Month: February 2018
Can it really be possible that there is a bit of heat in the sun today and how wonderful it is.
What is just as wonderful are the flowers on my Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’. This shrub got whacked by the two consecutive bad winters of a few years ago but thankfully a couple of seedlings took root, and my heart fair soared today when i saw that it has started to flower again. This Daphne is one of the nicest of all shrubs and what a scent it has as well. I am a happy camper.
Another shrub with a story is my R. makinoi. This is a delightful, narrow leaved species, but it has a reputation for being weak on its roots. I took a chance on it anyway a few years ago and i was delighted when i saw a first flower bud at the end of last year. Sadly it does have the flaw of being easily broken and a few stems broke off and one of those stems was the one with the flower bud. Being the eternal optimist i put them in a vase of water with the hope that i may then try to get them to root as i did get a couple to root a year or so ago, at least i think they are rooted. I will plant those in favoured locations in the spring. Back to the vase, to my delight the bud opened in the last week and the flowers are lovely. Every cloud has a silver lining.
Ever reliable is the early flowering Rhodo hybrid, R.praecox. It is so nice to have Rhodos flowering at this time of the year. R.christmas cheer is in its pomp at the minute.
In an earlier test session (laptop) I went into the tab on my profile marked ‘Garden’ and saw option to ‘Add Gallery’ so I created a gallery/album called My Garden and was able to upload photos easily and quickly. But it doesn’t appear in the list of Latest Posts, so it looks like no one will know that you have posted an album unless you write a journal to tell them. Also the title of the gallery/album doesn’t appear above the photos. Today I logged in on my mobile and tried to add another gallery/album to see what would happen when there is more than one. I was able to give the gallery a title but it would not let me add files (photos). So now I’m back on the laptop and will try to see if it works here.
So far I can’t put a title on my journal from my mobile. 🤷♀️ As soon as o try to type it goes back to first page asking me what I want to do.
Not sure yet about the photos so I’m going to add a couple now and see what happens That seems easy to do and so far it has let me put in 4 photos I haven’t edited any as so far they are all right way up. If I had to edit in only able to see 2 photos as the others are covered by the editing area which isn’t great if you need to edit those ones.
Another delight at this time of year is the pretty Anemone Blanda. I have managed to get them to naturalise in my Hazel Grove but its a bit early for them yet. However, arriving home today I glimpsed the blue as I drove in the driveway. And there it was – the first Anemone among the snowdrops!
That’s when I remembered that way back in 2009 when I planted that area initially I had a vision of the blue and white contrast of the Anemone and the Snowdrops – unfortunately the rabbits put paid to my ambition! However one brave little anemone managed to come back each year but this is the first time I’ve noticed it shining up among the snowdrops! So now I know where I want to transplant snowdrops to in the next ew weeks – to where the anemones are already successful!
Whenever it stops raining I’ll check for others elsewhere!
My favourite helebore changes every day – this one is the seedling of an expensive one I bought in Altanont a few years ago. It produced a good number of seedlings and they all retained the lovely deep colour of the parent! Unfortunately neither my phone nor my camera can capture the really rich deep burgundy of the flower.
I tackled what is probably my least favourite job at this time of year – trying to clear around the baby Laurel hedging. Last year I entrusted this task to an inexperienced helper and I really regret it! They didn’t get the whole “make sure you take out the roots” bit – so I was digging out those wild carrots all day! As well as that, I discovered there were an incredible number of very large stones in that border that had escaped my notice when I was planting the laurel cuttings in the first place! The mound of stones will provide a nice edging for my next path!!!
Testing adding a longer journal with photos, have copied this from my latest garden.ie journal:
morning, I decided to have a day out and headed off to Altamont Gardens.
It was a cold bright day and the gardens looked resplendent in the sunshine. I’ve visited Altamont before around this time; this year the snowdrops are at their absolute peak of perfection to coincide with Snowdrop Week which is in full swing. Other early spring treasures such as hellebores, cyclamen, winter aconites, irises and hamamelis are there to be savoured too. I joined the tour and talk by Paul Cutler, Head Gardner, which is at 2pm every day until Sunday and is very informative and enjoyable. There was quite a large group, perhaps down to the good weather and the mention on Nationwide yesterday.
The plant sales area has expanded since my last visit but I resisted temptation (yes, really!); some of the plants were quite expensive, hellebores in particular and “special” snowdrops, but they were beautiful.
And it was so nice to see restoration work on Corona North’s house in progress too.
Its going to take time to actually navigate the site and some of it is quite confusing. Just trying out some more photos and comments to see exactly how it works!
Ive added these photos one by one and the writing is all over the place….just wanted to see how it looks once its posted ….here goes!
Yes, I am writing this in haste. At last, at last. A really wonderful day. The best for the past 5 months. The sun is warm: in sheltered spots it up to 10°. About 8-9 elsewhere. Only a light breeze, so no wind chill. Also, we almost had a rain-free day yesterday. Only a short light shower in the evening. Will this be the first day with absolutely no rain in 15 weeks?
So good to have bright sunshine, a beautiful calm sea with the sun catching the curling lip of the waves. I feel great! Back to work now. Pleasurable work, not housework, and there are no prizes in determining what I am doing!
BUT, I am in a rage with the site! Just spent ages writing a comment to my own journal ?!? , sorting it & rephrasing. Then I noted it would be too long as a comment, so I copied and cut 2nd paragraph and hit “publish it ” to send tne 1st para.
What do you think happened? It told me I was “timed out” and the 1st part of my comment is lost! Have you EVER come across this?
Anyhow, here is the 2nd para. which I had cut and and now pasted here.
In November I managed to set 1000 crocuses, mainly on the grass verge of the lower drive and in some other spots as well. And they have finally appeared. Mixed naturalising ones. they will be so pretty in another few days. The snowdrops have multiplied very well on the other verge. They have been there a few years now. Last Spring, I wanted to intersperse short tête à tête daffodils. Happily, didn’t I find I come across a load of small pots of these daffodils, and as the flowers had gone over they were being sold off for a song. What a stroke of luck! It meant that I could position them among the snowdrops and not ”on top” of them as I would inevitably have done in the Autumn.
Tomorrow is to be …. wet….. again, but as soon as I can I will try to get some pictures of snowdrops and short stemmed daffodils on one grass verge of the drive and the crocuses on the other.
PS whom do you think “sowed” the idea in my head? Mary (Gracedieu) of course. It was a picture she uploaded a couple of years ago. I think I will need another 1000 next autumn.
They pisted and are the right way up too. ! 😉
Haven’t been doing much gardening in recent times due to a viral infection which has really knocked me for six. Basically I’m outside briefly just taking daily photos and keeping watch on things looking good, or starting to flower. One such plant is my Rhododendron ‘Christmas Cheer’. It’s in a big planter and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many flowers. Not fully open yet, but it’s promising to bring a big smile to my face.
And my dear little Holly, who would have been celebrating her 18th Birthday this year, has passed away. She certainly earned her keep restricting the numbers of rodents big and small in the garden. Although I won’t miss having to clean up her poo from the flower beds, and my potted plants in the glasshouse will no longer be squashed. I’d happily trade all that to have her back for a few more years. But I guess her time had come. She’ll be sorely missed. And Wee Davey will be making a little St. Brigid’s Cross in her memory. He’s gutted.
Only three hellebores in flower so far, with more to come.
Hi all, we are now booked in at Blarney on June 10th. The entry cost will be 14Euro per person, and will probably include a guided tour, though Adam will confirm that once he has spoken to the owners.
The cafe at the Castle itself can’t do lunch for us, so I have been in touch wth the Blarney Castle Hotel over the road and they have sent us a menu:
VEGETABLE SOUP
FANTAIL OF HONEYDEW MELON WITH A BERRY COMPOTE
—————————————————————–
SEASONAL QUICHE SERVED WITH SALAD AND FRENCH FRIES
ROAST SUPREME BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH GARLIC MUSHROOM CREAM SAUCE
OVEN BAKED FILLET OF HAKE WITH AN ALMOND AND CHEESE CRUST
(ALL OF THE ABOVE SERVED WITH SEASONAL POTATOES AND VEGETABLES)
—————————————————————–
TRIO OF DESSERTS
——————————————————————
TEA/COFFEE
The cost would be 30 euro per person, which is a bit dear for some I think. I had asked for a buffet or a two-course menu, so I have emailed back asking if that would be an option at a cheaper cost.
Feedback welcome!
Having recently completed the tidy-up of my Tropical Garden I thought I would look back at that area at other times of the year.
First is the tidied area. Everything cut back as hard as possible and really it looks like a pretty tame border.
The second one is the same border in May of last year.
The third is taken in July when the tropical plants are really strutting their stuff!
Testing 123
Thanks to all our beta testers, please email me any feedback! craig@garden.ie
Testing
Hi all, and apologies for not posting here for so long. I’m back into the house actually since November, but for the first while it was like camping out as there was still a lot to be done but the lease on the flat was up. There are still a few bits outstanding, but as everyone says , once you get to the snag list things slow down a lot! Many thanks to all of you who sent supportive messages while I was in exile, I really appreciated it.
I’ve been trying to catch up with the garden as I was only able to do a bit last year, but the Hellebores, Daffs and two Viburnums are putting on a nice show.
Ooops, apologies for photos!
Have a happy Wednesday!
Just checking if this works fine.
Have a great valentine’s day!
This is a mobile test
Just checking again…. Here’s a nice cover of our Jan/Feb issue
So I got myself organised this year and planted my sweetpeas in January as recommended by Monty Don! I also put my few little spuds to “chit”. And guess what? They have all taken off at a terrible rate!
Normally I would have had them in the greenhouse with the frost-heater in action but due to Ophelia’s destruction my greenhouse is not bubble-wrapped so there is no point in putting in the frost-heater as it would just keep going day and night its so cold out there!
So what do I do? The sweetpeas are getting too leggy and the sprouts on the spuds are saying they want to be planted!
I have one of the raised beds covered with matting to try and keep the soil from freezing but its still way too early to plant the spuds.
Any suggestions please?
