Ferries and Festivities.

This passenger ferry the MV Julia is docked here in the Port of Cork for the foreseeable future having been placed in examinership unexpectedly in recent weeks.After a major campaign by interested parties last year to have the ferry reinstated to service the Cork /Swansea route between Ireland and England it enjoyed some success but the winter schedule had to be curtailed until next April at least.For now it is a towering presence in the city centre being visible from many angles and at times looks like it is stuck in traffic!Took a few snaps on a walkabout this evening.
Looks like a giant boot!

Reflections

Just one scene from the window of Brown Thomas department store depicting the legend of the Children of Lir.
On a quick trip to the city centre or "town" this evening shopfronts were looking very festive as the lights and decorations were on full display,following is a small selection!
Winthrop Arcade all lit up.



This store in the city centre is always decorated beautifully for Christmas!
A bit fuzzy!

Happy Gardening!

Countdown...........

So if you lift your computer up and turn it around to see this message!!Sorry forgot to adjust the photo for uploading,our local paper tonight says Planning is the key to a happy Christmas..........so in that spirit ...........
My planning has started around candles(not food)!Saw this in Homestore Mahon Point Retail Park for 10euros and had to have it!Similar candle holders with a brand name sell for three times the price so this will do the job for me.I lit a tealight on top of the main candle as I do not want to burn it down and be left with an unsightly mess,so come Christmas I will light the main candle until I have a little hollow on top and then I will start lighting red/cinnamon perfumed tealights in that hollow so the main candle will stay intact.
Bought this beauty for 5euros recently at Homestore in Mahon Retail Park,candles not included,but a steal all the same.Might surround it with some greenery for the season!
This dried decoration has been here since last Christmas! It sits on top of the kitchen window mantle gathering dust I will take it down and refresh it though for this year!

Happy Gardening!

Autumn flowers

This lovely Clematis is now flowering,I do not know the variety,but bought and planted it last year.Unfortunately it suffered from clematis wilt and I dug away the majority of the plant but left what looked like a healthy part which was growing vigourously.Lots of buds and now a lovely flower later it too seems to be wilting!I will wait until the flowers are gone and then dig it up.Not planting deep enough is the cause of this and though the plant took off up the arch like wildfire its all been for nothing!I do have another one on the other side though that is looking great and no wilt signs.
Shame about the wilt showing on some of these leaves when its adorned with such a whopper of a flower and more buds to come.

My "Christmas Cactus" is in bud already!I know I should probably have it brought indoors by now but its budding and in the very front a fine fat bud can be seen.I will bring them in next week before temps.drop dramatically and give them some TLC.

I let these japanese anenomes seed where ever they grow,these are not as tall as the originals but look well !
My cordylines all 4 growing again after being decimated by last winters snow!Happy Gardening!

Autumn

A sure sign Autumn is here when the acer is turning this stunning shade!
The birds have returned to the feeders despite the last section of hedge having been removed during the Summer.The clematis montana has only been planted this year so it will be their new hiding place when it thickens up.If you click on the photo to enlarge you can spot three little birds waiting in line to feed!
In other news I won a gardening competition for the second time with this local publication!A winning photo of your flowers or garden is chosen each week during the summer and the prize is a voucher for 50euros for a garden centre.This was the last week for the competition and I was stunned to win again!
My prize winning Stargazer Lily!
My second time winning in this competition!
The prize........50euros to spend at the local garden centre!Happy Gardening!

Reflections................

Caught this unusual reflection on my wall yesterday as the sun was shining through the glass door in the front sitting room!It was perfectly reflected on the opposite wall,For a minute I thought someone had been decorating!
Another angle!

Late bloomers and recoveries!

A miracle recovery!Last years snow and frost killed off many corydilines,including my torbay dazzler of many years.Advice given by the experts was to cut down the stump to any hard wood and watch and wait.Well ours had no hard wood ,just soft pulp,so it got cut down to nothing!Lo and behold a few weeks ago I spotted three new growths spurting forth from the stump!Lesson learned............never say die!
Last sunflower of summer! Out of 3 sunflower plants this one got decimated in early summer by slugs only to come again bearing a fairly small flowerhead but I am not complaining.This is the fairly commonly seen sunflower,the other two plants are two tone and bearing lots of flowers on tall stems.
"Jimmy" doing a spot of watering in the flower bed!Ground conditions have been very dry due to lack of a good drop of rain though now that I have said it ,we will get a deluge now doubt!

Still getting lots of sweet pea for indoors,today the 7th September,I picked enough to fill a glass on my kitchen window sill,not the vase in the photo here.The secret is in cutting every two/three days and still they are coming! I decided to display the sunflowers that I was losing on the stem when they blew over in the windy conditions.The stems are so heavy they bow down and break off.Happy Gardening!

Random

A bit of everything in this post today! Never getting tired of the view from my kitchen window!Pink and white japanese anenomes and the red crocosmia hiding the fence behind!
Gatherine vases of sweet pea almost non stop since early summer! Certainly got my moneys worth here all 3.50 euros !If I secure the same supplier next year will buy more plants!
Found these self seeded pansies growing at the base of a hibiscus plant recently,they are great for showing up all over the garden and providing some cheer in odd places!
These sunflowers have outgrown the fence!My neighbour has her kitchen window looking out on them so she is enjoying the view!
The lack of sunshine did not deter these beauties from flowering all summer,bonfire begonias.
And finally.............birthday flowers for my August birthday from a friend who is a florist!

Not a gardening post!

Getting away from the garden today we drove to west Cork and visited Gougane Barra,onwards to Ballylickey to the Ouvane Falls for refreshments and revisited the lovely campsite of Eagle Point nearby where we holidayed many moons ago with two young children in tow!Weather was dry with patchy sunshine and we picked up two young girls who were hitchhiking to Clonakilty,they were English but living here for some years and declared they love Ireland,dodgy weather and all!
The picturesque church at Gougane Barra,www.gouganebarra.com




Looking across the lake from the church
Candles glowing inside
Inside the little church looking out.
The weir at the Ouvane Falls www.ouvanefalls.com
Beautiful views over the bay at the rear of the Ouvane Falls

Wet,Wet,Wet.

Greetings from a dull and rain sodden garden here in Cork!Its raining "cats and dogs" at the moment,though the whole summer has been a washout,little in the way of sunshine,but us gardeners look on the bright side(usually through the kitchen window as its too wet outside!).
Not a day for the patio and chimenea!
My sweet pea have outgrown the obelisk! They are giving me lots of cut flowers for the house and the scent is heady,trying to get them to keep growing upwards! The daisies are in full bloom ,will have to divide them though next year!
Crocosmia doing well in the rain!

Not so sunny sunflowers!Just had to stake them up more this morning as they were bowing down gracefully with the wind and rain.Lost a total of 7 branches which were ready to flower too!

Today I am linking up with tootsietime.com for fertilizer friday!