Gardening in Ireland, our own garden, gardens visited and book reviews
A change of colour is good for the soul so why settle for the blue when you can have white – and this is the season to be white; not the white of the heavy snows causing havoc in central Europe at the moment but the white of snowdrops in the garden. The unusual weather … Continue reading Winter Whites.
The snowdrop year is approaching mid-season. The first snowdrops flowered here in early October and the common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, is in bud with quite a few showing colour and their flowering marks mid-season. I am a member of a number of online snowdrop groups, all on Facebook, where members post photographs of their presently-in-flower … Continue reading Buying New Names for the Garden
I believe that had life not provided me, regularly and repeatedly, with an eleventh hour much would have been left undone. Working close to a deadline seems to have always brought out a diligence in me which is absent at other times. I still fondly recall a college essay, on a book which I had … Continue reading At the 11th Hour!
The Generous Gardener – Private Paradises Shared by Caroline Donald Caroline Donald is the gardening editor of The Sunday Times, a position which has opened the gates of many gardens to her, gates which might not otherwise be opened and in this book she recounts her visits, her interactions with her hosts and gives us … Continue reading The Generous Gardener
Morocco in Bloom by Giuppi Pietromarchi “To be places of respite and joy, gardens combine the lively scents of the day and the night, the harmoniously clashing colours of the flowers, foliage and soil, the warmth of the shade and the freshness of the waters. The colours of the flowers and the clay, softened by … Continue reading Morocco in Bloom
We have been busy with other matters this past while, the weather has been unpleasant and we have been ill these last few days so there has been no time in the garden. Yesterday, on the brink of cabin fever, I went to the garden for a few hours. It was a very gentle few … Continue reading Getting Out for a While
The last days of November would generally not be regarded as good garden-visiting days but there are some advantages. It is a time to see a garden without the distraction of summer colour, without the fullness of summer borders and without too many other visitors also. It is a time to see the bones of … Continue reading Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem’s Good Bones!
