September Sun?

What happened to our Indian summer?

Cork did see a rise in temperatures for a few days but no sign of the sun. Our Cannas in the herbaceous border are all dwarves this year, and our Black Hamburg grapes are not nearly as sweet as usual.

On a positive note, the wine making has been a success and the third batch of pear and blackberry is currently in production (first batch already gone).

Bulb planting season is coming up and we have a large range of bulbs ordered to be planted throughout the estate. This will enhance what is already a pretty impressive spring show.

The dropping night temperatures will soon put an end to our hanging baskets and bedding displays and it will be time to replace them with something for the winter. From my experiences with last winter’s harsh conditions I would recommend Pansies over everything else. They took a real beating last year and still continued flowering into the spring when all else had given up.

We have a lot of work planned for the month ahead. Our second phase of our new rhododendron bank will be planted. (Plants sourced from Millais Nurseries, UK) This will complete this project and should provide a fantastic spring show for visitors.

We are in the process of clearing out the old rose bed by the main entrance. It has provided a great show every year but the roses were getting old and unhealthy, so it was decided to replace them. The new variety is Rosa Blarney Castle, new to the market this year, so it seemed a pretty apt place to display it!