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10 Plants for Small Irish Gardens

garden colour plants

There’s a small space in your big garden, you’ve a big space in a small garden ? Or maybe you’d just like a little more interest formed from a little more of a varied range of plants that won’t take over and at the same time will keep maintenance slightly more to the lesser side of things.

If colour is the answer and you’d like a little of it throughout the year, take a look at the list below and see if something takes your fancy.

Whichever way you might see fit, the following are 10 plants that may just get the taste buds tingling and make your space outside a little more exciting.

1. Agapanthus Africanus

agapanthus africanus

The Agapanthus/ Liliaceae [african blue lily] are a genus of around 10 species originating in Southern Africa.  The clump forming lilly is a deciduous perennial with leaves around 12″ long and produces a 1.5″ long trumpet shaped flower in a cluster that can measure about 2′ by 1′ in size in late summer. Some note them as vigorous, but I say well worth it and a great one for the plant swapper.

2. Choisya Aztec Pearl

choisya aztec pearl

The Choisya [Rutaceae] are an evergreen genus of around 8 species more commonly known as the Mexican orange blossom. Funnily enough, the flowers are white and some say perfumed – although I personally find it a bit hard to get the scent more often. The Aztec Pearl bears 1″ in size pink-ish white flowers in spring/ summer that form in cymes of around 5 blooms. It can grow to around 8′ tall, but I’d never allow it go to that height and it will therefore need a good cut back every season once established.

3. Convolvus cneorum

convolvus cneorum

The Convolvus [convolvulaceae] are a very varied genus of about 250 species. In Ireland the most famed is the cousin you don’t really want to have call by at Christmas time, but does and more often over stays its welcome. This fellow however, the Convolvus cneorum, is a low growing rounded clump former and only grows to about 2′ high x 3′ wide producing an almost trumpet like white flower with a yellow dotted centre from its pink buds at the start of the summer.

4. Crocosmia lucifer

Crocosmia lucifer

The Crocosmia or Montbretia [Iridaceae] is a clump forming genus of about 7 species also originally from South Africa and another great one for the plant swappers of the world. This particular chap grows to about 4′ tall and produces burning red flowers mid summer that slightly jumps out of the grass like clump. Personally, don’t like the name, but it’s an absolute stunner and looks great on the kitchen table.

5. Dianthus ‘Shooting Star’

dianthus shooting star

The Dianthus or Carnation [caryophyllaceae] are a genus of over 300 species from Europe, Asia and Southern Africa. Personally, I hate carnations as bouquet of cut flowers, but I love them in this format. Pretty, low growing and relatively easy to maintain.

6. Matteuccia  streuthiopteris

matteuccia  streuthiopteris

The Matteuccia [dryopteridaceae/ woodsiaceae] are a genus of about 4 species originating from the woodlands of Europe, N. America and E. Asia. This particular beauty is more commonly known as the shuttlecock or ostrich fern. It can produce fronds of up to 4′ long and the plant itself can grow to around 5′ tall. Once again it grows by spreading and will need some attention, as all plants do.

7. Osteospernum Cannington Roy

osteospernum cannington roy

This evergreen clump former [astreaceae/ compositae] is from a genus of about 70 species mainly hailing from Southern Africa. It’s daisy-ish flowers are purple tipped white that change to mauve pink/ purple on the underside with purple florets and it can flower from the end of spring to autumn [depending]. A great ground cover plant and another one for the plant swapper.

8. Papaver orientale ‘Prinzessin Victoria Louise’

papaver orientale prinzessin victoria louise

The poppy family [Papaveraceae] are a genus of about 70 species. This, the oriental poppy is a clump forming perennial that grows about 3′ x 2′. Its short lived flowers are produced in late summer and are apricot in colour and are followed by a quite striking seed head. A little different from your usual, but definitely one to try out.

9. Polemonium caeruleum

polemonium caeruleum

I haven’t done this fellow any favours in the photography department, but the commonly called Jacobs ladder [polemoniaceae] is a clump forming genus of about 25 species. It can grow up to 3′ tall by approximate 1′ wide and produces blue flowers on axillary cymes. The image above may not make you want to rush out the door to pick one up, but I’d definitely rate it in the small garden department.

10. Polystichum setiferum

polystichum setiferum

The Holly or Shield fern  [dryopteridaceae] is a genus of about 200 species. This evergreen is better commonly know as the Soft shield fern and produces fronds of up to 4′ in length. The description is short and sweet, but ferns just that and the image tells it like it is. Personally, I love it.

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Winter Garden – Planning and Plotting

peter donegan

I’ve been looking at my own garden recently. In a sense you might say of a much deeper accord. That is, I’ve been looking at myself and what I have done to my garden space.

Let me break this down before I get into a deep and meaningful conversation with you. I get bored, sometimes, sometimes with the space outside of the four walls I live in. In short, I’ve re-done my own garden around three times in eight years.

Then last year I decided to take a break. A pause. A reprieve of sorts. I went a bit all feng shui. I don’t even know what that means being honest…. I shall rephrase, I let the place go I guess, a bit. Not let it go, just, more bio-diverse, as was discussed last week – my answer to everything that needs an excuse that may be deemed incorrect by the gardeners police society.

That said, I’ve my mind in order as to what I actually want to do. In the words of the great Captain Blackadder

I have a cunning plan….

I don’t really have a cunning plan, I’ve just always wanted to use that line in an article. But I have an idea of what I want to do.

horse chestnut treeI have trees to move. They are trees that I still want to keep in my garden but they may just end up too big in a while to come. Too big in the space they were originally put in that is, bearing in mind that the garden has changed in outlay since I first planted them. And whilst I do like tree surgeons, I really don’t want to be crossing their palms with silver unnecessarily.

But that’s months away before you can move them Peter, Autumn even…. ?

And that’s a very fair point, but the planning starts now. Because when I move them I’ve now got a space where they once stood. What will replace them ? A children’s swing. And maybe a slide. I don’t exactly know but I think I’d like to make that myself, for my daughter. It’s not so much the making of it that is important to me, it’s just I want it to fit into the setting, the backdrop and the surrounds… think Emmerdale Farm with a [by next year] two year old and you are part way there.

I’d also like hanging baskets. But I need to hang the brackets first. Of course I may need to confer with the powers that be as to their exact location, but in my mind they will go all the way across the front of the house, the entire of it so that when it comes to next summer….. no, hold on this Christmas…. the house will be a home, a family home where people, visitors, friends and the inhabitants of feel, well, at home I suppose.

Christmas ? It’s still flippin’ summer for Jaysus sake…..

I also want to re-design the hen house. Pardon the cliché’d pun, but I want it to have wings. Wings as in that of a building so when they strip one part of the lawn entirely I can let it grow back absolutely wild whilst at the same time I can gate of the other wing. I also want to paint it. Bright. Their house is already pink and white, but the run is just old matt black fading to grey and it doesn’t look so pretty anymore.

The list the more I think of it you see, takes time. And with only fifty two weeks in the year and only twelve of them winter, of which about three are excluded for holidays, even just to do what I have written – allowing one Saturday per weekend means I’ve only got nine days. That is assuming, it doesn’t snow or rain. And more importantly, nine days is not enough time.

I could have figured that one out on my etch-a-sketch….

I need to back track. I need to draw up this wish list and then another list of ingredients and get myself garden shopping.

Some may think that the earlier the evenings the less busy a gardener may become. Not on your nelly. It is the smart garden enthusiasts that prepare now for the seasons to come and I am not going through what I and we all did last year. Which in short was quite depressing and not very nice. It may not be warm in December, but at the very least I can make my home feel warm and inviting.

Rain, hail, sleet or with the help of global warming a heat wave, my house will be homely by December and it’s going to look damn sexy when I am  finished. I’m making a list and this time I’m checking it twice. What are you gonna do ?

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Fingal Independent – July 6th 2011

For those who have asked…. Despite the media report [below] I still own my lawnmower. Also, I still use it and didn’t trade it in. I am still a gardener, landscaper, garden designer or anything else that maybe describe one who works with plants.

Nonetheless, The fingal Independent did write this piece this week 😉

Donegan’s gardening radio show sparks rave reviews

By Robin KIELY

Wednesday July 06 2011

HE’S more used to hedgerows than headphones, but now a Fingal gardener has turned over a new leaf on the airwaves.

Award-winning landscaper, Peter Donegan, has traded in his mower for a microphone, fronting a weekly gardening radio show, which has drawn rave reviews.

Indeed, so popular is the ‘ Sod Show’ podcast that it regularly beats off competition from a host of international stations and programmes in the download charts.

Airing live on Dublin City FM every Friday, the Ballyboughal native aims to open up the world of gardening to everyone, mixing expert guests with local enthusiasts and businesses.

‘I’ve been doing the podcast on its own for about a year and the Sod Show has been on radio nearly six months,’ Peter explained.

‘We do it live and then it goes straight to a podcast on iTunes. It’s got a happy vibe and is a feelgood gardening radio show.

‘It’s for people who like the great outdoors. Brian Greene, who has 20 years of radio experience behind him does the sound and audio.

‘We’ve done a couple of good specials. We have Jane Powers on, who writes for the Irish Times, and we had the guy who grew shamrock for Barack Obama.

‘We’ve also had locals on. Ann Lynch from Ballyboughal Hedgerow Society was on, as was Phillip Murtagh who was talking about making elder flower champagne, both from Ballyboughal.

‘We’re aiming to make gardening and the show a fun place to be and it seems to be working well.’

A glance at the download charts on iTunes certainly emphasises that fact, where the Sod Show’s podcast regularly claims the number one berth in the ‘outdoor’ category.

What’s even more impressive is its standings in the ‘sport and recreation’ section, where it’s pulling in more hits than the likes of gardening shows on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Ulster and Sky Sport’s ‘Sunday Supplement’ podcast.

‘It’s phenomenal really,’ Peter reflected. ‘It’s important to recognise the amount of work being done locally in Ballyboughal and it’s nice to be able to get that out on the airwaves.

‘ We’re mixing local guest with nationally and internationally known guests. The show really is open to everyone.’

It’s another chapter in an impressive story for Peter, who celebrates 10 years in business this year and he’s still as busy as ever.

He passed on his knowledge at a number of talks with Fingal Libraries earlier this year and addressed 250 people on the benefits of podcasting at a recent south Dublin event.

And on the gardening front, he spent the weekend demonstrating garden displays in the middle of the city centre, as part of an urban living event in Wolfe Tone Park.

-The Sod Show is broadcast every Friday at 3pm on Dublin City FM.

– Robin KIELY

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Beetroot

One of the easiest crops I have ever grown is beetroot. As they take up very little space and require a very shallow depth of soil for root development, I found these left over cavity blocks quite useful for sowing the seeds.

The varyingly named beets or beetroot are a variety of the Beta vulgaris [chenopodiaceae] and it is, you may or may not be surprised to know] the swollen root that we actually eat.

The books suggest a sowing time from about March to July and a cropping period from around June to October, but I have in the past stretched this a lot further past those boundaries. The basis of the recommended times is generally based on low temperatures causing them to bolt. I have personally found that using a bolthardy variety, suitable placing and maybe some covering has seen me through and I generally sow and harvest when I feel it’s the right time.

As you can gather I also pay zero attention to recommended spacings and seed depths. For those who want to know [?] the recommended pH for growing beetroots in 5.9. Once again this is ideal world scenario and as you can also gather I’ve never bought a pH soil testing kit in my life.

Either or if gardening is all about having a go…. then you wont go too far wrong with these guys and you can always leave a comment if you’re stuck.

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Urban Living In Dublin City

Urban Living, Animating Our Civic spaces12pm to 6pm, [This] Sunday 26th JuneWolfe Tone Park, Jervis Street, Dublin

peter donegan

For the last few years I’ve been involved with a gig called ‘Urban Garden’. In short, it’s based somewhere in Dublin City Centre and the gist of it is… well, my take on it anyway, is that it’s about brightening up a specific part of Dublin City Centre and making it something even more beautiful.

The last year I did the gig, I made a recycled garden…. It started with this….

peter donegan

But this year, I’m going back to how it all started doing some really easy garden demonstrations and chats to help you brighten up your little space outside…. the press release [below] has all the details and more on the day.

To my bit…. If you have a wee balcony, a window ledge or just one or three pots you like to call your garden…. or maybe you wish to pretty up your existing space…. If you are in the city, drop on by and say hello. Did I tell you it’s also free, all courtesy of Dublin City Council. Should be a bit of craic. Always is. I’ll look forward to seeing you 😀

peter donegan

For the Ulysses fanatics who prefer their directions by Dublin pubs… it’s just at the back of The Church [the Pub version]. For the shopaholics, it’s the space just opposite the Jervis Street car park.

The Official Blurb

Dublin City Council, as part of their SUMMER IN DUBLIN programme of events and in association with Down To Earth Theatre Company are delighted to announce a FREE fun filled family event – URBAN LIVING on Sunday, June 26th , an interactive event which animates an urban space in the City Centre through performance and colour.

This vibrant event maximises the use of Wolfe Tone Park, a key Dublin City public space in the heart of the Capital by animating it and transforming the space into a creative hub where visitors can relax, learn and be entertained by an engaging programme of music, circus and gardening workshops.

Ireland’s top Circus performers JOHNNY ‘D JUGGLER and THE OTHER BROTHERS, walk in Circus workshops, stilt walkers, face painting and a 24 piece Barbershop Troupe – Blue Heaven will engage and entertain audiences young and old.

The innovative, award winning landscape gardener Peter Donegan will preside over gardening demonstrations, sharing his thoughts and ideas on how to get the best out of our urban spaces including using quirky recycled household objects!

Naturally Wild’s, Dale Treadwell engages with young people as he looks at the different wildlife that enter our urban habitats with his highly entertaining show LIFE IN YOUR OWN BACK GARDEN.

Market stalls, trading in hot and cold foods, delicacies and confectionary will also be in Wolfe Tone Park – so why not dine al fresco in the open air picnic area?

Urban Living will take over Wolfe Tone Park, Sunday 26th June from 12 – 6pm, a FREE event not to be missed! Urban Living is brought to you by Dublin City Council as part of their SUMMER IN DUBLIN programme of events.

For more information on URBAN LIVING please contact Grainne or Shane on 01 4089750, check out our web page www.dteinc.ie or http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153440944725027 and for information on SUMMER IN DUBLIN check out the Dublin City Council website www.dublincity.ie

Urban Living, 12pm – 6pm, Sunday 26th June, Wolfe Tone Park, Jervis Street, Dublin

peter donegan