March many weathers!

 

Today was a real crazy weather day. We had everything… beautiful sunshine, gale force winds, hail, snow and rain!

Check that out! Ten minutes later it was melted away by brilliant sunshine! Today gave truth to the saying “March many weathers.”

 

Despite the weather I managed to continue with my Moon planting. Today was a fruit day, in this category are all those plants which have their seeds within the fruit. I planted, in modules, Broad Beans, Peas and Sugar snap Peas. All the seed trays are in this contraption in the polytunnel. It is an old metal bunk bed which is covered in plastic. It works fine even though there is no heat mat. I think plants are tougher when brought on without extra heat. I do sow Tomatoes and Peppers in a small propogator though, then harden them off when they’re potted on.

 

These sowings are doing fine in the cocooned environment under the plastic. Three types of Lettuce, Cabbage, Flat Parsley and Curly parsley from earlier seed scatterings.

 

I did’nt stay out too long today, just enough to plant the seeds and walk the dogs. It was a short walk today! As evening approached there was hail again and out of it emerged a rainbow. I stepped out the front door to take the pic, then quickly in again. Yes, March many weathers!

The Last Hurrah!

Rosa Rugosa.

Despite the wind and rain there are lots of flowers in the garden at the moment. It’s like they are putting in a final push before the seasonal race is over for this year. The last hurrah!

Japanese Anemone.

Japanese Anemones give a great splash of colour at this time. They still manage to look graceful despite the weather. The only caution with them is they are so hard to eradicate if you decide you don’t like them in a particular position. I’m talking from experience here!

Yellow Rambling Rose planted earlier in the Summer.

I’m hoping this rambler will be well established next year and will take off to be trained along the banister on this verandah.

Phlox.

The Phlox is very late flowering this year. I think it got tired of waiting for sunshine.

???

Anyone know the name of this one?

Coneflower.

Coneflower or to give it it’s proper name Rudbeckia is a great Autumn standby. I really like it’s dark centre.

Devil's-bit Scabious.

 On the laneway this lovely stand of Devil’s-bit Scabious  lifts my heart each time I walk by it. I will be collecting seeds of this later on for a small wildflower area we hope to do next year. That’s the gardener’s life for ya, always thinking and planning ahead.

June Musings from Prospect Cottage.

Californian Poppy among the Carrots. Don’t know how it came there, I did’nt plant it! It is a welcome sight though on this sunless June day. They self seed madly so maybe I will have a swathe of Californian Poppies in the polytunnel next Summer.

Trifolium pratense or Red Clover as it is commonly known is flowering now. An important source of nectar for bees it grows wild along the lane. Like all legumes it is a nitrogen fixer. The flower heads have long been used in herbalism. They are used in herb tea mixtures for chest colds and stomach problems. Externally it is used as a poultice or in bath preparations to treat rashes, ulcers, burns and sores. Some years ago I also read about research using Red Clover in the treatment of cancerous growths.

It seems like the Sweet Williams have been threatening to flower for ages. I think they are waiting for sunshine. Hopefully the wait will not be too long!

In the polytunnel everything is growing rapidly now. Lots of produce to be had, Lettuce, Rocket, Spring Onions, Beetroot and Sugar Snap Peas give variety to our meals. The bed you can see on the right was planted with Parsnips in March, however they did’nt germinate, due to the dry weather we had at that time, I think. Planted more last week so fingers crossed. The Pumpkins are Sunflowers are still in pots in the polytunnel. The weather was never settled enough to plant them out, although I think I will plant out the Sunflowers today as they are becoming potbound. The weather is so odd this year. On Friday last it was 25c, today it about 13c and the forecast for the week is for dull days with temperatures only reaching an average of 13c.

On the last day of May @ Prospect Cottage.

At last the weather seems to be changing again. The strong winds have abated and rain showers are less frequent. From tomorrow, June 1st, the temperatures are set to increase and lots of sunshine is promised.

Birch is one of my favourite trees. I love how it’s graceful branches and sparse foliage allow the light through creating dappled shade beneath. The one which grows outside our back door has a different habit to the other Birches on our land. They usually grow very straight but this one has a weeping habit. Beautiful.

The leaves of Birch are diutetic, antiseptic and a tonic, an effective remedy for cystitis and other infections of the urinary system, cleansing the body by removing excess water.

In the polytunnels there is an abundance of produce,  salad crops, Spring Onions, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Beetroot plus lots of herbs and edible flowers. I get tremendous joy from harvesting ingredients for our meals each day. The same joy is not to be had from browsing the supermarket shelves, especially as most of the produce is now from far off lands. Keeping the air miles low here in Arigna.

Delighted that Apples have set on this tree, Mrs. Perry, this is it’s first year to set fruit. The fruit is said to be dual-purpose, holding on the tree up to November. Don’t think these will last that long!

Looks like we will have Tayberries this year, this cross between Raspberry and Blackberry is delicious. It is easy to grow, we have it trailing along the fence. The fruit ripens from mid-July .

 

Hello from Prospect Cottage!

Hi all, due to computer problems, hard drive I think, we have’nt been able to upload photos for a few days now. Hopefully all will be rectified in the next few days. So, an update since last post. On Sunday we went to Dublin to see the exhibition of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s paintings at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Have been a fan of Frida’s images since I saw them in a book some years ago. There were also fab paintings by Frida’s husband Diego Rivera. They both had a unique style. Her self portraits are particularly captivating. Looking into the eyes of someone who died (1954) before one was born is a bit odd. She was an incredibly beautiful woman with a unique dress sense. The exhibition is on until June 26th. There is also a very nice formal garden open to the public, no cost. We took loads of lovely garden pics but they have to wait until a future date.

There was also an exhibition of works by Romuald Hazoume from the Republic of Benin. Found objects, photography, sound, video, installation and painting are all included in his work. This exhibition was meant to finish on the 15th May but was still running last Sunday 22nd. I particularly liked his found objects sculptures, the fave being a set of musical instruments made from plastic gerry cans.

Here at home we are fed up with this weather. Don’t mind the rain so much but I really hate this wind. We were lucky not to have any damage from yesterday’s storm. The polytunnels stayed closed all day as the gusts were really strong. Today is calmer so the tunnels were opened and some work done. Potted on Basil, Peppers and Chillies. Harvested salad for dinner and watered everything then closed tunnels again as there were some strong gusts of wind. Crazy crazy May weather! Hope it improves soon.

25th May.

Still no joy on uploading pics. Andy is giving up on trying to sort it out and is taking computer to local hi-tech witch doctor today!! Fingers crossed all well be well. What will we do without Twitter etc!! I jest! Will have to do a bit of gardening or something. That could be a problem considering the weather here today. Wind and rain that would do justice to a January day. Ah well, what can we do. Maybe built a giant polytunnel over Ireland. The local weater gurus say that June and July are to be crap. August to bring tempuratures of over 30c! The question is can we handle 2 months of this? The people will be suffering with Summer SAD.

I guess the bubble of euphoria that engulfed the country for the past week was broken for many people last night when O’Bama was heard to declare his English heritage on his Mother’s side. Is this guy for real? Does he think England and Ireland are still one? Does he not know we are proud to be REPUBLIC OF IRELAND. Did he not see the sea that divides the two countries? Geography and history lessons please Mr. O’Bama!!