Month: May 2016

I know I swore I’d give up on veggies but I mentioned that the gift of some seed potatoes put me in mind to have another go – so here’s an update – The spuds are up and have been earthed up, two kinds of peas – MAngeTout and Garden peas are starting to reach for the chicken-wire supports, the onions are thriving, I’m still harvesting the Purplr Broccoli and broad beans have been sown. The lettuce from the greenhouse is still producing outdoors, some coriander has been planted as have some carrot seeds and last but not least the Strawberries are caged up! Last year the birds got ALL my strawberries so I reckon its my turn this year!

So after all that, I;m off to catch up on the 17 days of journals I’ve missed and then I might have time to read my Irish Garden 🙂

It seems that I’m gathering more and more pink flowers for my garden in my old age. I was never a lover of pink, preferring more vibrant, in-your-face colours or even black. I must be mellowing finally. 🙂

These are two recent purchases. I find the scent from garden pinks/Carnations is just so intoxicating. I did have Aquilegia ‘Winky Blue’ years ago and only got about three years altogether from it. So I’m prepared to give it another go with its ‘pink’ sister. Pretty, isn’t it?

Nice day out there so far!!!

No gardening time today as I had family commitments. But when I had a free moment, I wandered about checking on the latest blooms. These two beautiful Irises had opened up. No idea which ones they are, but loving them all the same.

Just a thank you to Jacinta, Fran and Accsean for their advice which has been followed. The proof is in the pictures. The maple is looking its old self again.

Some of the leaves were just that, a single leaf rather than a whole shoot. I just removed the leaf but will keep my eye on the growth this year.

Between the two of us we managed to give the grass a much-needed strim and cut. It had been allowed to grow like a meadow over the last maybe 5 weeks as neither of us were able to do it. But Steve couldn’t bear to look at it any more. David put his heart and soul into raking it afterwards.

So with one more cut tomorrow, it should be looking a bit more normal for this time of year.

Delighted with this Alstromeria ‘Indian Summer’ that was given to me by Drumanagh last year after my own one died. It’s opened up now.

A second lot of Dutch Irises open yesterday, but I knew before they opened there was an issue. I had bought I. White Van Vliet but as I watched the buds start to open I knew some were not as named.

Either way I love the white ones and think the misture of the two colours works very well.

Have a great day folks 😉

This is one super plant and makes a real statment in the garden. Sadly I can’t allow it to set seed as it’s blocking too many plants that are already under some pressure from this big un LOL

I am going to have to find somewhere else to place this plant because it’s a real keeper in my book.

Just back from my holidays since yesterday. Couldn’t wait to get out and explore the garden and see what was willing to greet me. Great to see the foliage on a few Acers. My dwarf Rhododendron ‘Ginny Gee’ is in full flower now. But surprisingly enough, even though the tulips were showing well before I went, they were stealing the show with their vibrant colour.

Looking forward to getting out for a proper look some time today.

Happy Bank Holiday Monday!

Well it’s sunny but very blustery. 

We seem to get a day here and there and then nothing. Let’s hope the forecasters have got it right that from next week it should improve. 

These pictures were from Saturday when it was a really lovely sunny day. This is the garden from a different angle  

The dogs love to be out in it as much as I do lol. And always seem to photobomb every snap I take!! 

The Double primroses are in flower now and looking very good, I just love them.

In the photos are Brittany Blue,  Sundae and Melenoc’h all from Barnhaven.

It is a while since I posterd, but in the last few days I have been gardening more and enjoying it, as the weather here has improved.

Here are some magnolias.  In fact recently my magnolias have not been so good, as they were growing near a large oak, but with the help of a son I cut down part of the oak, and I think this has improved things.

Hi all, 

Just back from a week in the sun, came across some lovely flowers as we all do when away, these 3 really spoke to me, wish i had the nerve to take some cuttings, but as always Big Brother is always watching, i know the big red and white flower, but have never seen the other 2 and such beauties they were. Hope ye are all well, i will take some shots of what greeted me on my return today tomorrow,

Have a lovely evening all

I planted a whole load of tulips together last Autumn and think they are just looking fantastic now. the orange and purple are just super together and are two colours I hope to replicate around the garden for the summer with some dahlias as they are really tropical colours. Gorgeous day here today and looks to be a good week too with temperatures picking up.

Today was such a good day and I decided to get out and get loads done. Cut both grass out the front and the back to start with to freshen the place up. Then dug a nice big hole and mixed in loads of Donkey Manure and planted out my Red Banana Ensete, The forecast looks to be getting warmer here over the next week or so and think it should be fine form now on. Also on the note of planting things out I have planted 3 Dahlia Happy single flame with the banana and a few more elsewhere in the garden as they have grown into fine healthy plants in the greenhouse. LOts going on now in the garden so it will be full steam ahead for the next few weeks to get all dahlias and plants in waiting out and into the ground.

I know some people class these as weeds and hate when they self seed, but I love them and sometimes they just self seed in the right place. Ok sometimes in the wrong place.

In the photos I planted some of these in the shady area under the Sumach trees. And this year they have self seeded also. Just as I like it. This area is really coming into its own with the grasses, daffs, snowdrops, primula, hellebores etc.

It has come from a dumping ground by the previous owner to a nice woodland area now and filling up nicely!

Did a bit of tidying up yesterday, and having a closer look at what the garden had been up to during my absence. Lots of Dandelions had to be dug up. The neighbour has a whole lawn full of them so I think I’ll have my work cut out for me for the next while.

Found tulips growing where I never planted them (in the Spring Border). So once they’re over, they’ll be whipped out of there. Peaches are coming on great in the greenhouse, as are Hedychiums. Hedychiums are being evicted today as I think they are big enough now to withstand any late cold weather.

One plant that has delighted me for years now is Arisarum proboscideum (Mouse Plant). It’s doing its thing right now. Hope David gets to see it before it goes over. He was too small to appreciate it last year.

It looks nice enough out there now but my day is already mapped out for me. But………we’ll see.

Have a nice day.

Some great colours in the garden right now

I have this Clematis since my last house and took a slip with me to this house, thats almost  4 years ago now!

It has been moved about a lot but last year I finally decided on this South facing wall and keep it in check so that it wont get too long and end up over the wall, with only the stems in my garden.

A few weeks ago I gave it a small trim and I noticed that the buds were forming. To be honest it exploded in the last week. Then this morning I was surprised to see a couple of buds have opened into these beautiful flowers!

This is a great plant and there are thousands of buds on it waiting to open!

Nothing much to report today. The Lower Pond was looking well in this evenings sun.

This journal is basically testing how the photos appear.

The men arrived on Saturday last to do a bit more work on the formal area. We discussed how to proceed for quite a while as it’s not easy creating a formal area with straight lines on this site.

In the end, we decided to lay the path first before the box hedge and the men thought it would be best to build a wooden framework for the path. I got some lovely black cobbles and I’ve seen how they weather to a lighter colour – I’m quite pleased with them. 

Then the area had to be levelled out and the soil distributed between the 4 quadrants. It’s beginning to take shape.

I think I will grow roses inside the box as recommended by Joan so if you can recommend any continuously flowering old fashioned varieties let me know.

Gidday all,

              trust you & your gardens are all well.The patch is going into Winter mode but still abit of colour around & plenty of leaves falling.

It’s amazing the amount of growth in the last two weeks. Hostas are doing really well and literally bouncing up out of their winter hibernation. Had to laugh yesterday when I spotted the one in the bottom photo. I thought he looked like he had a cloak wrapped tightly around him to ward off the cold.

My Camilia ‘Debbie’ has decided to make an appearance almost 2 months later than normal. Generally this is the first to open. Very late this year and not a lot of buds either. But what buds are there are beautiful, so I don’t mind. The foliage is very lush too 

Yesterday was just a great day, well except for the hurricane winds!!! But overall a lovely day for the garden. 

As I have the little ladies these next two days, I won’t get much time to myself, so I made sure to get out and do some tidying up. 

Jimmy had cut all the edges for me on Tuesday evening, so it was just a matter of running the lawnmower over the grass, doing a small bit of weeding here and there, and planting a few stragglers also. 

You can really see the growth in the garden now with that extra bit of warmth. Now we just need it to stay 🙂 

Hi all, was away for some much needed sunshine and cme back to all my lovely shows around me, such a stunning welcome. Hope ye are all enjoying all the colour that is opening up to us every day now. Enjoy