Where did that Spreng from?

A little background story to a plant can add interest and the lead often comes from the botanical name. Sometimes the names are simply descriptive: Geranium sanguineum, Bloody Cranesbill, because of the red colour of the foliage in autumn and some say because of the magenta flowers. Caltha palustris, Marsh marigold, because it grows in …

The New Kids on the Block

Isn't it always the first to flower of any group of plants which seem to get us most excited. We see the first peep above the ground and are out each day to monitor progress, clicking away with the camera at the first show of colour even before the flower is fully open at all. …

Up to see the Ladies.

There was a mixture of emotions when visiting the Meadow Saffron - Naked Ladies is another common name, hence the title - at one of its two sites on the banks of the River Nore in Co. Kilkenny. It seems that these are the only two sites in the country where this plant is still …

Some Benton Irises

Sir Cedric Morris was a doubly gifted man, an accomplished, respected and successful artist and also a wonderful gardener who introduced an extraordinary range of beautiful irises. He established the East Anglian Art School at Benton End and also pursued his interest in breeding irises there. Reportedly, he would sow as many as a thousand …

A Safe Refuge.

In a way it might seem incongruous that a graveyard would be a place of wonderful life but it is often the case. An eagle-eyed friend in our little orchid circle spotted some orchids growing in a churchyard close to where she lives and investigated further. As it turned out she had spotted a small …

I was Moved by This.

My preferred morning is a gentle one, a slow start, a leisurely and quiet beginning to the day but I was moved into action this morning well ahead of my more comfortable schedule and it was a tree which prompted this uncharacteristic exuberance - for, to me, anything beyond a quiet breakfast, a gentle chat …

Tulips in Their Pots.

A pictorial look at tulips in the garden at the moment, mainly those purchased last autumn for pot culture and display and destined to be short-lived garden plants as is their breeding. They are bright and cheering while in flower and a wonderful addition to the garden. And individually:

This Week in the Garden in Photographs.

It has been a beautiful week, a week of marvellous weather and long days outdoors spent in the gardening. I was going to write "working" in the garden but it is more a pastime, a gentle time of light jobs, of bits and pieces, of this and that but no major projects and plenty of …

Prodigiously Prolific.

Lionel and Helen (Meg) Richardson were breeders of daffodils, based at Prospect House, Kilcohan, in Waterford City. The house still stands, now surrounded by modern housing estates which also cover what was previously the Richardson’s farmland – they kept Jersey cows for milk and also grew tomatoes commercially – and the family name is given …

A Wet Day with Beautiful Flowers.

The good weather of earlier in the week has gone. That bright crispness and that sharp coolness in the air have given way to dullness, mistiness, clamminess and a general feeling of misery and no opportunity to garden. Were it tomorrow, November 1st, I could make a timelier quotation of Thomas Hood’s poem, “November” but, …