Archives: journal

Another glorious day. We could all get used to this! Isn’t it fabulous?

My youngest two, who have the week off school, have gone ferral and are running around the garden all day wearing only t-shirts and factor 30.

Caught up on a few jobs – spot of weeding, levelling of circular area to be paved, husband cut the grass. 

I found greenfly on my greenhouse courgettes while I was investigating hand pollination. It wasn’t there yesterday. We’ve bought a spray now so I’ll deal with it this evening when it’s cooler. Some of the sunflowers we planted in the greenhouse border are touching the roof already!

I noticed that my favourite rose bush is in flower. It’s full of buds and the scent is amazing. The only draw back is that it is not repeat flowering. But it’s so worth it. Every time I begin to think that roses are too much trouble, I remember this rose and am forced to repent.

More glorious weather.The biggest worry was water,water, and more water.Plants dried out at an alarming rate.Earthed up some containors.Done some more work on the hanging baskets.Gave a quick final check around the garden before closing [cold frame+polytunnell] up for the night.Fingers crossed for lots more sun.

I put this up today in the hope it will keep the birds off the gooseberries. They got them all last year!

A few years ago I got a few irises through an offer in the Irish garden magazine. I planted them and got flowers every year after that (yellow, purple, white and lilac colour). Then last year, for no reason, the irises did not come out at all. I thought they were dead, but they reappeared this year and it looks like there will be 6 or 7 flowers overall at least, so I’m very happy!

This weather seems to suit my Iris Germanica plants. The only problem is that they are all the one colour, a deep purple. Last year I had a wonderful Blue flowered plant and also a pure white. There is no sign of these as yet.

Some of the plants have not flowered at all. I split up the corms ( or should that be bulbs?) last year and perhaps some of these are still too immature to flower this year. I’ll see what happens next year, that is, if I am still around next year.

I am not mowing the grass too tightly this year and it is looking much better than ever. I know it means that I have to mow it more often but it is worth it.

I have one rhubarb stool and it is not doing too well mainly, I think because of the hot dry weather. Also, there are lots of other plants growing nearby and they have encroached into the rhubarb’s area. I will rectify that later in the season and move them elsewhere. I didn’t plant them there; they are ‘blow-ins’.

The Aquilegia are revelling in this hot sunny spell and it is quite true what gardeners say about their promiscuity. The mixture of colours is amazing and they selfseed all over the garden and the neighbours gardens too.

Last year I got some good photos of spiders in the conservatory but this year there are none to be seen there. 

I’m probably mad, but I couldn’t help enjoying the sight of these buttercups in the sunshine. Maybe I will regret letting them exist where they are right now, but I suppose I have so many weeds to manage that it may as well be the beautiful ones that I turn a blind eye to. It’s going to take me a while to master this wilderness!

Removed the weeds in two of the raised beds last night.  I recently applied some home-made compost to them, but I had no idea of the effects I would see. It hadn’t occurred to me that as well as make the fruit bushes very happy, it would also give the weeds a booster. And I had no idea it would have such a fast effect on the quality of the soil. Only added about four weeks ago, but I can really see and feel the difference. I’m amazed.

Aren’t these sunny evenings fab? I was out til 10 last night, happily pottering while the birds sang all around me. May there be many more…

Well I don’t know about the rest of you but the flowers seem to be jumping out of the ground at the moment. After all the rain we have had, and now this hot spell, things are going mad in the garden. My oriental poppies just seem to have burst into life from nowhere and what a display they make. Roses have taken off as well, which reminds me I better check for greenfly. I told you in a previous journal that I had potted up a tree peony I had been given as a gift. Well it has taken off like a mad thing and if it keeps growing at this rate I shall have to find an even bigger pot for it. I just don’t have the space to plant it in the ground and I feel that by keeping it in a large pot it will curtail its growth…..time will tell.

In spite of the good weather the snails still seem to be on the rampage. Slugtox seems to attract them ok but then they devour everything in their path to get it. Someone told me over the weekend to try Guinness in a slug trap. Bad enough to have snails in  the garden, but intoxicated ones………. or does it really do the trick?

Last year there were pumpkins on the big manure heap, some of which were huge about 35kilos! This year with so many new plots and more young children our allotment owner Zwena made a smaller heap for the children to grow their pumpkins on. Two of my grandchildren put theirs in earlier and this is Kevin putting his one in and taking it very seriously as you can see from his expression! The adults have theirs on the big manure heap, last year they were like tryffids they just advanced down the heap at an alarming rate! The local paper The Examiner published a photo of the harvest, they were all sizes and anyone who wanted one got it.The biggest ones went into the English Market and were snapped up immediately. I made a pumpkin pie from my one and we had the shell with a light in for Hallow’een. 

Well, what can I say.  It was worth the wait.  Although next year I will be sure to go on the first day so as to have a better choice of plants to buy – this year I wasn’t really looking to buy – although I still did!  On the last day you do get bargains at the end –  I got a Geranium Johnson’s Blue for 3 euro – I had been looking at it in the garden centre a while back for 6.  I also got 2 aquilegias (Pink Barlow and Double pleated blue) for a fiver! They were a little the worse for ware after a couple of days in the stifling floral marquee but they will be fine I’m sure.  I also got a Chatham Island forget-me-not, which I was assured was hardy but looking it up in the books, I’m not so sure it will survive the midlands winter. 

I had expected the gardens to be looking a little parched after the scorching weekend. but most of them looked as fresh as daisy!  And I think Monday was less crowded so it turned out well. I was delighted to meet Kitty, aka Michelle, and her daughter for a little while and am looking forward to meeting again in Mullingar.

I loved almost all the gardens and would find it hard to pick a favourite.  I liked the Metamorphosis garden with the path down to the pod although I don’t think the metal sculptures that framed the water feature were very child friendly!  I loved the little jewel garden – it really showed just how many plants you can get into a small space and the I loved the sophisticated but woodland feel of the Garden Lounge.  The Harmonium garden was lovely and cooling on such a hot day, as was the secluded water garden – I would have loved to take a few minutes on that hammock!  All the gardens had something I would like to try at home.  Ag cur baisti and the seven woods garden I thought were really gorgeous too. The kids loved the champagne bottle water feature in the Chic n’Cheerful garden and the chickens in the Recession-Prosperity garden and of course the wonderfully wacky Keelings garden.  We completely missed the Engaging Spaces and the whitehouse garden as there was just so much to see.  

With the recent good weather the toms have really taken off, the aurora have set fruit, and the Urbikany are not far behind, both type have got quite bushy and have produced about 1 to 2 dozen flowers per plant so far! the Amish paste has got quite vigorous since it had its side shoots removed and are now about 4 1/2 ft tall with about a dozen flowers per plant…. 

What a run around day!

Spent the morning excavating more earth from the area where the stone circle will go. I knew the area was on a slope but the amount of earth coming out from one side (to make it level) is unreal. My son, Zak, did the final honours and raked it all even, using spirit level. I think we’re there now. The next step is to rent some kind of compressor.

I suddenly realised that the Wexford Town Pattern is on Sunday and it is going to rain tomorrow so that means I needed to go down to tend my relatives’ graves today. I was not in the mood. It went okay though and I got done quite quickly.

Back at home my husband has gone mad planting veg – we now have 8 veg beds. He sowed more Swiss chard and rocket today and rigged up some CD’s to scare the birds – they look kind of pretty. Pumpkins, corn (thanks for the recommendation, Michelle, although I only have 5 plants) and the cucumber plant (form Linda) are being hardened for planting out.

Fell asleep watching Gardners’ World.

Went for a little wander very early this morning – Have terrible sinus infection at the moment and am not sleeping – anyway, I checked on the veggie plot as lots of those pretty but dangerous Cabbage butterflies have been seen in the area lately and now that we have the slug problem under control- don’t want to see plants eaten by caterpillars!! I was delighted to see how well the veggies were looking. The Cauliflowers and Broccoli look good enough to eat – pardon the pun!! I have put up a few pictures. Don’t think I will be getting much else done in the garden today. Ah well- all good things must come to an end. We live in hope for another good spell!!

I don’t feel a need to plant a lot of flowers as the wild ones are so beautiful and abundant. I went for a walk around the farm early one morning during the really fine weather and took this photo, and some others I put in an album called Dawn walk

Hello everyone, I have been away for a while as I have had sad news, what was supposed to be a hernia in my groin, is not it is a rare form of Melanoma Cancer which originated from a small dot under my left big toenail, in myself I feel ok but very shocked and further surgery is required, to cheer myself up I went to visit Yorkshire Lavender near York and it is the most tranquil and serene place I have ever been to, it is owned by a man and his son and daughter ironically opened in 1993 as a tribute to his wife who died in her 30’s of cancer. The Lavender does not flower until the end of June so I will be going back again I have added a photo album of the scenery, the lovely fragrant smell of the lavender toiletries wafted through into the tea room which was lovely, I had some lavender icecream and a lavender shortbread biscuit, it was not what I expected, very subtle and not a strong flavour. I bought a lavender plant and a few herbs.

What a miserable day. It has not stopped raining since early morning. As I look out the patio door I see the rosebed has turned into a lake and the water is working its way up the patio as I write. The poor poppies which looked so good earlier in the week have a very sorry look about them now. The Johnston’s Blue Geranium has keeled over just when it was looking so good. The blooms on the Cordyline will have a hard time trying to survive in this rain. Hopefully I will get a chance to experience the musky scent  before they fade into oblivion. Funny though the lawn has perked up and looks very green. Lets hope we have not seen that last of summer for yet another year.