Month: March 2014

It was such a stormy morning, that I decided that Malin Head was the place to be! It’s only 30 mins away.  Spectacular! The wind was so strong that I had to turn the car round to be able to open the door. 12° C. and no windchill.  Wasn’t it worth it?

So sorry folks. I don’t know why pictures from an iPad do a somersault on their to the site!  I’ll try again and send them off already on their heads.

Hippeastrums have done very well for me this year again. They are so reliable.The first one keeled over and gave up the ghost. I have found that the quality of Hippeastrums this year  has been of exceptional quality, each  producing 3 flowering stems.

Still enjoying this one while it lasts.

I have two Camelia growing in pots. ‘White swan’ and ‘Debbie’

‘White swan’ has just opened and ‘Debbie’ won’t be far behind. Some nice buds on them both too. 

Gidday all,

               you talk about the luck of the Irish well another severe storm missed so I,m feeling lucky been down the road & brought extra lotto tickets.

Outside of putting the wood in the shed it,s been a day of reflecting on the few changes & the planning of where the new additions are going.

Trust your week-end is a good one.

                                                     regards roofy

I finally got around to errecting the very expensive Aldi House today. Warning do not attempt to place the plastic on frame if theres even a puff of air. I very nearly went “hot air ballooning” in the effort to tie it down. Mind you the help was non existant at the time. It does say on instructions “two persons” one hammer etc etc.

I wonder will I get one growing season from it? I eventually will end up with a tunnel / glasshouse (hint birthday/Christmas) ahem!

Its tied down, pegged down and sandbagged down but I hope it doesnt get tested this week or the next.

I sat in it today taking a phone call and honestly it felt like heaven. Almost too good to go back to stocking it up afterwards. ha ha.

My facebook friends have called it a “wendy house” but “stick & stones etc to them.

Took a nice break from the garden today and headed out with Greta. Spent ages wandering around Ratoath Garden Centre’s new show gardens. Even in the early Spring, it has so much to offer. A lot of John’s plants still had architectural old growth which provided great interest at this time year. Lots of NEW growth everywhere also, and new planting schemes. Love this place to bits. New coffee shop inside the store, which offers cooked meals and snacks. Great service too.

I noticed this lovely striped grass in his Prairie Border. Not sure if it had been cut back but it stood today at roughly 4ft. Unfortunately John wasn’t around to fill us in. Maybe someone can help identify this please?

Bought a rake of stuff there, which is all outside right now so no names just yet. Great day.

Jacinta

How dissappointing that the sound failed on tonights programme just as the visit to the garden in Fisguard. I think there is a repeat on Sunday morning. After such a long winter was so looking forward to a new gardening programme. 

Knowledge is power, so they say but if I had read up on R. cilpinense before I got it in 2009, I probably wouldn’t have bought it as it is said to be very bud tender. I am very glad I did buy it as the flowers are delightful as can be seen from the photo and even though it is bud tender, it has flowered well for me for the last few years. The other two shots are of my latest Camellias to bloom, no names I’m afraid. The bicolour one in particular has set a load of buds, the red one lost a lot of buds but should improve in that regard over the coming years.

I popped into Lidl this morning to have a look at what was on offer…..and I wasnt disappointed.

I bought a Magnolia ‘stellata’ for €9.99….now I did buy one in Johnston, a much larger one for €25.99 and thats planted in the back garden, but I also wanted to put one in the front….so thats where this one is going.

Also picked up a couple of Pieris while I was there….

These I will plant near the Magnolia in the front garden……as this was where the Box hedge was before Jimmy took it out……

Next week they will have larger Magnolia’s and they also will have some Ferns…which Im thinking of getting for my shaded border down the back, which PWiseman told me were good for there……

The Pieris I bought were: Pieris ‘Cupido’….Pieris ‘Dorothy Wyckoff’….Pieris ‘Purity’

They are differnt to what I have in the back garden and will look well once they grow and bulk out…..

Just wrote a long post, uploaded 3 photos and the PC/site did one of those annoying things where it doesn’t upload and wipes the whole lot! Grrrrrr……

So here it is again. I decided that as the weather was glorious and it’s forecasting rain tomorrow, I’d take a half-day and work tomorrow instead. So as Al was off this afternoon we were straight out after lunch, he to finish edging the wildflower bed behind the veggies and me to weed and sort out the studio garden. I was pleased with it last year but some of the plants got a bit lost so I decided to rearrange it. Had a happy time dividing, moving and replanting perennials. The ‘Schoolgirl’ rose we planted by the cherry tree had died so I planted instead the ‘New Dawn’ that I grew from a cutting. 

Then we dug, edged and mulched the curving border and I planted it with pansies, saxifrages, forget-me-nots and limnanthes. 

We had our first tea-break of the year by the pond, watching the frog orgy. I said it last year, but we’ve had ponds for thirty years and the miracle of frogs and newts and all the other bugs and creatures coming back to life never fails to amaze us. 

Best of all the crocuses were buzzing with bumbles. Magic!

I found this lovely garden book in a charity shop in Limerick city for only €2.50. It’s not the first time i’ve found great gardening books in charity shops.  they’re practically new and it looks like people get them as presents and don’t want them.

It’s worth having a look around them. They’re great for ideas. 

The seeds are on the move.A little tip given to me some years back,was to always write the date on the front of the seed pkt of when it must be started,and that way time wont be last.To look at the back of a pkt of seed and read it should have been done a month ago etc will all be avoided.Those dated to use for the year and any back log of yearly saved seeds here will not then,be avoided..

The kitchen Mag,waiting for me in the post box will be enjoyed at lunchtime.

Gidday all,

               alot of movement around the patch,as of this day all the statues are now in the house yard top & bottom makes life easier mowing lawns & it gives the house yard a totally different look & feel about it.

I dodged a bullit this arvo huge storm went around thankfully.

                                                                                        regards roofy.

Or maybe just,

a slight difference……………

I got lots of gardening done today, and could not believe how mild it was. Weather like this just fills me with energy! The last few weeks I had tried to not go out in the cold as my hands had been in a bad shape earlier due to the cold, and I did not want a repeat…

I planted quite a few of the swap plants from the get together, and am looking forward to seeing them grow – will post journals about them. Also planted several white primulas denticulata, from divisions made last September and that were in pots until now. Some did not do too well, or not yet, but quite a few have been growing very well, and I hope that once in the ground, they will do even better. I love those white round balls of flowers each spring.

I did get quite a very nasty surprise with a sedum ‘Purple Emperor’ bought in Johnstown at the get-together. I was wondering for a little while why it was not growing quicker, but decided to plant it today anyway. Found a spot, dug a nice little hole and took the plant out of its little pot. I wasn’t paying too much attention to the soil, but suddenly noticed that the small growth had separated from the roots, found it a bit strange, looks closer, and horror!!! There were several big fat white larvae in the soil. I suppose vine weevil larvae. At that stage the soil was already in the hole I had dug. I wont repeat my nice words at that point but I was not happy… I tried to take as much of the infested soil as possible out, I think I got it all, but not sure. And to add to that, believe it or not, I had already bought a sedum Purple Emperor at the Johnstown 2013 get together!. Planted it and it grew well, but got several knocks from balls when the girls and their friends were playing last summer, and didn’t survive.

What I wonder now, is will I give this plant a third go??? I’m love those dark sedums and am desperate to have one or more in the garden, but at this stage I’m wondering if they are cursed!!!

Apart from this nasty incident, I had a really great time in the garden this afternoon 🙂 Tomorrow, I hope to do some seed sowing…

Remember I had some damage to a kitchen roof recently. Well as it happens this room housed the hotwater cistern and is directly over my kitchen. It used to be dark as it had no window! Now its been converted into my new “window sill & propagating Room”

who needs sliderobes anyhow?

I wonder will it be too warm for these seedlings? Guess I will find out shortly, any ideas folks…………

I now have 2 clumps of blue ones so they do bulk up. I took this photo this morning so you can see what the foliage is like

Imagine my delight when i saw these little fellas opened today, I knew i had dwarf iris’s in another pot but could not remember what was in it, tought maybe harmony but even better Iris George a lovely dark purple one. It is a very wet day here today so had to bring the pot in to get photos. Plenty more to open, looking forward to seeing them all open, it will be a great display.

It really is Camellia time, isn’t it and I am in my element as I adore them. I am so lucky to be able to grow them in the open ground and they do very well for me. I have quite a few of varying sizes and of course the older ones are now a fine size and are impressive specimens. The first one shown is C. japonica rubescens major and as can be seen it is covered in buds with some already opened, one of which I am showing in the second photo. The third photo is of a flower of one of the x williamsii hybrids, C. debbie, which I have underplanted with Rhododendron cilpinense,  which is also about to flower and I will feature it when it does. I rate Camellias extremely highly and only inferior to Rhodos in that they don’t have the variety of foliage that Rhodos have. Plenty more Camellias to come.