Month: November 2016
When I returned from my annual trip to Barcelona I took a trip around the garden – as you do! The most surprising thing I saw was this Sweet Pea still flowering away!
It started flowering at the end of May and has kept going since then! Not bad for seeds that came free with a magazine!
I could almost convince myself that it was still summer but alas I was brought back to reality with the state of the rest of the garden! As soon as it stops threatening to snow I’ll get out and start clearing the leaves away!
And I’m a bit behind with alums this year but October and November are going up tonight!
Just have a little spare time before I head off for the day.
Nost of my Acers are nearly bare barring this one whice always is the last to colour up and loose it’s leaves.
This is turning into a fine tree and will only get better over time.
Hoping you all well.
Oh, such a cold day all day but lovely and bright. First morning that the greenhouse pond had frozen over, and appropriately my climbing Rosa ‘Iceberg’ is producing more. Third photo is Acer ribesfolium still in full swing, one of my favourite Acers.
Gidday,
plants are thriving but need to be kept in check & the snails love em,the chooks love the snails so everyone,s happy.;)
Gidday,especially to you good folk that are still participating on this site.I,m getting the feeling I,m on a sinking ship & believe me that is not a good feeling.
Love this site & it,s a shame to see it declinling.
Well the journals and photos I put up about how mild and beautiful this weather has been over these past few weeks will have sunk into the deepest oblivion after these past few days!!!!
Haha Winter arrived with a roar alright and we were presented with very cold and sharp frosts for the past couple of days. But I do love how the garden looks on days like these. Everywhere takes on a silvery hue and if the sun is shining its even more beautiful
I haven’t been out in the garden a lot recently due to health and other things. But I did get a chance last week, thankfully before the frosts arrived, to get my fabulous Tree Fern covered up and snug for the Winter. It’s in a pot and if needs be I will get Jimmy to lug it into the shed for extra protection. But he wrapped it up in straw and chicken wire for me. Plus put some bubblewrap around the bottom of the pot just for extra protection. I absolutely adore this plant and it has grown so well since my daughter bought it for me back in May. I’m almost tempted to get another one next year, we will see!!! But for now I just want this one to survive the Winter. I look forward to it putting out new friends again next year.
This week should be a bit milder than of late. But overall we have been very lucky with the weather. So let’s hope it’s kind to us throughout this Winter.
I’ve been a bit stressed lately and the other day when I got back from Dublin I was delighted to find the new Irish Garden in my mailbox at the gate. Struggling into to house with a load of shopping I forgot all about it!
It crossed my mind this morning but for the life of me I couldn’t remember where I had put it! After a frantic search it turned up tucked into one of the shopping bags I had carefully “tidied” away!
So I’m really looking forward to a good read and a nice cup of coffee – and maybe even a biscuit!
Happy days!
The other photos are of the Christmas Cactus doing much better for me since I followed Rachel’s excellent guide on how to ge the best from these lovely plants!
We did this before and with the site quiet and not much happening, thought I’d try it again. Some of my favourite shots this year and how much we have to look forward to once Christmas is over it all starts again.
You are well used to me by now on about the merits of species Rhododendron for foliage and most of those i grow is for their foliage. On the flip side most of the hybrids i grow are for their flowers and as today was beautiful here in east Limerick they were looking great and most are extremely well budded for great flower displays next spring.
The first photo shows R.horizon monarch, an outstanding hybrid with large trusses of yellow flowers. It is covered with flower buds and will be magnificent.
An equally beautiful hybrid is R. nancy evans which has a special place in Frans heart. Again this has yellow flowers but isn’t as large growing as the aforementioned R.horizon monarch.
The third photo is of another magnificent hybrid for flowers, R. point defiance. This one is harder to source but well worth the effort as the two toned pink and white flower trusses are awesome.
All things being equal next years Rhododendron flower displays are going to be magnificent.
Erythronium in April, it’s just so dainty, Viburnum opulus and Ceanothus in May, and Poppies and Loosestrife in July.
day was a nice change,might even get some rain shortly,a drink for the garden wo,nt go astray
P.S. It,s raining yeah.
At this time of year we welcome any beauty in the garden. And yes we still have a few here. A couple of stragglers hanging on. And then the leaves look amazing when they are all mixed together from different trees surrounding us.
My Fatsia is really doing well. This is just left to its own devices. I don’t go near it only to take a few photos. These are the little flowers that appear at this time of year. And they will get a little bigger and even more beautiful. They are great little flower especially when it’s frosty as then they look like Christmas baubles.
Its frosty outside. It’s chilly and damp. We get the occasional sunny day but overall Winter is here for now.
But………….still some flowers are defiant and won’t give up just get. They are determined to keep on giving, well for now anyway.
The first one is Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’ which I picked up in Cavan during the Summer. This hasn’t stopped flowering since. It’s a lovely tall variety, reaching almost 6 feet and still putting on a show.
Second photo is Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ a real hardy shrub. Now this too has been flowering for months with no end in sight Great for propagating too
Third photo is Lavetera ‘Barnsley’. This was a slip I took and it’s in my ‘sunny’ border. Again it just keeps sending out flowers and lots more buds.
Its great to see some colour still in the garden as it makes the Winter seem shorter. Well Spring is just around the corner, isn’t it??!!
Yet another glorious morning. We mitched off shamelessly yesterday and went walking on the Burren, but there’s not much we could do outside until the septic tank is finally finished – a 2-day job that has taken 3 weeks! Should finally be all done today, then we can get planting. The native white and blackthorn hedging should be in tomorrow so we can get that in, and I have some red dogwoods, plus spindle and guelder on order as well as a liquidambar, thanks to Dick!
Meanwhile it’s a very nippy day so I’m off to fill the bird feeders. Poor things, they’re ravenous these mornings.
They’re all growing very near each other, but those facing East, and maybe not getting sun because it’s so low, have suffered, while those facing South are fine so far. And an Argyranthemum just below them still looks quite happy.
Taking up PeterW’s suggestion, here are three photos from 2016 in the garden.
No doubt about the star plant for spring, Camellia ‘Donation’; there were about 500 flowers on it this year!
The second photo is of part of the back border, which I have snapped from the same spot a few times this year in order to track how it changes. While it’s more colourful from July through September/October, I like its quieter harmony of early June. The pale blue flower is Geranium ‘Summer Skies’.
And one from the front garden with Penstemon ‘Evelyn’, ‘Olivia Rose Austin’ and regal lily in early July.
Hope others will follow on with this idea … would love to see your photos!
if I’m honest it’s very hard to single out which flowers are my favourites in the garden because I love them all. Yes some more than others but then that depends on the time of year and what’s actually in flower. I could do lots of these journals lol.
So here are my three……
First one is Rosa ‘For your eyes only’. I love the colours on the roses when they first open and as they are going over their colour changes. This was Rose of the Year in 2015 but I didn’t realise that when I picked it out from a bunch of other roses in Lidl. How lucky was I!? And it flowered fabulously this year.
Second photo has to be my Lilies of all descriptions. My favourite flowers of all both inside and out. Again hard to choose which one but I do love these L.’Conca d’Or ‘ again another purchase in Lidl which at the time I had no knowledge of what I was buying and they turned into stunners.
Last photo are my new circles with some of the Lupins I put in. These put on a terrific show and really one of the best I have ever seen. But this is just a small few as I’m limited to what I can put up lol
its a great idea to look back and see what our gardens were like throughout the year especially on days like this when there is a limited amount of colour.
Thanks Peter for a great idea 😉
The journal title is a phrase from my youth which people used to desribe something which was very common so everyone would have it. Well the following may be ‘ the cat and his mother’ shrubs but they are wonderful for all of that.
I know Pieris are for acid soil mainly but many people grow them in pots as who would be without them. They are magnificent shrubs for year round interest and aren’t they fabulous on a November friday.
Skimmias are also magfificent shrubs which don’t get half enough credit or mentions in journals. Again they have year long interest.
Who hasn’t a ‘red robin’ in their garden, whether as a hedge or as a shrub. I have let mine develop into a very large shrub and it is beautiful.
So i have only one thing to say in honour of these fine shrubs, meow.
Didn’t get any time to do anything outside today except running errands. And when I got home I couldn’t believe it when I saw a Poppy in flower. And my self-sown Nicotiana are still flowering away despite the really cold recent weather. All its flowers are just growing out of one woody stem. It doesn’t look like it’s ready to keel over just yet.
Chaenomeles is starting to flower now too.
I went to break the ice on the birds’ water and found it was frozen solid! Some nice frosting on various plants and I also noticed that the Nasturtiums that were still ok the other day have now collapsed.
The grass in the back garden needs cutting badly. Hoping to get Steve to do it tomorrow, weather permitting. The longer it gets, the longer it takes to dry out so it can be cut. I think the heavy-duty strimmer will definitely have to be used first. Then let it settle for a day or two before the lawnmower is taken out.
Lots of un-tamed areas in the garden again this year, but I hope to compensate for that after winter.
In the meantime, I’m just about getting stuff cut back and tidied up for the cold season.
Senecio petasites is still looking great despite the recent cold weather.
Such a dificult task! But such a pleasure to revisit the photos for the past year! The shortlist wasn’t very short so then there was a short list of the shortlist – and finally the three winners!
Thank you Peter for inspiring me to take a stroll through my garden over the seasons!
Photo One is my prettiest Helebore – taken 0n 17 February – looking forward to its reappearance this spring.
Photo Two was taken on 23 June – this border gets better every year!
Photo Three is my favourite “accidental” – the Stream Pond in August.
Well the contractors have almost finished – a two-day job has stretched out to over three weeks. We were panicking over the plants in pots in the frosts, but they seem to have survived ok. We’ve spent the weekend marking out paths and planting a native hedge, trees, perennials, grasses and bulbs. Still lots to do, but the back is broken – and unsurprisingly, so are we! The soil was unusually heavy and claggy, they must have put a cley topsoil in when the grass was laid. Now we’ve the fire lit, the Bailey’s hot chocolate on the go, and we’re trying to pretend we don’t feel about 85. Good weekend though!
I am NOT afraid to use the dreaded word on this site at this time of year. And it IS almost December, and it’s my Birth Month. 🙂
I had a bit of fun this afternoon indoors, preparing for Christmas arrangements around the house. Pomanders are so easy to make, and they add a touch of evocative fragrance to the decorations. They work best with citrus fruit studded with cloves. But limes are not as good as oranges as the pattern doesn’t show up too well on the dark flesh of the lime. Might buy more tomorrow and experiment further.
No, it’s not a gardening journal. But oranges and limes do grow in other climates that can afford them a good bit of heat.
Now, I’m off to root around for some cheerful bowls to display them in.
Wow so difficult to choose! I suppose that’s a good thing!! I love the Fushia because it was a cutting I took on Lansdowne Road last year! So I call it Lansdowne Road Fushia!!!
I love this Rudbeckia Herbstonne but will have to stake it better next year!!!
Finally I love the view from this part of the garden!
