Through the Lens of a White Van Man

For one or two days per week I am a 'white van man', driving around the city with a van full of plants and garden parephenalia. I keep my camera on my lap, and when I see a garden I like I take a photo of it. Today, Thursday 28th of April, was a gorgeous late spring day, and here are some of the photos I took, either from the van, on the street or in the gardens of customers, some of whom have beautiful gardens. It was one of those days when everything looked at its very best.......

First stop: Tulip 'Carnaval de Nice' are planted in pots near our storage shed. We bought in lots of these gorgeous tulips but the customers didn't go for them in large numbers. So we ended up planting a lot of them for ourselves - lucky us! They are beautiful - even better close-up than from a distance. One of our Swedish bird houses is in the background.

Now in the north inner city. This front garden is a sea of bluebells, comfrey and other flowering plants. It cleverly has two strips of paving running through it, meaning that it is also a parking area. Located on a quiet old residential road near Dublin's East Wall, I wonder if this is Dublin's prettiest and most ecological parking area?

This rosemary hedge is the hedge of the house where I was delivering. Here in the city a family are making a great garden out the back, with big  raised beds using our oak boards, topsoil and compost mix and other sundries. With all the doors open and music playing it was like an advertisement for the good life in the inner city.

This exquisite white tree paeony was in a front garden on Dartmouth Square in Ranelagh. The huge floppy flowers were brilliant white and very pretty. Plants with the shortest bloom-time can more than earn their keep in just one day like this!

Next to the tree paeony was this Viburnum macrocephalum in full creamy bloom - they looked excellent together.

From a laneway in Ranelagh I saw this amazing Wisteria growing up three stories of a house on Leeson Park. In bloom, Wisteria has to be one of the most special garden plants.

I delivered our first 'Composphere' to a garden in Ranelagh, and took a photo of it in its new home. This is a garden that we planted and made over the winter, attached to a great modern house tucked away on a back laneway. The composphere should gobble up the grass clippings and other garden waste and turn them into usable compost.

Next stop was a delivery of 'Gee-up' soil improver to a garden that we designed and planted six or seven years ago. The owners have tended it lovingly and get an occasional delivery of bark mulch or Gee-up from us. It was satisftying to see how well it has matured and filled in - only a few years ago it had been completely turned upside down and re-configured.

Another plant which is magnificent at this time of year is Laburnum. This is an excellent city tree and has a most wonderful display of pendulous flowers in late April and May. The pea-green leaves later in the year are also very attractive.

Back to black - at home again, ending the day as it started, with tulips. 'Queen of the Night' make a most excellent cut flower, and have been in the house for over a week. With a few sprigs of beech leaves in a glass jar, they are more special indoors than they have ever appeared outside. Strangely, they have improved over the last few days as they have flopped open and darkened.