Magnolia coming to life, and other promising signs

Posted on March 25, 2023 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! Growing plants from seed never ceases to amaze me. I am surprised every single time that I see the seedling push through the soil! Perhaps I should have a little more faith? 🙂 I started a bunch of plants from seed again this year and they are up and growing. Last year I had a terrible time with slugs eating my small plants once I planted them out in the garden. So I have just started a second bunch of plantings, as back up. So far, I have sweet pea, sun flowers, coleus, ranunculus, delphinium, and I just planted pumpkins (yesterday). Between the slugs and our windy location, the plants need to be quite hardy to survive here!

The weather has been quite unpredictable. We’ve had lots of rain and gray skies, but we’ve been lucky to get glimpses of the sun, too, which is great for lifting my spirits!

My Magnolia Stellata is starting to come into bloom and it is so pretty. I have it in my chicken run, which means that it is ‘caged up’ so the girls don’t peck at it. That’s not a problem for the shrub, just my camera. 😉

One thing I will be focusing more on in the garden, is companion planting. I honestly have not put much thought into this, until now. Starting small, I added some cyclamen to my iris reticulata (per my friend Susan’s suggestion) and to me it was a game changer. So I added some grape hyacinth to my daffodils, and again, I think it looks so much nicer. I’ll be eyeing the rest of the garden a little differently now.

I’m joining Jim at Garden Ruminations for the Six on Saturday meme. Feel free to join in!

Enjoy the tour!

In Peace,
Dana

1 – Magnolia Stellata. This was a gift to us two years ago for our 25th wedding anniversary (what a super gift!). I love how unusual the flowers are. Even more, I love how early it blooms!

2 – Helleborus Harvington Double Red. I’ve shown this one before, but perhaps a bit too soon. This hellebore is only now coming in to its full glory. It is living up to the ‘lenten rose’ description sometimes given to hellebores, with its late winter/early spring blooming.

iris reticulata purple and cyclamen pink

3 – Companion planting of Iris reticulata and Cyclamen. I’m very happy to report that all of the iris bloomed, despite me shifting them at the start of their season. They were spread out, and I moved them close together in a cluster. I got this idea following my visit to Altamont gardens where all of their iris reticulata were planted in clusters for more visual impact. Copying is the greatest form of flattery, right?

trays of seedlings (sunflower, coleus, sweet pea)

4 – My seed trays. The image is deceiving as the bottom right corner pic is taken from quite high and the other three are close-ups! Bottom right is mostly sunflowers with sweet pea in the bottom right of it. Coleus are in the bottom left picture, ranunculus are top right – those corms were from last year, so I’m happy even though all of them didn’t sprout up (yet?). And top left are some delphiniums. I’ve only had hit or miss luck with those, but the hits are always good!

5 – Daffodils with grape hyacinth. This is more a picture of a blue sky than the flowers!

6 – Anemone pink and purple. I like these guys in the garden as they are no maintenance and they spread. Who doesn’t like a little purple in the garden here and there? I now also have a pink variety growing, and I’m honestly not sure how they got there but happy to have them.

daffodils and grape hyacinth at garden arch

These big bunches of brightness have truly lifted my spirits during these gray days. We could have a blue sky in the morning, and hailstones in the afternoon – it’s just the way it is. I am so glad to have them and I truly go out into the yard just to look at them. 🙂

Thank you so much for stopping by. Let me know if you have any favorite companion plantings that you’d recommend!

Beauty in the Garden (the show) begins!

Posted on March 4, 2023 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! Are you an excited gardener? I sure am! Because it’s happening. While there were some pretty blooms in the winter, now is when the real show-offs emerge from their slumber and start the show that we call Beauty in the Garden. We’ll get to enjoy fabulous displays of color and texture throughout the garden starting now and lasting right through until late fall! How amazing is that? The anticipation for all of the new bulbs planted last year, or the new beds waiting to be planted, or just to see the old favorites again this year, well, it’s intoxicating!

Primroses, hellebores, pulmonaria, and iris reticulata – these beauties are gracing my garden at the minute. There’s been lots of prep work going on for the later blooming plants – the rose shrubs have been pruned, as have most of my hydrangeas. They’ll also be getting a good feed shortly. I’ve been tidying up the garden and clearing away the finished sunflowers from last year – with still more to do!

I’m joining the Six on Saturday meme through Garden Ruminations. It’s nice to join the group and see what is growing in different parts of the world.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy the tour. 🙂

In Peace,
Dana

1 – Pulmonaria ‘Opal’. Whether this is truly ‘Opal’ could be up for debate. Nonetheless, I love this plant. The spotted leaves are quite quirky – which is right up my alley. These tiny, pretty flowers look lovely with daffodils, which is what they are planted among. Still waiting on the daffodils, though!

2 – Iris reticulata. More pretty, tiny flowers, although they are substantially bigger than the pulmonaria. There are four flowers, for 20 bulbs, so I’m hoping more will still bloom. They look a little bit lost where they are. I have made a note to at least get more bulbs to fill that spot. I’m still working on that bed, and possibly expanding it, so there’s lots of potential. 🙂

Ornamental grass cut down to 18 inches with primroses around the base

3 – Ornamental grass – cut! I love when we cut back the ornamental grass. I almost prefer it this way than in full grown-out bloom as it is so much easier to control now. It is a big job to cut it back, especially when I want to keep it small and manageable. I’m thankful that my husband does this job! I planted these primroses last year and was delighted to see them back this year. Small joys.

4 – White hellebore. It is quite disappointing to not have the exact name for this plant. I do have the name that was on the tag, Aspen High, but given the markings on the white petals, that isn’t right. It is very pretty, though!

5 – Helleborus Harvington Double Apricot. I used four images of the same plant because it is so pretty and looks different at every angle. The plant is filled with blooms and is well established since planting it in February 2021.

6 – Helleborus Anna’s Red. This hellebore is fabulous for having flowers that don’t hang down, facing the ground. You can see the inside of the flowers from across the garden! It is such a striking color, too. And last but not least, the leaves on this plant (which I’ve cut off for now, due to black spot) are so unusual and pretty. They are what drew me to this plant in the first place. It will be lovely to see them again later in the season.

Thanks again for visiting! Which is your favorite plant? Better still, which plant would you recommend from your garden, as your favorite plant for this time of year? Thanks! 🙂 Dana

A February visit to Altamont Gardens

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. Something very special happened this week. It is something that I’ve been wanting to do for many years and this year it finally happened: I went to Altamont Gardens to see the snowdrops (Galanthus)! You know the story, schedules, weather, parenting duties, there have been many excuses for my not going over the years. But this year everything fell into place for me to go with my dear friend, and fellow gardening enthusiast, Susan.

You might remember that I mentioned my very first visit to Altamont Gardens just this past May (you can see that post here). As you can imagine, it was a completely different experience in February, but no less wonderful! We spent the first part of our visit in the nursery. Late winter and early spring is not just a time for pretty flowers such as hellebores and snowdrops. It is also a time for plants with sweet scents in the garden. As we walked along the path we were greeted with the amazing smells of daphne odora, sarcococca, and edgeworthia chrysantha, all stacked on a display cart. The fragrances from these plants can be enjoyed while just standing next to them! Ideally, they should be planted in areas where you’ll best get to enjoy their scent as you pass them by. I have a goal to add at least one to my garden next year!

But most people flock to Altamont Gardens in January and February to see the snowdrops. I’m a newbie to snowdrops. Honestly, I’m happy enough with any type of snowdrop. But you can get lots of different varieties! It is well worth a visit just to see the drifts of snowdrops throughout the gardens. They are a lovely plant for woodlands, and will spread naturally. I was quite surprised to see some very large varieties in the gardens (I prefer the smaller ones). What I didn’t know, was that the leaves of snowdrops have specially hardened tips which they use to push through frozen soil. This is how we get to enjoy them in the coldest months of the year. 🙂

The gardens and nursery were both filled with many different varieties and colors of hellebores, too: double, single, black, white, yellow, pink, green, speckled, plain, hybrid – you name it, they’ve got it!

The walk around the gardens, leading around to the lake, is serene and beautiful. There are benches along the way, to encourage you to stop and take it all in. There were plenty of birds (Great tit, Blue tit, Bullfinches, Goldfinches) and ducks to see.

We were lucky with the weather. It wasn’t too cold, it only sprinkled rain for a short while, and then we enjoyed glorious sunshine to finish out our visit.

It only costs €2 for parking, and is free into the gardens. But it is as much fun buying plants in the nursery as it is exploring the gardens, so be sure to bring your wallet!

collage of flowers from Altamont gardens with road sign for Altamont Gardens. Snowdrops and iris reticulata

Snowdrops, iris reticulata & hellebores greeted us first, upon our arrival at Altamont. The pictures speak for themselves! These beauties are shining bright in the garden, no matter the late winter/early spring weather! The iris reticulata were planted in bunches, which has such a lovely impact. It was the same situation for the snowdrops, with the added benefit of what looked like snow drifts through their naturalizing.

The top right picture is of galanthus Lucy. This variety has lots of green markings on the outside, which I found a little comical. I don’t have a favorite, as they are all beautiful in their own unique way.

snowdrops around the trees at Altamont gardens

Big, beautiful trees line the start of the walk, and they are surrounded by beautiful bouquets (clumps) of snowdrops. It is a sight to see.

iris reticulata in bunches giving an impact along the hedging

These pictures are from near the nursery. The spring flowering cyclamen (a bright fuchsia color) was shouting for some well deserved attention. It certainly broke up the coloring of the snowdrops and iris reticulata. I have to confess that I don’t usually plant bulbs so close together, as is done here with the iris, but what a wonderful impact it has! I will be changing my ways to do the same. (And isn’t that ‘pot’ amazing, in the top right picture?)

scented flowers for the winter and early spring garden: sarcococca and edgeworthia

These are two of the scented plants I mentioned earlier. I didn’t get a picture of the sarcococca flower, but it is a very small and delicate white flower with a big, beautiful scent!

Here is just a small selection of some of the hellebores at Altamont. There was something for everyone!

Views of Altamont gardens lake and formal garden

Those sculpted yews are my favorite! But of course, the lake is always beautiful.

Views of the lake at Altamont and the lake paths with benches to enjoy the views

An invitation to sit and relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of Altamont gardens!

Dana and Susan at the Daphne shrub at Altamont gardens

I will sheepishly admit that I was not fully sold on the Daphne plant when we first saw a small potted version in the nursery. It wasn’t until we walked near this particular shrub when my senses were fully awakened to the amazing scent of Daphne! I had to get a picture of myself and Susan here. It was such a highlight of the day for me. We laughed, we chatted, we enjoyed the beauty of it all. The day was made perfect by spending it with someone who truly enjoys gardening as much as I do.

Be sure to find yourself a friend just like Susan!

Thanks for stopping by!

In Peace,
Dana

Summer delights for motivation

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Mominthegarden

Hi there! It is February and thankfully the weather has eased up a tiny bit. I was able to get out into the garden more this week and every minute was such a blessing. And while I do have pictures from this past week, instead of sharing those, I’m going to share my pictures of some of the flowers that I am looking forward to seeing in just a few months. I’m using them as motivation! I’ve started with my feature image at the top of the page, which is what the garden looked like in July last year!

I’m joining Garden Ruminations for the Six on Saturday meme. 🙂

I hope you enjoy my motivational trip down memory lane!

In Peace,
Dana

collage of fruit from the garden including strawberries, blueberries, pears and apples

1 – Fruit from the garden. Last year we finally caged up our blueberries. What a harvest we had! Up until then, the birds were the beneficiaries of the delicious blueberries. We had a decent harvest of strawberries, too. The strawberry ice cream we made was quite a treat! It was the best harvest yet for our pears. My husband made a pear and almond torte (twice!) that was absolutely delicious – and well worth the work that went into making it. Finally, our apples: red eating and yellow/green cooking. There is something quite satisfying about eating an apple from your own tree! 🙂

collage of David Austin roses: colors coral, light pink, medium pink and dark pink

2 – David Austin roses. Clockwise from top right: Princess Anne is a beautiful deep pink rose, Boscobel is a pretty salmon color. The next one is either Olivia Rose Austin or Ancient Mariner, I have both, but at this point, I don’t know which is which and they are very similar. The last one is Harlow Carr, and this I know because it is *very* thorny! They all are scented, which is something I look for in flowers. I had a super rose season last year, and I have to give credit to Uncle Tom’s Rose Tonic, which I used for the first time. Per the label: it contains pure potassium phosphite. It’s not cheap, but I did see an improvement in the health of my roses.

collage of iris grown from February through July

3 – Iris from February through July. We can start with Iris reticulata (bottom center) that blooms in February. Mine aren’t blooming just yet this year, but are up from the soil. We then have a bit of a break until May when most of the others start to bloom. We have Dutch Iris (top right), bearded Iris Benton Storrington (middle right), and the Siberian Iris ‘Shirley Pope’. The Siberian iris (top left) also blooms in May/June. And lastly, to finish out the iris season, we have another variety of Dutch iris that blooms at the end of June through the beginning of July. It is planted among the Incrediball hydrangea. I usually use it in a fourth of July arrangement.

4 – White balloon flower. This simple little beauty is happiest in sun and provides sweet white flowers, starting in June. They will continue to flower with deadheading.

5 – Allium. Starting in May and going through June, allium are a treat in the garden! I planted some en masse and I really like how they look. I usually cut some to bring inside as they dry beautifully, too. I’ve even spray painted them! My favorite type is Purple Sensation, but the ones en masse (bottom three photos) are a really neat star-like shape which I find to be as pleasing as the coloring of the Purple Sensation!

collage of poppies colored orange, red, pink, lilac.

6 – Poppies. Of course we have poppies! Each year they seem to find a new spot in the garden. We have had a range of colors, including: orange, red, lavender, pink, and coral! The seed heads are also fun to work with in arrangements.

That was so much fun! I hope you are as inspired as I am. Which is your favorite flower? And of course, thanks for stopping by!

One day at a Time

Posted on March 5, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hello there! Welcome to my blog. You might have noticed that I have been absent the past few weeks. I hope you know that I really enjoy writing about and photographing my garden. It gives me so much joy! But sometimes I simply get blue and it just isn’t possible for me to joyfully write about the garden. My blues could be weather related, news related, or just life.

This week has been tough because of the war in Ukraine. Really tough. I don’t understand how it could be happening. I’m upset that it is happening. I’m afraid of the outcome. I’m concerned for the future. So given the war in Ukraine, and how I was feeling, I wasn’t really sure about writing a blog post. But I am taking my lead from a dear friend of mine (thank you Lynn-Beth) who said to me “we cannot let evil negate our notice of beauty”. So although my heart is heavy for the innocent people of Ukraine, I share with you my garden, in the hopes that you too, will see beauty. (And I will share today’s post with The Propagator’s meme ‘Six on Saturday’ to spread the beauty even further.)

1 – The raised garden beds. Well, this is what they look like now. They are mostly empty, aside from the winter garlic, strawberry plants and blueberry shrubs. We will be building a new compost storage area in the very near future. So my husband has been clearing out as much compost as is ready, so it won’t have to be moved to the new area. I think it is ok to spread the compost in the beds now, actually. The birds certainly think so! 🙂 I still have to clear the one bed of the dead sunflower plants. It’s definitely time.

2 – A new flower bed. Now this is exciting for me! I have created all of the flower beds in the yard. Most of the time I cover the soil for 4 or 5 months, and then dig up the sod. That is a big job. So this time, I tried something different. Here’s what I did this past fall: I laid down some cardboard, covered it with a lot of grass clippings, then I covered that with compost. Then I added more compost. And then I added some more compost again! The birds also love this bed, with all of those worms from the compost. I do hope they’ll leave some for the soil.

It is nearly impossible to see, but there are two very young hazelnut trees, and one dwarf burning bush (Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’) along with the well established cherry tree on the left. Today we added to the bed, planting the lovely white hellebore in the picture above. It is called Helleborus Aspen High. We also added a peony plant that we moved from another part of the garden. It wasn’t getting enough sun in the old spot, so I’m hoping that once it settles in, it’ll be much happier in this location. I don’t know the name of the peony, but it is a pretty red, and is always the first of all of my peony plants to bloom.

Since the evening was so nice, we continued on and moved two more very small hellebores that weren’t performing well in their homes. Fingers crossed that they will settle in and do well.

rose bushes in various stages of pruning

3 – Pruning roses. I try to get my roses pruned in February. While I made great progress last month, I still have a few more plants to get to – hopefully in the very near future. I want to show you the difference in these three pictures: the one on the left was just pruned. The one on the right on top, was pruned a year ago, and the one on the right on the bottom was not pruned last year.

I have to say that my confidence in pruning has increased over time. Practice makes perfect! One thing that I’ve learned is that when they say to cut off the tiny stems that are less than the thickness of a pencil, it is because if you don’t (which I previously hadn’t), the roses will be too heavy to be supported by such tiny stems. Also, there needs to be air circulation within the plant, and that is why it is best to prune the stems growing towards the center. Do I get it right all of the time? Probably not. But I do my best!

4 – Hellebores. How can I resist? They are still going strong! They are so lovely to display in a bowl. If you have them, you should definitely do so. I added a purple Mr. Fokker anemone into my bowl – which looks a little bit out of place. The bottom collage: Left: Helleborus Spring Promise ‘SP Frilly Isabelle’, top right: Helleborus Harvington Double Red, bottom right: Helleborus Anna’s Red (I love those leaves!).

5 – Iris Reticulata. This little tiny plant has just really lifted up my spirits. It is so pretty. When we planted these in the fall, we also added allium to this bed, and they are all coming up, which is so heartening to see. Good things to come!

Frosty March view of playhouse and garden

6 – A frosty garden. We have had a few hard frosts this winter, but honestly, nothing too bad. We had a couple of days of snow flurries, but again, nothing substantial. As I have mentioned, though, we’ve had quite a few bad storms with high winds and rain. Right now I’m thankful that we’ve had blue skies a few times this week. Sun + blue skies = lifted spirits.

And that’s my view of the garden. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

When I sign ‘In Peace’, I truly mean it. May there be peace among all of us and may Ukraine stand strong against this evil war.

In Peace,
Dana

A snow covered February garden

Posted on February 20, 2022 by Mominthegarden

Hello there! I hope you are keeping warm and cozy wherever you are in the world. We have had the craziest weather of late! Thankfully, I was able to get out and work in the garden earlier this month, which I always find helpful for my mental health. It’s too windy and cold for my liking at the moment, though. We even had snow! O.K., it was gone within a few hours, but it sure was pretty to look at while it lasted.

I have to say that I am very happy to have flowers blooming in February. It gives me such hope as I watch their progress. That goes for all flowers, actually. I think it is why a lot of us have gardens in the first place. I am conscious of not wishing time to go faster for more pleasant gardening conditions. I think it is better to make do – and make better – what is on offer during the ‘off’ months. You’ll see that I’ve been building my collection of hellebores. I also added an early variety of iris this year, that is currently in bloom. It is called Iris reticulata and its flowers are so pretty and delicate.

I hope you’ll enjoy the collection of pictures I’ve gathered, showing you my February garden and my chickens.

Take care, and stay safe!

In Peace,
Dana

I had to start with these beauties! It is so wonderful having Hellebore flowers in a winter garden. They are very easy to maintain and while their flowers usually point downwards, they are beautiful none the less. There are ‘single’ and ‘double’ varieties, as can be seen in their single layer of petals vs. multiple layers of petals.

This collage’s hellebores:
Right three from the top: Anemone Picotee, Double Ellen Red, Anna’s Red.
Top left: SP Frilly Isabelle.
Bottom from the left: Harvington Double Red, Winter Sunshine.

The beauty of hellebores isn’t just in closeups of their flower faces, the plants themselves are lovely in full view.

This collage’s hellebores include:
Right from the top: Double Ellen Red, Harvington Double Red, Anna’s Red.
Center from the top: Anemone Picotee, Winter Sunshine, Unknown variety (pink).
Left: SP Frilly Isabelle.

Look how sweet these Iris Reticulata are! I brought one inside after it was bent over. I’m delighted to be enjoying the pretty coloring from the comforts of my kitchen.

This is a picture of one of the jobs I was able to (partially) do earlier in the month. I weeded the Hoggin! Hoggin is a mix of gravel, sand and clay that works really well for pathways as it allows water to drain through it. Turns out that it also needs weeding. You can see around the edging that I have a weed blocking sheet underneath the hoggin – and below that I also have cardboard. The truth is that weeds will grow despite your best intentions! These weeds were pretty harmless though, and mostly grass. I used a hoe-like tool and raked them up. It took longer than I thought it would, but I was happy with the results. I still have more to do, whenever the weather settles down!

The weather on this day was super! I took this picture of my winter garlic after I finished weeding the hoggin. The temperature was mild and the sun was shining – perfect gardening weather! 🙂

snow garden with snowdrops, hellebore, fennel and garden arch.

Then the weather changed… Thankfully, most of the plants are O.K. with snow. I thought the dried fennel looked quite pretty completely covered in snow (bottom right picture). The Snowdrops, too, looked lovely. But the Anemone Picotee hellebore looks a little bit weighed down!

The chickens were not too impressed with the snow. They stayed under their house while it was snowing, and only ventured out after it stopped. Funny enough, they have no issue with wandering about when it is raining out! Here we can see the Bluebell (she is the only one I really call by her name, which is ‘Buckbeak’), Daisybell. and two Rhode Island Red hybrids. They’re still laying eggs, too!

View of the garden with and without snow.

Just like that, everything can change. I’m glad that in this case, the garden went back to ‘green’! Thanks so much for stopping by! I’d love for you to leave a message of where you’re visiting from. 🙂

Mom in the Garden

Enjoying life. In Ireland. With my family.

Tag Archives: iris reticulata

Magnolia coming to life, and other promising signs

Beauty in the Garden (the show) begins!

A February visit to Altamont Gardens

Summer delights for motivation

One day at a Time

A snow covered February garden