Gardens

SAVOURING SPRINGTIME ~ SIMPLE JOYS

| gaiainaction
The days are lengthening, everywhere flowers are appearing, it is that delightful and energising time of the year again. Still under strict lockdown here in Ireland, many of us are giving full attention to our gardens, it is also the right time of the year for it, and the pleasure that being busy with plans and engaging in the actual garden work must not be underestimated. And so that is what I am doing too. We can still only go out 5km from our front door and although I have plans to go further afield and I have things in mind to photograph and write about, this will have to wait. Latest news is that maybe lockdown won’t be lifted until the end of April. Meanwhile everyone’s hair gets longer and longer! 🙂
A few delicate tulips are flowering inside, they are wonderful and have opened a week or two ago. Their colours are pastel pink and yellow. I bought the bulbs last year. They are called Tulipa Foxtrot. I really love them and was glad that they could withstand growing inside which probably made them last longer.
Here is my mood board for this summer’s flowers in our garden. As you can see I am planning to grow a lot more flowers, some of which I have just sowed yesterday. But central to my plan are a few perennials, to start off with I plan to buy a Daphne shrub and a dwarf lilac tree . I love their scent. I have this vision of a bench surrounded by flowers and I’m hoping for a lovely warm summer, so that Ian can enjoy sitting in the garden and soak up the beauty of it. To me it means creating, in cooperation with nature of course, and creating is good for the soul.
  • Some baby hyacinth bulbs rescued
  • These mini daffodils are very fragrant
Last year I started to grow more flowers from bulbs and many are coming up again this spring, they have given us immense pleasure by their beauty and seeing them come up and waiting for them to bloom is also exciting. Even the lilies are doing well and I have those in the kitchen. Beginning of the season my kitchen is more of a greenhouse in actual fact, seedlings, plants, bulbs, soil testing, it all goes on in my kitchen, and I like to be surrounded by it all. Until the weather improves and it can all go happily outside.
Seed packets ready for sowing.
And during late winter I had another go at clearing our shed. I did get a bit side-tracked though, first by this most beautiful peacock butterfly, it was hibernating but I accidently disturbed it. After taking the photo it settled down again and I have not seen it since, I do hope it survives.

I also hope that nobody minds my photos of the spiders, these are Steatoda grossa, although I think the light coloured one is a Steadoda nobilis. They also live in our shed and I have become quite fascinated by them. There are at least a few of them.

  • Steatoda noblis ?
  • Steatoda grossa
  • My solution for not having a greenhouse to protect tender shoots from constant harsh rain and wind.
And because we are experiencing such a lot of rain and stormy weather this spring, lets just say it is cosy inside and there is such a variety of activities or just sharing some time with Ian in the evening in front of a warm fire. At the same time I say…roll on dry and warmer weather so that I can spend days creating our garden.
If you have noticed that my English is not flowing, the reason for this is that I am absorbed in writing in my mother tongue everyday for the past month, I am presently in a Flemish mode. It is nice!

I hope that everyone is keeping well. I think that I am very behind again with reading all your blogs, so from tonight onward I will make a start with that again, looking forward to connect.

THE GARDEN ~ LUSH AFTER THE RAINS

| gaiainaction
We have had quite a mixed summer this year. First it did not rain for many weeks and that while it was warm the result was that naturally the soil became very dry, but just as we were getting worried about this and that the government decided to put a ban on hosepipe use, it started to rain and we have not looked back since. In fact we did get rather more rain than necessary. The nice thing about this is that it felt today as if we are living in the tropics, so humid and warm and the garden so very overgrown, quite splendid.
  • Cabbage flowers
  • Our fern
  • Young marrows
While having lunch on the patio there is a nice view over the garden and it is good to just sit back and take in what’s growing, and to delight in all the different colours and the wealth of scented herbs. Vegetables are growing, beans are being produced, and we are waiting for the hydrangeas to start flowering. Times are full of expectations, and reflections too.

During the afternoon I found the cool air in the garden conducive to looking over my notes. I’m doing the second part of ‘Fundamentals of Plant biology’ course and am finding it absolutely fascinating, if a little challenging too! Keep the old brain working 🙂

So the solstice came and went and we are enjoying midsummer weather, it is all good, and life is feeling a little more like normal again. At least I hope it is for everyone else too.

WILD SUMMER GARDEN ~ INSECT PARADISE

| gaiainaction
A look at our garden through the conservatory window on a rather dark day this summer, but it’s all good. This spring and summer I let all the wild plants grow wherever they wanted as first and foremost on my list was to give as much food as possible to the insects. It has worked too, we never had so many insects before. Some of the thistles at the back of the garden are now taller than myself, as are the poppies and some of the foxgloves.
It has worked, yes. At first we had a huge quantity of borage, then the kafir lilies started to flower and the marigolds, then in the beginning of May so many more flowers followed. Soon bumblebees, bees and hoverflies started to arrive. Honey bees seem to favour the kafir lilies, the bumblebees are partial to the foxgloves, the comfrey, and the borage. By now the lavender is also visited by all the insects.
  • Great lavender harvest this summer
  • A type of catnip
  • Plenty of bees and bumblebees
  • Lady’s mantle
  • Oxalis
As you can see, the garden is rather wild. My patch of garlic is totally overgrown with foxgloves and thistles. Unused leeks are growing and coming into flower soon, they are allowed and I am looking forward to see what they will add to the garden.
  • Lavender
  • Feverfew and Melissa
  • I love the sage plant and flowers
  • One of the mullein plant is now in flower
Apart from the kafir lilies we are having a super crop of red poppies which we are enjoying very much, as are the insects.
Foxgloves grow wild in Ireland, and so they just come to grow in the garden too. I love them and they are never without some insects visiting them.
  • Wild purple loosestrife
  • Strawberries
  • Black currants
Mostly herbs here, sage, oregano, lavender, Melissa, thyme, and some celery too.

LIFE MOVES ALONG

| gaiainaction

Summer has come to an end. We are not ungrateful, we had a gently warm summer with enough moist to keep land and animal happy, so, looking at some other countries where people endured hardship because of the weather we have every reason to be happy. Today is dark, windy and very wet. It is time for us to go I think and that is what will happen in the week to come, all going well.

Reflecting on the summer months for a moment, for me personally it was wonderful because of all the activities with my daughter and grandchildren, we went for many walks and explored a variety of wonderful gardens around West Cork. At home also spending a peaceful time with Ian and enjoying many long conversations and discussions on everything under the sun, for some of these my sister Josefine was a part and a great input that was. There were the Art Exhibitions and the Art Festival, also the Historical Festival here in Skibbereen, and the Ellen Hutchins Festival in Glengarriff with an amazing walk in the grounds of her estate, all of which I enjoyed to the full. I’m sorry that I had to miss the Literary Festival in Bantry!   I am also very happy because I was able to connect with all of my siblings (8left), this is something that is both important to me and very dear to my heart.

So I leave some images for everyone to enjoy. As I will be travelling in the next week or so I will again miss checking out all blog entries of my lovely friends and followers , but I hope to catch up soon. It has been a bit hectic around here. Meanwhile I would like to thank each and everyone for your encouraging support of my blog. Take care and be blessed.
20170915_103734

Bantry Bay with the Caha mountains in the distance.

20170921_095012

There was a lot of magic in the garden this summer, the sun on a dew drop early in the morning creating diamonds was just one such moments that creates a feeling of wonderment.

20170915_124559

20170917_115014

One of the amazingly beautiful paintings of Maurice Henderson, his works of flowers and his blues especially I love.  We attended a celebration of his life recently after he passed during the summer.

And of course there are always lots of wonderful discoveries in and around the garden.

CARRAIG ABHAINN GARDENS

| gaiainaction

Carraig Abhainn Garden which lies in Durrus, West Cork.  It is one of the very interesting, well established and peaceful gardens in the area. It consists of 1-hectare which is bound by a mill stream. An amazing waterfall and further along the tranquil stream add to its charm and serenity. My daughter and I visited it recently with my grandchildren and the garden was loved by one and all. The children found it exciting with all its nooks and crannies, and we adults – although we often become like children when we are surrounded by nature – we just loved the tranquillity of the place. I was particularly interested in the variety of trees and plants, among them a Mimosa tree, a Korean Fir, and a whole range of other exotic trees, even a Banana tree! The variety of other subtropical plants, Palms, Rhododendrons and others was interesting too. I think it would be a lovely garden to visit in the autumn also just because of the variety of trees, although many of them are evergreens, a lot of them are deciduous trees also. I think my photos will speak for itself.  I hope that everyone enjoys the walk through this lovely garden with me.
20170803_132306

20170803_133143

20170803_132552
20170803_142255After our walk we had a chat with Eugene, the owner together with his wife of this beautiful garden.  Eugene is a goldmine of information on plants and trees and he knows his garden inside out.  I will be visiting again and he promised me a guided tour to which I am looking forward very much.  Here is a link to information on this garden.

http://www.ireland-guide.com/gardens/carraig-abhainn-gardens-.7116.html

 

AN ALMOST TOTALLY WILD FLOWER GARDEN

| gaiainaction

DSCF2152
These days as we find ourselves getting towards the end of the beautiful month of May, I am delighted with the many birds, bumblebees and other insects that I am finding in our half wild garden.  Every morning I listen to the dawn chorus of blackbirds, robins, and other little birds who are nesting in our overgrown hedge.  It is a wonder to see the wealth of these creatures enjoying our smallish garden and we in turn enjoying their company and song.  The butterflies and bees have still to come, maybe the temperature is not warm enough.  Yesterday, a day of heavy rain freshened up all the plants and today the bumblebees are out in full force, the sun is out and it is warmer, a glorious day!  We are expecting friends for lunch and it seems like a day we might be able to sit outside.

DSCF2192

I have found a beautiful fern growing around the old pump and the red stone wall, both of which are in this garden from the time we first created it decades ago, my then husband Ron was a great garden creator, though I owe the present raised beds to my partner Ian who has put in a lot of work creating these also.  But the creation of the present lush wild flowers and plants has come about totally as a gift from nature, and happy I am about that.  It seems all I have to do this spring is walk around in this luxurious growth and admire the colours and shapes that nature throws out there, what a palette, what a beauty.

DSCF2188

DSCF2160

20170518_181812And so spring is slowly turning into summer, at least its got that feel about it.  Weather- wise it seems to be warming little by little, in fact we were able to sit outside sharing a lovely meal and glass of wine with friends, chatting into the late evening surrounded by the sounds and scents of our garden, wind still.  I would not wish to be anywhere else at moments like this and feel very grateful to be able to enjoy this wealth.  The moisture and warmth after a day of rain in West Cork is something you have to taste before you can believe it.

 

Our friends brought us some young asparagus seedlings which they planted out with me, in two years time I should be able to harvest some of them and make a lovely soup, Ian’s favourite.  This bed was full of ranunculi and it took me a whole morning to get all the roots out, much as I love buttercups, they had to make space for the asparagus.  There is great satisfaction in creating something in the garden apart from enjoying all the wild plants.