In a Vase on Monday: a Witch’s Spell for the New Year

While painting a room isn’t necessarily a difficult DIY job, it’s not always easy—how many coats does one wall need again?

–Records –

They Play an Important Part in Beautifying Gardens Throughout the Greater Part of the Year

All About Orchid Pseudobulbs and How to Care for Them

Two main groups of cherries are cultivated for the merit of their fruit, the `sweet’, dessert (Prunus avium) and the `sour’, culinary (Prunus cerasus); a third group, the ‘Duke’ cherries, form an intermediate class. The sweets are subdivided into the ‘black’ and ‘white’ varieties. All fruiting cherries are hardy in the British Isles, though the blossom may be damaged by spring frosts.

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I’ll sing you one, O Green grow the rushes, O What is your one, O? etc

Try Inca 'Husky' Peruvian Lily, Amaryllis, 'Sweet Peach' Bouvardia, Carnation, Zinnia 'Zinderella Peach', 'Peach Finesse' Rose, 'Bolivian Peach' Gladiolus, 'Double Peach' Hibiscus, 'Peach Melba' Tulip, and 'David Austin Juliet' Rose for a peachy garden palette. And don't miss the Coral Charm Peony and Dahlia 'Peach Cobbler'.

Last week, Anna of Green Tapestry apologised for ‘cheating’ when she shared her amaryllis/hippeastrum In a Vase on Monday. Happily, our rules for this meme are fairly fluid and contributors share vases very much in the spirit of it, and it was by no means cheating – and I am not just saying that because I doing something very similar this week! In fact, I am very grateful to Anna for messaging me back in November to let me know that ‘a certain German supermarket’ had these bulbs in stock, allowing me to hotfoot it down to our local store ASAP.

I have no idea what has caused this ‘flame’ in the garden, but perhaps it really does symbolise the heart of it. I was not aware of the flame while I was working in the garden today, removing and cleaning the bricks from the low retaining wall at the back of one of the bold borders, and it only became evident when I looked at the photos later. Looking at the wider picture, when there was about a third of the wall left to remove and clean, you can see that there is a glass sculpture in the border but, at the time the picture was taken, the sun (and it was a sunny day) was behind me and to my right, so it wasn’t shining through the glass. Curiously, as I perched on my makeshift stool, chipping away at the bricks with my lump hammer and chisel, I found myself thinking of earlier civilisations, chipping away with bones and stones to make their artefacts – so could I perhaps have been joined by ghosts from the distant past, huddled round their fire for warmth…?

There are lots of words that Irish gardeners could use to sum up the year that was 2023. “Wet” is certainly high on the list, given the record levels of rainfall experienced in most parts of the country from late summer onwards as well as the badly waterlogged state of many soils.

Ah, New Year’s resolutions. Maybe they motivate you each year, or maybe you think, “Why bother?”. Studies show that by the end of January, over 40% of those who made resolutions at the start of the new year quit. There are many reasons for backing out on a new goal- life changes, unrealistic expectations, and lack of accountability, just to name a few. However, following a few simple strategies when creating and implementing resolutions can make you more likely to achieve your goals this New Year.