Bug Hotel has vacancies

My little bug hotel was installed in June. It's supposed to attract bees, ladybirds, lacewings. So far I've seen a wasp fly out of it, and there seem to be spiders moving in from the webbing that can be seen. 

I'd love to see more ladybirds in the garden - if anyone has any tips on attracting ladybirds, do share any tips you may have!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Loving the Autumn Colours

So loving the colours of Autumn...

this is such a fab time of year with lots of red, orange, and yellow, as plants begin their seasonal change and there's a distinct feel and freshness of Autumn in the air...

as Summer begin to fade and flowers die down...

and plants soon slumber over Winter, only to emerge again in Spring.

Dogwood Shrub looking fab with berries, and leaves and stems turning a deep red. This is a great Winter plant.

Sunflowers finishing flowering,  making seed for collecting and sowing in the New Year.

Acer /Japanese Maple tree leaves looking fab with their Autumn colour.

Hostas  looking a bit tired and tattered as they turn yellow and die down for Winter.

Carex Bronze grass looking very Autumn like (however this one looks like this all year round!)

Hope you're enjoying all the Autumn colour! 

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Goodbye Giant Sunflowers

My 'Giant Single' Sunflowers, grown from seed, have been a cheerful addition to the garden over Summer, but they're sadly coming to an end...

The seed were sown around April, and they slowly and steadily grew over the first few months; then like the magic 'jack and the beanstalk', they sprung up to about 7 feet tall and starting flower in August. The most cheerful plant, I can think of, in the garden! 

October flowers are starting to fade, and will soon die off.

I tidy up the plant by cutting off the large seed heads as they finish flowering and place them where birds can feed on them.

I also collect seed (toward bottom left in photo) for growing plants next year.

 I so love sunflowers!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

Late Summer Flowers Still Going Strong

We've had some glorious late summer sunshine, and the flowers are still going strong. Of course, things will change once the frost hits. In the meantime, the flower beds are looking fab and its been great getting outdoors in a t-shirt this week with jobs like deadheading, clearing leaves, harvesting veg and planning for the next season - I've started dividing perennials and moving a few plants.

Phormium 'Jester' looks fab with its bright red arching leaves. It's an evergreen shrub that gets up to 3 feet tall. It has looked well this year planted with begonia for Summer colour, and Sedum Autumn Joy for late complimentary colour.

A flower collage shows many plants still in flower, ranging from Sedum Autumn Joy to Cosmos, Echinacea, Dianthus, Shasta Daisies, to bedding plants. Of course, roses are great as they flower most of the year.

Bedding plants like Nemesia and trailing Verbena have made a great show all summer long.

I'll miss having all these plants around, however, by the end of October they're likely to be well on their way to dying down for the Winter.

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.