June is the month for roses

From now until December I'll have roses blooming in the garden. Of course the main flowering season is from June until September but they are great plants that will continue to flower endlessly. I don't know much about growing roses - I generally trim them in December or January, sprinkle bonemeal in the Spring and mulch around the base. Then leave them to it. I try to take off leaves affected with blackspot but sometimes this is difficult to stay on top of.  

Left: Red rose variety unknown.

Above & Below: Rose 'Arthur Bell' has a RHS Award of Garden Merit based on its reliability and being a good performing plant. I like how the buds have a hint of peachy-orange on them but when they open up fully they look pure yellow (below).

Above and Below: Last year I bought 2 new roses, both being yellow flowering (Arthur Bell and Birthday Celebrations), from B&Q, however, the resulting rose is not yellow. It's a beautiful peachy-pink colour that I reallylike but not sure what it's called.

Lots of buds and flowers to come!

Of course there is some blackspot on all the rose plants and this seems almost impossible to prevent (suppose that's the downside to roses) but the flowers are worth it! 

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

Plants Slumber No More

Aquilegia (Columbine) - soon to flower.

This week (in between rain, sun, gales and hail stones) I can see plants have emerged from their sleep and the race is on to see what plants turn out bigger and better than last year... well, that's my hope anyway. 

Looking around the garden it's great to see plants have survived the wet conditions we had earlier in the year. There was quite a bit of water lying over the Winter as snow melted and with clay soil I've areas in the garden with poor drainage and this makes for unhappy plants. I've wondered if I would have  casualties this year; I think there will be a few.

Here are a few photos of things to come... always nice to see perennials emerging and signs of Spring / Summer flowers.

Above: Delphinium with sticks around to support it as it grows.

Ferns awake from their sleep and stretch upwards.

Above: The masses of green plants around the roses are Poached Egg Plant which will soon flower and continue to self seed.

I love seeing hosta emerge - the snails seem to like these plants too and are sure to be making dinner plans!

Fennel, grown from seed last year, is growing rapidly and will reach about 2 feet tall this Summer.

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

May Flowers

A good splash of colour around the garden now. I think May and June are favourite months as the lupins and delphiniums are really fantastic. (The delphiniums aren't in flower yet but it won't be long). The recent warm weather seems to have spurred growth. The clay soil is rock hard as we've had very little rain. However, I've been able to get most weeds under control. Here's an overview of what's in bloom...

Above: Aquilegia / Columbine (Perennial) - grown from seed last year. In their second year the plants seem bigger and more impressive.
Below:  Nemophila 'Pennie Black', (Annual). Last Summer the plants were tiny and I wasn't impressed but this Summer the plants have come up bigger and I'm growing fond of them.

Above and Below: Lupin (Perennial) grown from seed quite a number of years ago. I've read several articles that say lupin and delphinium only last about 3 years but I find they last longer.
Pieris / Forest Flame shrub co-ordinates with the lupin colour.

Above: A bee enjoys the lupin.
Below: A new Lupin plant - grown from seed last year. 

I've forgotten what these two are.. maybe:
Above: A type of Camellia or rhododendrum tree?
Below: A type of Azalea or compact rhododendrum shrub?

Above and Below: Poached Egg Plant / Limnanthes Douglasii, (Hardy Annual) self seeds in a border with roses and other plants. I believe the rose below is 'Arthur Bell'. 

Above: Rose (type I've forgotten).
Below: Antirrhinum (Snapdragon) 'Intermediate Mixed', (Half Hardy Annual), coming into full swing after not dying down over Winter, pictured with Silverdust (Annual) still going as well.

Above: Welsh Poppy are popping up in random places but seems to work.
Below: No idea but the cats love the flowers on this shrub. They put their face right into the shrub and get high sniffing the flowers.

Happy Gardening over the long weekend!

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

This Week in The Garden

This week the weather forecast in the local paper read: Monday - sunny spells with chance of rain; Tues - possible showers; Wed cooler with thunder storms. Thurs - windy with showers. Just another typical week in Northern Ireland! I'm back into Winter  clothes!

Left: I've noticed black spot on rose leaves this week. I have a horrible problem with back spot! Our wet conditions seem to contribute to this.

Azalea is in flower.

Forest Flame is showing new growth in red.

Forest flame flowering white; foliage growth in red. 
Almost every garden in Northern Ireland has a Forest Flame!

Harvested some rhubarb this week. I simply added a tablespoon of sugar, stewed it until soft, and ate it hot served over ice cream. Yum!

Hope you're getting better gardening weather!

1st Snow

Last night we had our first dusting of snow - as I was putting up Christmas decorations! So pretty. Bring on the hats, scarves, gloves and hot chocolate!

Left: picture of the flower border with snow.

Picture of flower border the day before snow.

The roses are still producing. The Malope Excelsior Mixed, (Hardy Annual) are still being productive (I need to deadhead!). They don't seem to be too bothered by the light frost we've had so far.

Happy December

in the Garden!

Veg past and present (leek, cabbage, squash)

Last year I grew leeks in pots (pictured) and I was already eating them by now. This year I put the leeks into the ground and they are about pencil thin so will be awhile before I'm eating leeks. I like to use leeks in casseroles and stews.

Last year I grew a cabbage in a pot (pictured). The pot was only about 8 or 10 inches across. It grew really well and by mid Sept I was eating it.

This year I netted my cabbages. They seem to be growing slow and are being enjoyed by slugs. How do the organic farmers do it?!?!
I wonder, is it possible my net has let some white butterfly through.

Was watching Gardner's World and Monty showed a squash that looks like my unknown plant growing from home made compost. I think frost may get to the plant before any fruit ripens.

I really don't like spiders and I don't like looking at this photo. However, this little guy set up home from a potted delphinium to my potted self fertilizing apple tree. Is he poisonous? Looks deadly to me!

Rose petals can be used to flavour tea or look pretty frozen in ice cubes. They're nice to decorate dessert plates as well. Would be good on a plate with chocolate brownie!

Happy Gardening!

Spring is in the Air

I wanted to share with you some of the beautiful colour on display at Belfast Botanic Gardens...

Left: Isn't it amazing the long daffodils can be grown in small 14cm (6") pots. I think these are the longest daffodils I've ever seen.

(click on the photos to enlarge)

By chance I went into the giant glass house and to my amazement there was this superb flower display. It was like a decadent dessert!

Goes to show what can be done with pots, a green house and TLC.

All the plants look so healthy... and I thought, 'why can't I do this'.

Outside beautiful trees are starting to blossom.

This magnolia tree is beautiful. (Disclaimer: I'm not known for my plant identification skills)

I'm starting to spot more bees out and about.

The gardeners at Botanic Gardens spend quite a bit of time on the rose beds. The above bed has recently gone from above.... to the look below...

They seem to be mulching quite high and right over the base of the roses, a learning point for me.

And from above to...

...well mulched.

This has reminded me, I need to mulch.