Saturday, July 18, 2015

A mystery revealed.

A deep red Penstemon, I love it.
Although our garden is less than four years old it still manages to deliver surprises to us. Plants appear that we know nothing about, where they came form how they got there and what might it be. Last autumn a new bed was created to make room for divisions coming from a local friendly plant nursery. We had placed our order and knew what was coming, Delphiniums, Bergamot( two different colours) Phlox, deep purple double blossomed Aquilegia and Rudbeckia.  Apart from bulbs and Dianthus cuttings nothing else was planted. Several weeks ago we noticed three clumps of something appearing, the leaves were not particularly attractive but as we didn't recognise them we let them be, to see what they turned into. They grew, and grew, they are about three foot high now,
I love this woven basket effect.
then large brown woven balls started appearing, about two inches across, we were still none the wiser.
Then one day last week a tuft of yellow appeared from the tops of the woven balls,
two days later and all was revealed.
Nearly three inches across, if it stops raining the butterflies will love it.
Yellow Knapweed, Centaurea macrocephala. We think they are stunning, the flower pods before the revelation are fascinating, and the flowers are a true lemon yellow, bees and butterflies love them. They are a welcome addition to the garden, but we still do not know where they came from! We have been assured by the nursery owner that they were not from her, but we wonder, as another friend also has them and he swears that his came from this nursery. I guess we will never be sure, but they are a keeper as far as we are concerned. I love things that just seem to turn up in a garden, especially if it's something we are not familiar with.
We also love spotting wild plants,
Agrimoney, once so common.
at one time Agrimony would have been a common sight in the country side, we spotted these growing along a verge a few days ago, we have never seen them in Ireland before, although they should be common,
Scarlet Pimpernel, such a pretty little plant.
another what used to be common plant is Scarlet Pimpernel, again, something we seldom have seen here. Too much scorched earth, it's killing all the common wild flowers, people use Glyphosate like Henry Cooper used to use 'Brut' the man's 'after shave', splash it all over, never mind the biodiversity. Now if you want wild flowers you have to buy a packet of wild flower mix and plant your own patch, yet things that should be controlled if not eradicated are left, things like Japanese knot weed which are taking over vast areas of the country side, Gunnera, which is a real menace in Connemara
Giant Hog Weed, something you don't want to touch.
and Giant Hog weed which we also spotted along the road side.
It promises to be a good broad bean harvest.
The broad beans are coming fast now, this week they will have to be harvested and frozen.
Quite a weight range, I wonder how supermarkets manage to have theirs all the same weight?
 The table birds are now all in the freezer, there was quite a difference in weight, ranging from 2.02 to 3.16kg, the larger ones have all been portioned for midweek meals, the smaller ones we have left whole for our Sunday roasts, and we have sold two, in fact we could have sold the whole lot, but the aim is to provide our own food. We might however do extra next year for people who want  genuine Organic free range chicken and not the things that purport to be, that are sold in supermarkets.
All legs and neck, but so cute.
The Llamas that we saw earlier in the year are now starting to give birth, this little one is just a day old, so cute, all legs, but grazing already.
Penstemon

17 comments:

  1. OMG, that baby llama is GORGEOUS! Thanks for naming the scarlet pimpernell too. I've seen it here but had no idea of a name. :)

    That hogweed is NASTY! I just googled it to see if it was related to hemlock (same family) which we have here sadly.

    Your gardens are lovely too. I'm living vicariously through yours as we freeze our butts off this winter (I'm in southern Australia). My gardens have been rather neglected this year.

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    1. I think we also have Hemlock but have not seen it here yet, we certainly had it in the UK and Spain.
      Yes, I heard from Linda that you are having a bad winter, she even had snow!
      Have missed your blog, but I guess you are trying to keep warm.

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    2. I agree, that baby is so cute! Gosh it was -6C at Jessie's this morning. Glad its her having to go outside and break the ice for the animals. She is about 40 min from me but much higher above sea level. Im AT sea level. Only -2C at home but we get the chill off the water. No snow here in Melb but plenty on the mounts nearby.

      We must all be hibernating, as i have very little in this winter. I've done so little gardening i actually have long fingernails which i havent had for years.

      Garden is lovely as usual. I saw some chicken breasts at the supermarket the other day that were huge. Really massive. All i could think of was poor bird. What was it fed. I didn't buy them. I commented that they looked feral and moved on. If enough of us did so then perhaps they would look for a more normal bird.

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    3. You do seem to be having a cold winter, is this normal? I thought where you are was supposed to be sub-tropical. I have never looked at chicken breasts in the super market, I must do so.

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  2. The flower opening up was well caught, lovely photos. We have giant hogweed on one of our walks near us, horrid stuff! I've never seen a baby llama, how cute

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    1. Thanks B.G. giant hog weed seems to be a problem all over the world. Yes the baby Llama is lovely, you will pleased to hear that they are kept for their wool, not eating.

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  3. The knapweed is beautiful even before it flowers! I had forgotten all about scarlet pimpernel, will be on the look out for it now, and as for the baby llama awwww

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    1. I would love to find out how the dry the knapweed heads before they bloom, apparently you can. Yes, awwww to the baby Llama, it's so cute.

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  4. I love the Yellow Knapweed and the baby llama is just so sweet.

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    1. Thanks Deb, I had never seen this knapweed before although it has been cultivated for the last 200 years.

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  5. Those buds do look like woven balls, very attractive even before the flowers bloom. Such a cute baby llama, he looks like he's on stilts.

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    1. I want to know how to dry the flower buds, I'm sure someone will know. Yes the Llama does look as though it was on stilts but he was quite steady as he ran around.

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  6. we have knapweed but its the blue/purple one , Llamas so cute , we have scarlet pimpernel it pops up when we clear a patch of field apparently it likes bare earth so lies dormant in the ground until conditions are right. The theory behind seed banks in the ground are fascinating perhaps thats where all your plants are coming from :)

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    1. Yes we have the wild knap weed growing along the drive way and in the hedge rows. I don't think the plants are coming from dormant seed banks, there is no evidence of there ever having been a garden of any kind here, it was a working farm, run by two brothers until their deaths, they only farmed beef cattle, no one remembers them even growing veg. I think these plants are coming in from cuttings and plant swaps.

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  7. Wow, the yellow weed is such an interesting one! I love that it just popped up mysteriously in your garden. I like the question..."how do supermarkets get theirs to be the same wait"...exactly! Baby lama is very sweet x

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  8. It's not a weed Lauren, it's a cultivated plant, I just don't know from where it came!

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  9. hahaha, i meant to type plant! Sorry Anne, it's clearly a lovely interesting plant! xxx

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