture is of a few of the entries in the Intermefiate Collection Classes. 

The 2nd picture is of a display mounted by the Judge of the Daffodil section, Derrick Turbitt.  He is a breeder of daffodils and these can be seen and obtained from Ringhaddy daffodils, Co. Down. Isn’t that display just perfect, with every flower looking you straight in the eye and standing up very proudly? 

When you think of the great Irish breeders of daffodils  of the past and the huge businesses they ran, ie Richardson’s, Co. Waterford (?)  , it is sad that now the only business that does the whole gamut: breeding, growing and retailing in Ireland, is Ringhaddy.  

The most prolific Irish breeder these days is Brian Duncan, who is well-known the world over. Some of the  early daffs. he bred a long time ago, have proved to be very strong and lasting.  They are still being used as parents in hybridisation.

On Sunday a fellow garden club member and I went to the Spring Flower Show in Claregalway.  Saw these two ‘bug hotels’ in the front area of a local school nr to where we parked our car.  Isn’t it just a lovely idea for the children to engage with nature – schools have come a long way since my day!!!

One of the best and most reliable daffs I grow here and is a cracker too. Looking great today a t lunchtime in a brief bit of sunshine in between the dreadful weather.

Can anyone tell me which Narcissus this one is please? I’ve had it a few years now and have still to get a name for it. It has foliage that very much resembles chives if that’s any help.

My Magnolia ‘Stellata’ has just started to open. I have to say that it has made a remarkable improvement since planting it out into the open. It gets better and better.

I’ve been sowing on a staggered basis and pricking out when ready and then, probably not what you should do, re-using the trays and compost for something else. This is actually a vegetable rack, but just fits seed trays perfectly. the white plastic came off a year or two ago, due to being out in all weathers when hardening off, so I removed what was left of the plastic and painted it, but it is getting a bit rusty again. I have another all plastic one, designed for plants I think, but it doesn’t fit the trays, but still comes in useful when this is full. I have various Cosmos, Rudbeckia, Coreopsis, Lavatera, Marigold, Globe Thistle and maybe others.

Took a walk around the garden today in between the showers and took a few photos …daffs are looking good right now,still a lot more to open and also more tulips to look forward to… had a visit from Mr Fox into the garden this evening ..he was happy to sit and let Graham take some photos…they are a bit dark but it was getting late when he came …..

Hello all, after yet another long absence from the site I return once more with the intention of posting regularly but once the season gets into full swing I usually find it difficult to do that. Anyway, I start this year full of promise like never before due to having set up a heated bench in the tunnel. All manner of plants have been born on it already; basal cuttings rooted, last years cuttings brought on, the usual suspect veggie plants germinated, fragments of roots/plants following plant divisions during both autumn and the current spring. It always facinates me how quickly roots are produced but even more so when given a little thermal encouragement.

So thanks to my good gardening friend Bernie who kindly donated a soil-warming cable and a thermostatic controller I have a year of promise ahead; normally I would have just sowed veggie seeds but this year I will have echinaceas, monardas, petunias, rudbeckias – all of which are already a few weeks old.

These plants are all destined for two new large island beds in the centre of each of the front lawns which have also been planted up with earlier divisions of plants from both my own garden and Bernies – got to love those herbacious perenniels.

Over the passed few years I have been steadily expanding the range and amount of plants, developing new beds, axing older ideas and nuturing plants as they mature and I aim to share some of these over the next while and hopefully continue the lifelong learning process that is gardening.

Most of mine are nearly finished but i spotted this one today.

…….winter, beautiful spring sunshine along with all the birdsong to egg you on even more. Today I planted two more apple trees up front to balance out the planting in the two front lawns up towards the roadside boundary; about two years ago I planted the three paperwhites in the attached photo and at the time just laid fabric down in a triangular shape to kill off the grass and of course keep the weeds at bay. Then two weeks ago I got a notion to finalise it with trimmed-back after-flowering heathers already growing in various places around the garden and the last of the stone I got a few years back from a local farmer (some of you may remember that).

The bed which already has many names such as the night garden – due to some cheap solar LEDs installed, the heather bed – for obvious reasons and Jesse/Alfies final resting place (even though they are not yet deceased – the two girls are looking for cats, lol) has mostly erica darlyensis underplanting the birches in a bark-mulched triangle with a single large limestone boulder, serving as a seat to rest and ponder, led to by a series of leftover paving slabs offset by a nice dense clump of Pheasants Tail (one of a few grown from a seedling given to me by Lady Gardener). I like the contrast between the “lump of rock” and the “frilly ball of feathers”.

To make mowing around the edges easier I used much smaller stones dug out from various beds over the years to create a clear zone around the perimeter – very little goes to waste in this garden.

Two new ones in the garden this year both of which I’m really pleased with.

N. Double Fashion which is a beauty.

N. Pink Pride which I bought to make the vote of last year which I believe was a great day of the people of Ireland. I do like it but, a name like N. Peach Surprise may suit it better.  😉