Lychnis Coronaria | Mom in the Garden

Tower in the garden

And you probably thought I was kidding, didn’t you? … So this is the story of friends getting together to enjoy each other’s company, share gardening stories, and have a walk about our gardens. “Tour” is such a formal word. We were among friends and there was laughter, a relaxed atmosphere, and it was a very enjoyable day! Oh, and yes, that tower is in a fabulous garden.

Susan and her egg painting

The organizer of everything wonderful is my dear friend Susan. She has such a wealth of knowledge, and knows tons about plants too! I couldn’t ask for a better friend. We laughed when I took this picture because I love the painting above her head. It was a very sly way of me capturing both. 🙂

Beautiful Irish pottery

I love pottery. Isn’t this purple design lovely? We enjoyed coffee (or tea) and homemade scones at the start of our visit.

Cup of tea to start our morning

Susan’s garden is amazing. There is a great deal of beautiful stone work in addition to the tower! It has a very welcoming feel all around. I found it difficult to capture it in pictures, try as I may. Even though you might not get the entire feel of the garden, I think you will enjoy seeing bits and pieces as captured through my lens.

Stone entryway to an open garden (perfect for gatherings)

Stone hideaway that is very much like Newgrange in County Meath!

View of the lake from lower garden

Not so much a gardening picture as a picture to remind us to sit and enjoy the view…

The sound of the water on the shore is so relaxing

Leaving the lower gardens through the stones

Leaving the lower gardens through the large stone entryway

Blue hydrangea

I especially love the boxwood lining the path/garden.

I don’t think I was completely successful in capturing all of the front garden. There was was too much for my lens!

lacecap hydrangea

hydrangea which is supposed to be green (but is quite pretty the color it is)

Flowering dogwood tree (definitely not the official name…)

lambs ear flower (yes, I really must work on learning the proper names...)

Stachys byzantina (lamb’s ear flower)

One of my favorite flowers. Lychnis Coronaria (dusty miller)

Filipendula purpurea (Japanese Meadowsweet)

Debbie loved the color contrast here, and I have to agree it is so pretty!

Annabelle hydrangea underneath a cherry tree with boxwood lining the front

I’ve called this picture “Susan’s Lamp” as I need to come back and fill in the names of plant/shrub/tree. Stay tuned…

Wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy your morning coffee here?

These wonderful ladies are mentoring me in my gardening adventures!

It was a full morning just at Susan’s house! I will save the pictures from Debbie’s and Gio’s garden for another post. I’m grateful for my friends, and that they share their love of gardening with me.

Happy gardening (even better with a friend)!

Dana

Daffodil Double Poet White given to me by a dear friend

Time. It is something that I always want more of. With a recent change in my schedule, my time in the garden has been cutback dramatically. I’ve been enjoying late evenings in the garden watering the more needy flowers during a bit of a dry spell. A common expression here is “when the weather is good, there is nowhere in the world as nice as Ireland”! I have to say that feels so true these days of sunny and warm, but not hot, weather!

The garden doing well with the good weather

I had the chance to catch-up with my dear friend Susan this week. We hadn’t seen each other in ages and it was so nice to have some time together. After catching up on how our families are doing, we spent a lot of time talking about plants! We are planning a mini garden tour among a few of our friends. Last year when we did something similar our hostess shared a bunch of different plants with us. I made out very well!

Schizostylis (given to me by that same dear friend)

Schizostylis

My ditch wall garden was pretty much filled with gifted plants! I have a few pictures from early spring and now. It is amazing how everything fills in and really comes to life.

Ditch wall garden in March

Ditch wall garden at the end of June

That is some difference, isn’t it?! Here are a few pictures of some of the gifted plants, too. The first is of Monkshood. It is very pretty, and (very) poisonous. I didn’t know what it was when I got it, otherwise I’m not sure I would have planted it. Thankfully, my kids, and my cat, aren’t interested in eating plants.

Monkshood (poisonous plant)

Monkshood

Monkshood closeup

I’m not sure how I managed it, but I ended up with 4 different plants from our last “tour”!

Dogwood and primrose

The red stems on this dogwood really stood out this past winter. The primrose is just starting to wake up in the above picture. I have a better picture here:

primrose

Seriously, aren’t they fabulous? They really brightened up the garden in late winter/early spring!

I think we should be doing some plant sharing this time, too. Some of the plants that Susan has shared with me over the past few years have grown and thrived. This year we have so many babies!!!

Dusty Miller babies … lots of ’em!

Dusty Miller Lychnis Coronaria

When I lived in New York, every year just before our kids were finished school in June we would get together with a bunch of friends for lunch and a plant swap. It was always something to look forward to! (Thank you Ellen A. for always hosting and having lots of plants to share!)

Now it is my turn to share the bounty. It is lovely to think of friends as you see the plants they have given you come into bloom. Have you shared any plants lately?

To all of my American friends and family I wish you a Happy 4th of July!

Share the love of gardening!
Dana

Mom in the Garden

Enjoying life. In Ireland. With my family.

Tag Archives: Lychnis Coronaria

A stone tower in the garden (of course. Don’t you have one?)

Sharing from the garden…