DISCOVERIES IN A NEGLECTED GARDEN

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A longwinded journey brought us from Gozo back to Ireland, via visits to family in Henham, Hertford, and Cambridge which was, of course, much enjoyed as was the mild spring weather and all the beauty of the English countryside this time of the year, but more about that in another blog.
So we arrived home here in West Cork greeted by my daughter and lovely grandchildren, that was a beautiful moment. Next day and after unpacking all our suitcases I went for a leisurely walk around our garden. Neglected as it was, it has not become totally overgrown yet and I was able to find many treasured wild plants and even vegetables among the grasses and on the beds. So I enjoyed myself with these discoveries, taking note of what I will be cooking in the next few days, and which wild plants I’ll be using, and also taking photos.

I found a little plant that is new to my garden, it grows wild around here in West Cork on walls, but here it came to grow in an old flowerpot, maybe birds dropped its seeds.  It is the little Ivy-leaved Toadflax.

Cymbalaria muralis - Ivy-leaved toadflax
Cymbalaria muralis – ivy-leaved toadflax
Forget-me-nots in flower
Myosotis arvensis – Forget-me-not

And a left over from last year, the lovely blue Forget-me-not I found blooming.

Melissa – Lemon Balm
Salvia officinalis – Sage
Origanum vulgare – Oregano varigated
Lavandula – Lavender
Rosmarinus officinalis – Rosemary

As far as herbs go, West Cork, because of its mild climate is good for growing these.  I found the Melissa doing just fine, the Oregano coming up, the Rosemary and Lavender doing really well.  So maybe it is time to add a few more herbs during this summer.

Littel Borage plants coming up all over the place
Some good nettle plants for the soup
Chives looking great and ready to use

I was pleasantly surprised by the numerous Borage plants coming up all over the garden, even in the cracks of the concrete path.  The bees will be very happy about this.  The Chives are ready for cutting, and Nettles ready for the soup!  And I nearly forgot all the three corned wild Garlic which are just everywhere, so delicious in salads and mixed in an omelet.

Three cornered wild leeks
Three cornered wild Garlic
And lovely Muscari – grape Hyacinth
This Verbascum – Mullein plant makes me very happy.
A young silver Birch tree came to grow in the garden
Everything is sprouting and budding
Winter storm damage
Seedpods of Evening Primsore flowers

Delighted to have found a Mullein plant, this is also a medicinal plant of which I sowed a few last year.  And of all things I found a young silver Birch, well I know it was there as I put it in a pot to share with someone after it came growing in the garden, a baby of our large Birch.  The only damage during the winter was to our small greenhouses, wear and tear you could say.  I also found that the massive seedpods of my Evening Primrose plants had survived all the storms, these plants should be coming up soon by themselves I think.

A type of salad
Plenty evidence of lots of rain
Our Bayleaf tree doing well
The broadbeans in flower
Berries full of buds

Salad leaves are ready to eat.  Bay leaf tree is growing well and full of very green leaves which will be uses in soups nice and fresh.  I also found several broad bean plants in flower and all, Ian will be very happy about that, his favourite vegetable.  Leek plants which I planted out toward the end of last summer and just before we left are growing.  And finally, but not really finally as there is no saying what else I might find, the bed with the berries is absolutely full of flower buds, it promises to be a good summer for soft fruits.  The water barrel shows that here has been no shortage of rain!

I am totally happy with what I found, it is lovely to come back to my garden, and looking at the evidence, the garden has benefited from being left to itself for a while, there might be something in Permaculture after all.  It feels like nature is now growing what it likes to grow, and the soil in my garden is showing me what will thrive best.

I am taking note!

34 thoughts on “DISCOVERIES IN A NEGLECTED GARDEN”

    1. Yes Helen there was no telling 🙂 and since earlier I have also found my favourite Lilies of the Valley almost flowering and hidden away by the large bush of Wall flowers.

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  11. Your garden is lovely (even growing wild). I’ve always found my houseplants seem to thrive almost in proportion to how much I leave them to their own devices (aside from necessary watering of course). The less I move them, or “tend” to them, the happier they appear to be, and thus, the happier I am.

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    1. Wonderful! Thank you for visiting, so glad you enjoyed, will come to visit your blog presently. Yes I agree it is so nice to come back with great expectations and receiving rewards that only a garden can bring.

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  14. What a satisfying way to start the day, with a walk around the block, then inside I go for a cup o’Joe, and a read about your garden. It has been waiting for you! How fun to go about reacquainting yourselves with each other. Here in Colorado, all was going well, trees all leafed out, irises and peonies stretching out…three pots of new Martha Washington gerania on the porch. They froze, of course, in Saturday’s heavy, wet snow. I knew I should not have put them out until Mother’s Day, tsk. Lost only a few branches from my ash trees, though the new leaves froze, so they’ll need to start all over. My chokecherry and fire bushes were flattened, but in yesterday’s (Monday) sun, they shook off the snow and sprung back ready to go. You can see and feel the ground swelling…here’s a toast to all that was not lost… here’s to your day, eh? Roxie

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    1. Thank you Roxie, and how wonderful to connect. I’m sorry to hear that some of your plants got frostbite, but others survived. Here last week we had quite a bad ground frost and many people lost their young broadbean plants too. Lovely to hear about your garden, have a lovely day too!

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