Month: August 2016
Red flowers are sometimes hard to capture on camera. But this evening I noticed these single red Dahlia were like flames of fire…almost, with the sun shining behind them. They look almost orange!
I seldom take a photo that I really really love but I must say the second one of these three just works for me. It includes Cuphea, Geranium Ann Folkard and Stipa arundinacea which has a new name I can’t recall!
First one is Lily Conca d’or the lilies are growing so tall this year.
The last one is of the big raised bed where the colours are mostly pastel . I never seem to photograph this bed which contains lots of different geraniums most of which have gone over by now.
Did a small bit of weeding in the front garden yesterday. It’s like a jungle out there. But my main priority was to give the Sambucus sutherlandii a bit of a haircut. It’s gotten so big that our property is a bit hidden. I like to have open spaces in the front. Actually, I like open spaces – full stop!!!
But while cutting back the Sambucus I noticed how lovely the bark was, something I hadn’t noticed before. I didn’t take off too much as I love its lime green leaves on the newer growth. I should have planted this one in the back instead.
Putting the bin out for collection I knew straight away these Lillies had opened, I could get the wonderful scent from the other side of the garden.
Standing as tall as myself, these are going from strength to strength each year.
Beautiful if windy day, wish I had some spare time.
I bought this when I visited Mary Keegan last week, in Pergola Garden Centre in Virginia.
I love Astilbe, but this one is a tall variety. At the minute it stands almost 5ft tall and the flowers on it are quite large and a lovely shade of pink. There are about 6 flower heads in total and the foliage on it is like a skirt at the bottom. Really different and really nice too.
I originally got this Verbascum from a member here on the site years ago, Chilipepper. It performs reliably year after year. I thought I had seen the last of it a while ago. But today I was more observant than I have been in a while. Couldn’t believe what I saw. The original plant flowers only up to a height of about 3 ft. As you can see from the photos, new flower spikes have appeared and are way taller than me. That hedge of Escallonia and Lonicera is over 8ft tall. Who’d have thought it would get to such great heights.
A bit late I know but I did take these photos on the 31st!
Cosmos ‘Daydream’, grown from seed this year and I like the colours, so may repeat next year as I have some seed left.
Leucanthemum ‘Victorian Secret’ and Crocosmia ‘Harlequin’.
And this lovely pale blue Agapanthus which arrived as a pressie.
Some plants loking great at the moment. Really enjoying the garden this summer and seeing how it’s properly evolving to my tastes.
There are certain sections in my garden that, despite the neglect this year, I am perfectly happy with. The one in question is my North-facing border. Ok, there are SOME unkempt areas in this border but this section has filled me with cheer for a good while now and still has a long way to go before it’s looking positively Autumnal. Aconitum is flowering now and looks well with Lysimachia punctata.
One job for today is cutting back Cynara Cardunculus (Globe Artichoke) as it catches me on the shoulder every time I pass it by. It wouldn’t be good if David gets cut by it. He’s due to visit this weekend so it has to be done today.
Lots and lots of colour in the garden and more to comes. Have to say this year I’m really enjoying my garden. When I look at it I go, yes this is what I was aiming for, well almost. It’s looking great at the moment, despite the hurricane yesterday!!
These two Lobelia are doing great,
First photo is Lobelia fan Salmon, bought in Dealz as a little baby a couple of years ago and now in a few places.
Second photo is Lobelia fan Burgundy. Again a lovely little plant that adds such vibrancy to the border at this stage.
And third photo is another Lily just opening now. Will need to check out the name. I’ve a few more Lilies yet to open too. Love them. The scent off this is divine.
Went into flowerpower in Kilkenny yesterday to collect four of the above, The funny thing is that the wild one is blooming profusely along the river bank! I wont rob the wild. There is very very little difference between the ones I bought and the wild. Flowers marginally smaller perhaps. But they are exactly right for the astilbe garden near the Buddha, I couldnt wait and had to go down and put them in and was very pleased. Once the grass covers the mucd the area will be lovely. I divided the astilbes as they had made big clumps so the are is well clothed but still wild if that makes sense? Many thanks to Tobin generosity!
Just back from a fantastic week in London and on a quick look around the garden noticed a problem with my Dahlia Australis – the stem has been stripped completely by Wasps – has anyone else encountered this problem with any plant? You can see the number of wasps on the stem in the photos. I grew this plant from seed that I got from Huntingbrook but now Gerry wants to dig it up and get rid due to the dangers the wasps pose. He is right of course I already got stung today just taking the photo!! Anybody got any other suggestions as the plant is on borrowed time
A few weeks ago we visited the rose garden of the well known rose breeder, David Austin. The garden is just amazing in both colour and scent. Enterance to the garden is free, a very uncommon thing these days. The garden is divided into many different gardens and sculptures by David’s late wife Claire are featured throughout.
I am quite pleased with how the front beds are shaping up even though there will be a few tweaks made for next year. I cannot believe how much growth most of the plants put on – some were grown from seed this year and others were dug up from a neighbours garden and split multiple times. Before I mulched earlier in the year I did spread chicken manure on the surface and then saturated the bed and it seemsx to be really paying dividends now.
If I am honest I never expected the height I am getting from the eryngiums; they had fallen over due to the winds we get here and I had intended to chop them for the sake of overall look of the beds but when I got to them yesterday and realised just how many bees were gorging themselves on them I could not do it so I set about the painstaking task to stake each plants multiple flowering stems. It was a very prickly affair but delighted I chose to do that.
I am happy to say that right now my garden is super bee-friendly; between the above mentioned and the two lavender hedges there is literally thousands of bees, most of them bumble varieties all over the garden to the point that when it is calm out all you can hear is a constant buzz. So rewarding, makes all the hard work so worth it.
Two types of Ligularia planted down in the Mini Jurassic Border and the leaves have been chewed to bits. So much so that all leaves have now been cut off. Flowers are still coming and they look great in a mainly foliage border. And right beside it is Senecio petasites which has been mostly left alone this year for some reason. Isn’t Senecio such a tactile plant! It’s crying out to be stroked.
Dissapointment today. First delighted to buy four building blocks -cement- that were to serve as base for the ‘rock bridge’ once I got the rock up out of the mud. However after buying the four fo rless than a fiver and carefully lowering them into the rill, they slid aside in the mud and are now under! And no I cant get them out again. So I can go back to the yard and get more blocks and fill in the rill and then lay the two railway sleepers over that or find some other way of bridging. It was messy and muckyand I got nowhere but I did put in three hostas into Astilbe garden and planted a nice conifer in Eileen’s bed so day wasn’t wasted. Then it began to drizzle so I gave up.
Listoke garden was one of first ones what i was wisiting together with g.ie friends,then i,Maureen and Olga went for little trip around Co.Lauth gardens.Was sunny day then,and we really had great time. There is journal : https://www.garden.ie/post.aspx?idpost=3586
Today weather wasn’t so good,but we wanted go out.So we went..
Girls had great time in very cosy caffee room,we went around garden,and met Patricia her self.Little chat and she show to us her hens and doves,chinchillas and her big black piggy 🙂
What can i say about garden it self..can see that Patricia, after stroke what happen with her 2 years ago, not so strong,and all others have no idea how to garden.It’s still is very nice,but something is gone.
When we were there first time,big house next to garden was empty and needed for renovation,now it is all done and new garden shop is open,Gin school(yes.,yes,Gin school 🙂 ) Beautifu old glasshouse is renovated.
Guess what i got from Patricia???She said, it is with her about 50 years…i think will go back and find out more about its history 🙂
p.s. there is Maureens journal about that day https://www.garden.ie/post.aspx?id=121&idpost=3619
Album: https://www.garden.ie/albumUpdate.aspx?id=121&idalbum=6211
Olga’s album : https://www.garden.ie/albumUpdate.aspx?id=2489&idalbum=6222
Now that the seasons are progressing, I don’t feel the same pressure that I did 9 weeks ago to maintain the garden. But I’ll be busy over the next few months getting things in ship shape in my own time. I’ve a lot catching up to do. It’s been a real eye-opener this summer, it’s only now that I realise how much goes into keeping even a SMALL garden ticking over.
Not a nice day here yesterday, I was happy enough just to take a few photos. Love this combination of Echinops with a backdrop of Arundo donax.
Is it just me or has this been one of the worst summers? Apart from that two-week blaze of great weather in early June, it was an awful cold May, a wet grey July and a cold, wet and windy August. This morning, rushing out in a probably brief spasm of sunshine to take some photos, I saw that all three pond Irises had been blown on their sides, and one had been torn right out of the pot, the soil scattered, and blown right across the pond. Yesterday’s wind was horrible.
But it’s a glorious morning so I’m off out to plant out some new purchases while it lasts!
Well, once again, Steve’s brother has come up trumps. After helping Steve with other stuff inside the house, they both measured up the boards for the raised Blueberry Bed and by tomorrow it will be finished. Then it’s over to Woodies for ericaceous compost and just wait for the blueberries to ripen and be picked. So the Blueberry Bed is 6ft long and three boards deep, giving plenty of room for the 7 blueberry bushes to be transplanted once they’re harvested. The boards have already had a couple of coats of Creocote, and the whole bed will be lined with black heavy-duty plastic before filling.
This job was on the ‘to do’ list from last year. But now it’s almost done, and perfectly timed. It’ll be a relief for them not to have to share a bed with a lot of other acid-loving plants in the Acid Quadrant. That particular bed will be history by this time next year as I’m shifting things around over the Autumn, God willing.
Just thought I’d share these pictures of my most willing helper! She goes home tomorrow and her request for what to do on her last day in Grandma’s was to do some “planting and weeding” !!!!
this wind wont break the stems before the flowers get a chance to open!
I love my Eucomis Sparkling Burgundy and it is just ready to flower, but it is very breezy here today and really not pleasent in the garden although the breeze is warm. However my garden is reasonably sheltered so Im hoping it wont do any damage.
This clematis is in very good bloom at present, not sure of the name as it was from Lidl.
succeed.Well you heard about my failures and how the concrete blocks sank into the mud…Well yesterday Anna and I were going to New Ross and I called into Forrestals at the ferry bridge who are specialists in all manner of wood-planks, mulch etc and I was able to buy three thick strong planks and two crossbars. This morning Scrubber sallied forth and got back into the mud and hauled out the four blocks-not easy as they were filled with mud! Then I dug into the mud on each side of the banks and set in the blocks, This took a lot of setting, hauling out, resetting etc. Next I set out the three planks and nailed the crossbars and the end pieces with big galvanised nails-very big more like bolts,
Then staggered down to the blocks and managed to lay ‘bridge’ across. Of course there was a slant so bridge up, blocks out both sides, blocks back in again, bridge down again and after the day’s work it was there! I was striding across the rill not wanting to dirty my ne bridge with muddy boots but copped myself on and strode across a number of times! No wobbles, no shifts, infact a steady bridge after all! Then I had to relay the squelchy path slabs to come up to it more cleanly and this took time, Then I divided some Hostas and replanted them in the area and also put in some Spanish bayonet-sorry Ill look up the proper name later. You’d think it wasnt a marsh plant but it thrives! and I even managed to find another astilbe to divide!
Thought I would get to planting my latest Glanbia haul but gave up at five and came in.Hope the photos show up clearly.
This from Cherub Cymbals who wanted to know ‘How do you manage to get the ideas INTO Mr. Scrubbers’ head. ‘Especially into Mr Scrubber’s head’ echoed G.Nome and the intonation implied it would be very difficult to get anything into Mr Scrubber’s head. But of course Cherub Lute answered with a kind but enigmatic smile and nothing else. But Mr Scrubber himself doesn’t have an idea! All he knows is that things like Buddhas’ head and the bridge and others just seem to happen. Take today. Mr scrubber had a list of nine items! It started with strimming. There were two patches of flaggers and Himalayan Balsam there for thirty years and more and today under ‘the influence’ they just disappeared and suddenly there was a HUGE area developed beside the Bog garden which enhanced it and the Bridge. But when did the idea come or how did it emerge-Only Cherub Lute knows and he is not telling. If I were to compare Cherub Lute with the great Cherub-anyone see him lately?- I would say that Cherub Lute has a lighter broader touch. not quite as definite or fixed as Cherub but opening up lots of further possibilities. I felt today that it was the first time in a while that things went swiftly and sweetly and I wasn’t exhausted before coming in. Oh and did I mention I only got one of the list items done but while doing it other things suggested themselves-transplanting a willow, removing some sceachs, finding a quite large spindle tree lost in a scrub of blackthorn and briars.
As Elizabeth has said its been a very dry month and lots of plants further up the Srub are suffering-especially the bears breeches which have totally collapse and also I lost a few callicarpa but hadnt got berries from them for a while. Meantime I am revelling in the new expanses of space which should be kept easily enough with an occasional strim.And thats one place where it wont dry out -ever! Thank you Cherub Lute!
Just back from a week in the Adriatic, one stop was on the Island of Mykonos, Greece. The delights that were around every corner of the tiny streets was amazing.
As they say, less is best.
