Archives: journal
just read rachel’s comment about not getting a prize for her sweetpea. shame on that judge. I have been honored with the task of judging at many shows and if someone puts up the only entry they get first prize no matter what it looks like. The only exception is if the exhibit does not meet the shows schudule ie.not the correct number of stems or colour.I have come across some judges who will disqualify on grounds of not enough quality,but if you are the only exhibit you have the best quality. I know of several people who gave up showing because of this sort of judging, I hope rachel you are not going to join them. p.s. I have not judged sweetpeas only veg and cut flowers , wine and handcrafts.
Peace has being restored to my domain, herself indoors has returned indoors, and the dogs beneath the shady trees. Though the parting shot is there is another dog arriving tomorrow. I have restored the shrub bed to a reasonable state and I have planted a few containers. tried my hand today at hanging baskets and they look allright. I have to spray the roses for blackspot, another gardening scourge. I sprayed the spuds today for the first time and of course the sprayer unused since last year refused to work and I was forced to buy another. I side shooted the tomatoes and tied them up. I evicted another slug from the greenhouse. things are starting to come together at last. oh by the way if anybody has relations in Australia will they ask them to look out for my carrots for they have yet not made a show in my garden and I fear they may be heading south.
Off at three today. Bliss. Sun came out at about 1 here and I decided NOT to do anything in the garden if at all possible when I got home. Didnt even go to the shops. If I couldnt find the makings of a dinner in the kitchen, that was it. I was going to dial for a ‘Chinese’. As it happened, there was loads in the kitchen.
Took out the sunbed at half three, donned the bikini, and went unsconscious. Was totally zonked till Steve came home from work at 5.30. Can’t believe I wasted that time asleep.
Got the dinner. Watered. And potted a chaemaerops humilis which I purchased from Bakkars last week. And THAT WAS IT. Steve finished the retaining wall behind the pond. So all we need is a pile of topsoil now. Then the fun will begin! Plants!
Had a few drinks out in the garden tonight. We have just come in. 10.45. Beautiful mild night. I can feel a barbecue coming on!
When I look at people’s photo albums on this site, I’m always so impressed with all of the vegetables being grown, in greenhouses and outside. I’d really like to have a vegetable garden again. In our previous house, we had a much smaller back garden, and it was rectangular, with one side of it completely dedicated to vegetables. We grew quite a few things in there, and enjoyed tasting what we grew, even though it was way too small to feed even a small family! The garden we have now is a completely different shape, but well set up with different small areas which make it interesting. The only problem is that it is very hard to reclaim any of these nicely set up areas to make it a vegetable garden, and that’s a shame. There is a large border which I have wanted to change for ages, and part of it could be dedicated to vegetables, but it would be in the middle of the rest of the garden, so would need to look nice too, so that’s a challenge, but worth thinking about. In the meantime, last winter we dug a small herb garden right beside the patio door, and have a few herbs now growing in it, which is a start (chives, thyme, parsley, rosemary, spring onions, oregano, mint and celery). The basil and coriander sowed indoors last week have started growing, so I feel that we nearly have most of the herbs we use most of the time in cooking. It’s a start I guess…
By the way, cannot upload photos tonight, it’s so slow the site keeps freezing. I’ll try tomorrow again…
Herb garden
Seems ages since I was here last…but due to lots of visiting friends last week and this too…have’nt had much time to do my journal..Today though I did manage to get out for an hour and started the much needed weeding in our largest shrub bed…it seemed such a daunting task at first (and believe me it is) then I reminded myself not to look at how much I had to do…but after the hour admire how far I had come…and delight in dumping a wheelbarrow full of the dreaded invaders…so tomorrow will do another hour or so and hopefully finish off that particular bed….Haven’nt done any planting lately either…I do have some asters and sweet william to plant will have a go at getting them into the ground….seemed almost like summer had revisited us again here in Wexford this evening…nice!!
Have been busy digging! It is hard work making a new bed with a spade and a fork, removing sod and disposing of it but worth it in the end. We made a new circle bed for my daughter Caitlin who has been wanting her own garden for ages. She put in it some of her snapdragons which she grew from seed, geum, libertia gold leaf and echinecea. We are thinking of putting the bird bath in the middle of it. I also dug a circle around my Wedding Cake Tree and put lots of Poppy Pink Dawn around the tree, so hopefully they will flower this year.
Ahhhhhh Eamonn Ryan and his rural broadband (which excludes all of wexford!) and eircom (exchange not made digital yet) frustrated me today, not to mention 3 mobile who promise a lot and deliver on very little. It took me a good 2 hrs just to upload 8 photos from plant pics I took on holidays, I also had lots of other photos from the garden but I gave up, I don’t remember it being this slow before! I also have to do them one by one as otherwise if I did 5 my broadband just packs in.
I finally have hardened off most of my annuals, and there outside for the first night last nite and did ok, I’m hoping to get them into the ground at the weekend.Some of them look sad enough after a week of little water while I was away but I’m hoping the recover and do better in the ground.
I’m also decide that if it goes ahead I’ll go to the meet in mullingar in July, I was trying to put some plants aside for the plant swap but have no idea how many, if anyone else is going let me know how many your bringing, must ask Rachel and Cooper when the visit tomorrow (Rachel your probably bringing a van load :-D)
I’m trying to do more cuttings from things this year, as lots of my plants are not big enough to divide for another couple of years, but with all my books I have I have very little on general propogation of plants I saw the RHS Propogating Plants by Alan TooGood (great name)on amazon does anyone have it? is it good? Carol Kleins current series is good but too short in my book. I need something to tell me what is the best way of propogating what plant and when.
Schizostylus in flower in June!
Fuchsia “peggy”
Hope
I’ve put down plastic on the majority of Rapunzel’s Forest.
I hand weeded around the remaining shrubs and trees.
Still a bit to do but I’m getting there.
Rapunzel’s Forest
The gargoyle in Rapunzel’s Forest had to come out.
I found a new home for him behind a Buxus Hedge. He looks happier here.
I adore gargoyles and have two stone ones. I think there’s something really attractive about having soft, pretty planting juxtaposed with the gargoyles ugliness. Actually I don’t think they’re ugly – just characterful.
Mind you, I haven’t found the ideal place for either of my two gargoyles but I’m working on it… Isn’t that the joy of gardening?
New Home
JohnsBrook House has recently established a centre for study and adult education with courses in gardening, garden design, floristry and personnel development. The following courses will be taking place from JohnsBrook House, Co Meath.
July 2009
Introduction to Herbs and Container Gardening
Saturday, 11th July 2009 10:00am – 4:00pm
Gardening for Beginners
Saturday, 25th July 2009 10:00am- 4:00pm.
August Courses
Introduction to Garden Design
Saturday, 8th August 2009 10:00am – 4:00pm.
For further information on courses available at JohnsBrook please contact Hazel
Telephone – 046 9433197
Email- gardenbeginners@ireland.com
Up and showered by 6.30am. Fed all greenhouse plants and hanging baskets by 9.00.
Went off and did my errands. Back here. Breakfast. Was thinking of you, Rachel, when I had it. But had no intention of doing hard labour in the garden. I was catching more rays. But I first went to a garden centre and bought small pampas grass like the one I bought last week , ‘splendid star’, and 3 verbena bonariensis.
I sat in the sun until Steve came home from work. Then we both got stuck in to filling the new bed with topsoil, manure and home-made compost. It looks great. Any plant that refuses to grow well in that mixture is a fool. Home-made compost looks so delicious. The wall isn’t quite finished yet so I’ll give Steve a chance to do that and then in go the plants.
So the plants that i will be putting in will be, verbena bonariensis, astilbe, fatsia, lychnis, hostas, armeria(pink and white), campanula, aubretia, sempervivums, sedums, lysimachia, japanese blood grass, acer palmatum dissectum (atropurpureum),and clumps of chives. Oh, and my newly-acquired dicksonia antarctica. And a Phoenix canariensis which has been in a big pot for the last 6 years. Can’t wait to see the finished result. Then I will put bark chip all over it to hopefully slow down the weed growth.
new bed with home-made compost
I picked up these primulas last year – both pink and orange were growing in the same pot so I divided the clump up and got 3 plants for 1! It’s looking like I’ll be able to divide them again when they have finished flowering so I’ll have even more value for money! I love plants that are so easy to increase.
Speaking of plants that readily increase we recently tackled my daughters patch which had become overgrown with buttercups and geraniums. My son wasn’t impressed at us removing all the buttercups as he was wondering how we would know if we like butter or not if the buttercups were gone. However I pointed out the other numerous patches of buttercups all around and he was happy. We declared war on the geranium ‘Wargrave pink’ as it is just too vigorous and I think it is more suited to a semi wild area. We then planted some pink double flowered busy lizzie, cosmos and Dahlia ‘Amazone’, to give it some colour. The rose ‘Mary Rose’ is in flower and we also have hollyhock and astilbe about to flower there so all in all it is a very girlie spot!
Candelabra Primulas
Veg area slowely getting into shape.
Unfortunately my mother has commandeered the camera, so I can’t give any updated photos. But… I can tell everyone that there’s not a whole lot to look at.. thanks to bleedin bunny waaabits! All of our brassica’s have been obliterated, in one night’s eating and they started on the carrots and spring onions.. and leeks!! I didn’t even think that rabbits would eat oniony things!?
Anyway, I’m not a happy bunny and we have the shotguns at the ready!…. except we get eaten by midges within two seconds of sitting out…. grrrrrrrrrrr. If anyone has any tips for keeping rabbits off (except the obvious use of extensive secure fencing) hopeful..yes… we are! cheers!
I got a bit of time off today, and spent a bit of time in the poly-tunnel. I harvested my first drill of white turnip- it had almost matured, and had dinner eating most of what i picked. Yummy.
I also picked my first head of calabrese, and had that for dinner too. I can’t believe it produced such good heads, nicer than that the spanish stuff in shops, which up to now I have always enjoyed.
I dug up one potato plant from the tunnel, (I am struggling for space). I only got 9 little new potatoes from it, (which we also ate tonight). The spuds which i have growing outdoors in a raised bed seem to be doing better. I was probably a little premature in trying to harvest yet, still it was exciting to try the first few!
The is a new field of allottments in Portarlington now, just beginning to take shape, I hear the uptake has benn excellent, and the space is all taken already. I had a few spare cabbage plants, and a few other bits , so I dropped them off at the site, withe a little note saying what they were and wishing the finder the best of luck with them. I hope someone got a surprise to find them, and planted them quickly. I’ll visit again to meet the new gardeners, its great to see new developments like this happeningl
Tomato plants are growing a bit, I was excited until I visited my mothers tunnel, which is in a walled garden, and the same tomato plants as she gave me are at least twice the size in her poly-tunnel. Grrr. It may be the warm sheltered site, or the fact that she positioned her tunnel on an old hen-run. So she has ready -fertilised soil.
I have neglected my journal for the past few weeks. My husband and I went to the Chelsea flower show on Saturday the 23rd May. The weather was fantastic. What a spectacle. The show gardens were many and varied. There was one to suit every conceivable taste. I loved the garden submitted by Leeds City Council and sponsored by HESCO Bastion Ltd. Civil engineering and military protection. Their garden focused on saving water from a rainy day. The main feature was a Yorkshire stone cottage where the roof water was diverted down a drainpipe and into a trough planted with moisture –loving plants. They also had a collection pond. A deeper reservoir that would contain larger volumes of water which overflowed to an area that supports wildlife. I am a big fan of recycling and do a lot of it in my own garden.The Laurent-Perrier garden was a contemporary design that I also really liked. The flower displays in the great pavilion were magnificent and I have downloaded some pictures in my garden photographs, I wish I was a better photographer, my camera batteries died and I was amazed that there was no stall selling them, therefore I don’t have as many photographs as I would have liked. I have also been busy watering my garden, there has been no rain here in over two weeks and my new plants are needing a little help. I spent almost two hours doing that last evening. So there has not been much time for anything else.
Haven’t done anything startling to report. Just been chillin’ out in the garden and watching it grow and boy is it growing. A different world from a few weeks ago. Just doing a bit of maintenance and weeding, But oh my god, you should see the arch over the seat at the end of the garden. It is just like in a cloud of buds. I thought it must be honeysuckle but on inspection was jumping up and down to discover that it is rosebuds. Not only is the arch covered in it but it is halfway up the garden side wall, right across the neighbours garden. My mum gave me two rose bushes for the arch about 5 -6 years ago. One white, one red. No idea of names.But will ask her as she is like an encyclopedia!!!! Red always did ok’ish but white was always weak. Can not believe what I am seeing this year. Cant wait for them to bloom. Am out with the miracle-gro!!!!!
Veg are doing great and some of the lilies from Bloom are up already!!
got out to my garden today at last. came in and wrote a big journal entry only to have site freeze and lost all of it .so it may wait until tomorrow!! night night
I’ve finally gotten into the right frame of mind to tackle the weeds, long grass and the brambles.
Step one is to make a start on spraying to kill offf the grass.
Here goes!!
hi everybody
well rain rain and more rain,whit friday was all set to go out in the garden, after the walks and bands guess what it RAINED so annoying,its not been good all week,except whilst at work soon as its time to go home, the weather turns?? will have to do some garening this weekend. grass is 2ft oh alright 2" will be 6" by saturday.did get out the garden furniture and have a couple of barbys last week in that bit of summer that came and went .peonys and poppys in full bloom they are beautiful,my wisteria flowers are finished now the leaves are now appearing,sunflower seeds not growing yet dont no why, will have another look tomoz, have got foxgloves making them selves known in odd places,strawberrys and tomatoes doing ok.
poppys
Hi All, Another lovely day of which I took advantage and done a bit of transplanting. I had a sad looking fern tree in a large pot which I put into a better position in the ground and transplant a rhododendron into a more eye catching spot. Not sure that its the right time to move the rhododendron but will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Cleaned up around the borders and planted a few new herbs in my two old sinks where I keep my herbs, they grow very well in them. Dave grow the herbs from seed and they look and taste very nice. Using some of the leaves of the radishes and spinach with my lettuce to add a different flavour to my salad and works very well. I also used our first courgettes and made a lovely soup which can be eaten either cold or warm, the flavour was excellent.
On Wednesday afternoon the aforemention ladies came to see my garden. Another lovely sunny day, though there was a North wind which was quite sharp at times!! As is the usual case with gardeners, they came laden with goodies, lots of plants and the most wonderful scones baked by Rita – I can honestly say they are the best I’ve ever eaten!!!
We did have a nice afternoon – lots of laughing and lots of garden talk. My garden is on different levels, lower and higher with slopes in between. Behind the garage I now have a cottage garden. When we came to live here 5 years ago I said ‘I’m only going to have shrubs and trees, easy care’ – we are on a windy elevated site.
But then every time I went to the garden centre or to other people’s gardens I would look longingly at all the perennials I used to have in my former garden. Now I’m the proud owner of a hidden cottage gdn in its 2nd year, where I can disappear to. I begged, borrowed and bought all the plants you would associate with such a garden. Peter did all the hard landscaping – we have steps down to a bench where we can relax, take in and enjoy the most wonderful views of the surrounding countryside including Croagh Patrick – my favourite spot in the gdn.
As is the usual case when gardeners meet up, I learnt new things and they in turn got a surprise to see where some of my plants were growing, as 3/4 of my site would be on sandy stony soil!! Today (Friday) I have been busy putting in my newly donated plants. Another glorious day. Apparently rain is arriving Fri afternoon!!
Joshua Tree (Yucca)
