Month: April 2017

A strange day weatherwise today, sun, rain, wind, snow, sleet and hailstones. I managed to get some photos taken when the sun was out, so here they are.

Photo no 1 shows my favourite hybrid, R.loderi ‘king george’ in all its considerable glory. I posted lately that this is also my favourite scented Rhodo and the scent is divine when all the trusses are open, like they are now.

I grow R. elizabeth ‘red foliage’ for its aforementioned new red foliage which lasts a long time but it also blooms reliably year after year and I have found it can open some trusses in the last few months of the year as well, so all in all it is a fine hybrid.

I have shown the Rhodos in the third photo over the last couple of weeks, but not in the one shot, like they are in photo no 3. You can see R. nancy evans, R. scarlet wonder and R. horizon monarch.These are the sort of scenes I visualised when I started the garden all those years ago, I suppose you could call it my take on a ‘supergarden’.

I can’t believe it has been so long since I put up a journal or photos…Life seems to be so busy..and I suppose there was not much to take photos of till now again…. We have started a few new projects in the garden …a new circular rose bed which we hope to have planted up with 24 Florabunda roses and 1 white standard ..we will have 4 differant colours red,(Trumpeter)…   pink ( Your beautiful) … peach (Sheila’s perfume) and yellow ( Arthur bell) (6 of each)and the standrard will be white..we hope to have planting completed by this weekend so I will put up some photos ..We have put some decking at the back of the greenhouse,it is a sun trap so when we are finished all the projects it will be a nice place to sit ……I am trying to create a willow arbour,it is still in the early stages… Lots of seeds have been sown and are ready for picking out …hopefully will get lots done this weekend weather permitting…..Happy Gardening  everyone

It was a crisp, bright, sunny and windy day yesterday. Had my walk and it was really great to be out! I decided after I had everything non gardening done that I might start pricking out some of my seedlings. These are just annuals that I do like to have around the garden during those hot? months!! 

It was so warm in the greenhouse, 37C at one stage! My goodness now that the tree is gone the difference is amazing. So I got loads done. I sorted out my Petunia ‘yellow mirage’. Cosmos xanthos, which are also yellow, Nigella, Poppies ‘swansdown’ and P ‘lilac Pom Pom ‘ some Ricinus seedlings that are really taking off now. Hollyhocks ‘jelly beans’ Then I watered the Dahlia  which have tremendous growth too. 

I find all this kind of work so therapeutic. It’s so relaxing and I really enjoyed it. 

It turned increasingly Wintery though as the afternoon progressed. At one stage we had hailstones almost the size of golf balls. But these showers only lasted a few minute and back to sunshine. A gorgeous evening then. Typical Irish weather. 

Another beautiful day so enjoy! 

Seems to be a problem uploading photos (again!!). I’ll try later. 

I love when Monty says ” be sure to give it a good soak ” Well yesterday I planted up the Summer boxes and containers and then with the frost forecasted had to lug them all in and out again this morning .

Speaking of Monty does he have help as you never see anyone else about his gardens and surely he cannot do it all himself even if the two retrievers help with fetching ? 

interesting piece on a “no dig ” method of planting . Iam going to try this in the greenhouse which is being assembled on site tomorrow . I’ve decided to leave the earthen floor and will put in two side frames using the no dig method and add compost over the grass . It could save lots of work if it works . Apparently too much digging is bad for the soil as it breaks up the structure. 

Hope the weather picks up again as Ive began feeding my new bee colony so that they can build up during the cold snap . Last years hive looks strong and hopefully honey in July . I noticed the bees busy drinking from a watered pot plant this morning so have now placed drinkers for them but away from the house !

These young gladioli Ive grown from rescued baby bulbs and I suppose it’s best to put them on ? A little small to be planting in the borders yet …

Always being one to dwell on the positive, I won’t go into the damage that the frosts of a couple of nights ago did to some of the Rhodo flowers and also to some of the new growth, but with the sort of shrubs I grow, late frosts will always cause damage. Obviously the flowers won’t recover, but new foiage buds should appear to compensate for the damaged new growth. To up the tension a bit, I won’t reveal how the ‘bud watch’ bud on R. bureavii fared until next monday.

Thankfully, there is still plenty to admire in the garden. The first photo shows the flowers on the species R.dichroanthum ssp scyphocalyx and very attractive they are too.

Photo no 2 shows one of the flowers of the beautiful tree Paeonia, P lutea var ludlowii. This tree Paeonia is also one of the finest for foliage and I am very fond of it.

The third shot shows the first of my deciduous Azaleas to flower this year and it is the hybrid, A. golden sunset. Deciduous Azaleas bring fantastic colour to the late spring and early summer garden and I think that anyone who has the soil that suits them should grow a collection and they will be well rewarded.

You may remeber my Journal of 4th April where I showed you a very amazing and unusual presentation of and amaryllis which my daughter in England had bought.  When I was with her,  the flower had already gone over.  

So here we are yesterday unwrapping it back at home.  

1.  I removed the wire stand from the base.

2.  Peeled off the orange wax.

3.  What do I find as the inside layer?  A tight rubber  vest round the bulb, a bit like a thick ballooon.  When I removed that wrapping, there were  young roots forming in the moisture which I tried to capture in the picture.  

4.  I will now pot up the bulb and hope for a flower next year! 

for acting like a spoilt child but thats how I felt when the greenhouse was assembled yesterday . My diy foundations were spot on and greenho is securely bolted into the concrete . The Tuam boys ( all foreigners ) were very efficient and professional and work hard too. Left my site at 330 and heading to North Tipp to erect another garden shed before returning to base in Tuam . 

Ive moved a few bits n bobs into it but must make a plan now . Think I will use the spare Aldi shelving on one side and use the other for growing in . Now I suppose lawn paths are called for ? Tomatoes will be a priority though . 

Afternoon all. A great scented shrub for this time of the year is Choisya ternata. I can never have enough scented shrubs in the garden, they add a whole new dimension.

R.arctic tern hasn’t scented flowers, but they are very different than a lot of Rhodo flowers and I like them very much.

I mentioned in yesterdays journal that the new growth on some shrubs got damaged by the frosts of a few nights ago and a couple of my species deciduous Azaleas suffered, but thankfully they will recover and put out new growth. I am very pleased that the new foliage on A. quinquefolium didn’t get damaged as it is a stunningly beautiful folige plant, I will most likely do a triple somersalt (for the first time in my life) when it reaches flowering age, but until that fateful day it is worth growing for the foliage alone.

Finding myself with a free morning last Sunday, I headed off to June Blake’s garden for a couple of hours soaking up her wonderful tulip display.

As you can see, she has planted mainly rich colours.  June leaves her tulips in the ground, where they last for a good few years, and she adds some to the mix each year. The cool weather this week should have kept the show going for anyone who gets a chance to visit over this weekend.  June has created a beautiful garden, lovely to visit at any time. 

I have a number of these cacti in the greenhouse and day after day they were not opening. To day the change came. Before I had the greenhouse, they were reluctant to open. To day when we had plenty of the sun when I had a look they were open. I can expect more. I also got through the post some time ago a different Epiphyllum type from Margot and am looking forward to see it in bloom.

Prob my shadiest border but the plants there seem to love it. One of my other tree ferns which is starting to unfurl some new fronds at the moment. My Rhodo Percy Wiseman is also just coming into flower and never fails to flower every year, just a terrific and reliable plant. And last a Solamens Seal plant which are just terrific at this time of year for me filling a gap between spring and summer flowers.

I visited Elizabeth (my sister) on Friday to give her a long-promised day in the garden. She has recently had a major extension added to her house which involved the total dismantling of her lovely front garden which was a perfect showcase for her Fuchsia collection – although in truth it overflowed into the back garden too!

The new front garden has a completley different character but will still provide a suitable show-case for the Fuchsias! When I arrived on Friday morning it had a certain air of “after the builders” although a lot of the hard landscaping had been done and some of the Fuchsias were in place. The problems tackled were the new entrance to the side gate that had the roots of a removed Rowan tree protruding and providing Elizabeth with lots of opportunities to trip! 

The path was levelled  and the roots were sawed off so they no longer protrude and the whole thing was levelled with sand. One task completed! She will have to get a permanent surface later but for the moment she is safe from trips!

Then I turned my attention to the new area. Her design is very pretty with pavers in a lovely design recycled from the old garden and some interesting triangular raised beds that will show off the Fuchsias to adventage. It was a bit of a ‘work-in-progress’ with bags of earth and sand still waiting for a home so that was the next project. Elizabeth took very kindly to my bossy ways and accepted my suggestion that we put the new pots in place and fill them with earth so that the bags could be vanished and this is what we did! It made a huge difference and Elizabeth was inspired to plant up two lovely pots that she had bought for the new design! And all the bags of earth were used up!

She was left with one corner to complete and a little bird told me that she has completed that corner already!

It is such a joy working with my sister in her new garden!

Back home today the weather was a bit challenging. The morning was interspersed with nasty showers but by lunch time it had decided to stop raining so I ventured out. It was a day of different projects – first off was the Bluebell hunt – I’m still trying to keep my beautiful native Bluebells from hybridising with the Spanish imposters I unwisely planted a few years ago.

I greatly reduced the number of imposters since last year but I still need to keep at them. I dig up as many bulbs as I can and if I’m stuck for time I dead-head them hoping to fool the bees! Today I dug up a clump of tulips that were happily mixing with the Spanish senoritas and so the tulips are now potted up and most of the Senoritas are reposing in a green plastic bag!

Did a bit more digging up of imposters but this is a very tiresome task so I changed direction and worked on one of the front borders cutting back Michaelmas Daisies that should have been done in the autumn and generally weeding. I finished off taking the loppers to some overgrown shrubs. All in all, Im very happy with the day’s work – now if only I had someone to do the shredding ……

And the last photo is my Choisya that Elizabeth bought me a few years ago – really looking good this year!

There is a garden opening in aid of Marymount Hospice next Saturday, 6th May from 2-6pm. This garden is owned by Allison and Roger Flack, Coolamber, Currabinny, Co Cork. The garden was once owned by Mrs Nancy Minchin a very well regarded gardener and her garden was featured in a book edited by Sybil Connolly and Helen Dillion, In an Irish Garden. The garden overlooks the Owenboy River and the harbour of Crosshaven, so fantastic views. We were there on the last day it was open, which was after the death of Mrs Minchin many years ago, so I am looking forward to seeing it again. I was just wondering if it would be of interest to any of the members for an informal meeting. I would think that a lot of the Cork members would be going. Hope to see you there if you decid to go.

The photos used in the journal were taken from the book, so hopefully I am not breaking any publishing rules.

So tomorrow is the 1st May……and Summertime begins, well for me it does!

The weather man said we can look forward to warmer days and perhaps some sunshine too, I hope they got that right as today was very wet and windy, especially this afternoon. I had to put my pots of Tulips into the greenhouse for a while to stop them being battered!! I want to have them for another few weeks as I am enjoying them so much.

Not a lot done over the weekend. Today I did a little tidying up of all my pots!!! yes Ive literally hundreds of them, big ones, small ones, plastic ones, terracotta ones, square ones, round ones, long ones ….the list is endless. But while I was doing that I realised it was a good way to start my database that I have been promising myself for so long! So I took a photo of each label on the pots of the plants that I have in the garden. I also have lots and lots of labels in a bag waiting to be inputted onto the computer! My aim this year is to try and set up this database so I can refer to it now and again especially when someone asks the name of a plant and I am saying ‘oh I will let you know when I look it up!’ 

So after tidying that area, I then went to the greenhouse and decided to water the plants in there. I have lots of Dahlia potted up and my goodness they have taken a leap in the past week or so. They are literally growing at a fast rate. I had to move some of them out and into the potting shed as they were getting too big for the shelving in the greenhouse. 

So after I watered up all the seedlings etc it was almost dinner time and some more family arrived. So it was back inside. But tomorrow is another day and hopefully the weather will be somewhat better and hopefully I will finish mulching the rest of my borders!

The photos show some of the Dahlia I have that are making a run for it!

Also my hanging baskets in the potting shed, sheltering overnight for fear of frost!