Month: January 2017

I only had a short time in the garden today, so took a few photos. It was a lovely day and so mild, which was such a bonus. My garden needs a lot of clearing up now, leaves and debris everywhere, especially down the back. So hoping to get some time this week, and nice weather to do this!

The first photo is Hamemelis  x intermedia Aprodite which my daughter, Linda, bought for me last year in Johnstown. Its only starting to open up with these gorgeous orange blossoms. When its in full bloom it is stunning. Hard to photograph at this early stage!

The second photo is the 3 Echiums I grew from seed. These are doing really well despite the recent frosts!

And the third photo is one of many areas in the garden that needs attention. That hopefully will look much better by the end of the week!

That’s what it turned into today when I decided to get this lovely plant out of it’s pot, which was long over due and there was no way I was going to break the pot it suits this plant so well.

Firstly the plant was tied up and the faithful bread knife was put to work. The knife could reach to the bottom of the pot, so brute force was then employed.

Thankfully Colin was here, so he held the pot was I work the plant loose. It didn’t come easy back we won out in the end. Colin’s only comment was that it was a as good as any gym workout he’d ever seen LOL

So decent sized plant was returned to the pot and I should get another 3 or 4 plants for other uses. Some will be going into pots as I think it is a great pot plant.

One of the several jobs that was sorted and put away today. 

I haven’t been gardening much of late but I hope to rectify that in February. I managed to get out for a few hours between yesterday and today and saw how much work is needed out there – it’s scary! 

There were also a few flowers out to lift the spirits though and it can only get better.

As well as that, every time I go into the tunnel and see the lovely plants given to me by .ie friends I have to smile. Thank you for your generosity.

Wallflower, Eranthis and Cyclamen coum, the last two coming up bravely through stuff that hasn’t got cut back yet!

‘Cherub Lute both Statue Scrubber and I are very worried about Mr. Scrubber. Especially after today! ‘Don’t worry about that Cherub Cymbals, Mr Scrubber’s is a minor complaint and not at all sinister. He has  bouts of temporary Lithopassionatis and is undergoing treatment. Terri and Alan should not blame themselves as their rock though large would not normally trigger a reaction. And Mr. Scrubber had a list of things to do this morning.Seven in all and got off to a great start. He emptied the ash and greens bin-putting the ash under the slabs in the squelchy path. Then he edged a border taking about six inches off and replacing the sods over near Dooley’s resting place where the earth had sunk a little. Next step was to pot up Mrs Anna’s lovely new Hellebore. A new pot had been bought the other day and Mr Scrubber filled the bottom with polystyrene pieces and then lots of lovely compost from the beech leaves of former years. Then it was time to put in Mr Scrubber’s hellebore. This may have been a trigger as when Mr S, was passing an old iron cooking pot he thought it would show off the new white hellebore ‘Anna’ to perfection. Only thing was it would be nicer if the pot were raised to the next rock and looking at that rock Mr S. thought it could be raised. He was then called in to dinner and after (It was delicious) he went out to slightly shify the rock. Easily done with crowbar but then the neighbouring rock looked a bit low so that had to be lifted. These lifts were only of four to six inches each. And Mr S, was extremely careful not to strain!!!

That went well and the Hellebore has a lovely perch and should look well. Then Scrubber took his courage in both hands and trusting in the words of his gardening guru he went around and snipped all the lovely green leaves of the hellebores, This was a complete act of faith in Paddy and Mary Tobin’s advice and Scrubber had often wanted to but never dared do so before,

Then he noticed that he could landscape an edge by making it into a slope rather than a drop and had great satisfaction. Only thing was a little entrance between two stones needed resetting and that involved replanting a little apple tree a bit further back. Other stones needed resetting so that took up some time.

Then Mr Scrubber decided to go down to a spot now named Margot’s edge. The reason for this was that Margot had given him a slip of a creeping willow that will eventually droop elegantly over the edge, BUT and HERE BE DANGERS-there is a very large-think two ton!-rock there and Scrubber thought it would be nice to expose more of it and maybe build up a little wall effect beside it. But then the more he delved, the more he found. Lots and lots of lovely small rocks! He doesn’t know how they all landed in this spot but he dug and delved and levered and pulled and was able to do the little wall and has still more over. He became more and more excited seeing all these rocks coming and only went in at dusk!

Thus the anxiety felt by Cherub Cymbals and Statue Scrubber. I had better reassure them as Cherub Lute says ‘Its just a phase and once the rocks settle so will Mr. Scrubber!’ However its just another little piece in the jigsaw that makes up the Scrub and even I don’t know how it will turn out. Anyway I didn’t get the other two things on my list-Strimming of rampant three cornered leek and clearing of one patch of long border-Ill do it patch by patch so I cant spend all my time on rocks and their settings.

It was a good day to be outdoors today. I was delighted to have tackled cutting back dead bits of my Tree Peony and it’s just hopping to get started again to give me another productive flowering season later. I also tidied up and weeded the new Blueberry Bed. Had a major walkabout, mentally cataloguing what jobs should take priority over the next few days. So much to do, and a few jobs that I’ll need Steve’s help with. But that’ll have to wait until the weekend.

Tomorrow the greenhouse will get a good tidy up, fallen leaves from the peach trees, inspecting begonias for new growth, and a much-needed watering for most plants in there. Hasn’t been done probably since the beginning of December.

I was so relieved to see signs of some Galanthus starting to open finally. I was getting a bit worried about them. But so far, there is no sign of any that I planted out in the grass last year.

Yes, I do admit to being a ‘lurker’ on Garden.ie. I read all the entries, but only very rarely put in an odd comment, and even more rarely make an entry of my own. I seem to have so much to say face to face, yet I find it extremely difficult to put my thoughts on paper.

Well, for some reason (maybe the mild Laois air), but whatever the cause, here’s todays tuppenceworth.

Currently staying with Hazel while major reconstruction work is happening at home in Tallaght, all I can do is ruminate on what might lie ahead when I return in late February. 

So here are three images to illustrate the current state of play.

Picture one shows a well-fed bird at one of the fifteen feeders that used to hang outside the back door where Tony could watch them while he was sick. Unfortunately, we had four-legged visitors to this 4-star hotel, so the feeders are now in storage, and may end up supporting fuchsias rather than feathered friends – no decision made yet, so I’ll wait and see.

Picture two shows the first flowering in 2016 of the golden azalea given to us by Hazel for our 50th in 2012. This shrub had to be dug out to allow space for the dustbins to get past the much reduced peat-bed. It’s now in a pot, and looks reasonably happy – fingers crossed.

No, I haven’t fled to the Bahamas to escape the chaos, just gone to Laois. Picture Three shows the view from St Martin’s Church Old Bawn Tallaght – on a freezing evening last May – the camera doesn’t always tell the truth.

I read somewhere recently that taking pots of bulb into the house at this time of year can encourage them to bloom. Belonging to the gardening style “give it a go” I went outside to see what I could see.

All I found was a pot of Kathryn Hodgkins iris. i have watched others waxing lyrical over these very early flowers but could never see what they were going on about. To me they were a rather dull and dreary greyish flower with little to recommend them.

Anyway, nothing venture – and very little to lose – so in they came.

Within 24 hours I was completely converted to these beautiful little bulbs. The delicacy of the detail rivals orchids but most amazing was the way the greyish petals are turning a beautiful blue – and look like they may deepen even further!

Resolution fot next year – divide up this pot into several, ignore them all summer and when they start to come back in autumn bring them out of hibernation until the buds form – and THEN – take them indoors and admire!

It was so mild today that I was delighted to have the afternoon free for some gardening, mostly out the front. 

Every autumn I try to make up my mind whether to tuck fallen leaves around plants for frost protection and nourishment, or to take them all up and compost them, so I end up doing a bit of both. But the wind blows the leaves around anyway and by now they just look a mess and no doubt harbour slugs and snails.  So today was for clearing them up, tidying and a little cutting back.  The birds were singing away and it felt so good to be out there.

My witch hazel is coming on slowly, as they do; the flowers are divine but unfortunately it is rather hidden by the splendid Fuchsia ‘Hawkshead’ beside it which I didn’t realise would grow so big every year.  I trimmed some branches off the fuchsia today, even though it’s still flowering profusely, the rest to be done next month.  It will be a long time before little Hamamelis catches up!

Sarcococca inside the front gate greets me with its wonderful winter scent every time I come in and the pretty hellebore ‘Winter Moonbeam’ is opening now with lots more flowers to come. Chaenomeles and snowdrops are starting to flower, a couple of primroses too, crocus and daff tips are up. Oh joy! Let’s hope this nice weather lasts. 

Hi everyone, just when you thought they had exterminated Badger’s, one pops up after some absence.

Yes it’s been a long time, some of you will remember me, some probably don’t want to, and then of course there’s the new one’s, we will see how that goes.

Looking at my last entry I had a shock it was way back in 2012, where did that time go ?   Its been a difficult time and a lot has gone on which prevented me from writing, some practical some emotional and of course time to sit and write.

I will post some photos of the garden as it is now, you will see some I posted on my photo page, so that you can see the difference, I have a new dog,, yes I know what I said back in 2012, but when I post a picture of him when he was a pup, you will see how difficult it was to refuse him.

I finally got a good spell in the garden today. I’ve been busy with other stuff and reading all the busy journals I was really frustrated at not getting out to play!

The first thing that greeted me when I went out was my lovely Hamamelis mollis whch is becoming a nice sized shrub – although it doesn’t appear to have a perfume!

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a delicate lilac flower in the Pergola border. I think they  might be an autumn crocus but I have no recollection of planting them! I am always thrilled when this kind of thing happens – of course, the database should tell me where they are but unfortunately the updating of the database can be a bit hit-snd-miss!

It was a good start to a productive afternoon!

Having enjoyed the discovery of some January Delights it was time for a bit of REAL gardening! The photos really tell the story!

My main herbaceous border needs a good seeing-to at this time of year. I usually start the winter clear-up further away from the house so I have passed this border a good bit over the past few weeks and every time I looked at it I just wanted to attack it but held myself back until today! I’ve spent what feels like months picking up leaves so for light relief I took out the secateurs and got going!

Three hours later and I had cut everything down and even raked off the worst of the leaves and stuff!

As you can see, Puss was helping too 🙂

I found that some Helebore seedlings I transplanted there are now flowering beautifully so its nice to be able to see them! I’m looking forward to doing a proper weeding of the border next! Then it will be mulching time and off we go again into the springtime!

Is it just me or has this been a really dreary couple of days!?

It has been damp and drizzly and also a bit dry too, but overall it has been THE most dreary few days ever. We have had no sunshine these past  3 days and it feels like the clouds are sitting on my shoulders. 

I went out today again to try to do a bit of tidying and got sidetracked by checking out my Dahlia tubers to make sure they are ok in storage.

Then I filled the feeders and cleaned up that area. Did a quick inspection of whats growing and whats not and also took note of some plants that need moving. 

I see tonight the forecasters are predicting good weather for tomorrow, well I really hope so! I need a fix soon lol

A couple of photos I took in the garden today.

A little crocus peeping up, a wallflower coming into flower and one of my many Hellebores!

It seems as if some of the snowdrops decided to get into a race to see who’d be fist to put on the best show.

G. Atkinsii, planted in a fern planter beside the back door have bulked up well and will be divided next year all going well.

The second group also doing very well is G. Lavinia which I planted beside black mondo grass and I think it works really really well.

I know lots of you have been putting up beautiful Hellebores i flower, but mine seem to be later varieties, they’re all actually self-seeded ones, so I was delighted to see loads of buds and immediately went for the seccateurs to cut off the old leaves.

From when i first realised i was in the throes of a lifelong love affair with gardening i wanted to have a witch hazel in the garden as i had seen them in books and thought them fabulous. I was delighted to get Jelena’ as that was one that had taken my fancy and it has grown up to be a quite beautiful small tree. I have it placed where it gets as much sun as is possible and the light playing on the flowers is just fantastic. It has a lovely, open form and i would say to any of ye that have one to plant or are thinking of getting one, to give it space as it will then reward you in spades.

I also have the beautiful ‘pallida’ in the garden which has a denser form than the aforementioned ‘jelena’ but is just as spectacular.

There are certain shrubs and trees that really should be in every garden and a garden without a witch hazel is much the poorer for the omission

We were at our local garden club last night and one of the members brought in several large boxes of spring flowering bulbs that she had got from a DIY store for free. There were so many that she could not use them all herself, so she choose to share them among the members. There were mostly packets of tulips and a few daffodils. I took five packets of Tulipa ‘Abba’ a red, twelve inch tulip, which should stand up to the wind, as it is not too tall. Planted them in two different pots, a square one and a round one, because I had no matching ones. I am hopefull that they will flower in the coming months as the bulbs were healthy and were also starting to sprout. I have never planted tulips this late in the season, but looking forward to see how they will do.

It was a lovely bright sunny day here in Waterford today. Cold this morning, but beautiful blue skies all day long. Enjoyed my day working in the garden and got a lot of plants cut down and of course plenty of weeding. Paddy has mulched a lot of borders with compost that was made last year and it has helped to improve the look of the soil at this time of year when there is so little growing. The improvement in the light was such a joy after the last number of gloomy days.

What a lovely sunny day it was here in Dublin today, after a somewhat cold morning. But I got my errands all done by the time it warmed up. Then out to tidy up and cut back stuff. Not much. But it gave me such a boost to have the sun shining on my back. And no jacket either.

Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ is just about to flower, Cyclamen coum are bulking up, and Iris reticulata is open. Won’t get much done tomorrow unless other plans are seen to quickly.

bird pics from the patch,not alot garden wise happening not since the last lot of pics.

Still plenty of vegies being picked,girls are still laying every day I think I,ve become addicted to Omelettes.

Have a good week-end my friends.

I have been so busy with personal stuff for the last week that I haven’t been able to spend much time in the garden. I was going to just vegetate for today and go at it with great gusto tomorrow. But it was a lovely day and I had only one or two commitments.

The front garden is running away with itself. Weeds, wild garlic in particular, are trying to take over. I’ve discovered that to keep the amount down, it’s best to pull up the smaller seedlings. They pull up so easily at that immature stage complete with their little bulbs . Otherwise they have to be dug up. Something I can’t quite manage just yet.

Also lots of that wild Hypericum springing up all over the place. The roots run very deep and I couldn’t do anything about it today. But cut them back for now.

Spent a good while bagging leaves and rubbish. Not finished yet. It’ll probably take another day or two before I’m happy. I love Hamamelis and they’re flourishing out in the front.

Today I went up to hanleys for a nose at the summer bulbs a they are just in but nothing tickled my fancy yet. So I poppe out to the plants area and saw this Hellore Anna’s Red and just had to have it, so bought that with two packets of seeds. The seeds are Coleus and Poppies. I had great success with the coleus last year so hoping to have the same this year and more plants to fill little gaps around the garden and the poppies i just like the colour and look of them so they’ll just be scattered around and hopefully pop up in between things.

I have a lot of cleaning up to do after I go seriously carried away with my cutting back on Saturday. 😉

I said a few weeks ago that R. bureavii, that most splendid of species, is going to flower for the first time this spring and i have decided to post a photo of the same flower bud every monday until it flowers. It will be interesting to watch it develop.

Drimys aromatica is a beautiful, evergreen shrub with red stems that is a delight all year round. It isn’t fully hardy but will generally recover well if it is affected by bad frosts.

The third photo is a full shot of my Chimonanthus praecox ‘luteus’, as you can see it has a load of flowers and these scent the area around the gate quite delightfully. I showed a close up of the flowers in my journal of January 13th.

Evening all. I am showing a few Rhododendrons this evening, a couple are large growing and may get to tree size in time and two more are far more reserved.

Some of the larger leaved species can be very spectacular but can be hard to grow as the leaves are very prone to wind damage. In spite of that i have a few of them in the garden and the first photo is of R.calophytum, which is one of the hardier large leaved Rhodos. Like a lot of Species this can take many years to flower and i will be waiting a few years yet but in the meantime it is very attractive.

The second photo has two Rhodos in it, R.fortunei is another of the larger leaved Rhodos but flowers at a younger age and has flowered for me before and will again this season.  This is the hardiest scented species. The purple leaf stalks are a very attractive feature of this Rhodo. The front Rhodo is R.brachycarpum var roseum which is the most dwarf form of this species and i like the contrast between the two of them.

The third photo is of R tsariense, a fantastic low growing species with beautiful, indumented small leaves.