Blog

Plant of the week: Heuchera

Fancy a ‘Cherry Cola’ and ‘Southern Comfort’ then our plant of the week is just for you. The wonderful and very versatile Heuchera which makes the most stunning container plants which can even bring vibrancy on a dull winters day either in the ground or used in a hanging basket. The stunning foliage comes in […]

Ballymaloe Garden Festival

SATURDAY 31 AUGUST AND SUNDAY 1 SEPTEMBER More than Thirty Events For Seasoned Experts, Late Bloomers, Families and Foodies East Cork will be a bloom as the first-ever Ballymaloe Garden Festival unfurls on Saturday 31 August and Sunday 1 September. A packed programme of workshops, talks and garden walks is planned with most events taking […]

A perfect background!!!!

When we put up the shop, the range of colours for varnishing in the recommended product (Sikkens) were somewhat limited (Pine, Light Oak, Dark Oak, Mahogany, Walnut, Ebony, Teak) We selected Pine and after nine and a half years of topping it up, the pine is now much more like a brassy orange tan. So […]

The Garden Tuck Shop is Open!!!!

Just back from driving and I was feeling peckish….for a moment I nearly succumbed to eating the dreaded chocolate biscuit. However as the veg patch needed watering, I found my own healthy treats in the garden. And even better they contain no nasty chemicals. Coming soon pudding. In the meantime try Greenside Up’s Strawberry Smoothie […]

Plant of the week: Agapanthus

With this unusual balmy summer weather we are experiencing, this weeks ‘Plant of the Week’ is well suited to drought conditions. The architectural Agapanthus (African Blue lily) is a clump forming perennial with its strap shaped leaves and stout stems bearing blue and more rarely white trumpet shaped flowers. We currently have two gorgeous varieties […]

Feeling hot hot hot!!!

A funky song title from the 80’s as well as a great summary for the heat wave that us currently hitting Ireland. So just how hot is it? Well apparently this hot and beyond from the various in car thermometer images doing the rounds on twitter and Facebook. Well it’s not only gardeners who are […]

Plant of the week: Fuschia

Sarah’s plant of the week has elegant flowers from now through to the first frost, with their rich diversity of lovely hanging lanternlike flowers from pure white to deepest purple. May I introduce the fabulous Fuschia. The fuschia for me creates evocative memories of coastal drives in Cork and Kerry during summer. And is a […]

Something different in the basket!!!!

Well hanging basket appears to have finally arrived and one of the questions we are regularly asked is ‘What should we put in our baskets?’ The million dollar question that depends on so many factors : location, colour scheme, personal likes/dislikes etc. The usual suspects of Surfinias, Bacopa, Verbena, Fuschia and Lobelia are often suggested […]

How to grow oca tubers.

Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) is a South American tuber that is now beginning to show up in markets as an alternative to the potato as it is blight resistant and has good disease and pest resistance. Oca (also spelled ocha) is a productive perennial plant with waxy, brightly colored tubers that are best harvested from the […]

Primula denticulata

You can’t be blue on a sunny day like today!!!!!

Unless of course you are one of these guys. Sun has finally arrived on Ireland’s shores, people are smiling, plants look well and the desire to garden has started.Especially with this collection of blue coloured plants all in flower today. Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’ a useful evergreen plant which works well in shady areas with its […]

Moving on up!!!!!

Sometimes you get an offer which just cant be refused and even more so when the timing is just right. After our super long winter we had been evaluating the display tables made of recycled packaging crates, working out which had seen their final days and those that could be given some tender loving paint. […]

Chicks at Easter!

The weather may say winter, but this weekend Easter is upon us! The weather is causing some delay in the garden – protect young plants and if you have any evergreens in containers watch out for drying out as the roots freeze. If you do have frozen evergreens, give the foliage a light watering to […]

Time for tea

The T Room is now three years old and what still amazes me, is that we still have customers who haven’t discovered the delights that lie within. We amended our roadsign recently and have signposts directing you up to the building yet some people don’t make it inside to this treasure trove. From the exterior […]

Autumnal reds in the garden

Given that autumn is one of my favourite seasons in the garden as the autumnal tones of russet, purple, reds and oranges make their dramatic arrival I decided to take some images of spectacular examples within the garden centre. For some reason I was drawn to the fiery reds as you can see. Liquidamber. styraciflua […]

Double Delight

Saturday night delight!!!!! Firstly and obviously due to the large image to the left, we have made it as finalists in the SME category of the Blog Awards. Not bad going since there was over 60 blogs nominated in this category and as my previous post stated I did not expect to make the shortlist. […]

September Awards

September has seen us nominated in the Web Awards 2012 in the Most Beautiful Website in Ireland category. We were also nominated in this category in 2011 but we did not make it as shortlisted finalists, maybe this year. We do have a rather lovely website if I say so myself courtesy of Charlotte of […]