Month: May 2016

Thye Clematis Montana really comes into its own. I loved the shadows on the wall. You never think of shadows being part of the plant’s beauty, but the leaves make such delicate shadows they’re lovely in their own right. 

Well, we don’t have larks here, but hey. Maybe it’s just that I’m a bit cuckoo, getting up that early to watch the light grow. But it was glorious, and the birds were like a full orchestra, with the blackbird and wren out-singing each other (the wren won on volume!), a soprano chaffinch doing an aria behind me, and all the others coming in with a marvellous chorus. 

Took some photos as the sun came up. Aren’t gardens lovely in the morning light? You can’t see any weeds!

There is a touch of ‘Lannigans ball’ with the sun today as it can’t make up its mind, in one minute and out the next but either way it is another grand day.

The yellow flowers on Magnolia acuminita are very attractive and later than the other Magnolias in the garden.

R.nancy evans is a fantastic hybrid Rhodo for flowers and i know it has a special place in Frans heart. It isn’t quite as free flowering this year after a bumper year last year, but even still the trusses that have opened are magnificent.

The third shot is of R.ponticum variegatum, one of the few variegated Rhododendrons and a very free flowering one at that. The Rhodo to the front right is R.graziela, which i featured a few days ago.

Lovin’ this time of year when everything is pushing up and enjoying life. My Arisaema was looking totally delicious in todays sunshine. You either love ’em, or hate ’em!

Briza Maxima

Not much done in the garden yesterday except cast a critical eye over everything. This Weigela is flowering fully now and looks great planted (not planned, I hasten to add) right beside this Osteospermum that’s been there at least three years. I think the two shades of pink look lovely together.

Another great pink in the garden at the moment is this Leptospermum scoparium. It’s literally been flowering for months now, and so many more flowers to open. Such a great value plant, I wouldn’t be without it.

What a super day yesterday was. JoanG and Myrtle had a quick look around the garden here and then we were off to collect Rachel and on to Coolaught Gardens in Wexford.

Sky to sky sunshine all day, you could not have asked for a better day. One purchase was a Calychanthus, a new colour in my garden here.

I’ll add photos of both gardens later on.

On Thursday evening last our local garden club visited the gardens of Clary Mastenbroek and her late husband Dutch artist Wout Muller. The garden was original the site of a flax mill and the walls that survived the years have been left standing to create the enclosed garden that exists today. There is a stream running through the garden with a beautiful arched bridge crossing it. The garden is divided into many different areas like a fernery, a wisteria walk, a lavender field surrounded by roses and a lily pond. In the former dye house, a pool has been laid out with water filtered by beds of reeds. Throughout the garden there are sculptures strategically placed. Hedging is used to divide the garden and also cut into different shapes which adds so much to the overall effect of the garden. A very different garden with a European feel.

I will have to upload the photos over a number of journals due to using an iPad.

I’m fairly sure that this is “Clarence Druce” which I got from some kind person at Johnstown 3 or 4 years ago. It was planted in the bed across the little path from where it now is, so either travelled under the path or self-seeded. The original one hasn’t started flowering yet.

Battery ran out so only uploading them now.

Some of the old walls from the mill which are still standing.

A few photos of the hedges in the garden.

As ever, my front garden does’nt get much of a look in really! I do what has to be done and keep it tidy etc but I much prefer to be in the back, its more private and definitely nicer too!

But today when I was coming home, I spotted the two rose trees that I took from my Mams house about 20 years ago, where did that time go! They had been uprooted from her house, then to my other two houses and now here and they are still doing just brilliantly. The scent off the yellow one is just amazing and brings me right back to those Summer days in her back garden!

Also coming into flower now is Laburnum. This I bought in Woodies as a small shrub for €8.99 at the time and it was about a foot tall with very delicate stems, which flopped over. Over the years it was in a pot and when we moved here just under 4 years ago we brought it with us and planted it out in the front garden. It has grown so well and now has a very woody stem, a proper shrub! Its quite exposed out there and the wind howls down the main road, but it never falters to flower. During the Spring, Jimmy pruned it right back, took about 3 feet off it as it was getting so tall. Its just a nice size now and the flowers are lovely hanging down! It was hard to get a good photo as it was very windy today. 

Fran has already posted about our visit to Rachel’s and Coolaught Gardens yesterday.  What a super day!  The sun shone all the way and Rachel was, as always, a most welcoming hostess.  Most of my photos are of Coolaught and this must be because I was so struck at the huge undertaking that is Rachel’s garden and we were so busy chatting that I forgot to take out the camera! 

Rachel has a beautiful ornamental garden covering an acre in lovely Wexford countryside. I lost count of the number of beds and borders.  Rachel has started the big job of mulching them all with horse manure with an eye to a large group visit in late June.  She also has a greenhouse full of choice tender plants and succulents; plants that have to come out of the greenhouse and be planted out (and lifted again in autumn); a hardy orchid bed; a kitchen full of of orchids and other well tended house plants; trees and shrubs that need tending and pruning; lawns to cut; an array of pots of persicaria waiting to be planted out on a new bank, etc, etc.  And she also writes for The Irish Garden magazine and gives talks!  

She carries all this hard work so lightly and is so warm and welcoming to visitors.  Hats off to you Rachel and thanks for a great day, and to Myrtle and Fran for good company too. 

Another job that has been on my mind to do, as it hasn’t been done in two years. But weeding between the paving slabs had to be done by hand. Looks a lot better now. That’s another job off the list. Going to spend the next few days just taking it easy.

To day, after some warm and some wet days, the weeds really had sprung up. I had given a lot of the time I had to the front garden, especially the roses. To day I decided to tackle the back garden and the weeds had flourished. Some were easy to remove, like the dock and wild carrot, also Forget me not, although not a weed (I sowed it several years ago but it never fails). The one I am about to report is the giant Hogweed. I have found this hogweed here very much compared with other places. I remember years ago going to my doctor, complaining about a burning, itching sensation, I had. I was told it was an allergy and told about ways to get relief, Clarityn and Piriton. True enough, I got relief but the question was what caused it. The doctor told me that it could be something growing in the garden. Some time afterwards, I heard on radio or TV about this Giant Hogweed and knowing that I had it in my garden, I made sure to avoid it. I had been told that children got serious burns from it. Now it is a case of getting rid of it by physical or chemical means. To day was cool compared with other days this week. Also the rain came in the afternoon so the idea of spraying had to be deferred. I have read it up in the internet and have been told that it was introduced to this part of the world as a flowering plant. Would you believe?

These are a few snaps of the bog garden – well it is meant to be wet but it not at all now but it backs on to the ponds with a path going up between. Bog garden on one side five ponds ever decreasing in size on the other side. I think this is the best time of the year for the hostas just when you have the foliage and before they start to get tatty.They seem to love it in this bed. Bit damp and cold here in Cavan today but better weather on the way

A strange journal title perhaps but today as i was strolling around looking at the many members of the Rhodo family in my garden i was minded of one of Gary Larsons ‘far side’ cartoons which had two apes sitting side by side eating bananas and one says to the other  “you know, Sid, i really like bananas… i mean, i know that’s not profound or nothin’… Heck! we all do… but for me, i think it goes much more beyond that” Well that is me with my Rhododendrons so nothing for it but to show three more.

The first is R.alfred, a hybrid that was raised many, many years ago, and a very reliable bloomer it is.

The second is R marcel menard and this is another hybrid that flowers well year after year.

The third is of an un-named Rhodo and it does my head in not to know which one it is, i will work it out eventually as the white anthers aren’t so common.

Hazel gave me this plant in 2015 at the get together. It is one of my favourite plants in the garden. It has the most beautiful foliage all year round. Last year when it flowered they were in the shape of a Catherine Wheel. A huge circular of flowers all the way around the plant, I have never seen anything so beautiful. 

Once you keep the lower leaves tidy it will reward you will lots and lots more fresh foliage. Its just coming into flower again now!

Thank you so much Hazel for introducing me to this lovely plant!

I grew this from seed last year as well as “Green Apples” and it’s just starting to flower now. Both came free with magazines, wonder why Irish Garden doesn’t do more free offers?

My late mother-in-law always referred to Columbine (Aquilegia) as “Concubine” – so in her memory here are three beautiful Aquilegias – or Concubines if you prefer – that I have for the first time this year. Two were gifts from .iers  and the third is from Bakker. I love them all! I plan to move them to where the other ones I have are doing well – especially William Guinness. Sadly I seem to have only one remaining of the lovely yellow ones I got from Liga many moons ago.

I haven’t been online for ages due to lots of non-gardening activities but the past week has seen me back into my old routine – losing all track of time and finally coming in to make food at about 9 pm! 

As I was uprooting as many of the Spanish Bluebells as I could I realised I was not a moment too soon as there were several definite hybrids among those I lifted so to be on the sure side I’m also removing all the flowers of the native ones too. I do realise I will probably have to repeat this for a while to try and preserve the native ones but I reckon that it will be worth the effort. 

So having completed that task it was time for some “real” gardening! Weeding paths is a high priority as I want to try and avoid using weedkiller if I can. So to encourage myself I’m trying to keep a note of how long it takes to weed each section – that way the task feels a bit smaller 🙂

So the path along the Laurel hedge and round by the Oak trees took about 4 hours and the path alng the opposite hedge AND the border beside it also took about the same! I get a real kick out of seeing the paths looking tidy and if I weed them carefully they stay clear for most of the season – well, apart from having to do the occasional “dandelion hunt”!!!

Photo 1:Aquilegia is in flower now for a while. Sowed from seed last year and it has really bulked up and have it in a number of places. ‘McKana Giants’ was the name on the seed packet.

Photo 2: Got this as a small division from Mary (Keego). Really love this and have it now in a few places. Even when it is not in flower it looks really good. I do know its name but havnt time to look up its proper spelling!

Photo 3:Have never grown Honesty before… Sowed last year and it has flowered for ages. Love it silverly seed pods which are now forming.

Some deciduous Azaleas for you this afternoon, all of the ones shown are hybrids.

I’ve just put up my May garden. Oh my goodness there is so much to put in it’s hard to pick lol. Anyway it’s just a flavour of how it is looking now. Great to look back on them all over the past few years and how’s it’s transformed.