Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Past Heritage.

At one time Lime Kilns would have been a common sight around Ireland, now it is rare to find them, however we have found one fairly close to us, just across the boarder in Co. Mayo.
Like so many things that we find that were part of everyday life in years gone by we can find no details or date of this kiln, although some effort has been made into clearing and maintaining this one. Lime kilns in Ireland seem to date back to the 18th century when many farms would have had them both to provide fertilizer for their lands and also to whitewash the cottages. Lime was, and still is used as a mortar, it would have replaced daub, a mixture of clay and straw or animal dung, it was also a useful sterilizing agent. We are both old enough to remember outside privies being lime washed as a means of keeping them clean.
This is the second lime kiln that we have found, it is larger than the one that we had found previously,  possible it was a community one, used by people who lived in the village. It would be so nice if a few details were available at the site.
The garden is now full of colour,
Gertrude Jekyll in all her glory, perfectly formed with an amazing perfume.
the roses are, at last in bloom, although one of them is a bit of a mystery.
This particular rose came from Galicia where it grew in all the hedge rows, I took a cutting from it and it has bloomed for the last three years, running true to type and colour, this year however, it had changed colour, from a beautiful cerise to a lovely peach colour. I have never come across this before, I didn't know that a rose could change colour. It's still highly perfumed, just not the right colour, most strange!
 
Aquilegia nestles under the Rosa Rugosa, the Geums seem to wind their way through the taller plants bring a splash of bright colour,
Valerian makes a startling contrast to the Nepeta and Berberis.  
The Campion highlights the more subtle colours of Aquilegia,
Foxgloves tower above the bed.
Lupines contrast against the Bronze Fennel and more Nepeta, with the ferny leaves of Sweet Cecily,
And the Papaver poppies say 'Look at Me' not that you can miss them,
The sky blue hardy geraniums stand out against the Sweet Woodruff,
The Sweet Rocket adds a lovely perfume and the bees love it.
All these flowers give me plenty for a vase full to brighten up the cottage.

14 comments:

  1. I'm hoping to visit Morwellham Quay where Edwardian Farm was filmed, they have Lime Kilns there. Your flowers look beautiful :)

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    1. Morwellham Quay is wonderful, we visited it five years ago, we also had a wonderful walk along the Tamar river where we found purple toothwort growing, although we are both into our wild flowers we had never seen this growing before. I'm sure you will enjoy you trip there, visiting school children even get to dress up in Edwardian cloths.

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  2. This site is a great resource for information on archaeological sites, you can check out the lime kilns http://webgis.archaeology.ie/NationalMonuments/FlexViewer/

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    1. Thanks, I have had a look but the kiln that we have found is not on the site, but there is a lot of useful info there.

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  3. Gosh you are living in The Garden of Eden, it seems. How beautiful. No apple trees or serpents around, i hope. Oh, to have such beautiful flowers in vases. Thanks for the history lesson.

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    1. No snakes in Ireland thankfully but plenty of apple trees, we have planted nine apples since we moved here hoping we might have good crop this year. I do like to have flowers in the house but I try to avoid buying them, air miles plus not knowing what chemicals have been used or that the farmer has received a fair price for them. I do however buy daffodils early in the season before ours are out as I know that they have been grown in Ireland.

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  4. Lovely flower arrangement. Your garden also looks amazing too

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    1. Thanks B.G I try to have something worth picking throughout most of the year.
      I still cant believe that four years ago there was no garden here at all, just two one acre fields with hedges around them.

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  5. I really like lime washed farm buildings and the wonderful rusty patina on old corrugated iron roofing sheets. Great pictures.

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    1. Yes I agree Dave, there is something very pleasing about lime washed buildings. Glad you enjoyed the pictures.

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  6. Beautiful! Lauren x

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    1. Thanks Lauren. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

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  7. What a lovely display of colour and form Anne. The peach-coloured rose is lovely - apprently they can change colour according to the mineral contents and nutrients but it is rare I think.

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  8. Thanks Ian. So I wonder what would happen if I took cuttings from this rose now, would they revert to the original colour of the new colour? None of my other roses have changed colour like this and they would be in the same soil.

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