I Suppose That’s It Now Until February!

We were very much in that Carpe Diem frame of mind all of last week. There had been a long run of bad weather with particularly high rainfall and strong winds so that there had been many days spent indoors and cabin fever was beginning to set in. Because of this we had determined that …

No Day for Gardening!

It may not have reached storm conditions today but it was bad enough. We had a yellow warning from the meteorical service, Met Éireann, telling us there was a danger of coastal flooding as heavy rain and southerly winds coincided with high tides and their forecasts were accurate. I saw on the news that Cork …

It’s Saturday…and time for a gardening week review.

It has been a good gardening week with good weather, those bright and sparkling days of autumn, that very special light that comes in October - ten in the morning is the very best time when the fog and darkness clears and those strong shafts of light cut across the garden, almost like spotlights, and …

Six on Saturday, 19/09/2020

It has been a beautiful week, a week of recovery, of new flowerings and the start of a new season. After an extraordinarily wet period, with two storms and a great amount of damage done to plants, it has been wonderful to have a week of beautiful weather and the opportunity to work again in …

Old Clothes!

Acer palmatum ‘Koto-no-ito’ (Golden Old Harp) was at its autumnal best today and caught my eye. At this time of the year especially it is necessary to capture the moment immediately for it may well be gone tomorrow or even later in the day; the light changes so quickly that the moment can vanish in …

November 1st Garden Walk

We are enjoying a wonderful break in the weather today – yesterday was a day of persistent heavy rain; tomorrow will be a day of persistent heavy rain with strong winds while today is a day of persistent light rain, such a relief! Pfffffffff! Any thoughts of actually going outside and doing some gardening is …

Enjoying Death!

It is rather odd, rather a contradiction for the gardener who usually devotes all efforts to promoting growth, nurturing good health and fostering the treasures of the garden that, at this time of year, s/he should rejoice in the death processes of those very same plants.     Autumn is almost a second spring rather …

People on Bridges

No doubt, there is the possibility of symbolism, of inferred and implied meaning and significance but, no, none of that, they are just pretty pictures! Enjoy - from Mount Usher, Co. Wicklow, today!

Between Rain and Storm…

Between rain and storm, we had a beautiful afternoon and, although we didn’t manage to “carpe” the entire “diem” we made the most of what came our way. Several trees in the garden are at the best of their autumn colour but that foliage will most certainly be gone by tomorrow. Storm Callum is about …

This is my Moment!

“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 …