Hi folks! I recently moved to Dublin from upstate New York and will be here for a couple of years. I had completely missed this forum by not checking it long ago as a watched forum.
I recently moved into a townhouse in central Dublin - having brought over a couple of brug cuttings, three hostas and a daylily. Fortunately, I do have two small yards to plant things but since I am leasing, I'll probably focus on container plants.
I look forward to getting to know people in this forum and learning to garden in this zone. I travel quite a bit with work so I don't have a lot of access to Dave's Garden, but I hope when I get my home computer set up, I'll get more of a chance to visit.
Sandra
Greetings from Ireland
Hi Sandra, welcome . isn't it strange how we gardeners move plants with us as essentials!!...:-)
What was the zone in upstate NY?
And what is it now in Dublin?
Big difference I bet.
Did you have a big garden in the US? from what I've seen on this and other sites, most people over there seem to have acres of land as their 'back yard'
Hello Sandra! Great to meet you! Are you enjoying the hot spell? It makes me feel sleepy. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Hi sueone - yes, certain plants had to come with me. I fly back to the states in a few weeks and will try to bring back some seeds.
My zone in NY was 5b - could get very cold in the winter and up to the 90's in the summer. Here, it's probably permanently between 30-60 F year-round. I still haven't gotten the gist of the celcius temps - when they say it's 14 degrees, I instinctively think cold, cold, cold.
Northerner - it's been pretty moderate here. I think the top temperature I have encountered is about 24 degrees.
You really do need to come down to the south of France then LOL
It's been incredibly toasty just recently ;)
(high 20s, low 30s)
:oD
I agree, going to the south of France is wonderful! I have had a chance to post now while I am in Spain. We (my husband and young adult children) spent a few wonderful days in Termes. It was beautiful. Philomel and her family have a pool to cool off in, or go to the Pyrennes near by. It is worth the visit. Easy Jet had some incrediable airfares into Paris and then to Toulouse. Then rent a car for a couple days. The local people in the area were quite friendly with us non French speaking Americans. Plus, Philomel and her delightful family were great travel guides.
Great to hear from you
Are you back home now Karen?
It was lovely to meet you and your family, and thankyou so much for the great photos - that was so thoughtful of you.
We are in Avila, Spain. We will drop our daughter Beth off at the train station so she can go to Oviedo and start her studies. We then will go to Madrid. Occasionally we are trying to get to Internet as it is our way to keep in contact with family at home. Our trip has been amazing. I was intrigued with the Tuscany area of Italy and it was beautiful. But, I think I enjoyed the countryside of your area of France maybe even more. It was great to meet you and your family. As I mentioned, you were the first DG´er I have met. It was fun to meet your family and talk to them. I am glad you like the pictures. It was fun to put it together. We will be home Sunday morning your time. It has been an amazing trip.
Well I do hope that you have a good journey back and that Beth enjoys her visit
Still hot here :)
I've been planting lavender by those steps up to the swimming pool, to make a little hedge. Also painted the arbour that overlooks the view and have planted a dessert grape to climb over it
The soil's like concrete, but I'm armed with a pickaxe now LOL
I haven't been to Tuscany yet, but intend to visit Chiara soon...
We are back, too soon to post pictures yet. Going through piles of mail etc.. We had a marvelous trip! It was like a dream come true. Within minutes of coming home I was out in the gardens hoping to catch the last our strawberries. But, they were done;-( I had heard from our housesitting nephew that they were abundant and good. But, did sneak and get the first cherry tomato.
I would love to have some lavender I love it. But, hard to find some that is hardy enough for our zone. Your view is spectacular, the grapevines with be lovely there. More progress on your gardens. Love to hear about what you are working on. I laughed to with the vision of you with a pick ax.
You would love Tuscany. There are so many places relatively close to you to visit. Another spot that unexpectantly caught my eye was what I think was the desert north of Portugal in northern Spain. The soil was redish orange.
Glad you've arrived home safely Karen.
That desert sounds fascinating - will have to look into that!
I'm becoming besotted with lavenders and salvias as well as old roses now. When planting the lavender down the second side of the steps I discovered a patch of soil that, far from being the concrete/clay of the rest, was sand like you'd find on a sand dune! If only the two would get together the soil might be much more workable (I wasn't joking about the pickaxe :)
Today we've cut down the small trees that were blocking the view from the arbour and put them through the shredder. It's really opened the place up. Now I have all the fiddly wrought iron railings to paint - oh, and the gate next to the mail box...
Hello Sandra - Sue here in West of Ireland. I did send you an e-mail just as you were leaving but I think I was too late. Hope you are settling in well and maybe we can meet up. Send me an e-mail.
Hello Hilary
It sounds like you have very much settled in down in France. The weather sounds great there. Keep us informed.
All the best to you both
Sue
Hi prudence, when are you next in France?
Yes, the weather's fantastic - but we're really grateful to have the pool for cooling off!
Sorry for rather hijacking your thread Sandra - not intentional!
Hope to hear how things are going again soon, though I understand how busy you must be...
Hilary - hijacked threads are fun (especially when the thread isn't about a topic) - and it was great to hear about the visit and everything going on. It's fun to see what is going on with everyone.
Sue - I'd love to get out there - we can have the first Ireland Roundup - although I'll probably have more seeds to share than plants. ;-) I'll send you an email directly...
Still no home system and it will take longer yet. The house was burgularized this weekend and my new flat monitor was taken, but I will persevere, get another one and be back in business shortly. Unfortunately, the best I can do right now is popping my head in occasionally from work.
Hi Sandra - sorry to hear of your breakin. My house in France was broken into recently but there wasn't much in there to take except they took our 2 bicycles. Here in the West of Ireland we don't even lock our doors, it is that quiet! It would be good to meet up with you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue
Hi "prudence" -- Sue,
Where in West of Ireland are you? My DH and I visited Counties Clare, Kerry, and the west of Cork, plus drove the north coast of Galway Bay to the Aran Islands ferry (to Inis Mor where we stayed over), a year ago May/June. Loved it!
Thinking of Dublin in January, now... and sbarr, where in upstate NY? I grew up in the Adirondack Mtns...
Small world, eh?
~'spin!~
welcome back , I am from pakistan , happy to see you .
Hi gumlla, welcome to DG
I just saw some of your photos - they're great. Haven't time to write much now, but will see you around :D
Sorry to read of your burglary Sandra. Hope that it hasn't left too nasty a taste.
That sounds like a great trip crystal!
Hi Crystalspin - sounds like a good trip. I haven't travelled much here in Ireland so you probably know it better than I do!! I am in County Roscommon which is very rural and a much forgotten part of Ireland - very quite and unspoilt. When I first came to Ireland for a week's visit here in Roscommon, it was so relaxing and we forgot what day it was and missed our flight home by a day!
Sue
philomel
Thank you very much. Hope to see pictures from France.Love that tower which is very famous in the world Iefel tower.
I'm at the other end of France from the eiffel tower gumlla, but will post a photo of a more ancient tower as soon as I can. There is the tower which is all that remains of a 13th century castle in the village where i live :)