Month: July 2016

We all like getting new plants, don’t we?  Despite having a very small garden, I find some plants too hard to resist.  Here are three that are new to my garden this year.

Hemerocallis ‘Catherine Woodbury’, a nice pale one which I fell for at Bay Garden on my last visit.  

Viola ‘Molly Sanderson’, added to my little perennial viola collection and I love the black flowers.

Astrantia major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’ is a gift from Mary (Keego); the foliage is green and cream when it first appears, then goes all green shortly after flowering starts. I love the pink deep within the white flowers.  Thanks Mary, really like this one. 

After spending last Saturday in the great company of Doreen and Mary in Helen Dillons garden, I was delighted to be asked to come and see their gardens. 

So today, Friday, I got to see Mary’s wonderful garden. Doreen’s is next on my list!!

First, we met in Pergola, in Virginia, a fabulous, if expensive, garden centre which was full to the brim of all sorts of plants. There was a huge variety and the scent coming from the garden centre was just amazing. We met up with Doreen here.

So after a couple of purchases we headed to Mary’s garden. And what a garden this is!

Driving up to the house we pass a beautiful border full of colour and so bright and inviting. Then up to the house which has a magnificent island in the centre of the driveway. This was just amazing. Here are the 5 ponds which Mary has in her garden, one leading from one pond to the other. Again lots of beautiful planting, Hostas, which were enormous, Stipa gigantia, Dierama, Ferns  and lots more  plants that you would see in a bog garden. 

Mary was telling us how she wants to have a garden when she looks out each window of the house and she is certainly achieveing that. When we entered the Kitchen, she has this magnificent cottage bank outside this window. What a wow factor this was. Steps leading up through the bank and just lots and lots more plants and shrubs, endless varieties and colour, a magical place. Also out  here is this lovely old cottage, which adds to the beauty of this garden, with a climbing Hydrangea growing up the side wall, magnificent. 

Then outside the patio doors, is a beautiful cobbled area, which is used for eating outside whenever they can and the views are to die for also. This was one of the beauties of the garden, no matter where you looked it has such lovely views.

More stunning beds surround the front of the house, which flows down to a lovely shaded area. Lots more shade loving plants are here under beautiful trees and shrubs. This area is more a Spring garden, but still had some lovely plants. Everywhere I looked there was something more to see and such wonderful plants. Mary said ‘Just tell me what do you want’ well I was like a child in a sweetshop!! I wanted everything but I dont have the space, luckily Mary has and its a real gardeners haven. 

There are so many areas in this garden that Mary and Gerry have lovingly made their own. You can hear the excitement in Mary when she was telling me about when she first moved there and how she had all these plans on what she wanted and how she wanted to develop the site. And by the looks of things these plans are certainly taking shape.

I had such a lovely visit and so glad that I got the chance to go and see this garden. I came away with lots of lovely ideas about planting and schemes and the names of more magnificent plants.

So thank you Mary and Doreen for another lovely day and such great company. I thoroughly enjoyed both my visits and hopefully we will get to see a few more gardens before this year is out!!

Well, I got the best of help in the garden today. It has been Steve’s first day in a long time that he has been anyway ok for a bit of garden maintenance. Maybe David’s visit had something to do with that. He has Steve nearly wrapped around his little finger and long may it last.

David got the most important job of all, cutting back the Lupins by the Lower Pond right down to the ground. He was as proud of punch with his efforts. Then he weeded in between the paving slabs on the patio. The difference is amazing. Steve managed to scoot down to ground level and dangle his feet into the pond and whip out all unwanted growth. Now the fish can breathe a bit easier as the overgrowth takes a lot of oxygen out of the water.

Zoe cut back the seedheads of Carex pendula so now my Lythrum is completely unhindered, and looks ready for action. All garden rubbish was bagged and everywhere tidied up afterwards. It has been THE most productive day in the garden for over 7 weeks and it’s looking great, and all I did was issue a few orders. LOL I could get used to this.

Spent the day getting ready for the open Day tomorrow – grass cut, hedges trimmed, last minute weeding, even the pond got cleaned ….. just as well I have some helpers! Even got a chance to make some buns – and the Weather-man is back on my side again with the weather set to clear by lunch-time!

Do hope to see some of you tomorrow!

Some photos taken in July to show you what to expect …

Last Saturday as Jackie has already posted Doreen Jackie and myself had planned a visit to Helen Dillons garden. The plan was that we would meet in Jackies about one thirty have a quick look around Jackie’s garden and then head on to Ranelagh.

Well you could not just have a quick look around Jackie’s. What jimmy and Jackie have achieved here in a few short years is remarkable, The restoration to the house is very tastefully done with a lovely open plan kitchen dining and seating area all backed up with double doors leading out to the most colourful garden I have ever been to. It is this colour that draws you in to the garden and to be honest I did not want to leave. 

There is a lovely symmetry to the garden with wide generous beds at each wall and in the lawn area three lovely round beds packed full of colourful plants. Beautiful pergolas built by Jimmy with climing plants rambling up through them. The addition of the patio greenhouse and potting shed gives Jackie everything she needs to maintain and enjoy her little slice of Heaven. There are also some lovely quirky features which really add to the ambiece of the garden 

I can not begin to list of the plants that Jackie has it would be much easier to list what she has not got and her soil seems to be good enough to be able to grow all different types of plants – she has definately got green fingers having grown a lot of the plants that we admired from seed or from Cuttings. As with all gardeners on this site Jackie is very generous digging out plants for Doreen and I as soon as we mentioned anything we liked. 

Suffice to say we were still wandering around Jackies an hour later taking in the beautiful surroundings which has been achieved by a huge amount of hard work.It is time now for this pair to sit back on their beautiful new patio and enjoy the fruits of their labour but I doubt this will happen – I can already see the wheels in Jackies brain working on their next project.

Jackie and Doreen are great company and we had a really great day another one to add to the bank of memories of great gardening days out. 

I prefer to be behind my camera, rather than having my photograph taken. But he was quick off the mark today and captured me without my knowledge. But at least it proves that I’m not just good at giving orders. I have been doing a bit of work in the garden myself. And taking a chair around with me is a great help. It’s beginning to look a bit more tamed.

Last night when I was posting the journal on the Visit to Jackie’s garden my internet was really slow so just got time tonight to load the album. Have a look to see the colour the colour that I was talking about and some lovely shots of Jackie in a place I suspect that she is at her happiest.

We planted a fruiting cherry in our Orchard it was not really with much ambition of getting cherries that we planted it but to provide a variety of trees in the small area. Well over the past number of years we have had a few cherries that is the ones that we were able to save from the birds. But this year what a difference each limb of the tree was loaded down with cherries we have picked box after box and they are so delicious and still plenty for the birds. Just wondering if anyone else has had good success with their fruit trees this year.

We all know how Hazel works so hard in her garden when we read her journals. It is three years since I visited this wonderful garden, I was blown away with how the garden has matured, changed and developed in that time, all of Hazel hard work has been rewarded back to her with a garden that is filled with interest and room after room that flows seamlessly from one to another along many of her paths that are not just placed there, but carefully positioned to lead you around the garden in various directions so that you can transverse this wonderful garden in many different ways enjoying it from many different view points.

The garden is developing a real mature feel now and it is so obvious that Hazel has a serious eye for planning and detail.

Sitting on the decking with Joan having a cuppa, you felt no need to speak, you just wanted to soak up the scene in front of you.

Hazel the garden is a credit to you, there is a real feeling of restfullness from the time you walk in the gate. Delighted I made the journey, great chatting with you again and thank you for opening you piece of heaven for others to share.

Thanks to Joan for the company and a quick tour of her own garden and of couse for the few plants I came away with LOL, where on earth I will be putting them is the question now.

A lovely afternoon in a very special garden has left me looking once again at my overcrowded space here and saying once again, serious thinning out is required.

Thank you Hazel.

Recently had the opportunity to meet up with Mary(Keego) and Jackie and see 3 great gardens all in one day!

Jackie’s Garden was a fantastic display of colour that as soon as you entered her openplan kitchen/living space your eye was drawn out through her double doors to her wonderful display. There were curved beds along the perimiter of her garden packed full of many wonderful plants, 3 big circular beds, climbers along the walls and many quirky artefacts hanging from trees and on the walls  that makes Jackie’s garden a very special place to be in.. She has put alot of work into this garden which has certainly paid off. Jackie has everything in place that every great gardener needs: a glass house, a shed for tools etc, a patio for relaxation, and a hardworking handyman!! Jackie thank you for sharing your  piece of heaven and it was great to meet Jimmy,your lovely girls and of course the two dogs. I have put up a small album.. I have alot more photos but the site will not allow them to show right way up!!  

Next up was Helen Dillon’s Garden. I know alot of you have been and Mary and Jackie has already given great desciptions so I will keep this short.  It certainly is a fabulous garden that has been loved for many years.. For me it was great to see some ordinary plants that I have in my own garden growing away among many other special ones and I also liked the way she had placed seating randomly around the garden to take in the view from different angles.. It is a well tended garden but with a relaxed hand. The lady herself was out and about and was very happy to answer any questions.  I have put up an album with my highlights and it certainly is well worth a visit.

Last but certainly not least I managed a quick stroll around Marys piece of paradise on the way home.. I have visited this garden on a few occasions now and each time it is a joy to see. Mary has lots of wonderful mature shrubs and trees and beds packed to the full. Like the previous gardens there was lots of colour everywhere. Mary’s passion and love of her garden shines through when you talk with her and she has lots of plans for a new bed which I will look forward to seeing.

I’ve been thnking about the whole business of having visitors to the garden. For me is is a great pleasure to share my garden with anyone who takes the time to come by.  I remember the first time I visited the garden of a member of this site – way back in maybe 2009 or 2010 or so and this garden was beautifully kept, perfectly weeded, cleverly laid out and a real joy to visit. I came home with Brendan and discussed with him how I thought our garden would never have enough interest for people to want to see it.

Within a couple of years I plucked up courage and invited my .ier friends to visit the garden and all of you who came have been so encouraging that I have been bold enough to do it more than once!

Last year I had a charity event in aid of Laois Hospice which was succesful way beyond my expectations and the charity really reaped the benefit.

This year I decided to try a “regular” Open Day and see what would happen. I was so happy that so many people came and particularly that they had such nice things to say!

But what I really want to say is that every visit is different – it is a great pleasure to walk in my garden with friends who know it and chat endlessly about the various plants particularly plants we have shared over the years – but is is equally enjoyable to guide newcomers round and tell them the stories that are the part of every garden. And then there is the visit of just one or two friends – this also is a delight!

It is a constant surprise to me when I see what catches the eye of a visitor – plants I pass by on a daily basis take on a new life when a visitor exclaims over them!

So a huge thank you to all of you who have ever taken the trouble to come down to the heart of Laois to share my garden with me – and to anyone who would like to come visitors are always most welcome! 

Aren’t these just super plants, great strong colours, fabulous interest as the flower buds develope and change as it flowers.

Well earns it’s keep in any garden.

Have been doing a good bit of clearing. Its unbelievable the way that blessed convovolus smothers roses and even shasta daisies, Im going to keep a much sharper eye on them in future and head them off before they pounce. However I have cleared two big beds and have made room for more stuff! Have to get to glanbia, Was in Flowerpower in Kilkenny and got two lovely little conifers- a mugo and golden tuffet. They went perfectly into the rockery and two portuguese laurel which went with four others,

Ill try to get up a before and after photo of the above. Oh after all the tugging and pulling it was lovely to hit the river! And then I came up and went down to the boggy area. I have a ‘rill’ in the bottoms but it has turned into a drain full of messy mud! I’ve managed to dig out a bit more so it may yet revert to ‘rill’.

Theres another area where I had some of Paddy’s astilbes and some from June Blake’s-doesnt Scrubber mix in august circles! and by digging around some rocks and edging some backs it has become a nice little area. Ill try for a photo,—it isnt I see a very clear one-sorry you can see the big rock on the left side and theres a ligularia in the foreground

Sorry I also made a mess of the photo album didnt manage to put in them all and wasnt able to caption them. I will improve I promise!

I tried this several times years ago sowing into the ground with very little success, but the last year or two I’ve tried it in containers and it’s working much better. I have Clarkia, Godetia and Osteospermum coming on nicely now in this container which was my Kris Kindle present in Johnstown a few years ago.

3 absolutely super lillies flowering here at the moment and I really just think they are fantastic especially  the way the petals curl back. The first one is Lillium Lady ALice which I aqcuired from Lukon bulbs earlier in the year which is a site worht checking out if you have the patience. 2nd is Lillium Citronella Leichtlinii and 3rd is Lillium Lancifolium. 3 great lillies which I hope tp bulk up quite a bit here ot have around the front and back gardens.

Just after my last post at the end of May, things went a bit pear shaped in this household. My hubby suffered a ruptured disc in his lower back which has led to damage to the nerves at the base of his spine. He is not out of the woods yet.

We had a holiday booked to the Dominican Republic with a group in June and he wasn’t able to go. I did go but had to return early as my brother’s wife died. A difficult time for us all.

I am still trying to keep up with the garden but haven’t really caught up with all the jobs as yet. I have taken on a lot of projects this year and it has proved a bit too much for me. The new border at the back is doing well but the formal rose garden needs a bit more work. Then there are all the usual demands….

The garden is a great solas at a time like this and even better news is that a swarm of honeybees has taken up residence in one of our hives.

Seeing as some of you  have put up some lilies, I thought I would share a few of mine ;). 

I just LOVE THEM!!! 

And another 3 to admire 😉 

Well talk of living and learning. Headed to BQ today to get paint and a few other bits.

Colour Cuprinol I wanted not in stock so forced myself to head to the plants…..huge effort!!

To my great surprise I  find a yellow Salvia never knew they came in yellow. It is Suncrest Golden Girl. Sort of a dainty looking plant but having read about it since I came home gather it is quite tough. Tempted to head to Cork again and get another one. It is yellower than in the photo.

Also got a lovely Phlox  Rec Carribean. No photo yet.

But wanted to show you a lovely Crocosmia called Culzean pink. Got it years ago and it was a very slow spreader. That is until this year when having culled loads of Crocosmia it just took off with a take over bid. It is a small flower that never seems to open fully but very pretty IMO. Lucifer is in the background.

Finally the Red Gladiolus with a white rim. Every year I think I must track down more of this and then forget.

I’m really loving Begonia, a plant I wasn’t too interested in up to a couple of years ago. 

These are stunning at the moment. The white ones are new and they look like edible paper flowers in the sunlight. 

Im really surprised at how well they have all done as I literally neglected them all through the Wintwr, no water, nothing, and they repay me like this

Mother Nature is wonderful!! 

Normally after the initial appearance of tiny fruits on my peach trees in the greenhouse, I allow them gain a bit of growth. Then I thin them out so the remaining peaches will be encouraged to grow bigger.

Then midway through the summer, I remove a lot of the foliage. And any that is left behind is sprayed to deter Peach Leaf Curl.

I only have three peach trees, and admittedly I don’t get a lot of fruit (maybe 7-10 in total). And the ones that I get are relatively small compared to a shop-bought peach, but just as delicious.

But this year has been a case of NEW KNEE – NEW ME!  Laziness personified. LOL. I didn’t thin out the fruit. And it was only today when I thought I had left it long enough, that I removed a lot of the foliage. Wow! Was I in for a fantastic surprise. I was out there so long I had to take the fold-up chair with me.

I now see the mistake I have been making for the last few years. It seems like I was thinning out the fruit needlessly, and removing the foliage, or even spraying the remainder, has been totally unnecessary too. If the immature fruit is exposed to the sun at a very early stage, it stands to reason that they won’t be as big when they ripen. The foliage that had been left in place until today has given them that extra bit of time to grow fully. And now they are going to ripen at a more natural pace. I only wish I could have produced a photograph showing the entire crop.

I counted nearly 70 peaches on just three trees. I think I owe my gratitude to my Orthopaedic Surgeon. LOL 

There is a flower that strikes fear in the hearts of many gardeners – and that flower is the Jaanese Anemone (Anemone Japonica).

 In my garden they are a signal that the main summer is over and things are starting to move towards Autumn.

I have a tall one with single Mauve flowers that towers in majestic splendour in a flowerbed behind my greenhouse. This is one that my mother and aunt also grew which has come down to me via my sister Elizabeth.

I chose a full and fluffy pink one fro the garden of Brendan’s first wife to commemmorate her.

Mdm Jaqueline Jobert is pristine in my woodland and fernery (but didn’t want her photo taken!) and last but not least there is a semi-double of a rich pink colour that is busy colonising the area at the end of my garde (Thank you Fran!)

Such tall and elegant plants hardly deserve to be avoided just because they have World Domination in mind!

I wouldn’t be without them for sure!

After the last two weeks of fine sunny weather, the soil in The Lane is very very dry. However, despite this the plants are still flowering away. The most impressive tree looking good now is Eucryphia nymansay, a lovely white flowered tree which will flower for the whole of August. As far a I can remember, Mount Usher Gardens in Co Wicklow has a national collection of  Eucryphia, something to watch out for, if visiting. Hydrangeas are also looking good and the flowers are looking so fresh in the light shade  of The Lane. 

Also growing in The Lane are some different varieties of ferns, which are great to cover the bare legs of shrubs and trees and help to give a lush feel to the planting. Anemone japonica, a great plant for dry conditions, is now starting to flower and will continue well into autumn. It maybe somewhat invasive, but planted in the right place, can add a bit of late colour to the garden over the coming two months.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow and here in Waterford will be welcome, but not for too long.

Padddy bought a pot stand a few weeks ago from one of the local DIY stores for me to display my auriculas. It was a brown/bronze colour which did not fit in well with a little table and chairs that I have just at the back door and where I was putting the stand, I decided to paint it.  A bigger job than I first thought, so six/seven coats later, it is now installed with succulents for the summer and hopefully, auriculas for the spring.

I always like to have a display of pot plants outside the kitchen door throughout the year. This summer’s display is made up of Fuschia ‘ Lady Bacon’ and Fuschia ‘Checkers’ and the lovely soft leaves of  Senico along with some Agapanthus.

Starting into flower now also is the beautiful blue flowered Plumbago, just gorgeous.

You were all so fortunate that you were not in the vicinity of the Scrub today as Scrubber surpassed himself in eccentricity. As mentioned recently a very nice rock sank beneath the mud in the rill. Well the brainwave hit today. The Mud is seriously only at most two feet deep and then its solid! So if I had waders I could get at that rock and lever it up. Alas Scrubber had not waders but the river runs beside his garden! That’s relevant as you will see. ‘What if Scrubber wore his swimming togs and stepped into the rill-I’ts not too cold it’s not too uncomfortable and the river is beside me! So he slipped on his togs and a tee shirt and got into the mud-not at all bad. People passed on the bank but he stayed very quiet so was left undiscovered. But and here’s the thing-even though Scrubber could get his hands on the rock and had it been on dry ground he could have tossed it around , nevertheless the mud sucked hard and the stone wouldn’t budge. Nothing for it then but to get himself out, easily enough-then wrapped in a towel down to the river bank where he plunged in and lost his knee- length balck mud socks and his arm -length black mud gloves in the cleansing waters of the Barrow!

You would think after that He would have acted his age but there were two well sunken rocks nearby and Cherub Lute advised me to nudge them with the crowbar-just to see! A nudge  indicated a move was possible and to make a tedious story short both boulders came up relatively easily and now help to edge the squelchy path. Al Scrubber now needs is a large head of the Buddha for one of them and I nearly got one in TKMaxx today but it had been sold. The kind lady who is used to getting odd requests assured me one would be in again so I shall be on the lookout!

So between the Rill the rocks and the Astilbes another area of the Scrub has been enhanced WITHOUT surrendering its essential Scrubbiness. It looks very natural and as soon as the grass groes back over the expnse of trodden and churned black mud it will be a veritable nirvana-(in deference to the proposed head of the Buddha).

Scrubber also managed to clear up a lot of the undergrowth and the Himalayan balsam and its now a grassy area with a number of salix siberica? And he is putting in four Purple Loosestrife as well for colour.

And now its time to weed and clean Eileen’s bed so that’s for next week! Ill try to put up some rock pictures if I can. The concrete ball is where the Buddha head will be when it arrives.