2009. Early March.    In this update you may read about  ruthlessness, pruning, nuclear-powered boats, daffodils, driftwood, gardening books, excitement, A.F. Fourcroy, and primroses.

An update in June is also here. Please scroll down.

RUTHLESS: this is not a word one would not normally associate with a garden website, yet it has been flying around Cois Cuain over the past several weeks. In my ignorance, I had thought the pruning and "Cutting back" of last Autumn was the end of that particular piece of horticultural mayhem, but no............it is repeated again in early Spring. Many plants are pruned in Autumn but many more need this treatment in Spring.

"I am going to be ruthless with a lot of them, this year" said the gardener, handing me one of a pair of evil-looking loppers.

"I' ll start here, darling, and  if you would be so good as to start there"

Now, I have learned from bitter experience that when the word, "Darling" comes into our conversation in the garden it is time to take several deep breaths and prepare for several hours of unremitting toil. And that is how it turned out.

 Over a period of two to three days ,many of what had been  perfectly normal-looking, harmless plants and shrubs were reduced to a few feet of bare stems and hideously shaped branches.  It appears this is normal horticultural practice if one wishes to have a proper garden.

During the operation, the thought came into my mind that if I put this much labour into maintaining my boat it would look and run like a nuclear- powered coast guard cutter.

I would hate to have a nuclear- powered coast guard cutter.

Anyway, to move on to more practical matters. The fields around the garden are presently ablaze with Daffodils. I am surprised that I have not referred to the fact before now that this area was once the premier source of early daffodils in Ireland. Some time during the 1970s a daffodil growing Co-Op was established here. It thrived for many years, providing  much needed extra income for some of the local small farmers. Unfortunately and for many different reasons the Co-op no longer exists..........but the Daffodils still come up.

The problem in photographing Daffodils is that they are around in winter when the light is not always good. The one, below, which is taken a few years ago shows two of our grand- children, Rosa and Gael enjoying the colour.

The winter this year  produced a lot of rain but hardly a decent gale and no sign of a really bad storm. As a consequence of this, little or no driftwood has arrived on the shore. Many of the existing pieces are rotting away. My only hope of replacing them with new ones is a late storm but that seems unlikely now that March is here. I am wondering....to myself.... would the wreck of a nuclear-powered coast guard cutter yield much in the way of driftwood ?. 

The picture underneath was taken some weeks ago.

The reddish-coloured plant is called POLYGONUM or PERSICARIA 'affinis'. This plant gives great ground cover and stays colourful all year round.  The brown thing is a very elderly, metal buoy which I found in a hedge many years ago. I have no idea what the green plant on the right, foreground is called. (Two out of three is not too bad). This is what my favourite gardening book says of Polygonum:

"Several of the more vigorous perennials are liable to become a nuisance in gardens if not kept definitely under control"

It also says of the month of March :

"A peck of March dust is worth a King's ransom"

I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what that means.

I should, in fairness tell you the name of my favourite gardening book. It is an ancient tome called the "Popular Encyclopedia of Gardening" . Its' editors are gentlemen called H.H. Thomas and Gordon Forsyth. ( I am taking it for granted that "H. H." is a male.).

 It was published some time around the 1950s as far as I can make out. The gardener infrequently looks at it but when she does she is always astounded at how little things    change in the world of horticulture. 

I like it because it is almost as old as myself, is  battered, worn and sometimes inaccurate ......but still, occasionally makes a reasonable amount of sense.

It may be only March but strange things are beginning to happen around here, below is an example.

Some of the AONIUMS were put in the glasshouse this winter as a  long range forecast predicted (correctly) a  lot of frost. Several of them flowered. To my inexpert eye, a yellow flower from a blackish/brownish plant looks a bit odd. The gardener was ecstatic. 

 She was even more so when she discovered that a FURCRAEA, 'longaeva' was also going to flower.

This large plant has lived outdoors for some years and a week ago it decided it was going to show off its flowering prowess. We live in a state of high tension awaiting the flower. It is a native of Mexico and is named in honour of a French chemist called A. F. Fourcroy, who lived in the late 18th century.. my favourite gardening book states it is only suitable for cultivation in a warm greenhouse in this climate. As I said before, both that book and myself are frequently totally wrong.

Since it is almost Spring, it is fitting to finish this little, (rather disjointed) update with  Spring pictures. To me nothing as is as Spring-like as the under valued Primrose.

And these little Grape Hyacinths show up every Spring. If you look closely you will see one of our baby ARAUCARIA, the excellent Monkey Puzzle tree, in the centre.

Before I finish here is a new contact for us:  aseasidegarden.net@gmail.com    That's the lot for now. More in a couple of weeks, hopefully.

JUNE 2009.

An update in the month of June is a first for me........but it seems this June is a month of "Firsts" as far as Cois Cuain garden is concerned.

Updating a website in June is likely to be a common occurrence for many but for me it is usually a month for scraping, antifouling, varnishing and painting my boat. Rarely does this website intrude....during June....on things nautical. This year appears to be different. Not a scrape has been done nor a drop of paint  been applied yet. Hopefully, next week this will happen.

Now, about the "Firsts": on the 9th June a sleek looking yacht appeared out of the mist and fog and tied onto my moorings. Indignation gave way to pleasure when six  seafarers arrived on the shore in a dingy. Three Scottish men and three Scottish women had come to see the garden........and had arrived by boat. Naturally, they were immediately given freedom of the garden, being the first visitors to come here by boat.

From left to right, the crew of the FAIR EMMA, Isla, Derek, Douglas G., Elizabeth, Janice, Douglas K. with Mary, the gardener. Below, is a picture of their boat.

During early June we also had a visit from a German television company, ARD TV. This very professional crew were filming gardens in South West Cork for a series called "Reisewege" which will be shown early next year. In case you see this programme, I thought I should put those responsible for it here, so you can put on face on those who will only appear in the "Credits" at the end of the showing.

Above are Klaus, Barbara and Rainer. If you do not like the programme complain to one of these three and not to me. If you absolutely hate the programme...complain to all three.

The final "First"......if that makes sense, is entirely horticultural. In the earlier update (Early March) I mentioned that a FUCRAEA was thought to be coming into flower. The gardener is spending a huge amount of time gazing at this astonishing product of Mother Nature. Even myself, a well-known horticultural sceptic is astounded. The gardener and some renowned neighbouring gardeners think this Fucraea may be the first one to flower in Ireland. The gardener  would love dearly to hear from anyone who has had one flower before now. ( Contact details in March update) To enable you to appreciate it properly there are three pictures to show how it developed.

Above picture was taken on 22nd February 2009.

This one was taken on 23rd April 2009

This one was taken on 11th June 2009

The thing is now 19 feet-2 inches tall.....that is from its base to the top. It is dominating the garden at the moment but the gardener informs me (very sadly) that it will die shortly but  it may seed itself as parts of it have been scattered around by the winds. Perhaps many more like it will grow in the years to come. A good friend of ours, Elizebeth Law gave the original plant to the gardener in 2002 and it went quietly about its business until now.

Below is a close up of the flowers.

Getting a close-up of the flowers (Above) was one of the scariest things I have had to do in this garden. Because of its height and position, step ladders and empty fish boxes were brought into play. Here, I must admit an aversion to heights. A telephoto lens produced a poor image due to its (the lens) weight so it was up on a platform of fish boxes and a shaky stepladder for your intrepid correspondent. I hope the result is worth the terror I had to endure.

That's it for June. More in another couple of weeks.

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