'Twas a winter that will not forgotten for a long time. There was frost and frost and more frost. We NEVER get frost ! During the month of February, the Gardener could be found weeping over (As well as around and under) the ECHIUM Fatsuosum  .

" It was due to flower this year, look at it, it is completely ruined, my lovely, lovely echium"  

 I did my best to cheer her up. I said,

  "Not to worry, it could be worse, you can always get another one"  

 This,  it appears,  is THE wrong thing to say to a gardener who has lost a favourite plant. The tears flowed in greater torrents.

 "You just do not understand, do you?"

 I had to admit that I did not understand. I did not add that I do not understand ANY gardener. Quietly, as is my wont, I went back to digging holes,  moving rocks, and honing the garden rake. Frost does not affect them. This is what caused the February tears.

At this point everyone is supposed to form a circle, join hands and say out loud "Isn't Nature wonderful"   I concur.  Nature is extraordinary wonderful.   

 The second thing I have to say about the Echium is that a relation of the one above (I am saying "Relation" because I do not know the full name of this Echium), has gone totally mad. It defied the frost and just grew and grew and grew. The happier gardener is looking proud, though rather small, and the tears of February have vanished like the frost.

And now, moving along to other things and other parts of the garden. Those of you who have being reading carefully, will remember I mentioned a stream back along somewhere. It flowed in torrents during the Winter but in Summer it dried up completely. (Isn't Nature hideous). In April 2001 the new all-weather, all- season, all- electric, stream came into being. It now flows and sparkles and bubbles at all times.   That is when I remember to switch it on.  Some early visitors to the garden may, just possibly, have overheard me say, 

 "Keep them talking for five minutes, Mary, I forgot to turn on the stream"  

 The picture, below, shows (Part of) one of the three ponds which are fed by the stream.  It is the big  log in the lower left hand corner, however, that I want to tell you about. It may not look big in this picture, but it is about fifteen feet long and it weighs around a half ton. It is, now, known as  "The Bridge"

 This is the "New" part of the garden. It is also known, grandiosely, as the "Forest". It is where sixty-five oaks trees were planted in 1999. Sixty-one of these are doing well. Two died and two are missing, lost among the gorse and ferns.  Anyway, about the big square log. This was discarded by a builder who was knocking down an old house and replacing it with a new one. It was over the fireplace of the old house and is reckoned to be almost 200 years old. I acquired it and dragged it with my car along the road to the garden gate. It was then that my problem arose. How was I going to get it to it's chosen resting place.  A fork-lift or tractor could not be used  because  they would destroy the new grass and trees. It had to be raw, human strength. The chosen place is about thirty feet higher than the entrance gates, so there had to plenty of raw, human strength. 

There is an annual  music festival held in the local village of KILCROHANE, so I strolled along to one of the  pubs at closing time. It was quite easy to persuade six large, slightly intoxicated musicians to accompany me to the garden. They put aside their fiddles, accordions , bodhrans and flutes and with some effort,  much grunting, a large amount of staggering, and a tremendous lot of really foul language,   lifted the log into place. This community spirit had to be rewarded, of course. Next day I went to the pub to buy some drinks for them, by way of thanking them. They were pleased to see me, they said. Only two of the six could remember that they moved a  "Bridge" the previous night.

 All of this goes to show the awesome power of music, especially traditional Irish music. I am not a bit surprised that "Riverdance" was such a world wide success.

 Before I finish this update, I would like to show you a few more pictures. I do not know the name of this one, the first picture, and I cannot ask the gardener, because she has gone out to play bridge.  I told her I would be finished this up-date by to-night and have it published before she got home.( Such is the role of a rock-mover in a horticultural marriage.) This means I have two choices,

A.  Omit the picture

B.   Put it in without a name, and because this is a horticultural web site, anyone looking  will know what it is.  If you do not,  I bid you a  welcome to the club. As you can see , option B won out.

The next one is of a Cistus alba. This plant, not only survived the winter, it also has managed to produce the hybrid shown.  I am told, if the plant can be persuaded to continue to do so, it will make me very rich and famous, or at the very least, make my wife very rich and famous and put me,  in a situation where I will have to walk, my hands behind my back, three paces behind her,  at public functions.

July 2003

I recently got an email from Robert G. Page of the National Collection of Cistus & Halimium  (NCCPG). He  took me to task, in a very gentle and good natured way, I must say, for my comments about this Cistus. His message showed me how careful a plant-ignorant fellow like myself must be, when writing anything about matters horticultural. 

He informed me that there is no such a thing as a Cistus Alba and that the marvelous anticipation I showed at the possibility of becoming famous was totally misplaced.......the Cistus apparently does this colour change thing any time it feels like it. It's quite a common occurrence  Bob Page says. I will forgive him for shattering my dream...........eventually.

 If you wish to know the truth about Cistus, particularly, Cistus x purpureus "Alan Fradd" which is the correct name for the plant shown, have a look at his website at  http://www.cistuspage.org.uk

It is hoped that a further up-date will be added later in this year,  but like all things horticultural we will have to wait and see what comes up.

A Seaside Garden    About the Garden    Plant List    Places Nearby   Links and help    Garden Pictures    More pictures  Plant of the week     UPDATE FOR 2002  2003 News   2005    2006 Update   2006 update:part 2

B.Walsh (C) 2001/02/03.