Month: June 2017
These woderful plants are coming into their own now, with on going deadheading there will be flowers until about October.
They are also great as cut flowers for the house.
… Jackie has probably forgotten our visit, so far back in the mists of time was it. But we flew off to Scotland that night and when we got back our Internet had failed completely and we have been a week out of the ether. Having said many times that it’s a nuisance and I’d rather live without it, I am now admitting that no, I can’t! We have got a new provider who has upgraded us from 1.8mg to 89mg so now we can live stream, whatever that is.
But I digress from Jackie’s wonderful garden and even more wonderful hospitality. No photos I’ve seen really do justice to this lovely garden. It was a perfect place to sit and chat and while away a sunny morning, drinking coffee and wandering round to look at the myriad of glorious flowers. It’s a garden that throws the rule books out the window, it’s full of exuberance and fun and colour and is obviously created with such love and passion that it shines. And Jackie provided a delicious lunch and some slips and cuttings too! What more could you ask…
Dahlias are flowering very early this year, maybe it is due to the mild Spring we had that they were growing very quickly once they were potted up. The plants that we put out a few weeks ago had good root systems and flower buds, but I am surprised that they are flowering already. Today, I picked a bunch to bring into the house so I could have a closer look at them. Hopefully the rainy windy weather that we are experiencing this week will not cause too much damage to them. Varieties of the dahlias are :
Dahlia ‘Danseuse'(dusky pink)
Dahlia’ Bloodstone’ (red)
Dahlia ‘Pooh’ (yellow/orange)
Dahlia ‘Mr. Optimist’ (double red with yellow edge)
Dahlia ‘Happy Face’ (single red ) and
Dahlia ‘Verrones Obsidian’ (a honka type)
Would like to thank Peter W. for Dahlia ‘Pooh’ and Dahlia ‘Mr. Optimist’ he kindly gave me this Spring.
Not referring to the weather, which was very windy here today though no rain despite menacing looking clouds.
Geranium ‘Summer Skies’ is one of my favourites, even though it doesn’t flower for as long as some others do. I have it a few years and it has bulked up nicely now. It’s somewhat late to come into leaf but then, whoosh, it really shoots up and flowers quickly.
The alliums have been looking good too.
Some photos of plants flowering here for the last while.
The 1st is one of my all time favourite flowers Lewesia ‘Sunset Strain’, I think this oozes exotic and love the orange and shape of the flower. Have it a few years now and i’ve multiplied it to a few plants now which are all now in my Belfast sink.
2nd flower is new here but no proper name only that it’s a Martagon Lilly which I have a few new ones this year and I do love them and this is the first one in flower.
Lastly is my Isoplexis Canariensis (Canary Island Foxglove). Bought last year as a small plug plant on Ebay and produced a couple of flowers then. I left out all winter and only cut off old flowers and left it to it’s own devices and it’s rewarding me with loads of flowers this year and the most gorgeous colour orange which really stands out amongst the green.
I used old laptop to put these up as I didn’t want them going sideways
I love this lille plant that is just starting to flower now.
I have it planted in a small bog type planter, where all the plants are doing very well. There are no holes in the bottom of this planter, instead I drilled some holes about 8cm from the top rim. This gives the ideal conditions for plants that like damp conditions.
The detail on the flower is really beautiful.
…….despite the wind and some rain!
It’s hard to imagine that it’s Summertime when the wind is howling outside and the rain comes down. And then this morning wall to wall blue sky!!
Despite all that, the garden is looking good. A little battered here and there too!
A few shots from yesterday.
First one you can see my Echium in full glorying in the distance. It was humming with bees yesterday. This is the back border and it’s bursting now!
Second photo is my Tetrapanex Rex which I got from Elizabeth and I just love it’s exotic look
Last photo is my North facing border, which although it’s facing North gets the sunshine up until about 12pm as we are not overlooked on this side it too is taking on a good look now
Evening all, woeful weather but what’s new with that.
I think that Kalmia argustifolia is a great shrub and a good addition to a garden that has the soil to suit it. Jacinta has said that she doesn’t like the small flowers, but I find them attractive. Different strokes for different folks.
It would be very hard to dislike R. tortoiseshell orange, a smashing hybrid. In fairness the flower colour is more salmon than orange, but that doesn’t detract from it in any way.
So many of the Rhodos have opened new foliage and to my mind this can be as attractive as the flowering season. Shown is R. platypodum, a species which is almost extinct in the wild and which was the main reason I added it to the garden a few years ago, and am I happy I did as the foliage is just terrific. It will be some specimen in time.
While we were on the beach with the grandkids in Scotland, Alan got sand in his camera, and the manufacturers have told us it’s banjaxed and not worth repairing. So yesterday we treated ourselves to a new camera. I really love doing close-ups, but we didn’t want to burden ourselves with a big SLR, so we got a nice little Canon digital and spent a happy hour yesterday in the rain playing with it. We used Oscar as a model yesterday evening for some close-up shots and I have to say he was most unimpressed. Plants are generally much happier to sit still and be photographed!
Battering and buffeting from the wind and rain isn’t conducive to Paeonia flowers giving their best display, but they are still lovely all the same.
The first one shown is R. bowl of beauty and the second is P. moon of nippon.
The third shot is of the bell shaped flowers of my Zenobia pulverulenta. This is a really lovely, desirable shrub and another that I am extremely fond of.
Ah! The joys of putting up Journals on this site!
I am just now wanting to show you 3pictures of one of the paeoies that one of my dear daughters sent me for Mothering Sunday as few years ago. But which year? Is it three, or has time flown and it could be more? So, I have just scrolled back through the years and months of journals here under my name and here it is. The Journal of 27th March 2104. :- The unpacking of a lovely box.
The pictures today are of P. Shirley Temple. Coral Charm is also in bloom, but it is in a less favoured position and has fewer flowers.
Isn’t Shirley Temple just so frilly and full-petalled? Just like that little girl who charmed audiences 60??? years ago. This plant has reached this level of flowering in 3yrs. I think that marvellous for a paeonia.
To day was surely the best day this month. some might say that we got it all in May. well not as warm as some of those in May but a day to enjoy being outside. Usually the rose beds are clear of weeds but not at the moment, until the knee improves. However the relative humidity was 70% this morning and 40% when I took the photos. I looked at roses in bed 3 and 8 of them, I think were in bloom grown from cuttings.
Not much done last week due to a family bereavement. But today I got a proper opportunity to check on the latest plants flowering. Today it was very windy, but bright and warm.
Peony ‘Bowl of Beauty’ isn’t fully opened yet, but it’s looking gorgeous as usual. Second photo is of a Kniphofia, for which I have no name. And the third is the first of the Hemerocallis to open. These are due to be divided this year to increase their flower-power.
At the end of May we took a gardening holiday to England visiting the Cotswolds. It is a region of very pretty villages and a huge number of gardens. Chipping Campden has to be one of the prettiest village of the lot, which is suitated near Hitcote, the famous garden of Lawrence Johnston. The main reason for our visit was to visit the garden of the Prince of Wales at Highgrove, which turned out to be the most disappointing of all the gardens we visited. We were there over the Whit weekend in England (last Monday in May) which coincided with a large number of private gardens open under the National Gardens Scheme, who are celebrating their ninety anniversary this year.
I took lots of photos and have just edited a few of them, so far, but will upload some albums over the next few weeks. I think I will start with Barnsley House, the home of the renowned garden designer, Rosemary Verey, which has now been turned into a luxury hotel and is suitated in the gorgeous village of Barnsley.
Looking through all my photos, I have just noticed that most are photos of walls, windows and roses, beautiful Cotswold stone walls, mullioned windows and climbing roses.
Well the very tall Ferula continues to bloom with loads of Bees having a great feed.
But more is happening another giant has appeared. Phormium Guardsman is a very very tall lad about 7ft. However seemingly overnight it has thrown up a huge flower stem. This rises to about 10ft could not believe my eyes. I gather the flower will be red so it should be amazing if the gales don’t get it.
Wonderful when these unexpected bonusus appear.
Do not be deceived by the blue sky in the photos….ten minutes later there were thunder showers. Has been so wet for the past week.
I bought this little shrub a good few years ago in Atlantic Homecare, and it was only labelled as Ilex (Holly). No variety given on the pot. But that’s sometimes how things go. It lived in its original pot for a couple of years. But it finally got planted out about three years ago. It was only about 1ft tall in the beginning. Now it’s standing at roughly 4ft now.
But this is the first year that I’ve noticed flowers on it. At a quick glance it looks a bit like a Rhododendron. The flowers don’t have a great scent, but the bees are loving it. Can anyone suggest what variety of Ilex it may be?
One of my favourite Hydeangea ‘Anthony Bullivent’ is not looking good at the moment. The leaves started to shrivel so I taught it may be on just one branch that was crossing another but it appears to be spreading. The branches seem to have life in them so what i’m wondering is should i just cut the dead growth on the end or remove part/or all of the branch, it seems to be producing new growth at ground level. I have it about 5 years and have never pruned it.
Hookhouse Potter Garden is a private garden just outside the villager of Tetbury which opened under the National Garden Scheme. This group raises money for a number of charities in The UK and has been doing so for 90 years. It can only do so with the generosity of garden owners who invite people into their gardens for a day and sometimes a few days over the year.
We were lucky enough to be able to visit this gorgeous cottage garden when on holidays a few weeks ago. It was most definitely a ‘Cottage Garden’ with a mix of trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables. The garden was dominated by the very pretty Cotswold stone cottage and the wall of this cottage provided shelter and support for the many roses and climbers that adorned the walls.
Hope you enjoy the photos of this beautiful garden and many thanks to the owner for her welcome.
At long last the weather has improved and here are a few photographs of plants which have survived the atrocious weather we have had during June. Hopefully, this is the start of a dry period and our plants will recover the downpours and winds of the last few weeks.
To day I took photos of Hypericum hidcote, Perennial Sweet Pea and Philadelphus or Mock Orange. All seem to be ahead of schedule.Hypericum is also called St. John’s Wort and tends to bloom about the feast of St. John the Baptist 24 June. This is only 13 th. I would feel too that this year is great year for flowers.
Vibrant colours of Poppies and lupins.
A time to admire the coloursame of June
Well since the weekend that wind has eased and the rain has stopped. I don’t know which was worse. Although the wind had a lot of plants bent in two!! Luckily they survived. But then the rain causes so much damage too. A lot of plants flattened and needed to be either staked or just cut back.
But all is not lost.
The lilies are making a great show at the minute with lots and lots more to open. I bought some after seeing Helen Dillon’s garden last year and they are budding up nicely now. All going well they should be show stoppers. L. Prescott and L. Kushi Maya. Can’t wait to see these in flower
But for now here is a selection of what is in flower now!
My latest craze is Iris germanic. About twenty years ago I had a nice collection of them, but then tired of them. However, the craze for them has reignited and have started to buy them again. I was dividing one yesterday and realised that I was putting a lot into the compost bin because I had so many, so I was wondering if any member would like to swap. The varieties I have for anyone wanting to swap are:
Iris germanica ‘ Dungarvan’ ( not official name, but given to me by my father-in-law many years ago. He lived in Dungarvan, Co Waterford
Iris germanica ‘Immortality’ (white)
Iris germanica ‘Jane Phillips’ (blue)
Iris germanica ‘Superstition’ (dark purple)
I visited Abbey House Garden in Malmesbury, Wiltshire recently and came across this beauty Iris ‘Goodbye Heart’. One for the wish list.
This is the time for dividing Iris germanica and the cost of posting rhizomes would not be too expensive, so if anyone is interested please let me know.
This is another one of my so called tricks. A planter with no holes in it, I then drilled a hole about 10cm from the top.
I place an iris that came from my late sisters pond, added some water. At years end I cut away the dying growth and that’s it, totally maintance free. Trouble free gardening at it’s best.
The Iris has bulked up great and may need diving this year.
AND I SEE WE ARE HAVING YET ANOTHER ISSUE WITH PHOTOS, GETTING VERY CLOSE TO ME SAYING GOODBYE TO GARDEN.IE !!!!!!
