Month: March 2014
this month has been mad with the arrivel of our grandson 3months to the cottage this is the first time we have seen him.John has been working away in the greenhouses the tomatoe plants are ready to go into to the cold tunnel but we will be looking out for frost. we have a bubblefilm wrap to go around the plants,the peppers and other veg plants are all comming along well.the garden is full of bees of every kind even butterflys and ladybirds,hope this will be a good year for them.
to say i loved kew would be an understatement. WOW. i was so happy to be there. i didnt know what to go looking at first, there was so much to see and do. first stop had to be the palm house i think i went down every isle twice and then discovered i could go upstairs now that was fab too. then down i came again and ended up talking to the girl watering about a girl that worked there from the DVD i have, she is no longer in that area and couldnt tell me where she is now but not to worry. i asked her could i do a small bit of the watering and she said no problem and even took a photo, oh to be doing that everyday would be bliss, hubby said he never saw me smile so much. it didnt end there,
once finished in the palm house and several photos later made it to the princess of wales conservatory and wow the heat in some of the zones was unreal but fab. i also got to water in there too thanks to a lovely young guy, could get used to this, would gladly water in any of the glasshouses, just to die for.
the grounds also fab and even went on the sky walk over some of the trees.
i got to see the inside of the temperate house for a short while, it was only open for an hour to a tour so i sneaked in with 5 minutes to go. this closed for renovations until 2018. alot of the plants are in different areas until then except a few bits that could not or may not be moved until need be, i didnt get to see the vicotrira cruziana or the victoria longwood. these are in the lilly house and cant be seen until april what a pity. also didnt get to see the titum arum from what i have heard if it was there you would smell it. i forgot to go into the alpine house, i didnt get to the japanese garden either YET
i am planning to go back in september / october time for longer and getting to see more gardens.
i didnt buy plants over there i didnt see anything i havent got or cant get delivered online. but i did get two books, the kew souvenier guide which i got for 5 pounds and the other one the gardens of kew was a little more exspensive but i didnt care.
later we went into london and hubby believe it or not wanted to walk through harrods, i was bored it didnt do anything for me but i had to let him do something he wanted to do. i had no interest in shopping clothes wise couldnt care less, also saw harvey nicks, another boring pile of crap. give me garden centres any day.
i have to say it was one of the best holidays ever, i plan to make it an two times a year at least occasion and also to become a friend of kew now that would be bliss. its 71 pounds to be an annual member but you get in free and a magazine etc so i am going to save for that. that will be a 100 euro or near enough to it.
it will take three albums to upload all the photos so i will do it in 3 seperate albums ( 350 photos aprox) hope you enjoy them and dont bore anyone
Yesterday, the sun was shining and the temperature was quite high in the greenhouse, not so to day. Yesterday, I observed the flowers in the Viburnum and Alpines. To day the rain takes over again.
Just back from a week in Lanzarote celebrating our fellow granny’s 60th with our kids and grandkids. I’d expected it to be tropical, and didn’t register that it’s only 70km from the Sahara. Where water was available the flowers were beautiful, but apart from Rancho Texas, a family theme park, I’ve never seen anywhere so dry. Guys, we complain about rain but I don’t think I could live anywhere where you have to grow grapes in pits of volcanic gravel which catch the dew and absorb it, sunshine or no sunshine. The cacti were pretty amazing though!
This little plant was in the garden when we arrived.
I love the little flowers on it which are just beginning to open now. They look like a bunch of grapes. Nice colour too.
But can anyone tell me if these are weeds or not?
They don’t look too familiar to my normal weeds and they do look like seedlings BUT are they weed seedlings??
anyone have any idea? Thanks
I took this picture after clearing a few brambles. What a beautiful day it has been, I just wish there were more of them.
Eleven days?? ELEVEN DAYS??? How can it be eleven days. But then this blessed computer is so fractious that one sits gazing at it for twenty minutes before it chugs into life and downloading pictures is a lifetime’s work. I shall have to get it seen to. Then there’s the fact that there has been no wonderful changes or disruptions, no floods no storms, to get the creative juices flowing.
Snowdrops are gone but in their place host of golden daffodils serve to brighten the scrub and they seem to be more abundant than ever. I did spread a few clumps around last year and they have taken off. Also all the ‘construction’ work and shifting of rocks is beginning to tell now that the grass is growing back and the ground settling.
Scrubber decided that EFFICIENCY was to be the key word this year. He gathered up thirty years worth of Flowerpots and brought them to the waste disposal-they are not recyclable apparently. You should have seen the car-packed so tightly that he had to use the side mirror to view behind! But the place is much the better for it-although they are beginning to pile up again-Glanbia and Flowerpower so tempting!
And of course ONE MAKES LISTS. Why Scrubber had a list of eight items last Saturday which as you know was a great day. Down to bottoms and started sawing at branches of tree that had keeled over and made some headway. Then out of the blue and invitation from kind friends to lunch! Back into the garden after a delicious and most enjoyable lunch and managed to dredge up some muck and plants from the ‘rill’ in the bottom of the scrub and hauled up lots of mucky wet leaves to allow the rill to drain and THAT was the sum total of the list done for the day! Efficiency how are ye! Two items and those only dented!
Howsanever it is a beginning and I haven’t got to make a new list for a while-Oh there’s another-stool the willows! And plant some of the cuttings and prune the hydrangea something or other-which needs march pruning…so lots to be done. Want to put up a nice album as haven’t donne so for ages but that will take time. Meanwhile sorry for not commenting on other’s journals as often as I should. Must do better!
This is my very young Rhodo Augustinii, which I got as a baby from Shirley Beatty in 2005. Although not thriving, at least it shows Noel the size of the leaves in relation to the flowers. He has grown quite a bit but is not a happy camper. He needs to up-sticks and move. Do you think I can do that now, or do I have to wait recommended late August?
I have now added this morning’s picture of Rhodo Praecox in full glory. It was bought in 1979 There are hardly any leaves on it. They are quite a bit smaller than Rh Augustinii.
If you can’t laugh at yourself first you can’t laugh at anyone else.
I sowed seeds of Cosmos a while back. One lot on in the heated propagator the others in pots in the greenhouse.
The ones in the greenhouse started to germinate the other day. Nothing showed in one pot so after waiting long enough I started to pick around a little.
The lesson is,
make sure you sow seeds in every pot ………………………………. ;-))
This plant is really taking off this year and should flower later on, all going well. Ever now and then a new leaf appears and seems to take on this lovely colour on the new growth. It does not last that long, but is realy interesting to see the contrast that is created.
But in the meantime, I will enjoy my neighbours Forsythia.
Hyacinths finally opening here in the garden, much slower than last year but great to see them and smell them. Still waiting on my favourite one Dark Dimension but not long i’d say. One is a pink hyacinth and another a Muscari a grape hyacinth.
This is Hyacinth ‘Woodstock’ looking good at the moment. Along with a lovely beetroot red colour it is also nicely scented. This is it’s second year so bulking up a bit at this stage.
I planted two little acers in the North-facing border a couple of weeks ago and can’t believe the growth on them already. They can only get better and better. Such cheery colours against a dark wall.
I wonder is there a spelling error in the name of the second one. Maybe it should be ‘princess’.
Todays weather was a vast improvement on yesterdays. Didn’t get outside until about 2.00 and had a productive time weeding. Before long though, my back started complaining so I continued it in a sitting position. Lots of weeds that have been neglected on the soil over the cave. And even though the soil is going to get shifted before long, the weeds had been doing my head in of late.
And of course, as soon as I started to enjoy myself down came a deluge. That put paid to weeding on my bum. And anyway, I should have been sitting on my kneeling pad. But it’s buried under stuff out in the garage. Planted a few small things and little by little I am making a dent in my plants-in-waiting.
I had been quite concerned about the geraniums I took out of the greenhouse last weekend with the harsh weather of the last few days. All is well, although they have been blown about a bit. Covered in a thick layer of fleece now as there is overnight frost forecast.
The greenhouse pond was looking nice today.
I suspect that this is a weed. But I don’t know which one. Help please…..before I decide to pull it up!!!
Corydalis solida cultivars are in flower at the moment
Does anybody else use an iPad when browsing and posting to this site?
I have used one for the past while and find it very annoying. I can browse and read but cannot post a journal from the iPad. On occasions I can manage to post a very short comment; anything longer than 5-6 words just seems to get lost.
Anybody with similar experience? Anybody found a solution? Any helpful suggestions?
A while ago I posted a journal on the first flower on Helleboure seedlings that Jimi Blake had allowed me help myself to.
While looking for something else the other evening I fond a ‘note to self’ where the seedlings were planted.
This photo is of the genuine article LOL
The main issue is I will have to wait another year to see what colours I may end up with.
Lovely and bright out there but very cold wind. Have a good day folks.
As it’s bitter out, there isn’t much you can do outside. But I had a quick look in my greenhouse to see all the goodies I have in there.
What a great feeling to see all those little seeds turning into actual plants and the feeling just never leaves you.
The excitement is amazing!!
As was mentioned in another journal March brings us many weathers and yesterday was no exception.
We had the whole four seasons in one day. It was bitterly cold with a dreadful wind howling. But to top it off apart from the heavy rain, we had some hailstones, plus some snow.
By the way it’s not unusual to get this weather anytime during the Irish year!!! That’s why when we get a good dry sunny day we are on top of the world lol
Rachel was selling seeds last year and I bought some Echium wildpretii seeds from her, amongst others.
They are starting to take off now. Only two were successful, but I’m happy with that. At first I thought I’d cooked them but then realised that’s their colour!! hopefully they will grow and grow.
Love this little flower. Year after year I forget that they are even there and nearly tread on them in my quest to photograph my Leucojum.
But I’m labelling practically everything now as work on the cave should be due to resume as soon as the weather heats up so, I’ll need to lift a lot and put them into pots before they disappear altogether.
Simple woodland plants can look well at this time of year. However I am bad at names. Have I got correst names for the enclosed? I think the Fritillaria is correct, as there is a photo in the current ‘The Irish Garden‘.
