calling all Irish gardeners

Hi,
I have yet to see a good plant of 'Aztec Pearl' in this area, despite C. ternata doing just fine.
A diary is a great idea; sadly, my gardening (and life) is on the basis of 'a wing and a prayer' most of the time.
I am not mad about the Mec. and Aquilegia, but, in turn, I will have seed of Cyclamen hederifolium and Helleborus orientalis and foetidus if they float your boat.

Hi Lortay,

I have some Helleborus, the last one I acquired has a white flower, but had no idea they can be raised from seed? I have never tried cyclamen. Are they difficult to grow? I love propagating and sowing things. Its what I love about gardening.
Re the diary...am not that organized, but had a huge unused old diary and put it to good use! Its one way of keeping track of things I sow & the progress etc. I do take photos also, but not great at cataloguing them.
Do you have a favourite flower then?
Those seed would indeed float my boat. Thank you

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

Hi Lortay,
Well, I was away too in sunny Kerry. We were lucky with heavenly August weather & not a drop of rain. Yes Craggaunowen & Knappogue& Vandeleur all worth a visit.
Thanks for tip re Picassa, though I was trying to upload a photo of my cordlyline yesterday & think my USB cable is faulty. The cordyline has two healthy shoots now. Wouldnt you know..as Im not over fond of it.Typical!
The Abelia is lovely in flower. Im not familiar with Gaura, but have had Lavender, but not the French one which is tall? My Choisya Sundance has vanished. I liked that one too. I have the Aztec Pearl which is struggling where I have it. I had to move a Sarcococca(Christmas Box). Is it difficult to establish does anyone know? I wanted if for flower arranging and its not doing so well.
Hope you hadnt to buy an umbrella in Ennis?!

Hi Orange Blossom,
Sorry for the delay, I have been off work with illness, so just back.
Kerry is fantastic when you get the good weather in particular. Some good gardens down there too!
As regards your photos; I usually load directly onto the computer via the camera chip as it slots directly into the computer. Picasa is often free with Windows now or can be downloaded from Google.
The alternative is 'Flickr' the Yahoo based web sharing photo site. This is great as well because you can share photos, but also store them online. Search for 'Flickr'. Then search for 'Vincentdunne' or 'Plant Geeks'.
There are several forms of Lavandula stoechas, I now have 2 blue ones (un-named) and a paler one labeled as 'Milan Purple' which I think is false.
Sarcococca is really easy to grow once it settles in. For flower arranging, it depends a bit on the species. S. confusa is the one usually grown, but if you can get S. ruscifolia, it is even better. They need some shade and good rich soil to give their best.

Hi Lortay,
Sorry to hear you were ill. So true, that health is weath..
Thanks for the tip re the sarcococca. It seems to like its new location and will do well now I hope. I will look out for the s. ruscifolia. Im behind in my spring planting too..Had it all done in early Sept last year, all to no avail due to the dreadful winter last year. Hope its not repeated this year.. I have lots of berries on my variagated holly, which by the way, seems to be suffering from a viral attack - at least a part of it seems to be suffering and is leafless..will get that camera sorted so that I can show it.. Is it early for a profusion of berries?
Will really get going re the photos. I know how to upload from the camera, but as my daughter often borrows my usb lead, I fear its not working properly, so will have to get it checked out.! Anyway, thanks for all the advice, which I will take on board.

Hi,
It is not too early for berries on Ilex. Like most berrying plants, they are having a bumber year. I have never seen Pyracantha, for instance, doing so well. I have not done anything about planting for Spring yet, as the Summer plants are still continuing to thrive. The only things I have removed are Nasturtiums, which were in a dry place anyway. Thousands of seeds if you want the joy (curse) of a pale yellow Naturtium for ever and ever. lol.
Looking forward to photos (no pressure then)
Vincent

Hi,

Yes silly me re the berries..was walking in a local wood today and saw millions of berries on a holly tree which thankfully has survived.
Re the Nasturtiums, I also have saved seeds from mine also. I have some of the variagated ones & some are still in the garden yet. Pale yellow sounds nice. I would'nt call them a curse..& they are so tough. I have never traded seeds & havnt a clue how to. Im always giving friends & neighbours cuttings etc..That's easy. I gave a friend some Alchemilla Mollis (Lady's Mantle) yesterday. Now, that can be a curse, if you dont remove the flowers..otherwise they pop up everywhere.
Will be displaying photos soon hopefully.

Hi,
Just dropping in to the thread again.
I have not been doing much in the garden lately. Just planted some dwarf daffs. where the Nasturtiums were (are) to give some display before they start growing all over the place next year.
Speaking of seeds, I discovered that I had forgotten to take the seed heads of my Dierama so I can look forward to dozens of seedlings in the pebbles next year.
I have had a few frosts already (early this year) which has hammered Fuchsias and Salvias. But they will be fine if we don't get the extremes of last year. The sub shrubby Salvias are great value and flower twice in the year, just not very hardy.
As I work along the coast in north Dublin, I sometimes forget how much colder it is, just 20 miles inland in Navan.
Cheers, happy gardening.

Hi Orange Blossom,

I am just back at work after 7 weeks off sick. The plus side is that I missed all the snow and frost, not having to drive to work thru it.

It is ironic to look at my last post and realise how my fears for the Salvias, etc. came true in a big way. I don't think you had as much snow as we have had but I wonder what your temperatures were?
Interestingly, following on from my comments in the last post, that althought the snow was quite bad along the east coast, they did not have the killing frosts that we had in Navan where it hit -11 and -12.
Hope to hear from you soon.

Hi Lortay and fellow gardeners,

I have to confess that I have been away from this site for a while. I have been trying my hand at writing etc but, I am spending time in the garden rooting out all the dandeloins & other weeds. It never ends.
I have a lone red-currant bush, which I grew from a cutting taken from my Dad's house long ago, from a very old bush which I reckon is nearly 100 years old and still going. Im minding it like a baby, but nothing fases it, the bad weather or bugs and its great.. one of my treasures. I have no idea which one it is, but will publish a photo of it when it is fruiting. You, Lortay (Vincent) might be familiar with these.
My budding Cordyline was killed off last winter again, but I see it is springing up again. It has quite deep roots, though if the winters continue to be vfrosty, it will eventually die off I expect. At the moment, I have several alliums, which seem to increase eyear. I raised some Oxalis Deppei from bulbs - have a dark centre - and have quite a few now to plant out. I wonder will they survive our winter weather?
All the best for now. Hope you are keeping well Lortay?
Happy Gardening, weeding etc.

Bay Laurel Plants – PROBLEM = Leaves curling and turning brown

Hi I planted about 50 Bay Laurel Plants (Laurus nobilis) about 4 to 5 feet tall from a nursery and the problem started with just one plant with its leaves curling and turning yellow then brown on the top of the plant… and then spreading to nearly all leaves.

Now about 10% of them have the same problem and spreading ... no solution yet.

One chat board suggested the Bays were in the pots too long and became pot bound. So now replanting with a good compost soil mix to see if that will solve the problem.

Another chat board suggested they were over watered….

I also have a female dog ... and maybe it going to the toilet might be causing it ...

I really would appreciate any advice / tips..... Based in Dublin

Many thanks

If the leaves are curling prior to browning could it be a pest?

This is the Bay Sucker which might be a possible invader
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=505

Hi Mary,
I don't think the damage you show is pest related as long as you don't count your dog as a pest. Bitch urine is well known as a cause of browning and death in plants, particulary as your losses seem to be intermittant.
However, if these plants were bought recently, they were either not grown in Ireland or grown inside. The vigorous growth would suggest that this is the case. Therefore an alternate reason for your damage and losses would be root damage in moving or failure of the plants to adapt to new soil/new climate. e.g. the recent prolonged bout of windy weather is causing serious problems for recently planted trees.
Unless you have been flooding them or your soil is very wet, you can rule out overwatering. Spring has been very dry.
Without knowing the full story, I would suggest removing the dog from the plant area, pruning back the plants by one third and check for dryness at the root. Even if you are watering, the rootball may still be dry. Good luck.