[Ado 2]

Planted all year round lettuce seeds. Coleus seeds for a change for a bit of colour. That dark green kale seeds. French beans seeds. More coneflowers. The coneflowers i planted last year should flower this year and I bought strawberry plants and intend on doing a strawberry tower in my greenhouse and I also intend to grow cucumber and tomatoes as per last year

[Sue Deacon]

Had a brilliant weekend at Roe Park and have come back raring to get stuck in to the garden jobs!

The tree man made a start on the trees before we went. He came back today and finished the job. He is outside now tidying up.

It was not without casualties. My 'just about to flower' peonies are no more and there won't be any Regal lillies either. But they will come again next year.

The sawdust in the pond has persuaded me to buy a pond vac and I just can't believe how much light it has let in.

I think these photo's may be the wrong way around - but you get the idea. I'm leaving the long 'stump' for now. It would look just too bare if they were gone and there is a healthy ivy growing up it which will give some bulk.

Trre man likes the Tea House so much he has photographed it for future reference.

[Ado 2]

Well done. Another job done..

[Good guy]

Great job, Sue. All the new light will make such a difference.
I've been continuing to tidy places that should have been seen to weeks ago - some parts of the garden are looking well, though. I'm really pleased with the erythroniums in one of the alpine beds though I'm still on a steep learning curve with the beds, overall.
I've made the effort to plant all the things I brought back from Amsterdam: not easy, as it's not the best season for planting some of them and also, when I bought them, I wasn't entirely sure where they would go. One combination I'm looking forward to for next year is the crown imperials coming up through grape hyacinths and ophopophagons (never can spell that!)

[Sue Deacon]

Took a deep breath and started to clear out Dave's shed (he slunk off to the pub ) Several reasons for this. 1. he can never find anything, 2. it's full of junk he never uses anymore and 3. our new mower won't fit in my shed and I also need a home for my new pond vac.

Made a good start on it then decided to try out the pond vac. It is going to take several go's to clean out the pine needles and saw dust and I have had to put a piece of mesh and an old sock over the outlet as the filter isn't fine enough. But it is looking better already. Some of the 'debris' started moving and I realised it was caddis fly larvae. So I have had to sort them out too.

As I was tidying up I heard our first cuckoo - two weeks later than usual, but very welcome.

[Good guy]

What a gorgeous day! Having spent much of yesterday struggling with a frustrating 'little' diy job indoors (successfully completed I'm happy to say) it was lovely to spend hours in the garden today. Watering planters and recently planted items took priority. Then it was back to the weeding - I've left some of it very late and the damn things are growing so fast and beginning to choke some perennials. Two warm days in a row seems to have turbocharged the growth of everything - prior to this, things have been quite slow. So I got lots done and have almost finished the bed in question. Then I will be able to plant a few gaps that have emerged and the whole bed should be good for the rest of the year, once I've mulched it. It's in a prominent place below the new terrace so I want to get it right. There have been lots of changes in the general area since renovations and construction and I'm looking forward to having that whole area finished properly.

[Sue Deacon]

Another gorgeous day! I hope this isn't Summer I got most of the bark chips moved yesterday and went to my friend Mary's house to do some pruning for her. One hour pruning two hours putting the world to rights over tea and cake.

We are off to Antrim Castle tomorrow, yay! I'm looking for some interesting herbs this year. Dave is going to be trawling the food tents. Can't wait.

[Good guy]

I hope you enjoy Antrim, Sue. I had a very good day there a couple of years ago. The three mecanopsis I bought there are thriving.
I spent most of the day on the road to Roscommon and back for a med appointment for C. Hopefully we are near the end of all this medical stuff. It was a beautiful day for a drive through our lovely country and nice to have the time to ourselves.

[Sue Deacon]

Had a lovely day yesterday and came home with loads of plants. Just stopping for a cuppa tay. Don't know how the kindle camera will do, but here goes.

[Margo]

Managed to avoid the rain by sitting in my shed and filled 4 hanging baskets

[Sue Deacon]

Does anyone else think that the Chelsea 'Best in Show', looks like an abandoned building site? I'm afraid it does nothing for me. I like the Poet's garden and the little Japanese and veg gardens (so, no surprises there then! )

Good news on the home front - the pile of shxxe has been levelled and some of the worst cxxp is missing altogether (don't know where it is and don't much care at this point)

It has worked out well as I came home with some Portuguese laurel hedging for the corner of the plot.

All I need now is about ten tonne of clean stone and two tonne top soil and Robert's your mother's brother!

[Margo]

Do you know what Sue I gave up sitting down to watch Chelsea a few years ago. I do tape it and then whizz through it to see the gardens. I found it to be a big me me me with all the gardener stars. It was a talk show, just sitting round talking about the gardens but not actually showing anything. They seem to concentrate merely on a fellow gardeners show garden. I've seen so much of David Domoney garden of remembrance it wouldn't surprise me he'll get a gold. I've not looked at any of the taped stuff so wouldn't know. Its usually won by the telegraph. But like you say they are not gardens they just consist of a water feature and loads of stones and junk, They hardly touch the flower marquee other than a fleeting glance

[tagwex]

Crap. See, crap without any x's.
Now, shite, that is OK too!!!

[Sue Deacon]

Yes, there are a lot of gimmicks and arty-farty stuff and I really don't get all this concrete and rust hard landscaping. But I must admit some of the planting is just gorgeous and the colour palettes, inspirational. With all the sycophantic waffle, I still wouldn't miss it for the world.

[Sue Deacon]