2006 update: part 2.   This global warming thing most definitely seems to be here. Some of the plants that flowered in May are now flowering again in October. September has been officially nominated as the warmest September in 100 years.

The lawn has needed to be cut only once a week in May and June and during July and August there was no grass at all to be cut.....it was burned and brown and miserable looking. Now, after a wet September it is nice and green and lawn-like again. I expect to be planting some outdoor vines in a year or so. Chateau Cois Cuain 2009 premiere cru has a nice ring to it, I think.

Here is the first picture of this update......

Several people have asked me what is at the back of the garden, that is what do you see if you look away from the water that appears in almost every picture?. The hill, in above picture is part of what you see.

 It is called SEEFIN, which translates as the seat of Fionn. This chap, Fionn was FIONN MacCOOL.  He was a legendary lad in Irish mythology. In the very distant past he strolled around Ireland, courting fair maidens, fishing, hunting, playing football, hurling, and generally having a good time for himself.   He also, it seems upset the Irish landscape quite a bit. He spent time lifting hills and mountains and putting them where there was never a mountain before, a kind of a  forklift (a backhoe, if you are an American) of ancient times. He caused all sorts of disruption in his travels but altogether seems to have been a genial sort of guy. This was good because he was reckoned to have been twenty-six feet tall. Imagine the disturbance he could have caused if he were not even- tempered. In any case ,it seems he found his way to the Sheep's Head peninsula and sat on the hill in the picture to admire the view. He fell asleep, as giants tend to do. While he dozed, his foot slipped and his shoe knocked out a large chunk of land. The resulting crater filled with water and became Farranamanagh Lough. This is it, when one looks from the garden to the  North-East.

Imagine if you can, what would have happened, if Fionn MacCool had fallen asleep, a few hundred metres to the west and  a few thousand years later.................... he would have wiped out the entire garden.

Below is a picture of a plant....this IS supposed to be a garden website.

This  Tree Poppy demands to get its full name, so in spite of my misgivings here it is. This is  ROMNEYA  Coulteri and it is simply lovely. It bloomed and bloomed for ages this year. Below is another photo of the same plant.

During the month of September we had a visit from a fantastic group of people from DISCOVERY CHANNEL. They were filming the local marked walk, Sheep's Head Way and happened across Cois Cuain. They spent some hours here in unpleasant weather. Hopefully, when it is broadcast, some time in March 2007 you may get to see a bit of the garden. Below, with Paddy O'Mahony, Fáilte Ireland, (2nd from right) are the very hardworking television crew, (From left): Chris, Joan, Bob, Tom, Richard and Karen. The programme will be presented by the lady in the red hat, whose name is Rebecca Cole. They all work for Capital Productions, producers of the programme for Discovery Channel.

Below is a picture of eighty-eight (I am boggle-eyed from trying to count them) wild daisies which have flourished in this Summer's heat. The gardener recommends these to anyone who wishes for a colourful display without having to make too much effort.

The next picture is of the common Californian Poppy, which also, the gardener tells me, is very good for "Show" and is trouble-free in gardening terms.

This is a photograph of a piece of driftwood which washed up on the shore during last winter. To my mind it is very like one of the many seals which breed on Carbery Island, a sea mile from the garden. It is untouched except for a coat of black paint.

As a matter of interest, the story goes that Carbery Island was created when the lump of earth that Fionn MacCool's shoe uprooted to create Farranamanagh Lough (pictured above) was propelled into Dunmanus bay. He created an island and a lake in one go. A handy lad was Fionn.

This picture is of the flowers of Brachyglotis. This makes an excellent shelter belt as well as being decorative.  It was formerly called Senecio 'sunshine' which is a far nicer name, but who am I to question whoever it is that makes up (and then changes) these names.

The final photo, is of tulips. Naturally, the gardener once more calls these "Common". This is unlike me I know, but I must disagree. I think they look like a high class flower and are deserving of their place in this up-date part two, for 2006. Some of the rocks, I have moved create a nice background for them too, even if I say so, myself.

You never know, I might add another bit to  2006 before the year's end.

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