European Gardening: calling all Irish gardeners, 1 by lortay

lortay wrote:
Hi Orange Blossom,
Good to hear from you.
I am just back from a few days holidays and spent a few hours in Ennis (it rained) after visiting Cragganoun (?) and Knappouge Castle.
We also visited Vandeleur walled garden in Kilrush.
On the way back, we 'hit' Haywood House in Abbeyleix and Mount Usher in Wicklow. (I think my wife has had enough gardens for now).

Hellebores are often easy from seed. H. foetidus is a minor weed in my garden and H. hybridus forms seed readily.
Cyclamen hederifolium is in flower at the moment and will set, literally, hundreds of seeds. Last year they germinated all around the 2 plants that I had (1 pink, 1 white). I have planted some small C. coum which flowers in Spring and expect it will do the same..

I have about 2,500 plant photos from all over the country and I find the Picassa is a great way of organising them. You can 'tag' each photo and it is easy to find after that.

Latest purchase is Choisya 'Sundance' and my favourite shrub (at the moment) Abelia x grandiflora. With this, I prefer the green form as the variegated ones are a bit loud for my taste. I also got a pink Gaura and a Lavandula stoechas, although the last 2 of these I bought succumbed in the winter.
Nice to catch up.
Vincent