Come, Take a Walk with me!

We go and visit gardens here, there and everywhere; I take lots of photographs, come home, write about my days out and present them in my blogs. Then, on the other hand, there is a garden which is better than most right on my doorstep and I rarely write about it nor show you any …

To Hell with the Garden Gurus

Google knows about me - and about you for that matter! - for the selection of advertisements which pop up for me has more than a sprinkle of those which are gardening related. There will regularly be advertisements for garden centres, gardens to visit, garden holidays, garden services, television programmes, books, podcasts, special plants and …

Almost Speaking Too Soon at June Blake’s Garden.

We arrived at June's garden in Tinode, Co. Wicklow, to fabulous sunshine which was perfect to set off her new planting of Tulipa sylvestris with various small all-yellow daffodils on the grass mounds as one approaches the garden. We said to June that we have always been blessed with beautiful weather whenever we have visited, …

To The Plantsman

When the first bright day arrived we make a check on the weather forecast, saw that all fared well and fine at least until early afternoon, and decided we would make a bolt from the confines of the house where we had been interned for too many days because of the rain and general miserable …

A Miserable Day Here!

Thankfully, we were entertained for the morning by a visit from two grandchildren - a six and a three-year old provide plenty of distraction from the miserable weather outside. We certainly would not have turned our hands to any gardening today and plans that we might make a run up to Co. Wicklow to visit …

Late to Lismore

As with Mount Usher last week we were late getting to visit Lismore Castle Gardens this year. They had opened for the season some weeks ago but the weather put us off until we had a gloriously, beautifully sunny day last Thursday. I do hope all this delayed visitng will not result in my becoming …

A Delayed Mount Usher.

The weather was against us. We have had the wettest month of March imaginable - the wettest in the 83 years Met Éireann, the Irish Meteorological Service, has kept records! Conditions interrupted normal gardening activities as the place was like a quagmire. It was impossible to cut grass though as the 'mower would only have …

The National Botanic Gardens Kilmacurragh

Kilmacurragh is one of two gardens which are the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland and is, in a sense, the country cousin as the older, original and main botanic garden is in Glasnevin not far from the city centre in Dublin. There is a long history of active and adventurous gardening at Kilmacurragh and also …

Plants and People.

The Head Gardener would say that I lack a certain finesse as a gardener; that I lack that attention to detail and routine that brings good to excellent; that I am fine as an "edges and hedges" gardener, as Jean Van Der Lee (a Dublin gardener) used describe her husband - another long-suffering Under Gardener …