Month: August 2016
To some decent gardening today, and boy does it need it. Good day in prospect so enjoy if you can.
Most Clematis aim to please by producing masses of blooms whether they are the Montanas who are smothered with small blossoms or the later flowerers with big brash colours but there is also another group with delicate flowers and one that is flowering in my garden at the moment is Clematis Luxurians.
I first saw it scrambling through the borders in Heywood Gardens and had no idea what it was called. Then I spotted it scrambling up the side of a shed in Mount Venus and Oliver there promised to source one for me. It was a little slow to get started but this year it is getting there!
Bought this lovely plant a good few months back mainly for it’s big silvery leaves to go with the theme of the garden here and was never bothered if it would flower or not but delighted to see these stunning purple thistle like flowers coming out on it. The bees seem to love it aswell.
On another note I have recenlty bought a Samsung Galaxy Tablet and I cannot sign into Garden.ie on it or my phone which is also a Samsung. Does anyone else have this problem??
I enclose a link to my video of this beautiful place last February and one of the devastating photos from today. Please share and consider donating to rebuild.
I am delighted to learn that my book, Journal of an Irish Garden, was reviewed in the South African Cape Times on 12th August. See photos.
And a reminder that the book is for sale from the following site, in case anyone does not yet have their copy…
Journal of an Irish Garden by Rachel Darlington (Paperback) — Lulu IE
Well here we are near the end of August already!
I just cant believe how quickly these past few months have gone by and we are at the end of Summer almost!
There have been a lot of changes in the garden since the start of this year and its great to look back on the photos from the past 4 years even and see how much it has changed over the years. I’m just delighted with how its turning out and its everything I have ever wanted!
This year we did some dramatic changes. The pergola’s were added and the centre bed was extended to almost three times its original size, which once housed the small water feature!
I love the lawn but I love the flowers even more, so we decided to put in two more circular beds in May, which have really added interest to the garden and they have grown so much and are so colourful!
Last but not least was the Tree Fern circle. Now this I just love. Yes its still in its pot and will remain there until its a bit taller and that way the underplanting will be seen.
Overall Im really delighted with how its looking and on evenings like tonight after the grass has been cut and the borders edged, its great to look out and admire all the work that has gone into it.
Hope you enjoy the album!
I probably say this every year but this Clematis has excelled itself this year. I must say I did feed and mulch it a couple of times this year, starting in Feb when I cut it back to 1 ft (that’s the norm for clematis in the Viticella group). At the moment It’s part of my morning walk with my first cup of tea!!
Elizabeth, photos of Dahlia ‘Cafe au Lait’ from the garden this year.
It’s a fine big plant, big flower, nice colour – “cafe au lait” describes it well.
Paddy
It’s two years since the front garden revamp and I am pleased at how it’s looking this summer, with the newer plants having put on good growth and settled in well alongside the existing ones.
I’ve posted an album, covering June, July and August, if you’d like a look.
We had the pleasure of travelling down to Roscommon yesterday to visit Kate & Graham. Some of you may have visited Kate & Graham way back in 2011 when they had an Open Day. Steve and I were amongst those people, but I can honestly say that there were a lot of areas that I just didn’t remember. It helped yesterday that we stayed overnight. I find that I notice much more when I’m on my own having a look around at my own pace. I took in more this morning at the crack of dawn (06.00) with a Cappucino when everyone else was still turning over, and wandered about wallowing in the natural world of surrounding trees blowing gently in the breeze, birds going about their business, and bees and butterflies.
Kate has planted over 100 Beech trees surrounding their property, and I’d say within another year or two they will have their much needed wind protection.
A good portion of Kate’s garden plants have been grown from seeds sown or cuttings.
We had wall to wall sunshine for the visit. Had lunch outdoors yesterday in comfort, and dinner today with even higher temperatures.
Kate also is very successful with her indoor plants. They thrive, not just ‘exist’. Her greenhouse houses some nice Cacti and Pelargoniums. Also Plumbago to die for. The grapes were big, fat and juicy. Picked a few this morning, but don’t tell Kate. LOL.
Thanks to both of you for the lovely break from our humdrum routine.
Took some cuttings if this nice flower from Mums garden this evening . Fine big ground cover and about two feet in heights . Very soft stemmed .
The Paulownia has grown four feet this summer .. I love their large umbrella leaves up to two feet across .
Good evening all, just thought id show my red hot pokers and my first dalia, both shining in the evening sun, pokers are full of wasps yuck but are pretty to look at.
Not only are they bee magnets but the butterfiles love them too! Does anyone know which butterfly that is with the wings closed? They didn’t like having their photo taken and flew off on me before i could identify him. I know the one on the right is a Small Tortoiseshell.
Bought these just after the garden was done two years ago as I need something that would make a statement and stand out either side of the steps going down into my garden. Now when I bought them they were small and didn’t do much but small was cheap so happy to wait for them to grow but I must say this year they have really come on and with a feed of water mixed with epsom salts and regular watering throughtout the summer they have reallyh come on and started to really green up. A really super plant to have.
Bought this as a tiny plant last year. I think it’s Veronicastrum? I do hope it bulks up quickly or I’m likely to pull it up thinking it might be a weed. All I seem to be doing these days is pulling up weeds!!!!!
I’m also including a photo of Feverfew and Globe Artichoke which I think is quite nice.
This has to be one of the most beautiful herbaceous borders I have ever seen.
Sorry I can’t upload a full album of my visit to Arley Hall as I use an iPad, but here are a few more photos.
Another few photos.
On a recent visit to England we went to see Bluebell Cottage Gardens near Dutton in Cheshire. The garden has been created by Sue Beesley, BBC Gardener of the Year in 2006. The gardens are just a half hour drive from Manchester, but your are transported to deepest rural England in that short space of time. The gardens are packed with flowering plants which brings in an assortment of birds and insects. The layout is very relaxed and fits so well into the surrounding countryside.
Bluebell Cottage also has a nursery which has a wide selection of plants for sale, propagated from their own stock. Prices are excellent for lovely big healthy plants. Needles to say I purchased a few. My favourite of the plants I bought has to be Hosta ‘Empress Wu’ and a Kniphofia ‘ Timothy’.
Bluebell Cottage Gardens and Nursery also had a display garden and plant exhibit at Tatton Flower Show this July.
So I got a lovely Tree Fern from my eldest daughter for my birthday in May and it was put into the greenhouse border for the time being!
But I was never really going to leave it there as it was getting knocked against everytime I would pass it. And I always wanted to put it somewhere where it would be ‘seen’ properly. So with that in mind I asked politely if I could have another little circle made to house my Tree Fern!! And yep he obliged.
So now my Tree fern sits in its own little circle and is underplanted with some Heuchera, Tiarella, Ferns and an assortment of small Sedums, for now! I left it in its pot for now until it gets bigger, otherwise it would be quite close to the ground as its still in its infancy.
Im really delighted with this now as I can see it through the patio doors as soon as I walk into the kitchen. Its still in the shade, as we have the huge Norwegian Maples that tower over that side of the garden but getting some light also.
As Im new to these, Im just wondering will these new fronds fall off in Winter. I know it can be somewhat hardy and I would be advised to put some straw in the crown when the frost comes etc, but Im just wondering do the fronds stay or what happens. Its producing fronds every weeks which is just great to see! If the temp decreases too much I can always bring it inside in its pot!
A good friend rang today and told me that there was a Buddhas head in Hennessy’s garden centre . I immediately went over and there it was exactly what I wanted in every way except price! But my dear son had given me a generous-very-birthday present, I also mentioned that the Buddha had a slight chip on his nose so that brought the price down a bit and I was able to purchase. There was a break in the rain at five and I was able to wheelbarrow my find down to the bottom of the Scrub and set it up on one of the big boulders I had resurrected yesterday. I left the cement ball where it was. The Buddha is quite large and very white at present but I know it will weather well. I enclose some photos,
Deborah literally dropped a few seeds of eccremocarpus scaber into my palm at the January ’15 get together and here is the result.
Three lovely plants – all different colours. Thanks Deborah!
This evening, I was struck by the beauty and also the number of flowering stems on this plant. It has a strange habit of the flower stem hiding itself away under the surrounding plants, but I have been cutting down and back the spring heather in its vicinity and hidden away were three stems with these lovely flowers. I don’t often see them as good as this.
I had actually forgotten what it was called and was about to ask you for help with the menu_order. however, I decided to consult by notebook, and eventually found it listed. I bought it in May 1988 in Lisowen Nursery. No price mentioned!
Other plants bought then were: prunella webbiana ” Little Rec Riding Hood” and Prunella webb. “White Loveliness”. I eventually disposed of both these plants as they were too rampant for me. The grass in the bottom garden is actaully full of prunella /self-heal.
Heuchera Palace Purple is still going strong.
Snapped these photos this morming.
This Saturday I have some friends calling to “have a look” and partake of some food and drink. And there is a lot to look at. Where do I start to describe all the delights on offer in a garden in early August this year. The large lilies offer colour and scent in abundance. Roses are repeating and crocosmia fill the garden with deep red and burnt orange. the lighter coloured ones will come later. Clematis is fading but the dahlias are just starting and they will provide interest until October. New to my garden this year is a bed of gladiolii and the first of them are just opening. they are lemon yellow and bright red and they will surprise the visitors on Saturday. They are next to a bed of strong red dahlias “bishop of llandaff” and the two beds will compliment each other. Aconitum provide blue colour but just now there is no purple. The clematis provided that. But some dianthus may still fill that part of the pallette. Oh and the phlox is almost purple, if slightly pink.
And this year also, when the time comes there will be an abundance of fruit. Apples, pears and, for the first time, plums.
All gardeners are marvelling at the abundance of growth this year. Trees and shrubs are taking over and will need controlling later in the year. But there are advantages. There is less grass to mow where shrubs have spread. And the grown shrubs and trees have changed the garden from a cold exposed one to a very sheltered one where suddenly all things grow.
