Month: May 2017

Evening everyone, the first photo I have for you this evening is of a couple of flower trusses on R. brachycarpum var roseum, which is a dwarf form of the species and very nice it is too.

The second photo is of a flower truss on R. gomer waterer, a common hybrid, but a really good one and well worth having in the garden.

The third shot is of A. golden flare, a lovely, scented deciduous Azalea which has some other beautiful shrubs for company. This section of the garden has turned out extremely well.

Away again this weekend and the garden was like a jungle in just a few days. Yesterday was a family day, so today I dead-headed, watered, ventilated the greenhouse, and fed everything in planters.

I’ve now given my tomatoes their second feed. All Dahlias and Pelargoniums are outside and are looking super even this early.

Took a few contorted Hazel cuttings a couple of months ago and I reckon they’ve taken. A couple of years ago I realised that the parent was wasted out in the front garden. So hopefully the magic of the twisted branches will enthrall me no end in the back garden.

My Campsis radicans is looking great too.

Today a few members of Garden.ie went on a visit to Charleville House, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. We met in Powerscourt for lunch and had a very enjoyable lunch on the terrace in the glorious sunshine. We also had a surprise as Fran came and joined us for lunch and it was great to see him looking so well.

After lunch we travelled to Charleville Gardens in Enniskerry. These are garden on a grand scale, but still there were ideas which could be adapted to a domestic garden. The gardens are formal with trained fruit tree and wonderful hedges of Yew, Hornbeam, Box and an amazing pleached hedge of lime trees.  The planting inside the box hedges was informal and the growth was unreal, plants were jumping out of the soil. Hostas were enormous. The Orangery had a selection of tender scented plants which will flower over the summer months. The old brick walls were covered with roses, honeysuckle, climbing hydranges and jasmine. Seats were placed in nooks created by the hedges with beautiful views of the gardens.

A big thanks to Joan for the organising of the outing and it was very nice to meet up with members again. I hope we will have a return visit in August and maybe joined by some others, as it is a garden that you do not want to miss.

Looking superb at the moment, a special plant in the garden here.

We have just had first BBQ of the year. What a beautifully warm day it has been.

Blue seems to be the dominant colour in my garden and I love it. The Cerenthe was given to me by Geraldine at Johnstown.

The garden is really waking up now and lots happening every day. With the bit of sunshine and heat and dare I say the odd bit of water, things are growing at a great rate. 

Some Clematis that are now open are looking really good. 

Clematis ‘Cardinal Rouge’ is looking great at the moment on the pergola at one of the patio doors. Real rich wine in colour, some more have opened since I took that photo. 

The second photo is a Clematis I got from my father-in-law but I have no name for it. It looks like crepe paper but is a nice shade of pink. But this year I didn’t chop it down and now it’s brown all the way up but has the flowers right at the very top!! So must remember to give it a good chop when it’s done flowering. 

Last photo is Clematis ‘oooh la la’. I bought this in Bloom about 3 years ago and it’s just stunning. Big bold ‘Nelly Moser’ style flowers and they last all Summer. 

Another stunning day forecast. Enjoy it while it lasts 😉 

The weather is great, enjoy it because it looks like next week our gardens will be well watered!!!

I took these photos yesterday: Abraham Darby, Arthur Bell and Evelyn Fison or Irish Wonder. Abrahom Darby, I have shown already Is excedingly fragrant. Arthur Bell very fragrant. Evelyn Fisin Little if any fragrance.

Sometimes the neglected beds just do their thing . A nice cottage garden effect with Geum , Lupin , Astilbe , Kniftophia, Allium and others . The row of Mrs Bradshaw Geum just get on with it also 

I have a terrible habit of planting things in the wrong place. 

When we visited Ait Aoibhinn a couple of years ago Nuala gave me a piece of her very delicate Pampas Grass which I earmarked for the Tropical Garden. In coastal Clare it is a dainty and feathery plant. In heavy Laois soil it isnt quite so delicate! Of course I had planted it far too close to the path so when visitors were expected it had to get a haircut which I wasn’t too happy about – but since it had developed into a truly sturdy specimen I wasn’t keen to try to move it.

Enter one HelpX Helper.

Matheus from Brazil has been helping out with various tasks the past couple of weeks so I thought we could have a go at moving this giant.

Step one – wrap up the so-and-so so it doesn’t take our eye out or rip us to shreds.

Step two – sounds really easy – go round it first with the fork and then with the spade until it keels over. This involved two hours of hard labour in the remarkable 23 degrees today!

Step three – new location is a big improvement – it now shows to much better advantage is clear of the paths – at least for now!!!

That is if it survives being moved in a heatwave!!!!!

Evening all. A bit of drizzle at times, but the heavy rain has stayed away thus far. The garden is looking great, with plenty to admire.

R. furnivalls daughter is a very free flowering hybrid Rhododendron and is very impressive. I have noticed it has a light scent which I haven’t seen mentioned in any articles I have read about it.

The species deciduous Azalea, A luteum is a wonderful, scented  Azalea and is a great addition to any garden.

I have mentioned many times how fond I am of deciduous Azaleas and the hybrids really give magnificent displays and often are scented as well. The last photo shows A. glowing embers on the left and A. golden flare on the right. They really are splendid. The observant among you will notice the lovely Kalmia on the left of the photo, I will show that another evening.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

What beautiful weather and to be able to be out in it an added and much appreciated bonus. Now the grass is knee high and very snarly in places and it takes about three goes with the strimmer before the mower can be used. But that’s a small price to pay. Again the forget me nots worked their wonder. A lovely haze of blue for three or four weeks but now it’s time to take them out and they come up so easily and leave the ground free and crumbly.

Roses are beginning to bloom and irises are out in glorious blue and I see the achillea heads are coming into brilliant yellow which will be a lovely contrast. In the bog theres a lot of growth lobelias are stretching and I see colour beginning to come in the bog irises-a generous donation from Gracedieu!

The newest Item in the garden is the gong! As I said earlier in a journal I needed something to call me up from the depths of the Scrub and I didn’t like the idea of a whistle which an old friend used to use! So bells being most expensive I had a think and suggested to Ian who made my obelisks that he put two iron ‘straps’ across the top of a cylindrical tube and a ring on top of that. Well ian made it and also a lovely hook. I painted it bronze and bought a length of chain (2 Euro!) and rigged it up. Ian also made me a lovely striker with a hole in the handle for a leather thong. And it has a lovely tone and can be heard across the river! Im going to have a great time on New years eve as up to this I have just bashed a big saucepan. However that’s a long way off.

One bonus of clearing a small border of forget me nots and weeds was it revealed a very healthy little box hedge! I had bought a tray and divided each into three plants. Well each little plant has thrived and it looks great in front of a granite stone wall.

So lots done and lots more to do but bit by bit something will emerge at the end!

I have often mentioned that the soil in my garden is heavy clay and totally alkaline. In a local garden centre I saw a Rhododendron which they claimed would be happy in this alien environment. I just had to give it a go!

It is Rhododendren Kokardia Inkarho and it has been bringing me great delight for a few years now. Although they did say it would be happy with my limey soil I did give it a bit of extra TLC – I planted it with a fair bit of Ericaceous compost and I do feed it with Rhododendron Feed but this is a small price to pay for such a lovely plant!

Another plant I have that is not so happy with my soil is my Magnolia Soulangeana which took a while to settle in but which now produces a good few flowers but I noticed this year that the leaves were a sickly shade of yellow when it had finished flowering so I gave it a top-dressing of Ericaceous compost and a liberal feed of the same Rhododendron Feed and within a week I can see the green starting to return to the leaves.

And finally how the Cortaderia fulvida is recovering from her move!!!!

Todays rain was the ideal opportunity for some Potting on or is it potting up ? I appear to have overdosed on Cosmos even if they are different varieties . I still have two trays to do not to mention a tray of Stock also ..The New Dahlias from seed are showing well . 

The greenhouse was pleasant today at 17-18 degrees but yesterday’s 35 degrees was too hot . Maybe I’ll try Bananas next . Tomatoes starting to flower and they relish the heat at least . 4 different varieties. I never knew you could propagate Tomatoes from a strong side shoot by rooting it in a glass of water !!! 

I have Aubergines indoors and they will get a greenhouse bed when large enough .  Cucumbers are already in place as are some peas as an indoor experiment . 

Our oldest Pyracantha on the back wall is covered in blossom at the moment.  It was originally planted on the left of the main path and gradually grew across.  You’ll notice that the gardener has been snipping away at it!  

When I decided to run a path through the back border earlier this year, I had to move back the large pot that holds a canna in the summer and daffodils and tulips in spring and the only way to do this was to cut into the pyracantha. I had notions of creating an archway effect that would frame the pot. What I found was a tangle of dead branches and twigs two to three feet deep behind the surface greenery, with the thick bare main arteries criss-crossing against the wall.  Clearly this novice gardener hadn’t a clue about pruning and training pyracantha back in the day.  

Now I’m wondering what to do with it.  I thought of continuing to cut away higher and wider to make an arch that would accommodate a small seat without scratching the life out of whoever sat there, but then I would have to move the big pot (where?) or squeeze behind it to sit down and peer out. I have even considered cutting it down in the hopes that it would resprout and could then be trained properly … but how long would that take?  And in the meantime, what about the birds that find shelter in it?  I am growing newer plants of the same to the left of this one with the aim of covering all of the back wall eventually but progress is slow.  

Hmm … to be decided.  Any thoughts dear friends? 

A photo of mine, as promised. All that torrential rain over the last twenty four hours has encouraged it to open. Such a pretty shade of yellow. Thank you very much, Mary.

I would consider myself a fairly observant person, especially where my Rhodos and Azaleas are concerned so I was amazed a few days ago to see a first ever flower truss on the species Rhodo, R.insigne. How I missed it up to that I don’t know, my excuse is that it was close to the ground. When my son was learning to cycle a number of years ago, he managed to plough through the middle of this Rhodo on two occasions. I don’t know did Sean Kellys parents have those tribulations. Despite these setbacks it recovered very well and it is now a very attractive Rhodo for foliage, and as the photo shows for flowers as well. 

Paeonia veitchii var woodwardii is an utterly delightful species Paeonia and is a really nice plant to have in the garden.

I have been raving lately on the merits of deciduous Azaleas and the last photo for now shows the flowers of the scented A. anneke.

I’ve been trying to revitalise my Hot Border at the end of my garden where the little stream is and it is beginning to hot up a little – but today when I was working in the front garden I was struck by this border – maybe the Hot Border needs to move ? Those poppies are the strongest imaginable red and I do have some in the Hot Border but I’m struggling to find other later really red flowers. I’m on the lookout for the Bishop of Llandaff ….. I have one but it’s pretty pathetic and didn’t flower at all last year!

The third photo is the birds nest I mentioned – but alas I think all the disturbance has caused the little mother to desert her eggs. Haven’t seen her on the nest for three days now.

Ok Saturday was a total washout here, non stop rain all day. The garden has really benefitted from it too. Everything is growing well and bursting at the seams. Heat in the air which is good and the odd bit of sunshine to keep us going. 

Beautiful morning here now and I’m hoping to get out there today for a while. Lots of tidying up to do and lots to plant out also. But here are a few looking good right now. 

These Calendula are ones that I grew from seed last year. When they had finished I just cut them at the base and left them. My goodness I was surprised to see how well they are doing again this year, if not better. 

I don’t have a lot of Poppies this year for some reason. Usually I’ve lots that have self seeded, unless it’s a bit too early yet. But I have a few big Poppies coming through that are doing well despite the heavy rain from Saturday. I’ve no name on this one but love the ‘hot’ colour. 

My first lily to open is this litle yellow one. Lots around the garden and I can’t wait for them to open too. Plus I bought some really big ones after visiting Helen Dillon’s garden last year so they are in bud now too. 

So lots going on. I love this time of year as its so busy and everyday there is something different happening too!! 

I have three Rodgersias here in my garden. But this one is my favourite.