Month: June 2017

The weather today has been just fantastic, wall to wall sunshine and it is forecast to last for the next few days. This time last year we were very busy with arrangements for my son Patrick’s wedding on 17th June and rushing to get the garden ready for the photos, however this year gardening has been much easier and more enjoyable with no pressure.

Today in the sunshine the flowers were just gorgeous and they too seemed to be enjoying the glorious weather. The scent from the roses was intoxicating as the heat of the mid-day sun seemed  to release it. Most of the roses I grow are David Austin Roses which are repeat flowering and all have an old fashioned fragrance. One of my favourite is Rosa ‘Pilgrim’ a soft yellow rose with a delicious lemon scent. They are so many that picking one is very hard. Last year I bought three rose bushes of Rosa ‘Olivia Austin’ a beautiful shell pink variety, but maybe the reason I bought it was because I have a very beautiful granddaughter, Olivia.

I suppose that is what makes a garden, plants that remind us of family and friends.

Its going to be a scorcher this week end. How do I keep the greenhouse from melting . Even with door and vent open it reaches over 35 degrees … I’ll need a sprinkler system in there . Still the Tomatoes are thriving . 

I ve been busy bee keeping and last Monday week my hive number doubled from 2 to 4 .It’s really bee weather now and hives will swarm given half a chance . I lost bees from 1 hive in May but a new Queen has hatched and begun the cycle again . gardening had to take a back burner for a few days but Iam catching up now with loads to plant out or pot on. 

I see there are IT issues with the sight and some unhappy members . Pity IT can’t or won’t do a fixit !! Maybe the personnel are not there any longer ? I hope we don’t lose you and your knowledge . 

PS: My photos are probably either not going to upload or will be sideways  

….or so I hope. This border has been on the go for a good 6 months, if not more.

I covered with wet newspaper and mulched with well rotted manure/compost. Then let it rot down for a few months and started to plant it about a month ago.

I finally finished this evening to the background noises of the Donegal International Rally!! It was really hard work and I am exhausted.

I have run out of space and I really am not planning to develop any more new borders, I will have enough to do to maintain and renovate the existing ones.

There are many plants from .ie friends in this border – Jackie, Joan G., Margot among others and I will post pictures as they flower. Thank you friends!

Meantime here is a picture of the border (have to finish edging it and resow the grass path), a lovely pink calla lily and a nice white waterlily type Dahlia – I thought it was Dahlia ‘My Love’ but that one is a semi-cactus which is flowering beside it. 

Yes indeed, a mistake, but not that big.  However, please judge for yourselves.  

So what’s the problem, you may ask.  It’s the grass.  

You can see how it has bulked since June 2014. What I am not so  happy about, is the state it is in just now. I did not cut it down in the spring as the curls were still lovely, and then the weeks passed and unlike another one, this one was not trimmed back.  Then it was too late as I could not separate the new blades from last year’s.  

The yellow/copper rose was in a little pot given to me by the children yesars ago.  So no name.

Oriental poppy “Beauty of Livermere” has never bloomed better than this year, but we had a fair bit of rain last night and it is not looking its best today.  

Best wishes to all the dads on the site. I am sure you all had a brilliant day and what a day it has been, weather wise. I must say I enjoyed all the presents that Paddy was lucky enough to get. The day came to a brilliant end with the flying over the garden by an air balloon a short while ago.

Wow, that was a hot one today. Steve managed to get the grass cut. Actually, we did it between us. Five minutes each before perspiring to the point of dehydration. 

Afterwards I decided the nicest job of all was to get into the greenhouse pond to do a bit of cleaning. Looking much better now. It worked wonders at reducing my body temperature too  and it was a lovely feeling having the frogs wriggling around my feet very happily. While I was in there, I cut back Phlomis in the greenhouse border, dead-headed Hemerocallis and pulled up lots of Briza maxima.

Most of the garden got a good hosing, as did everything in the greenhouse (and that was after dampening down the paving twice before that).

Now that the Rhodos and other spring flowers are over, other plants are taking there place. We have a Cornus tree with a lot of blooms on it this year along with the pinaple sented broom. Also the lovely garden sage with its intence blue flowers. A nice we start to the summer.

At long last since last week we have been getting amazing weather especially over the weekend. It was so welcome considering the dull dreary start to the month. Yesterday we had a BBQ outside for the 1st time this year and you could nearly see the gardening growing in front of your eyes.

2nd photo is of a new lily here I pruchases from Lukon Bulbs earlier in the year and I just love the colour and shape of it. As someone said on Facebook a very Zingy colour.

3rd is an ever reliable Day Lily Fran’s Hal, just a beautiful flower.

On our recent holiday to the Cotswolds we travelled by ferry from Rosslare to Fisguard and then travelled on through South Wales. We decided to break the journey with a visit to Aberglasney Gardens, a garden we had heard of many years ago at a talk given by a speaker who had been invited by the  Cork Alpine/Hardy Plant Society. He related the work that had taken place and the history of these wonderful gardens. 

The gardens are suitated in the Tywi Valley in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. It was featured in a BBC produced programme, ‘A Garden Lost in Time’ which followed the restoration of house and gardens. The property was on the brink of collapse when it was purchased in 1995 by The Aberglasney Trust and with the help of an Americian benefactor Frank Cabot the gardens were opened in 1991 and the house in 2013.

If you ever find yourself in this part of Wales I would urge you to pay the gardens a visit as you will not be disappointed. 

This plant, given to me some time ago by Bruno is fast becoming a top favorite here.

Lovely to watch in the wind, stunning after rain as the droplets create a lovely effect. The fine foliage and stem colouring only add to the overall beauty of this plant.

I’m thinking of dividing later in the year and having two pots at the main step of the decking.

Cloudy and some rain here, but due to clear off shortly.

Have a good day folks.

These plants donated to me as tiny plants some a couple of years back were finally planted into a proper bog planter last year.

They are rewarding me now with some of their amazing and unusual flowers.

A few pictures taken today under the Dawn Redwood: metasequoia glyptostroboides.  

You perhaps already know about this fossil tree.  So, this tree was known by botanists  to have existed, but there were no examples.  Then, in the winter 1943, 2 British botanints discovered this tree in a remote region of China and were permitted to send “material” to the Arnold Arboretum in Boston Mass.   incredibly, a few hears later, a young was received by BrookHall Arboretum i. derry and also by Glasnevin, followed by Kew.  I bought mine for £8.95 just over 20yrs ago.  An incredibly cheap purchase, would you not think? 

So, here I am writing you a long story and then I cannot find a decent picture which includes said tree.  

I like the flow of this planting which I only developed over the last 2 yrs when I decided to crown raise the Dawn Redwood, and give me “Woodland” type space below. The mixture of lilacs, blues, pinks are very pleasing. 

the Rose Fragrant Cloud is a real old faithful friend. She was redundant as being considered old, in a relation’s garden 25 yrs ago and given to us.  Yes, parts of her have died off and been removed, but new strong shoots just constantly gently come along.  

There is another lovely young small tree tomthe left of the rose.  Probably very didficult to see, but my intention had been to photograph the blue campanulas, the white ones, the erysimum, etc.  Anyhow, this tree that is still shrub size is a Lagerostrobus Franklinii.  It has taken a couple of years to settle down.  

That is next door’s drive.   

A few more pictures taken this morning, Midsummer’s Day.

We had almost no sun at all today, but there was flat calm, and so the temp. was the highest I have ever experienced in the shade in Shroove. 24.6°C.   There was some heavy rain in the afternoon and rumbles of thunder were heard.  

Hi all. I hope everyone is well and having a great Summer. The past two years has been very busy for me with the cookery in full swing, however things are finally winding down and I am like a pig in muck back in the garden. Oh! how I love pottering outside and watching the garden evolve from week to week. I have come to the conclusion that spending a few hours weeding or feeding supercedes any tonic of pharmaton, whiskey or a trip abroad. There is so much to do to get it back in order but I’m slowly getting there.. and the pergola is finally in motion. I am bamboozled as to what to cover it with so any advice would be grafefully welcome!! My initial plan was to go for Phyllis Bide with New Dawn and maybe Perl de zur clematis though I have P.Bide on a south facing wall and its fading rapidly. Has anyone ever tried growing Rosa pink carpet as a climber? its a showy little rose but sadly it has little to no scent, pergola is about 9′ deep so maybe i could squeeze in a scented companion. The pergola will lead to a new herbacious border and one I am particularly excited about as it will be the first flat/level border in the garden and hopefully will prove less labour intensive than the raised banked beds surrounding the house. Ten years ago I could jump up on that wall and it felt/sufficed as a contented health check ha! sadly nowadays its a challenge. I have uploaded a few pics of the project which isn’t complete. The grass has burnt off and I am wondering if I can get away without rotovating the border as I will be raising it up by about 1′ with top soil. Advice welcome and appreciated :)……………………………..having a little bother loading the pics so will try again tomorrow.

I have been very busy using the fine weather to cut the grass! Too much grass!  But also a lot of watering to keep new trees alive! I have to say I do like watering!

I really enjoy the new hour long Gardeners World, makes such a difference.

Enjoy the day!

We went on a garden visit today. The Tipperary Garden Group are having their Open Weekend this weekend. We visited the garden of Mildred Stokes in Kilurney and while going around the garden spotted this wonderful rose, Rosa ‘Burgundy Ice’. Mildred told us that it was a sport of Rosa ‘Iceberg’ which is a white rose with a great scent. As the name suggests Rosa ‘Burgundy Ice’ is a rich wine colour, but has inherited the gorgeous scent from Rosa ‘Iceberg’.

So, on the way home we called into the garden centre in Dove Hill outside Carrick on Suir and guess what was there, but Rosa ‘Burgundy Ice’, so had to be purchased.

The photos are of the plant we bought today and as you can see it looks a healthy rose with plenty of buds waiting to open.

It was a good day for the garden here today. Not too hot, or cold. A little wind, and the sun came in and out. Perfect conditions.

Having had very little time outdoors in the last few weeks, and a cancelled visit by my Grandsons today, I got stuck in with great gusto. Did loads of weeding, having to sit down for a good part of the time. Tied up all roses, dead-headed and cut back any dead or broken stems. 

Buttercups are growing like wildfire here this year for some strange reason. All planters got a good watering as we’ve had strong breezes in the last couple of days. Pulled up most of my Digitalis and saved lots of seed.

In the greenhouse Eccremocarpus is taking over. It’s growing through gaps in the window panes and has, at this stage, produced so many seeds. The only thing about this plant though is that the seeds go literally everywhere. Got rid of most of them outside. But I reckon my Blueberries may have a bit of competition next year if they germinate. Inside the greenhouse, most of them ended up on the gravel floor (impossible to clear away) and lots in my hair. They’ll be growing out my ears before you know it. LOL

Tidied up lots of stuff in the North-facing border and was delighted to see two of my Astilbes in full flower. They look great with a selection of nearby Ferns.

I think the Yellow is my favourite . These are from last years seed sowing and the crop from current year are budding out nicely now 

We’ve been having broadband problems for the past week or so (painfully slow, several crashes etc).  Still not resolved but I’ll give it a go.

Before going out this morning, I did a quick dash round the garden with the camera, as rain was forecast for later, and glad I did as the rain is here.  

The roses have looked great for the past month.  The first flush is going now but there will be more to come.  Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ and Clematis ‘Star of India’ are covering one end of the patio trellis.  I have a lovely (and very old) Rosa ‘Iceberg’ at the other end but it never comes out well in photos.

I got Lilium ‘Night Flyer’ last year and am pleased with its rich, glossy dark colour; hoping I can get it to bulk up. 

And a wider view over part of the back border with Penstemon ‘Bodnant’, orange lilies (no name), anthemis, spirea and self seeded borage; summer colour is coming on nicely now.

I haven’t had much time in the garden over recent weeks; hoping to get out there tomorrow despite the weather forecast! 

We have been without broadband for over a week and I can honestly say I never realised how much we relied on it!!! But also found it good to have a break, if that makes sense. 

Anyway, the garden didn’t need the Internet so we have been busy. Jimmy has made up some lovely trellis to put on the garden wall which runs parallel to the side road. This is our North facing border, although this gets quite a lot of sunshine too as we are not overlooked and on a corner. I’m really pleased with how it’s looking. It’s given the garden not only height but also a little more privacy. And I think it’ll be a nice backdrop to those plants in that border.  With time I’m hoping to have some  climbers attached and grow my Clematis along it too. All we need now is a dry day for painting. 

We have had some good rainfall overnight and it’s just finished bucketing down now. My garden really needed that even though I’ve been doing a little bit of watering. The soil is bone dry!  

Lets hope the sunshine appears for a while now 🙂 

Between the beautiful hot sunny days of last week, was that only a week ago! and now the rain, the garden is definitely exploding with colour. 

Yesterday the grass finally got a good cut as it was just too warm, plus no time to do it. So everywhere was looking quite well in the late sunshine last night. 

There is so much to see now it’s great. Everywhere you look you find new treasures. Lots more Dahlia are opening, Crocosmia are coming into flower an endless list. 

Live just been doing a little bit each day and also rescuing some plants that were trodden in during the construction of the trellis!!  But you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs lol. So I was told!! 

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. 

Some more flowers over the past week or so coming into flower here after the recent spell of good weather.

1st is Dahlia ‘Pooh’ which is a collarette type dahlia and it is def one of my top dahlias here for look, colour and bulks up very well to be divided each winter into more plants.

2nd is a Roscoea Beesiana I bought from Lukon Bulbs a few months back and is the first Roscoea for me here in the garden and have to say I love it. A very exotic looking plant even ginger like and no doubt with having one type here already more should follow.

3rd is of my red Abutilon which I have no name but I do just love it. I see some people in the UK get way with these outdoors in a sunny sheltered spot so I might take some cuttings and try the same.

Since Myrtle first mentioned some years ago about having this plant outside in the garden, I as many of us do here on the site, copy ideas.

Thai plant has been outside in a pot for the last two years, and seems to be enjoying the great outdoors.

Once you have Poppies in your garden you most certainly will never be without them again! 

Wonderful sight this morning when I went out to the garden. More Poppies opened up overnight. Some are variations on seeds I grew almost 4 years ago now. 

This first one is Papavar ‘Swansdown’. A gorgeous fluffy white poppy. These seeds I got originally from Deborah Begley. And they come back each year albeit differing to the first fluffy ones. But this is definitely an original. 

Second photo is Papavar Pom Pom Lilac. These seeds I got in Aldi, again almost 4 years ago. Another beauty. 

Third photo shows just how diverse these poppies are as they come back in all shapes and sizes. And as you can see the bees just adore them. The sound of this one was very loud as he tried his best to forage.

I’ve no red ones this year for some reason, so I mist make sure to scatter some around for next year. 

Not a bad morning. Wasn’t yesterday just stunning. Where did that day come from. Hope today will be dry as I want to try and do some more painting of that trellis 😉 

Form many year I coveted this plant and bought a number of them in my early days of gardening. They were not cheap to buy in the eighties, but I would buy the plant, a bag of peat compost and plant in the appropriate place. However, no matter how well looked after it always died. This plant at that time was very popular, maybe  because it was grown by Helen Dillion. She grew it in a peat bed at the very back of her garden. Gardens in the Cork area had this amazing plant taking over their gardens, but I could not grow it. I gave up on it until I was given a piece by a friend and low and behold it started to grow the first spring after planting and was flowering that June. Since that time it has seeded around the holly hedge where it was planted and now years after it gives a beautiful display ever summer. The plant also has wonderful blue seed heads which adds to the pleasure of growing the Flame Creeper.