Month: October 2016

Self-seeded naturtiums seem to love the wildest part of the garden; a Marigold which has had the odd flower up to now seems to be getting into its stride; and Eccremocarpus grown from seed that I think an ier gave me a few years ago.

Got this at some of the gatherings and can’t remember who gave it to me. I am right in thinking it will not come back next year?? It has  selfseeded and have potted up some.. if anyone wants some let me know and I’ll put aside. 

Have also lots of Japanese anemone if anyone wants some of that too.  Be warned it does spread

I got the original plant from Liga in a plastic bag at the get together a couple of years ago. It was a little piece. I had never seen it before let alone know it’s name. It grew big and strong and was beautiful. That was until all the leaves started to fall off the bottom and I was left with just a tiny rosette at the top. 

So after much reading and advice from here, I chopped up the stem, took out the centre of the plant and repotted that up. And now look what I have!!

The first photo is that small centre piece which I cut off, thriving as a proper plant now. So delighted. 

The next photo shows one of the stems that I literally just stuck into the gritty compost. This little piece has 3 flower heads coming out of it. 

And a smaller piece of stem with a couple of flowers attempting to grow out of that. A brilliant plant to have and now I see how easy it is to regrow from practically nothing. 

So thank you Liga for introducing me to this plant. I just love it. 

Mary Tobin commented on this plant a few weeks ago, saying it was the best purchase ever for my garden. Mary I have to agree totally.

Working from home these days I am getting to enjoy this tree to it’s fullest, rather than before when it eas limited to my days off.

I showed my Heptacodium miconioides a few weeks ago but this evening i would like to point out a very attractive feature of this lovely shrub. The photo shows the lovely pink/red colour that the calyces develop after flowering, delightful.

The second photo shows a Hellebore that i noticed had started to flower over the last couple of days. Flowers are lovely to have at this time of year and Rhododendron elizabeth ‘red foliage’ has decided to up the ante and put on a display of its own.

The garden never ceases to give me joy and i know we are all in the same boat.

I looked back at journals and see these three were going strong in mid-July, and while past their best now are still providing some colour. Nemesia, Brachycome and Osteospermum, not open today as sun not shining.

On my way to a family get-together last Sunday, I stopped by the Botanic Gardens for an hour’s stroll.  The grass borders were looking fantastic, as they do at this time of year, and the dahlia display was at its height.  Around the lake, one of my favourite areas of the gardens, was glowing with autumn colour.

The sculpture exhibition gave added pleasure and of course their Halloween display always brings a smile.  Families and children were queuing up to take photos alongside it. 

We are blessed to have these wonderful gardens and I was lucky for the past couple of years to be able to pop in almost weekly when I had a little job to do in the neighbourhood.  That ended some months ago, so it was nice to come back. 

If every plant Scrubber puts in comes up in Spring and later the bottoms will be transformed! There’s so much that I need to be careful but still loads of space which is also important. The colour is really beginning to show in the leaves though. The liquidamber is lovely and Im awaiting Acer Ozakazuki which is a real fireball. Lot of grasscutting because grass doesnt seem to be thinking of slowing down,

My friends hope all,s well over there,getting ready for your Winter I presume & I hope it,s a very kind one to you all.

Coming into Summer & it,s lookin good here,had a heap of rain which will stand the patch in good stead over the Summer best moisture in the ground for many a year.Still the threat of frost for the next couple of weeks but then all will be good.

                                                                    regards roofy.

I know that Fleurette doesn’t rate Pernettyas and i can’t understand why. I reckon they are a great shrub and the berries are wonderful, i have a few of them with different coloured berries and wouldn’t be without them in the garden. 

Another great shrub that doesn’t get half enough credit is the Leucothoe. My one is L.scarletta and this time of year it shows off its great Autumn colour.

Rhododendron orbiculare is a species Rhodo with very attractive foliage. Seemingly the flower colour can be a bit harsh so it will be interesting to see them when it eventually decides to start flowering.

Well, maybe not just latecomers, some are second time rounders! I was quite surprised to notice a haze of blue in the shrubbery today. Turned out to be Ceanothus “Gloire de Versaille” having a second go at flowering! Usually at its prime in June I certainly didn’t expect late October flowers! 

Next one I spotted was Clematis “Princess Diana” finally opening – and well worth the wait too!

It was with some relief that I saw that the sedums were doing a more usual October display – they turn that gorgeous shade of pink as a kind of a swan-song to herald the absolute end of their season!

This remarkably dry weather is confusing lots of plants in my garden but I’m not complaining because it is a great way toshorten the winter for us.

Today’s task was to plant some garlic and red onions to overwinter. All done and dusted (or rather watered) this afternoon and a start made on reducing the height of the hedge at the end of the vegetable garden to allow sunlight in without taking away the shelter afforded by the hedge. This is one of those jobs I should have got my helpers to do last week – and now they are gone!

The weather this year has really been hard to fathom. Here we are near the end of October and we could have temps today of 16C!! Now that’s almost unheard of in Summer time. 

But the garden is holding on too. Lots still in flower and it’s great to see the garden still has some colour along with the Autumn hues. 

My Cosmos are amazing. They were grown from seed and took a little while to get going and now they just won’t stop. They are flowering away and yesterday evening, I havent been out in a few weeks, I did a small bit of deadheading and now they look better. 

Also going strong are my Dahlia. Lots of buds and flowers. Again some deadheading and we are off again. These orange are my favourite ….well along with the dark foliage yellow ones, the pink ones all of them really!! 

Geranium ‘dusky rose’ has been flowering non stop all Summer long and there is no sign of it stopping either  it’s travelling out onto the grass and the little dainty pink flowers are lovely against the dark foliage  

Another nice few days ahead so hopefully today I might be able to get out

Have a great day whatever you do!! 

Going out the gate I have Physalis on the left and Cotoneaster on the right, and down the back garden struggling away behind all sorts of stuff, Amelanchier.

We should always live in the here and now but i can’t help looking ahead when it comes to Rhododendron flower buds. Sometimes it can be tricky to tell the difference between flower buds and leaf buds but i am fairly sure that next spring will be a first flowering for R.oreodaxa var fargesii., a very attractive species.

I am always raving about R.loderi ‘king george’, one of the finest of all hybrids but R.polar bear is aother wonderful hybrid which is later flowering. It flowered a few years ago but then was damaged in a storm which set it back a bit but it has recovered fully now and is back to being a fine size and has a few flower buds formed for next year, which pleases me no end as the flowers are fantastic and sweetly scented as well.

The third shot is of my Camellia sasanqua which is in full bloom and a true star of the garden at this time of year.

A few photos from the garden today.

Acer palmatum Osakazuki  in all it’s glory. Still has to go to the red stage but pretty fine as it is.

Then Acer sango-kaku  with Pittosporum Tom Thumb and Cotinus Grace

Finally Liquidamber…starting later than in Dublin I think.

Can’t believe it’s been so long since my last journal. Big sis was up from Tralee last weekend and I went back with her on Monday for a few days. It was great to get away at this time of year.

The garden is producing lots of lovely autumnal colour at the moment. Mahonia ‘Winter Sun’ is showing lots of flower buds at the moment, and my Sumac is turning now too. A bit later than most peoples, I think?

Got these lovely Narcissi in Ballyseedy Garden Centre in Tralee, so I got these planted today. All my bulbs are done now. All I need now is to wait. 🙂

Of all the grasses, I love Panicum the best , well the ones I have met!

The one I have which I think is North wind but not sure ,is a lovely height, stately, tiny fragile flowers and fab Autumn colour. Oh the flowers are mauve and because it is windy not very clear in the photo. I like that close up photo.

Noticed Mahonia today really sparkling on a dull but mild day.

Enjoy the weekend.

Well I had to this morning as my dear friend Jim was coming over early to help me remove the huge branch that had collapsed across the squelchy path. My what short work a chainsaw makes of lopping. We or rather he went at it bit by bit so that we had time to consider what to save and what to remove. The blade got stuck at one stage but was retrieved. It was all done in about an hour. Removed, unwanted pieces cut up and removed, the big major part of the trunk rolled over under the doubleash tree (Two big trunks together). I couldnt have begun to do it without Jim’s saw and muscle!.Bless his kindness!

Then it was time to plant the lawson cypress-yes you heard me. This one is fastigiate and a shade of grey green. I tried it in various places and wasn’t pleased. It needs room to grow. Then as I was siting a stone at the top of the steps into squelchy path I realised I could take out a sceach that had rooted there and wasn’t doing a lot and use the space! It worked quite well. After that it was an easy task to set the four juniper skyrockets on the terrace as the soil there is deep loam.

So Bottoms cleared, entrance to steps improved, Lawson Cypress sited, and four junipers on terrace. I then went over to contemplate the Ozakasuki! I fixed the nozzle of the hose and raked  a few leaves-a good lot! in fact and left them ready for the tarpaulin next week. Funnily enough after removing the dead overhead branches we decided to retain one or two which gave an elegant line and of course  I went and hit my head off one of the spared branches! Not at all badly but just wondered was it annoyed that I had considered removing it in the first place!

Sorry quality of the photographs isnt great, In the last one you can just see in the centre of the picture the sawn off base of the big bough-it was quite hollow. A bit too close to the ground for a nesting or owl site unfortunately, Jim suggested putting a little flickering led light into it!

Oh and by the way Jim and I saw my first daff tips peeping through today-a record for my garden!

hello all what a lovely Autumn we are having. Today was glorious. I got loads done. I have decided to use one of the vegetable beds for a cutting bed for a year to see how much flowers I can have for the house. Today I planted in some daffodils that had been dug up a few weeks back in another part of the garden. I am hoping to pick up some cheap tulip bulbs over the next few weeks as well. In spring I will sow some seeds and take it from there. After that it was mainly digging up and dividing perennials in order to spread them around the garden and Then plant up some for friends

The Autumn colour is beautiful everywhere this autumn and in the garden as well. The euyonomis alata and the acers. Virbunun mareisii takes on lovely colours and of course the oak leaved hydrsngeas. The fuschias are also still going strong and i really like the persiciaras at this time of year. Geranium Roxanne and diascia personata  still flowering their socks off. Enjoy the bank holiday everyone 

I was out in the garden for a few minutes yesterday looking at the mess. Then I noticed the lovely flower heads, well I call them flower heads, on my Fatsia. 

They always remind me of Christmas baubles and even nicer with a bit of frost on them. They will get even more prettier in time as they open fully. 

There have been lovely shots of Acers showing their Autumn colour on Garden.ie lately, Elizabeths and Scrubbers for example so here is my contribution. Mine is Acer palmatum atropurpureum and i am very pleased with it. It makes a lovely small tree.

Enkianthus campanulatus is a wonderful shrub and it is one of the best shrubs for Autumn colour as i hope the second photo shows.

I was delighted to be able to add Cornus kousa chinensis to the garden a couple of years ago as i had wanted one for years and it is another shrub that has great Autumn colour.