Month: January 2017
The weather is so unbelievably mild these days. It’s really nice just to go for a walk and not have to wrap up too much. The garden is really coming alive now. I can see loads of bulbs pushing up through the soil. Leaves unfurling from sleepy plants. And buds almost bursting to open.
I love colour in the garden. But I also love the different foliage on plants and especially how they look when the new ones appear. And that’s what’s happening now. Lots of new growth around. And with the weekend promising to be even milder we should see a lot more going on.
Today might be the day I finally get a chance to get out and do something. Well that’s the plan but they don’t always happen. Lots of running around first before ‘me’ time.
But yesterday evening I did have a quick look and here’s a few photos of what I found.
Hope you are all enjoying this Spring-like weather 🙂
One of the advantages of having a farmer as a neighbour is that every now and again he decide to trim the hedgerow that is the boundary between us which is not something I can do myself. The hedgerow is at least 100 years old and hasn’t been kept in check so it is now several metres wide! As it is also full of brambles it is harly a joy to look at! I planted a Laurel hedge on my side of the boundary for some of it and I am gradually extending this down the rest of the hedgerow and it is deinitely easier to keep. So when I heard the machine in the field cutting the hedge I rushed in and asked him to trim my piece too! the plan will be to keep my bit of laurel to a manageable size and let the hedgerow grow up behind it – then every few years the farmer can trim back to the level of my laurel.
The result of this activity was to make an awful mess all along beside the hedge so today was my first chance to get out to clear it up. This kind of stuff is not very good in the compost heap so the solution was to sweep it up and deposit it into the middle of the hedge where is can take its time dying down!
I think it looks much better now.
Do other people consider some tasks as “proper gardening” and other tasks not? For me the clean-up of the stuff from the hedge-trimming definitely doesn’t qualify as “proper gardening” so when I finished that task I had to do something that DID qualify!
First of all I transplanted the Spring Cabbages and Broccoli to the proper veg beds and just raked over the other empty beds. Then I finally decided where to plant the Nerines that Fleurette kindly gave me at Johnstown! When I opened the carefully packed parcel I was delight to find it also contained some Autumn Crocus, a little Anthemis and a great Aconitum which she says will be 5 feet tall! (Can’t wait for that one!) and what a great clump of Nerines!
I planted the Nerines and the Autumn Crocus in the Main Herbaceous in the most sheltered spot but in full sun so I have great hopes that I will finally manage to establish these beautiful flowers! the other have been potted up as the clearing of the borders hasn’t been completed yet but when the time comes they will be well established!
Thank you so much, Fleurette! Such lovely plants and all sprouting for me!
And lastly I couldn’t resist this photo of another bowl of the Katherine Hodgkins with a couple of stray snowdrops – this mild winter is really suiting them in my garden anyway!
‘A picture tells a thousands words’ and these first two pictures are no exception.
The first photo is from last year, around May I think, when the garden was really making a great effort and everywhere looked a bit tidy.
The second photo…….well it speaks volumes. As you can see this photo was taken yesterday and, well it’s a mess really. Just havent been able to get out and do much recently. And all those lovely days just passed me by.
Third photo is another Hellebore coming into flower, This one I bought in Johnstown two years ago. It’s a bit behind the others but I love how the flowers unfurl in this one.
Today is the day, well now weather permitting, that I am going to try and make time and get out there and ‘attack’ what I can. Lots more leaves to take up and some weeding to be done. And if I could just get to ‘hoover’ up the lawn that would be a real bonus plus it would tidy the place up too.
So watch this space 😉
Well, yesterday the plants in the greenhouse got that long-promised drink. So lazy last summer that the old tomato plants, and peppers are still there. Won’t get much time to clear them out today. But maybe at the weekend.
But I was delighted to see that my Chrysanthemum ‘Alex Young’ is now producing flowers already. Eccremocarpus ‘Tresco Hybrids’ is doing its thing too and has been producing flowers for the last few months. It’s a great greenhouse plant and will readily self-seed too.
My first Narcissus is finally open (N. cyclamineus). I love its swept back petals.
Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ is a fantastic winter shrub, flowering from October through to March. The flowers are a pale pink and contrast beautifully with the darker pink buds. It is a nice compact shrub and suitable for a small garden.
Another winter flowering shrub worth growing is Ribes laurifolium ‘Amy Doncaster’. It is an evergreen currant with laurel like leaves and delicate pale cream flowers. It is a small shrub about two feet in height and a spread of three.
These two small shrubs added a little colour to the garden today on what was a cold grey windy day.
I bought these two hellebores last year in Lidl for €3.99. They have grown into two beautiful plants with amazing flowers and no sign of any disease. Despite the strong winds today they held their flowers upright. The one on the right has a green in the flower which makes it very unusual. They associate well with ferns and snowdrops which are just about to flower among them. Paddy was good enough to give me two close-up photos of both flowers.
I meant to put these photos up the other day but got tied up with other things. Doing so now as I have a few minutes to spare.
Have a good weekend folks, talk soon.
Camellia time again and the buds are just bursting on this Camellia ‘Swan Lake’. It’s a crisp white flower against the shiny glossy green leaves. It is full of buds as you can see from the photo. And one or two have white tips, so hopefully the flowers are not too far away.
This is still in its pot and has been for a few years now. It seems to be thriving on pure neglect!! Except some water in September to ensure the buds form.
Last year I was advised that I should in fact plant it out in the garden. So I’m thinking I might do that this year when the flowers finish. It’s quite big now even though I trimmed it back a bit last year.
The third photo is my Crindodendrum hookerianum which has the buds forming for the new lantern like flowers in the Summer. This is literally working all year round. The flowers have barely dropped off when the next set of new flower buds begin to grow. Amazing plant.
Mr. Scrubber mentioned Fritillary the other day so I went to see if mine was doing anything and I think photo 1 is the start of one, but I’m open to correction on that! I also found Anemone blanda in bud and a few yellow Crocus in a container.
The caption on the second photo should have been I only did the rocks around the moss covered ones (biggies) Also in the first photo you can see the rock Behemoth behind Titanic . Theres a third massive rock Ungeheuer but you dont see it in thids picture
It wasnt that Scrubber got such a lot done this morning but the joy involved was what mattered. It was a beautiful spring day, the crocuses and snowdrops were coming out. The ground was soft and the first two azaeleas went in easily along with a bucket of compost to give them a good start. Then when planting the third, Scrubber hit a rock no not a huge one but when he levered it some of the stones fell out of the rock wall he had renovated a few days ago, But this was such a glorious morning that that didnt bother Scrubber. He lifted them back in again and made the base firmer and introduced some smaller bracing stones and it looked even better. Then he raked and cleared the area fitting in the new small rock and now Titanic stands out much clearer from every viewpoint. And theres a lovely view down from the little water basin, over the rock and down the path to the bridge and Buddha, Serendipity indeed. Scrubber then dug out one semi standard dead rose and replaced the clay and staked it firmly and then staked two others and pruned them carefully.
At which point an expected visitor (non gardener variety) arrived so Scrubber came in.
But at one stage when he went in for his camera he said to Mrs Scrubber-‘If there is a heaven, it must be very close to the way the Scrub is this morning’ It was that beautiful.
It maybe raining this morning, but the sun yesterday had many of the Spring flowering plants taking full advantage of the heat. It has been a very mild winter and not too wet, so the early flowering plants are well ahead of normal and growing at a very fast pace. It is only a few weeks since the leaves of the hellebores were removed and now the flowers are in full flower or at least nice healthy buds about to burst into flower.
The cyclamen coum are such a wonderful little plant in leaf since Autumn. The leaves vary from green to grey with various markings and so lovely to see them during the darkes day of November and December. I love their dainty little pink flowers which contrast with the silver markings on the leaves.
The snowdrops are now being joined by the iris and the daffodils adding to the colour in the garden.
Well, I came out of last year with good crops. Potatoes v/Good, Onions, Beans (Runners & French) and Corgettes all Good. All brasicas very good. I even picked the brussel sprouts on Christmas morning for the dinner. They were yum. (Steamed and not over done, of course) Glass house production was average. Something took a hit and slowed things down in the early season, luckly they all came back but not as strong as normal.
Hope all of you had a good year. I hope to keep intouch more often this year it being my retirement year. Although I intend to keep working if allowed.
Cheers for now….Ivor
Good evening all, sorry for being very shy on this site, but with the winter nearly behind us, ill be back more often, Now Scrubber asked me about my shed that i am making out of doors. Well i have all my doors painted, the very tall palm trees in the grove where i am putting the shed are coming down ( nag enough girls and ya get what ya want) now it will be March before that happens so i will wait for them to go before i put my shed together, oh i can not wait. i have been getting bits and pieces all along for the inside of it and have ideas in my head to make it mine and nice. I have included some pics of my work so far and i might add it has all been done by myself over months and months, with the back i have it wasn’t easy but its going to be so worth it. Wishing you all a lovely week ahead. I got out on dry days the past 2 weeks weeding, cleaning, removing moss, butting back wild fushia ( by the way of anyone has any infor for me to kill off the wild fushia i would love, it grows so fast and i don’t want it.)
Thank you
Allmy snowdrops are sprouting now and some open,some near opening and more a few weeks away but keeps the interest going over a good period. 1st is Brenda Troyle which I actually have in two places in the garden but it seems to be flowering first in the pots rather than the ground. 2nd photo is of atkinsii which seems a bit taller and longer petals than Brenda Tryle for example but some are quite hard to tell the difference but others quite easy. the last photo is of Lavinia again as I tought it was looking really well the other day. All of theseare thanks to Paddy & Mary which were so genourous with their snowdrops on a visit last year. Each group have 5-7 flowers which is a great start and looking forward to these bulking up over the years.
Got out to the garden for the first time this year yesterday. It was hard work but felt fantastic. We were mainly collecting leaves and cutting leaves off hellebores in the woodland garden so that we can get as much enjoyment as possible from the hellebores daffodils and snowdrops.
I was sorry to miss the get together but I had a very sad end to 2016. We lost our lovely dad just after he celebrated his 91st birthday. He was a wonderful dad and a great gardener and he is missed every day. He was out cutting hedges a few days before he died so not a bad way to go. He helped me with loads of projects in my garden over the years one of the first been planting a couple of hundred daffodils. I will think of him this spring as the daffodils flower.
It is a very dull and misty day here in East Limerick and as a result the second photo of the flower bud on R.bureavii in my bud watch series is duller than last weeks offering but apart from that there is no discernable difference.
Gracedieu Lass, Jacinta and myself seem to have a mutual admiration society in our praise of R. christmas cheer which is one of the earliest flowering Rhodo hybrids and it always puts on a great show. Marys one starts to flower way earlier than Jacintas and mine but my one is starting to look really well, with quite a few flower trusses open and many more to come.
Ah Camellias, those stalwarts of late winter and spring gardens and Dads Camellia is resplendant at the minute. the next couple of months will see most of the rest of the Camellias in my garden flowering and as i have over twenty, they are very impressive. The small Rhodo on the front left is R.wee bee, whose foliage takes on a lovely bronze hue in winter.
2 weeks over,since last journal.I’m not going to talk about weather,we all know what is doing outside,and yes is just January,,ok almost February.
I was weeding,cleaning,doing nothing,made 2 videos for you tube,was in Mr.Middleton shop,went to Johnstown g/c.
At Mr. Middleton i got 2 new kannas,begonia and Ismene ‘Sulphure Queen’.had it before but managed to kill so will try again.
Best was of course Johnstown g/c.,,brought home Rose ‘ ‘Eyes for You’ ,it should be wonderful in summer.Nice scented primulas,and couple packets with some perennials .But main reason why i went there,was orchid 🙂 When we were there for our meeting,me and Rachel were looking at some orchids,and i left mine back on bench,i was thinking that it is hard to reflower.Only after Rachel said it is not,an other,with very similar name is.So i was so sorry that i left it there,it not just look pretty,but it have wonderful scent….
Guess what,,it was sitting and waiting for me,same pot what i lifted then up 🙂
There is video about some of my orchids,and Dr.Peter Kopm is there too.:
And for them who want to see my Boophane in flower,i made little video too :
I just can’t manage to get any decent time out in the garden these days. But today I just about got a few minutes to have a gander around. N. ‘Tete-a-tetes’ are almost out. Clumps of Snowdrops are opening here and there. A lot of the newly-opened buds are looking like they had been eaten (by slugs, snails?). Didn’t know they liked them
But my two surprises today were that my Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’ has opened its first flower and lots more to come. I’m afraid mine is a very puny specimen compared to AccSeans. But mine is restricted to a big planter.
And one of my lovely Hellebores that I got a few years ago.
The starlings, and blackbirds were bathing in the Lower Pond all day.
