Month: September 2016

On Monday my sister-in-law and I had a day out to visit the famous Mount Stewart gardens beside Strangford Lough.  Neither of us had been there before.  We had planned to go in August and were wondering if we had left it too late but we were not disappointed.  

After a quick tour of the public rooms in the house, we headed out to the formal gardens where there was lots of colour and plants were lush, vigorous and thriving, especially dahlias, an array of salvias, fuchsias and late flowering clematis. I’ll be seeking menu_order’s on a few plants later.  We enjoyed the Italian and Spanish gardens, the terraces, the animal statuary and the topiary.  There are lovely walks through woodland and around the lake and beautiful views over the lough from the Temple of the Winds. We didn’t get to the walled garden (next time!).

Seeing such vigorous plants, we assumed a rich heavy soil but were wrong.  A gardener we spoke with explained that the soil is light and too densely planted to work around much so they spray with liquid feed once a week in late spring and summer, mulch tender plants for winter (they don’t lift dahlias, cannas, etc) and apply a good dose of horse manure about every five years.  With the gulf stream effect and great shelter provided by surrounding mature trees, the gardens have their own microclimate where plants clearly thrive.  

Photos are taken with my phone, so not the best quality, but hope you enjoy the album. 

This has suddenly put out loads of flowers, I’ve been giving it the odd drop of tomato food when feeding the annuals, so it must have liked that!

At this time of year each year I feel chuffed when I see how well these three plants compliment each other – Sedum (no name), Knautia macedonica, and Oxalis. I don’t normally get planting partners right, but this fits right into my own personal tastes. And Nerine bowdenii which is just out of the line of vision in the foreground has begun to open.

Was there wind last night ? Came down to find my Yashmac on the ground ! Oh well more space now for flowers and roses I suppose . Just back from four days in Flanders with some friends and  little tired still . Great trip for anyone into history etc . 

Spring is coming! Spent a happy morning yesterday planting up pots of narcissi, tulips, sparaxis and iris reticulata, and planting out camassias and erythroniums. Somehow it does make the prospect of those cold, wet, windy months bearable to know that there are lots of new bulbs to come. 

My poor little Brugmansia that I got a few years ago from someone on this site (from a cutting, I think) was thoroughly neglected this year. But as soon as I was able, I gave it a bit of T.L.C. Lots of water, and more feed than ever before. Last year it produced one solitary flower, but it had dropped off overnight so I never got to see the flower. Today, during a quick inspection in the greenhouse I spotted a flower. Now, let’s just hope it’s still there tomorrow, and until the flower actually opens. Don’t know whether it will be cream or yellow. Either will do. Yay! So filled with anticipation.

I need a few new containers as some of the old ones are stating to fall apart, so decided to get some bargain filled ones instead of buying just empty containers. I got a small window-box shaped one with one lovely Pelargonium, lots of Lobelia and one or two other things for €5, and a big round container with a nice Cyclamen, Violas and I’m not sure what the leaves on the right are, look like Shasta Daisies, but hardly in a pot? Any ideas? That was also €5, so I think I did ok.

And a whole year later it is still flowering. It even flowered throughout last winter.

I have this Aster now a couple of years thanks to Fran and never fails to put on a great burst of colour every autumn. Quite happy out in the front garden doing it’s own thing and a very welcome flower at this time of the year when everything else is finished or tired looking.

When I planted Diascia personata earlier this year, it was just a question of finding a suitable spot for it and I wasn’t thinking of the sedum in front of it.  Only now when the sedum has flowered have I discovered the perfect match!

Thanks again Myrtle for this lovely plant. 

Yesterday while cutting back most of the Hostas, I found this little pot nestled in among them. Obviously it was a cutting that was taken illegally somewhere, possibly Spain earlier in the year but I have no recollection of taking it. It looks like a Crassula of some sort, but it seems to have a trailing habit. Maybe a Sedum? Very healthy looking and I think I’ll keep it in the house for the winter.

Biddy kindly gave me a cutting of this lovely white variegated Honeysuckle at someone’s Open Day a few years ago (possibly Kate & Graham’s). It lived in a pot until just last year and it has really come on in leaps and bounds. It obviously thrives on neglect, and it’s in an ideal position – the North-Facing Border. The flowers open to white, and fade to a creamy yellow. Might take a few cuttings myself as it would be lovely to see this all down that border.

Spotted while out for a walk today. Campsis radicals spilling over a high stone wall. 

Well, I was busy with non-gardening stuff today so i only managed to get outsdie for a short session. I did a bit o shredding and a little more on the Hazel Grove and as I turned around my eyes fell onthe disaster area that was such a pretty sight in July with giant daisies cascading down and sweetpeas climbing through the willow! How quickly those lovely flowers have gone and in their place is – well it can only be called a MESS!

So I tackled it.

All the gone-over stuff was yanked out or cut down and undeneath the debris was yet another Hydrangea! Not flowering but looking quite healthy!

And the wheelbarrow has disappeared under the load!

And the whole transformation was completed in half an hour! Why did I leave it so long instead of just tackling it!

I got this Plectranthus from Eilish at the Get Together in January this year!

It has the most beautiful foliage on it and Ive read that it also flowers, but I havent been lucky yet to see any!

The flowers are quite wrinkled in appearance and have a lovely wine colour on the back of the leaf. 

Does anyone else grow this and if so do you have any tips on where or how I should look after it and get it to flower. At the moment its in a pot and its doing really well. Its not in full sun but then its not in full share either. I am hoping that maybe because it was only a slip that it will take time to establish etc.

Either way I dont really mind if there are no flowers as the foliage alone is just beautiful.

Physocarpus “Diabolo”, with Chrysogonum, Solidago and Coreopsis.

This was one of the nicest summers I have had for a few years and here are three photos that capture the happy days of Summer 2016.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow! Guess what I found in Glanbia yesterday? A lot of Primula candelabra Millers Crimson! So I lost the run and filled the boot-well there was discount as they had gone over but were quite healthy and also, lovely word, DIVISIBLE! Visited some dear friends and lo a very large clump of Iris foetidissima Citrina fell into my carboot. Went home and looked up plants for boggy soil on the rhs site and First was  Primula Miller’s Crimson and Citrina is also very suitable for same! So tomorrow I am going to be in a frenzy of planting down in the Bog Garden (Bottoms) as I think I can divide each Primula into two very fine clumps. My cup runneth over.

Oh and on the advice of one of those mysterious friends ,who knows about cameras I was able to find out why I couldnt print my pics. I had misdated them. Many thanks Paddy.

So I will put up. a bit late, the pics showing the clear up of the circle and the length of the growth this year. Kindly ignore the gardening garb and concentrate on the branches!

Got a few bits and bobs done outside today. Lots of cleaning up, and shifting of pots. Looking for the most suitable plants for pots on the patio, which I hope will be mainly tropical or leafy plants. Musa Basjoo springs to mind immediately. It’s already in its pot but with the new blue and white patio, I may buy different pots for next year. Also, I just happened to ‘find’ Fatsia ‘Spiders Web’ hiding in a gap in the North Facing border which got potted up. It looks well against the white wall.

The Gerbera was in a lovely blue pot but the lads knocked it over and broke it. So I’ve saved the ceramic and hope to create one or two mosaic decorations over the winter months, something to keep me busy when the weather is bad. Took some cuttings of my Contorted Hazel from the front. If they take, I won’t have to dig up the tree. Fingers crossed.

The postman delivered a nice brown box to the house yesterday and inside was some bulbs that I had ordered last March from Potterton Nursery. I am someone who is totally addicted to bulbs and I just have to have them. Last week I emptied some of the pots of bulbs I had since last spring, cleaned off the crocus and daffodils and threw away the tulips which had deteriorated. I have also ordered some bulbs from Mr Middleton, one a beautiful, small daffodil, Narcissus ‘Chiva’. I did love the front cover of the his catologue this year, Alaskan Aurora, made up of  white daffodils and a pink and white tulips. I have found that Iris ‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’, which was planted in a small bowl last year, did start to split into a lot of small bulbs and the original bulbs had also deteriorated. Will plant up the biggest of the bulbs, but will have only one bowl this year instead of two. I have ordered Iris ‘George’,  but after seeing Monty plant up Iris ‘Harmony’ last evening might get some of these as well as the colour was just fantastic. Will possible buy my tulips over the coming weeks from Lild as they are not worth keeping from year to year and are not that expensive.

I’m a bit late with the August album but didn’t end up taking a whole lot of photos so mainly just flowers in it this time. Prob only another few weeks in the garden now before it starts to fade so I will enjoy it as much as I can and at the same time I will also be on the lookout for some nice spring bulbs for next year

As a result of seeing some of Myrtle’s journals about Eucomis in recent years, I discovered it for sale last year while we were on an outing to Mount Usher. It was pricey enough, but it was never in danger of being left behind.

It’s like a jewel in the garden right now. Unfortunately most of the leaves had to be cut off due to recent blustery conditions. But look at the flower on it. It will be placed in a more sheltered place for next year.

Found a few photos of the way the new border looked earlier in the year. It was done using the lasagne method and the plants have thrived although weeding around the edges has been a bit of a chore.

Today was a bit of a mixed bag regarding the weather. Here in Waterford this morning it was grey and misty and very humid, but in the afternoon the sun came out for a few hours and it was very pleasant to be gardening. I have started to cut down plants that have gone beyond their sell by date, but still plenty of plants flowering and adding colour to the garden. The dahlias have been great this year and have been blooming since July and should continue until the first frosts, which I hope will be a long time yet. I leave my Cannas in the ground all year around and am delighted with the size they have reached this year. Hydranges, one of my favourite shrubs, are just beautiful at present despite the lack of rain over the summer and are flowering their socks off. I have notice that they are doing great in many gardens.

Paddy had strimmed the bulb lawn over a week ago and yesterday I gathered the dried grass which we use in the nest box for the hens. I then cut the grass to tidy it up and it was a lovely day for it, wall to wall sunshine. 

I also planted my colchicums, one had started to flower in the bag, so hopefully they will do even better in the soil.

Well, Steve finally went back to work last week after having a bad back for almost 5 months. And since then I think I’ve managed to get more done in those few days than I did while he was at home. I think it’s to do with having the garden to myself, being able to potter from one job to the next without interruption, and basically being in my element in my own little world.

So hot yesterday, and the sun didn’t appear once until late evening when it was almost time to come in. But, c’est la vie. No rain, so that was good.

I tidied down the surface compost of a lot of plants. And any that were struggling were repotted, and given a size bigger. Cut back straggly bits from a couple of shrubs, namely Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ and Pieris ‘Flame of the Forest’ which are looking so much better now. Watered, watered, and watered even more all of my Camellias and tidied them up.

My Beschorneria yuccoides had its pot broken in the last few weeks, so it got treated to a bigger and better one. Lots of offsets have now appeared on the plant. Some had broken off while re-potting so they’re now in a separate pot to see if they’ll take. Not the ideal time of the year for this but one never knows what Mother Nature will get up to.

All of my plants have had their last dose of tomato feed now, so I’m hoping for a few encores from them before they settle down to sleep for the winter.