cyclamen

Six-on-Saturday: End of Year

Páraig likes wine and winter flowers. He also looks forward to 2024 but not squatting and stooping to photograph the hellebores.

I do hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours here in Dungarvan. The weather outside was frightful and several attempts to go cycling with friends were abandoned easily, bar one. Storm Gerrit breezed through on Tuesday night into Wednesday and there was very little time to grab a few photographs that would prove I actually did get outside.

1. Gaultheria

Featured recently, Gaultheria procumbens is a dainty little thing.

2. Camellia and Wine

The buds are appearing on Camellia, yet it’s the wine bottle that catches my attention. Similar to last week, Marion thinks I’ve lost my marbles. I have six bottles, all red, in various spots, put in place last May. Through the summer, they were soon surrounded and overgrown by annuals. Now I can see again.

3. Heather

Heather is in flower and leaves are gone to ground.

4. Hellebore

The first of the Hellebores are peeking through. As always I have to practice squats and forward stooping in order to photograph them.

5. Cyclamen

Cyclamen coum, one of the hardiest, is providing a small splash of colour. At this time of the year even a small splash is better than none.

6. Polyanthus

Plenty polyanthus flowers in bloom or ready to burst.

Summary

A quick dash around the garden and a time-pressed account to match.

Clockwise from top centre:

Pop over to Jim’s Site to discover more Six-on-Saturday updates. Until next time, I hope you get to enjoy some time in the garden. Happy New Year to all.

Six-on-Saturday: Day by Day

I like strolling the garden before breakfast to the accompaniment of music. I also like WeatherShot and cycling, but not too many plants in straight lines.

Páraig likes strolling the garden before breakfast to the accompaniment of music. He also likes WeatherShot and cycling, but not too many plants in straight lines.

I’ve had an on-off love affair with WeatherShot. It’s a phone app, sadly no longer being updated. I bought a subscription several years ago but could not really justify spending €30 the following year because I had not used it as much as I thought I would. Recently, I renewed again in exchange for the price of two bottles of wine, and this past week I’ve enjoyed using it every bit as much as drinking wine. Life is rarely either/or.

Rather than half a dozen Saturday photos, there’s one per day. I may be tempted to continue going forward. Here on the SE Irish coast it was another mild murky December week, recorded here along with gardening memories. Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations, for hosting Six on Saturday. Rules is here.

Sunday

Sunday was wet and windy. I did manage to cycle about 70km but I needed a mince pie and coffee midway. Taken before I left, the pigeons, doves, sparrows and others are enjoying a hearty breakfast. Everything gobbled up by the time I returned.

Monday

It’s been my habit to spend a short few minutes each morning surveying the garden. I wear my headphones and have ‘The Garden Song‘ on repeat. I notice things and my advice to myself is: Notice everything, but do not touch. This photograph reminds me to rearrange the patio pots. Straight lines are not always the best.

Tuesday

These little annual Begonias are against the west-facing wall and they’re still in flower! The stone trough is topped with 2cm of loose stone to retain moisture in summer and heat in winter. If I told you these three plans survived last winter, would you believe me? You better believe it! They were planted in June 2022. If they survive again, they’ll need feeding.

Wednesday

Skimmia jap. ‘Temptation’ is doing OK, but only just. It would rather be in the ground. During the summer, it became much too dry. All life dies without water, and fails to thrive without enough.

Thursday

I think it’s obvious that I like Cordylines in containers. I’m told it’s a plant that does not do well if moved, but as they are in pots I can move them whenever and wherever I like. ‘Torbay Dazzler’ is out on its own, dead centre.

Friday

It’s complicated. I bought four red Christmassy pots, each containing one Cyclamen. Later, I took each of these lovely Cyclamen(s) from the four pots and put them together here. Why, you ask? Well, these are not winter hardy so the plan is to drape a towel over them whenever frost is likely. Can you spot the two chopsticks? You’ll know why I’ve put them in. I’m thinking that I have a touch of OCD, but these plants will bring me so much joy in these dark days.

Pop over to Jim’s Site to discover more Six-on-Saturday updates. Until next time, I hope you get to enjoy some time in the garden.

Inch by inch, row by row,
Gonna make this garden grow,
All it takes is a rake and a hoe,
And a piece of fertile ground.

Inch by inch, row by row,
Someone bless these seeds I sow,
Someone warm them from below,
'Till the rain comes tumblin' down.

Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones,
Man is made of dreams and bones,
Feel the need to grow my own,
'Cause the time is close at hand.

Grain for grain, sun and rain,
Find my way in Nature's chain,
Tune my body and my brain
To the music from the land.

Plant your rows straight and long,
Temper them with prayer and song,
Mother Earth will make you strong
If you give her loving care.

An old crow watching hungrily
From his perch in yonder tree,
In my garden I'm as free
As that feathered thief up there.

Six-on-Saturday: It Was Dry!

Here are a few bobs & bits from the garden this week. Unbelievably, the weather gods looked kindly down, as it remained almost entirely dry. In fact, as the week moved through, it became drier and drier. A high pressure system blew in and decided to stick around. It’s been such a long time coming. What’s rare is wonderful.

In other respects, what’s rare is most definitely NOT wonderful, as I finally succumbed to a light dose of Covid week before last. I was out of circulation for six days and recovered promptly. I always try to look on the bright side: as soon as I was clear again, the fine weather appeared so I got to do some gardening. All is well in my world.

The evenings are dark. In fact even the days are dull and dreary. Yes, dry but dull and dreary nonetheless. So I treated my darling wife to this cheery Cyclamen. There are six in all, scattered around front and back. She’s worth it, for sure.

Winter Windowboxes

Window boxes here are not well suited to summer bedding. Yes, it’s a great spot for a blaze of colour and from the kitchen the display is usually great. However, it’s next to impossible to keep them watered properly in warm weather.

On the other hand, I love having just a little colour, together with a few small evergreens here between between Halloween and Easter.

Cacti

In return for the Cyclamen I bought for Marion, she returned the love by purchasing this pretty container. In fact she bought me two of them. I am a fortunate man. Several cacti that had been on the south-facing window in individual containers were repotted and I think they look well.

All Leaves Not Down Yet

I love how the fallen leaves have been trapped at the base of these planters on the patio beneath the Crabapple. Tumbling over the edge is the annual Lysmachia, known also as Creeping Jenny. These plants & fallen leaves will remain in place until after Christmas because more leaves will fall between now and then. It’s a great place for bugs and insects to shelter during cold weather ahead. We await a hard frost to denude the tree completely

Viburnum

Out front, I planted this last spring. It is approximately 30cm. It has settled in very well. I also have it beneath the (above) Crabapple. They both need pruning, a job I’ll get at shortly. Viburnum tinus ‘Eve Price’.

Rosa ‘Orange Dream’

Last week there was some discussion about Acer ‘Orange Dream’. This week it’s the turn of this lovely rose by the same name.

I have no rose expertise. This one was completely underwhelming. I think there were only half a dozen blooms this year. Not terribly exciting. What to do? Pass it on to someone who can get the best out of it? Persist here for another year? Food for thought. If plants could speak… Would this rose ask to be rehomed?

On the other hand, wanting to be as positive as is possible… there’s still this one bloom remaining. When nearly everything else is gone over, the single bloom is a highlight.

Until next time, I hope you get to enjoy some time in the garden.

In other news my first book, ‘The Write Time’ has been published and launched.

Note: This is included here not as a sales pitch; rather as my way of recording the event and how it synchronised with my gardening. When I read this post in twelve months time, I’ll be delighted to see that it is out of stock!

Páraig