Busy May
Winter seemed to drag on for a long time; right through April - or that's how it felt. We had snowdrops, we had crocusses, but the leaves took their time in appearing. At the time of writing, oak trees have only just started to leaf out, ash are still half way there, and without tree leaves the world doesn't feel awake. There has been a consequent rush of activity in the world of gardening. Leaves have unfurled, flower buds opened, customers descended. Here is a snapshot of life in and around our shop in the first weeks of May..
Aquilegia 'Black Barlow'
'Shirotae' cherry - has to be one of the prettiest.
Cirsium vulgare: an easy perennials with masses of flowers. Bees love it!
A view of the outside plant area: our shop aint big but we have more variety than many shops ten times its size. Our stock is rotated constantly, so there is always something new. With dozens of specialilst growers supplying us, our selection and quality is unrivalled.
A comfy place to sit outside: one of the new Ethimo chairs.
From darkness into light: a view from our inside area to the outside plant section.
House plants have become a big feature of the shop, and with new deliveries every week the selection changes constantly.
Some of the indoor plants: succulents, foliage plants, air plants, cacti, many types of orchid.
Pappelina rugs are made in Sweden. Their lovely colours and great designs make them very popular: customers tell us they last for decades.
There's only one thing missing from our shelves of garden lotions and potions: poison. There is no place for synthetic fertilisers, toxic weedkillers or toxic chemicals in the environment, and least of all in your garden. We sell a good selection of laternatives, and have iron-based slug pellets, seaweed fertilisers, pyrethrum-based insecticide. Our belief is that a garden should be free from poisons: for the health of people, creatures, soil and plants.
Seeds, from flower seed mixes to vegetable seeds to organic Irish vegetable, herb and salad seeds from Brown Envelope seeds in West Cork.
The bouquets are back! On Wednesday afternoons we receive our delivery of gorgeous, seasonal garden flowers. Every week the selection reflects what's in bloom in the growers one acre of dedicated cutting flowers.
Our neighbours in Seapoint Restaurant at the other end of Monkstown Crescent asked us to to kit out their small yard with some new colourful furniture. We supplied them with a selection of the Italian-made 'Flower' and 'Ocean' ranges fro Ethimo. We brought up a couple of olives and planted them in big terracotta pots. The overall effect is excellent. They can seat many more people in their yard, and it now has a bright and cheery air. We were spoilt by them and they gave us very tasty sandwiches - for anyone who didn't know it, they do lunches and sandwiches too: highly recommended.
Finally, we did some gardening too. This small back garden in Ranelagh had a complete makeover, starting with new larch-clad walls: they had been bare concrete. Then we made a path from Liscannor limestone, leading from one end to the other. This had been the muddy path made by a dog who ran the same route up and down the garden all day. The sunny side is planted with Lavender 'Vera', Astelia, Agapanthus and olives. The shady side is planted with Sarcococca confusa, Parthenocissus and Amelanchier 'Obelisk'. Spotted in their stylish kitchen was this Money Plant in a white pot, both from our shop.