Month: September 2012

“Queen of the Night” (NIGHT BLOOMING ORCHID CACTUS – Epiphyllum)

I got little cutting of this interesting cactus in March. Planted it and waited…. at least for some growth 🙂 But it was very life loving cactus and not only grew some new leaves but also showed some strange bud… Which grew longer and bigger every day. I was told it will be something I never seen before… so I was watching very closely, checking it every night (with camera ready for action!)… as it suppose to open at night time… and die… when the first light of the sun lits the room.  So there it is!

p.s. the scent is gorgeous! Kind of complicated to explain, not like a rose, not like a jasmin, not like a tulip…  but very much like Queen of the night! … 🙂   

out on my usual stroll in the garden i spotted one of my perennial asters flowering away, not all fully open but what a treat.

i cant believe that i got these hostas to grow from seeds yipee. 

the annual asters are just lighting up this bed and the photo doesnt do them justice 

UP GALWAY TOMORROW

sitting out in the arbour this evening, the last of the sun rays caught the heavenly

bamboo and it looked so well in that light.

I have this Persicaria in the garden for two years now and it has never flowered.

Not really to worried as it’s the leaves that I really like.

There is a definite autumn feel to our home coming.

Sunset photos from my garden.

Woah, what a day. And the first of my official weekends off. Had to go out to lunch with Dad, and had great intentions for the garden when I got home. That didn’t happen. Steve was busy cutting back the Jasmine and Honeysuckle when I got back. They were the two major jobs that I had planned on tackling today. So, as it was being looked after by himself, I had no choice but to pour a drink to avoid dehydration. Just look at the sky we had today. And to think we have had to wait until now to get that!!!

i took a pic of this bud on a fatsia as i had read that you can save seeds from it, was just wondering if it is a seed head or a flower bud? and do the seeds come after the flowers? i would love to try sowing and if any one has done it i would be delighted to know. i have googled it but it doesnt show you where you take cuttings from and do they need heat? 

i know there is a lot of questions in that request sorry in advance.

also does anyone know what this plant is thought i planted a helenium there last year after a trip to tullamore but this aint a helenium, i think it was fran that put up a pic of this in a recent journal

Steve bought me eight different Hippeastrums during the Tall Ships Festival. I only potted 4 of them last Wednesday. Today when I went to the garage to retrieve the last of the four, I was gobsmacked when I saw the growth it had put on in just a matter of days. It measures 9 and a half inches already. Bloody Hell!

spend the day disinfecting and cleaning the tunnel before stuff comes in for winter, wrecked but very happy with it. 

i am hoping fingers crossed to get working cleaning pots on monday knowing my luck it will be raining if it is i will have to do it in the tunnel over a barrel we’ll see.

my poor long suffering husband helped me to clean the tunnel, he done the high bits and the outside while i got on with putting the stuff back in, thankfully there wasnt too much to put in, another job ticked off the list. he talked him into moving the barrels to the other side as the other side of the floor is smoother for the racks he did it for peace sake as he knew i would go at it and put my back out.

I received this beauty as a small seedling from Fran earlier in the season and planted it below a climbing rose on a south-facing wall. It has done well and gives me much pleasure as it triggers off holiday memories from a long time ago!

I first saw Rhodochiton on a visit to Hever Castle (onetime home of Anne Boleyn) while spending a holiday in Kent, England many years ago. On that occasion I picked a seed from the plant and managed to grow it in my garden the following year but, unfortunately lost the plant over winter.

So its lovely to have this plant in the garden again and to recall the pleasures of a great holiday!

 A belated “thank you”, Fran, for this lovely plant and the added pleasures!.

I spent the last 2 weeks of August in New York on a fantastic family holiday. Despite being a concrete jungle I was amazed at the variety of plants shrubs and flowers found in many places. 2 places stood out for me. The first was NY Botanical Gardens..  It was vast and one could spend days wandering around it there was so much to see.

The second was a beautiful garden restaurant called ‘Harvest on the Hudson’. The car park was lined with apple, pear and peach  trees laiden with fuits( thinking of Jacinta here).  You were met at the entrance with tall sunflowers   and all the tables were surrounded with beds brimming with veggies, fruit, herbs and flowers all over looking the Hudson river. I have never seen anything like it!

Will post albums of both shortly

I have had holiday blues since I have come back.. My own garden is like a jungle.. I know I should be cutting back and tidying up…but we’re having such lovely weather at the moment i just wander around the garden  and enjoy  it for as long as possible.

Michelle, photo as promised. I was mistaken about the Purple Palace. It is in fact Plum Pudding. The other two are Key Lime Pie and Creme Brulee (both of which I think I have seen in your photos). Not sure yet whether all three of these will go into the one planter, or whether I’ll split them up. Will play around with them first.

Pleased with the close up of this Echinacea.

It’s one of those flowers I’m a little unsure as to if, I really like it or not.

Have also added a close up of Lillium Triumphator, that I do like, alot.

It’s good to know that this hardy gerbera is doing what it says on the tin. I was a bit concerned there for a while.

Whether we want to hear it or not, it’s coming.

I did a drastic thing today in the garden.

I decided that the drifwood piece was just not right where it was.

The back gaden is full of hard landscaping, and the driftwood only added to this situation.

I moved the wood and added some more grasses and a Bamboo.

The difference is immense, I am really happy with the result.

So much for my plans of an easy day in the garden, but it was an enjoyable day.

Back to work at least three weeks now after being off sick for a while. And today was the first real day I bought anything of note. I couldn’t get over the amount of butterfly photos people have been posting in recent days, but whenever I go near any with the camera, off they pop. 

However, in the garden centre today, whilst also concentrating on my work, I noticed that  these wallflowers were the real magnets for both hoverflies and butterflies. So I had to buy a few. They are reputed to be hardy, so they tick all the boxes. Also got three different heucheras to put into a nice pot. All with contrasting foliage for the winter months.

Last week saw the end of my weekends in work until 2013 (although I have to do a few hours on Sunday for the biannual Stocktake). Happy Days! So tomorrow after lunch I hope to get really stuck in, and draw as many butterflies into my garden as possible.

Alonsoa is now in full flower a bit later than normal but it really needs the sun. It is a good annual to sow for autumn colour.

This year I have done little gardening as the weather has been so bad.  However recently the weather has been great, but as the weeds have grown so much, I am overwhelmed.  So I have a new plan.  I will leave my borders in the back garden alone until the foliage dies down naturally before starting a tidy up and concentrate just on keeping the front a bit neat.  Is this laziness or common sense?  If the former do not reply.

I am putting up photos of this white orchid which is in bloom at the moment. My daughter gave it to me last year and I am delighted to have in in flower again. The photos are not very good but it has huge flowers on 3 stems.  25 flowers in all 🙂 I have to put a stone on the pot to keep it from toppling over!

I found a cyclamen plant on the compost heap earlier in the year. I had no idea where it came from, it was a sizeable corm.

So I planted it and have been totally amazed with the amount of flowers it is producing in the last few weeks.

I bought this in Aldi last year. It’s supposed to attract all kinds of bugs and creepy-crawlies that are good for the garden, but particularly attractive to Lacewings. I’m beginning to wonder is it doing anything at all to keep other pests at bay. No sign of life in it. ANd I have checked on regular occasions throughout the year. However, I suppose I’ll leave it be. Who knows, maybe they saw me coming and decided to ‘high-tail’ it.

To day was a most enjoyable day in the garden. It was one when I had plenty of time to get at so many things. As I mentioned, the lawn was mown on Tuesday, very little yesterday (Wednesday) but to day, what can I say but so many things were done. Rose beds were given a further weeding and edging and fertilizer was spread on about half of the lawn. Weeds have been doing well and in about a week’s time I should spray it for weeds. However the grass must be allowed to grow. Cotoneaster has been growing at an enormous rate so plenty of pruning carried. Some ground at the back is in good shape after digging a few days ago and some strawberries should go down to morrow. Finally I must say that a second Phalaenopsis or Moth Orchid has opened. I had been a bit impatient up to recently about the orchids. Other orchids such as Miltoniopsis (I have two ) are slow to give blooms but I suppose I should be grateful for the the Moths as I have seen butterflies outside.

… especially on a beautiful sunny day like today!

The sedum bed was where I was weeding today, taking my time and examining the many different little plants in this bed. Weeding really gets me “up close and personal” with my plants and I can even try to memorise the names on labels too!

Many of the sedums are bulking up well, some are already spilling over their boundaries and some are merging together to start forming the carpet that is what I visualised when I first  designed this bed!

Today my weeding was accompanied by clouds of beautiful butterflies fluttering about often within a foot of where I was working – it doesn’t get much better than that!

The sedum bed is finished now and won’t need attention for a while now. The other tasks for today were dead-heading the dahlias and cutting back the giant daisies by the stream that had collapsed down on top of the other plants in that area. Large chunks of Rosa Rugosa had to be removed so that the path became accessible again. Another wheelbarrow full of stuff for shredding!

I need to start moving my compost heap to where it is needed, but unfortunately it is sp pretty with the Nasturtiums that grew over it that I can’t bear to pull them up!

Off to the Independent Republic of Inishown – also known as “God’s Own Country” – for a wedding this weekend so the garden will have to look after itself for a few days 🙂