Gardening in Ireland, our own garden, gardens visited and book reviews
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, … Continue reading A Wet Day with Beautiful Flowers.
Dr. E. Charles Nelson has enriched my gardening for over twenty five years though it has been a disappointment that I have never had a plant from him – he has a special interest in plants of Irish origin or connection and he grows a few that I would give my eye teeth for. Charles … Continue reading Drummond and Nelson
“Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew, and dog will have his day”, wrote Shakespeare in Hamlet around 1600, and the saying may well be applied to our garden plants for it is a regular occurrence that a year may arrive when a plant gives a display far beyond and far … Continue reading Every Dog has it Day!
This glaringly red poppy, Papaver orientalis 'Allegro', has been in and out of favour with us since we grew it from seed and planted it in the garden almost thirty years ago. So disgusted did we become with it at one time that we dug it out only for some remaining roots to send up … Continue reading The Thug in the Rain
The blooming of the exquisite Paeonia ‘Souvenir de Maxime Cornu’ is a moment of the most wonderful beauty. It is a moment to appreciate the work of paeonia breeders of the past and to anticipate the main flush of the paeonia season. When Paeonia delavayi and Paeonia delavayi var lutea were introduced from Yunnan, in … Continue reading Beauty Beyond Compare!
No doubt, you will have had the experience of your eyes falling on a plant and then your jaw drops; your mouth opens; you oooh and aaaaah; you go weak at the knees, your heart flutters; you wonder - just for a very brief moment before morals regain the upper hand - that if you … Continue reading The Watched Kettle Does Boil Eventually!
“Anonymous Euonymus” might be a suitable description for eleven months of the year but, even for this generally dull plant, its moment to shine arrives. The Chinese Spindle, Euonymus planipes, is a large shrub or small tree – which it is becoming here after nearly twenty years – which doesn’t catch the eye for most … Continue reading This is my Moment!
