Month: April 2012

 after washing and disinfecting the barrels, and feeding the spring bulbs in the hope for a good display for next year, i was iff ing and butting about what i really wanted to do and in the end i decided that i needed to get out the front, the weather was cool but nice so with music via my mp3 player clipped on to me out i went and started moving the scraws from the front when you see the picture opposite you wont see what i have been doing but i am getting the scraws moved, i gave the hens some to scratch in and then put the rest in a corner and covered it with black plastic this will be left to turn to soil and it can go on the raised beds if needed at the end of the year. there is still loads of it to do but its a start and a step closer to been able to plant in it. 

hopefully get the rest done on monday in that bed, by the end of the week i would like to be able to get planting it all. 

i have to say a big thank you to hubby because he made a brilliant job of the kitchen and cooked the dinner, i couldnt have dont a better job, so much clutter had gathered and i can t be inside and out.THANK YOU HUBBY. i just took care of the laundry, i like to do that myself and was in and out checkin on the washes.

time to sit down and enjoy a hot choclate and irish garden and maybe a start on gardeners world mag this eve  

All I can say is that I was influenced by the day that was in it and my surroundings.

Not much of a defence, I know.

I came away from the Cabinteely Alpine Show with these two auriculas.

Yes, I know, lost the run of myself 😛

More journals on the day’s escapades to follow.

I have had this a couple of years in a pot lovely but not doing very well might plant it out in the garden this year

Did nothing when I got home from work. Thought I had a terracotta window box to fit my kitchen windowsill, but realized my last years geraniums are still in it, and flowering their socks off. Will have to buy a new one tomorrow, and plant up with African Marigolds, Sanvitalia, and Nasturtiums.

Thought I’d share this photo with you. I love it. I have 5 acers in the mini-bog bed, a green one, and a combination of reds, ‘Garnet’ being one of them. All are still relatively small. But the flowers of Darmera Peltata are looking just lovely next to them. I better make the most of it, as the acers will start getting visibly taller. They were planted there 2 years ago, and have taken quite a spurt.

What a lovely day this was! I ddnt get much gardening done – just a bit of hoeing and cut the grass in the Inner and Outer Circles – but lovely to feel a bit of heat and no wind and sunshine all day! Though the temp. is dropping again for tonight so need to keep young plants under cover.

Took some pictures again this evening, this is another Euphorbia that I have planted around a Physocarpus opulifolius "Diabolo" where it contrasts well and looks very bright. If anyone knows the name of the variety I’d be delighted to have it. Like most euphorbias it needs keeping under control.

I am still trying to sort out the names of my plants, and I am grateful for all the help I have receeived here.

What is the name of this geranium?  I think it is pratense, but is it flowering too early for this?

i love this one, pink flower and a bronze leaf, you cant go wrong. when the flowers are

going over, the leaves do lose that colour, but you have it long enough to love it.

have to say im a big fan of this small clumper, which flowers away and keeps to a very

neat size.  

I had the pleasure of taking in two garden visits in the past week. Last Sunday morning I headed up to Laois to visit Hazel and thoroughly enjoyed a few hours with herself and Brendan. She has fantastic work done in just four years and Im not just talking about planting, weeding or watering but heavier structural work like making paths and steps, putting in a stream, putting up fences etc. Its an absolute credit to her. The site is quite windy but  Hazel has such a selection of plants growing that it gave me great hope for my windswept plot. I liked her strawberry beds too and hope to copy them! After a lovely lunch we went out to check the main reason for my visit – her lawnmower! Hazel mentioned in a journal that she wanted to sell it so I ended up buying it! Needless to say I left with more than the lawnmower in the boot – she gave me several plants and seedlings and has offered to pot up some saxifrages that I was admiring as well. I also picked up some plants that Scrubber and Joan had given to her for me. Anyone attending Hazel’s open day in June will be in for a real treat. Thanks again, Hazel.

I headed up to Cavan early on Wednesday morning to the All Ireland Drama finals. We had a great day and night in Shercock and then on Thursday morning myself and the stage manager headed off to visit Mary (Keego) We spent a few hours there and with the help of several pain killers Mary was able to give us a guided tour and we had so much to see. Her garden is on a steep slope which is a challenge in itself but her soil is not the best and the site is quite windy as well. She has a great selection of shrubs and herbaceous perennials in lovely curved beds with some mature trees providing great structure to the garden.  Gerry has built not one, but five ponds in the front of the house and thats how I knew I was in the right place when I drove in! They also have a fine big tunnel and Gerry installed power in it recently. Mary cant do anything in the garden at the moment but she can manage her other hobby – homebaking and we sampled some delicious scones and apple tart during lunch. Needless to say again, thanks to Mary, there was more in the boot going home than when I arrived. I think I have more plants in waiting than I have in the ground at the moment! 

I got great inspiration from both garden visits and as a result am rethinking the layout of some of my own garden.  Long live garden.ie !!

this is from stock in the new forest uk, i love the way it uncurls and has that lime type

green, enjoy this every year, its in the centre of my heuchera bed.

I’ve just put up a few photos that I took at Clare’s garden today. Clare is ‘Clara’ on this site.

The thing I love about Clare’s garden is how it always looks good. I’ve popped in at night, during the day, rushing somewhere else and I NEVER manage to catch her out 😉

The garden was looking great as usual and it was nice to see the progress that the lower end of the garden has made since planting up. It looks like a lovely area to see and take the sun.

Clare was a great hostess, as always, despite feeling very under the weather. And I did not leave empty handed. I am delighted with the Iberis cuttings and enormous bag of pots Clare gave me and will soon put them to good use. Thanks a million, Clare, and I hope you feel better soon.

We really were spoilt in March with the beautiful weather so April had been a real shock to the system. After being constantly amazed at the early flowering of some of our plants we are now totally annoyed because things have slowed down a bit! There really is no pleasing us!

I was very disappointed not to be able to make the trip to Mount Congreve – sounds like it was a very enjoyable trip! 

Being confined to the house has allowed me to make a few refinements to the plan for the new "stream pond" so now I’m happy with the design. I have as much of the preparation done as possible and am just waiting for Kevin to come to decide how we go from here. I got a suitable pond liner at a good price in Woodies in Carlow so the rest is down to hard slog and mortar to hold the stones! I reckon Peter’s Cherub was definitely paying me a visit as I worked on the most artistic configuration of the stones 🙂

Having done as much as I can with this project I took today off to do some "real" gardening and was more than happy with my day’s work. It was bitterly cold this morning but after a while the wind died down and it turned into a "proper" April day. There was a piece on weeding tips on the Garai Glas program on TG4 a couple of weeks ago – this guy was doing all his weeding and hoeing using a rake, so today I had a go at his technique. It defintiely was less laborious than hoeing so I’ll just have to see how long the results last!

(Anyone interested might like to catch it on 

https://www.tg4.ie/en/tg4-player/tg4-player.html – just search for Garraí Glas   cut and paste from this mail as it needs the "fada" on the "i" in Garrai.)

Got a bit of planting done – some honeysuckle over at the trellis at the hedge, some Hostas divided and moved to the shrubbery in one of the spots where the ground is permanently damp, and planted out the three Cerinthe that germinated from the seeds I got at Johnstown in January – as usual, can’t remember who the kind donor was 🙁

Also took the bull by the horns and trimmed the Laurel and Buxus hedges in the front garden. The Hawthorn hedge really needs trimming but I’ll try to hold off until June to give the birdies a chance. All in all, a good day’s gardening – reminding me that is isn’t all about digging ponds !!!!!

 (the interesting pipe in the foreground of the picture is from the previous incarnation – smashing it is part of the new project)

I was delighted to be invited to Fran’s garden today and allowed view the new work that has been done.

Fran’s garden is stylish and, as we all know from the photos or visits, relies strongly on design. It was looking lovely and the new area is nearly complete. Full of little nooks and crannies and hidden detail, I had a lovely time taking the took over chat and fulminations 🙂

Thanks for giving me the sneak preview, Fran, and for a lovly day.

I arrived at Festina Lente Plant Sale this morning at exactly the same moment as Claire. Hardly caught up on our chat, we were joined by Fran and then Clare. It was a lovely morning and soon we settled down to the serious business of shopping.

This was the first plant sale I have been to this year, although Clare refused to believe that :O

I must admit that I was a bit hungry for it and it was probably just as well that the likes of Crug weren’t around with their expensive plants. I bought two lovely plants from Rare Plants Ireland – Paeonia mlokosowitschsii and Sinocalycanthus ‘Hartlage Wine’ but the rest of my money was spent at Caherhurley Nurseries.

This spring I removed about six dwarf azaleas from the back of my Long Border and the gaps are still there. I needed some tall perennials to fill those gaps and you couldn’t do better than those healthy pots of Actaea ‘Atropurpurea’, Heliopsis ‘Summer Nights’ and Artemisia lactiflora for €3 each. I have all these plants already and know they are good but am not in a position to propagate. At that price, Caherhurley is the champion of discerning gardeners with space to fill!

After two garden visits (see previous journals), Fran and I went on to the Cabinteely Alpine Show, where we met Paddy and Mary and Drumanagh. Actually, everyone was there – Carmel Duignan, Paul Coulter, Jimi Blake etc. It was more than just an Alpine Show (which is what I hoped as I’m not too interested in alpines!)

But myself and Fran got an awful shock on the way in. We paid our entrance fee and were ushered into a room with a table, containing the last few bedraggled plants for sale from members. We thought that was it! The Alpine Show! But then Paddy came rescue us and explained where the displays were and the nursery plant sales 😛

It never ceases to amaze me that delicate-looking plants can actually be so tough. Lovin’ this Astilbe with its red stems. 

But more importantly, I spy another darmera flower coming up in the background. This plant has bulked up well since planting it two years ago.