Month: March 2014

Clara gave me a cutting of Euphorbia “Silver Swan”. I have planted it in what I call my Pieris bed in the front garden and it is in front of a griselinia hedge but I am delighted to see that it is now about to flower and is doing really well. Thank you Clare.

aka Dicentra as most of us will know it as is just peeking up at the moment. I always watch this with great interest as I am never failed to be surprised at teh rate of growth that it puts on.

I should have had more faith in myself last evening at Frances McDonald’s talk. The good lady could not remember the new name and for some reason it came to me, but I doubted myself LOL

But as Frances said, it will always be Dicentra to most of us.

Just back from Beaumont Hospital. I must say I was very impressed with the grounds. Grass has all been freshly cut, edges neatened, the sun was shining brightly, and beds have been planted with super-cheery colours. The weather is definitely on the ‘up’.

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

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..

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. 

Many years ago I was presented with a large bowl made by a friend at a pottery class. I suspect it was a failure and she’d never have given it house-room herself, but rather than throw away her artwork she donated it to me. Very unchristian of me, I know, but mea culpa! 

I dutifully displayed it until we lost touch when it went into a cupboard, never to be seen again. Then I saw some of the great creations .iers have made out of unlikely objects, so as I had some little alpines from Johnstown, I resurrected the bowl, drilled drainage holes in it and planted up a mini rock garden. 

I’m not at all sure the artist would approve, but I rather like it. 

While in Lidl I did notice a lot of plants….as you do!

Saw this Leucothoe ‘Carrinella’…..the leaves are a lovely red/green colour and waxy looking……just caught my eye….this will also go in the front garden….. 🙂

I spotted this gem on my travels today and, although I’m not convinced about red primroses in general, I had to have it.

I think red usually looks out of place in spring and that the paler colours, including yellow, are much fresher and more pleasing early on.

But having said all that, it was hard to resist such a deep, rich colour and those double flowers.

It seems to be part of the ‘Belarina’ primrose series which includes ‘Pink Ice’. I think someone recently put up a journal about ‘Pink Ice’, which is also a stunner.

My daughter was home for a visit so we  trooped off to Altamont.

I was taking photos but they gave out, saying it was like I’d never been! And what could there be for me to photograph? Not gardners, eh?

So there are only about five photos but I’ll upload them tomorrow a.m.

A little time in the garden, pottering…………….

Trip to B&Q (Aoife needs MORE shelves) might visit the GC LOL

To the Pub for the rugby match, home for a second helping of rugby……………

Yep, my kind of day ;))

Have a good one.

I was out in the garden cutting the grass that was getting dangerously high as if I was going to get long sheers out ….but it was great to get it cut and looks so much tidier now even if it was cut at the higher blade ..

I came across this little Forget -Me – Not  and thought yes here comes Summer loads of it ready to burst open , I just love it it is such a pretty little flower.

I couldn’t contain my excitement yesterday in Ratoath when I spotted the very same Primrose that PWisman bought the other day. I haven’t been plant purchasing very much at all since I have been out sick, so I was like a kid in a sweet shop. And it was two like minds together ie. without any NON-GARDENERS waiting in the wings (if you know what I mean LOL). It was the same price as Peters one and I think he may have thought that he was paying a lot for it.

But I reckon €6.99 was well worth it. I’ll have to have another look at the name as I’m a bit brain dead this morning. We didn’t get to bed until about 3.30 am. The perils of not seeing each other in so long. Can’t wait to have another gander outside to see what I actually bought. I will divide this one into as many plants as possible when it has finished flowering. But until then, I will enjoy its abundant blossoms.

Jacinta

Hello to all!

  We’re lucky to have 2 weeks at home,so today desided to go for spin.Nikola heard talking me about first sprig fair yesterday,and today morning she said lets go to plant fair(!!!)  my jaw drop down from surprise 🙂 I sad to her,,but we are going to PLANT fair,,there will be PLANTS again,,she said yes,i want …so we went out.

  I had great time,met lots of garden.ie friends and it made our day perfect!

Pity i didn’t get photo with Ruth and her hubby ,met them when we went in and they went out,was so nice to meet you both.

  I will uploud some photos.

I was surprised at the extent this Yellow Hellebore was pot bound. It took a while to unravel the roots enough for me to plant it.

I would say it’s well pleased to be out of that pot, and the roots can do their thing happily.

I also cross pollinated one of the flowers with a dark colored one, I have to repeat for a couple of days. I have the flower marked with some string, so I will be able to save those seeds later.

Then patiently wait about three years to see what surpise I might have, or so says Carol Klein when she did iton her programme.

I planted some fuschias on Friday which had been grown from softwood cuttings taken in May. Ground conditions are still quite sticky with all the rain we’ve had and not ideal for back filling around roots. If you use your own homemade compost however or a store bought version, it will be easier to work with. Looks like we’ll be getting sun and east winds during the coming week, so this will help to dry and improve ground conditions.
Fuschias seem to be relatively tough and are far from being fussy. The fuschias in my neighbours garden have survived the winters of 1963 and 2010 and have been cut down to ground level several times without any ill effect. Fuschias are also easy to grow from cuttings without requiring hormone rooting powder.

Image © Eugbug

This Primula started flowering here recently and wasn’t until i went on closer inspection i notcied it has two different colours flowering on it. A great surprise and i will split later on in the year to have two different plants.

Tulips.

Looking through some old garden notes,our number 1 enemy is still the slugs.Two acres hold upon 50.000 of them.So we can just picture the amount in our gardens.

I hope to have some of the seed potatoes planted in the tunnel over the next week or two.They are almost ready to be called upon.

Six weeks of early growth is captured inside the tunnel with app similar when finished growing outdoors.Almost similar to the greenhouse.Outdoor temperatures upset the plan at times.

Canes for the dwarf peas need to be marked into place.As both tunnel and greenhouse have their own area,they are marked for their own crop rotation plan.

Gidday all,

               had my doubts about this fella flowering no need for worry should be a good little show.

                        regards roofy.

Has anyone else noticed that there are loads of ladybirds so far this year?

There seemed to be very few the last few years.

It’s a good thing, of course.

We all want the ladybirds to keep on top of those aphids!

It looks like I’ll be doing some hand-pollinating with the paintbrushes tomorrow.

I’ve never seen so many flowers on my Peach trees as ths year. But as they are planted in the greenhouse soil, there isn’t enough bee activity to pollinate them. That’s where my artists brush comes in very handy.

For the last couple of years I have planted out my hyacinths after being treated to their gorgeous scent indoors. Have them planted just outside my front door. What a scent coming into the house!!! I have a few more to plant.

Yesterday was such a great day and as Jacinta mentioned in an earlier journal, we both met up for a cuppa and a ‘look’ around Homebase.

Actually I was also meeting Jacinta as she so kindly had two plants for me that she was going to throw ‘over the wall’ and offered them to me. Of course I said yes!!!  So thank you so much. They are Leycesteria Formosa ‘pheasants bush’ and Hemerocallis Lillies ‘Fran’s Hal’ so looking forward to seeing these in full bloom. 

We went into Homebase. They had some nice plants and I bought some Echinacea ‘white swan’, Oriental Poppies, Echinacea ‘Magnus’ ‘ also.  Even though I wasn’t intending on buying anything. But when you are there………….

We then went for a cuppa and a nice chat and sat outside as it was such a lovely morning. 

When I came home I immediately went out to the garden so as not to waste any of the fantastic day. Planted up the plants and also got some more moved and settled. It was great to be out in the sun and there was definitely a bit of heat in it too. 

Still so much I want to do but that’s for another day. 

So thank you again Jacinta for the lovely morning and plants and it was  great to catch up again. 🙂 

Ps photo is from the web 

Monty showed us his lovely Pulmonaria ‘blue ensign’ plants on Gardeners World on Friday. Aren’t they just so cute. 

I have  a few growing here and I’m hoping that someday they too will look like Montys!!!! This one has just opened and noticed it yesterday. Love the colour. 

Lovely morning again, so hope you have a lovely day whatever you are doing 🙂