Not just holly! Laurel, redwood, ferns, hawthorn, spruce, cotton lavender, ivy, heather, artichokes, alder, willow, spruce and many, many more. Take a sprig of laurel, no ordinary laurel, Otto Luyken’s low growing one. Add a spray of a bronze leaved conifer wearing its winter clothes, darkened from summer green, Microbiota decussata from Vladivostok. A spruceContinue reading “Deck the halls with boughs of Holly – Christmas Wreath Workshop”
Tag Archives: the garden school
National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, November 17th 2012
A beautiful sunny day in the National Botanic Gardens. I was there with students today. Lots of nice autumnal colour, some flowers and fruits too.
NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS, GLASNEVIN, DUBLIN- OCTOBER 20TH 2012
Every month I visit the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin with a group of people on The Garden School home study course. This time there was lots of autumnal tints to admire, some berries and flowers too. I was saddened to see that the great specimen of copper beech had eventually succumbed to oldContinue reading “NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS, GLASNEVIN, DUBLIN- OCTOBER 20TH 2012”
The New Growth Project – The Seed is Growing…
The days can be long. The days can be lonely, boring, and hopeless. It is a different world when you are unemployed, time moves slower, shops are more expensive, the cloud has no silver edge. One afternoon in January I had an idea. This happens sometimes, especially when I garden. Digging a vegetable bed, pullingContinue reading “The New Growth Project – The Seed is Growing…”
Early morning in our garden in Co. Mayo – July 2012
Summer, oh where is the summer? This morning was a rare sunny start and I was up early to see the fog lifting its damp veil from around our plants. There is a saying in Ireland, “sun before seven is gone by eleven”. You really do have to get up early to get the bestContinue reading “Early morning in our garden in Co. Mayo – July 2012”
Spruce Shoot Jam – Recipe
Spruce trees are a common site in the west of Ireland, not just as part of the alien forestry that covers much of the land, but also you see groups of old trees close to houses, derelict old cottages and lived in houses like ours. That is exactly what we have close to our house,Continue reading “Spruce Shoot Jam – Recipe”
The Magician and the Glasnevin Potato Vine – Botanic Gardens Dublin May 2012
It should be warm, warmer than today. I am not under any illusion, I do not expect the sun to shine every day, this is Ireland, but this is May, it should not be freezing! I met a group of my students this morning in the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin Dublin, one of ourContinue reading “The Magician and the Glasnevin Potato Vine – Botanic Gardens Dublin May 2012”
Ciaran The Gardener 