Growing stuff

eoinmn wrote:

Is there leaves at the moment on your pear tree?

I got a present of a little pear tree in a pot from my nephews in the summer. Great present, BTW. Anyway, the leaves immediately all fell off. Within 2 months they had grown back again. But now they have all fallen off again.
Is there something wrong, of is this behaviour normal for pear trees?

Could it have been dehydrated? If it was in a pot, that could happen very easily. If you could get it planted into a well dug place where it gets plenty of sun and moisture it should do well for you. Did they give you a partridge, too?

Grow lots of Basil to make pesto. Also some parsley and oregano. Couldnt get the Oregano to get going this year.
Also the tomatoes were a disaster - a rather half hearted attempt however.

Respvblica wrote:

Grow lots of Basil to make pesto. Also some parsley and oregano. Couldnt get the Oregano to get going this year.
Also the tomatoes were a disaster - a rather half hearted attempt however.

Not enough sun here for tomatoes this summer - we are going to make a little greenhouse next year.

The first frost is expected this Tuesday, so might be good to pop out the garlic now to test that 'frost does it good' theory.

The Bear's plans for the next few weeks: Getting a couple of dwarf apple trees and lots of soft fruit delivered in about three weeks. Two eaters and one cooking. Hired a rotavator for the long weekend, so we're going to get the lawn put down on half of the back garden (the front garden was done over the past couple of weekends), and going to give the rest of the garden a good digging too. I'll box off the planned veg plot, flower bed, and leave spots for the fruit, and I think we're going to put down the chicken wire around the edges of the garden while we have it all dug up. Stop the nasty rats getting in once the chickens are in situ, and save us from digging the place up twice.

We prob won't have the garden in full swing this year, not least because the fruit plants will need time to settle, but also because we'll prob be a bit late with much of the planting, due to all the work being done. We haven't moved into the new Bear Pit yet, cos the work is still to be done, so the garden is getting all of our attention so far. My recently retired father seems to be almost as enthusiastic about doing the place up as I am (and significantly more so than Mr. Bear).

Mr Bear is probably just tired of TheBear expecting him to give answers to her questions and opinions on her opinions when he probably doesn't mind either way .

johnfás wrote:

Mr Bear is probably just tired of TheBear expecting him to give answers to her questions and opinions on her opinions when he probably doesn't mind either way .

All he's got responsibility for in the house move is choosing which digital TV provider we use.

The brussels sprouts are growing: they have little green pimples all the way up the stems. Hopefully, if something else doesn't get them first, we'll be able to have them with Christmas dinner.

Peeled and cooked up three buckets of apples: they are in the freezer in little bags. This Little House in the Prairie stuff is strangely satisfying.
Anyone else got stuff growing?

Our freezer is also full of our own apples, they make great pies:D.

Mmmm pie....

Any good as a pastry cook johnfás?

To be honest... not really!! My Mother is good though so I leave it to her.

We have a very mini apple orchard in Wexford so that is where they come from. Means we have to keep an eye on them in terms of when to bring them back up, more difficult than if they are in your own garden.

eoinmn wrote:

Is there leaves at the moment on your pear tree?

I got a present of a little pear tree in a pot from my nephews in the summer. Great present, BTW. Anyway, the leaves immediately all fell off. Within 2 months they had grown back again. But now they have all fallen off again.
Is there something wrong, of is this behaviour normal for pear trees?

Pears are a nightmare to grow - in my limited experience and lack of patience. Ours have been in the ground for four years now and nary a pear to pair with almonds in one of those nice pear and almond concoctions whose prettier name has just now left my head. We can expect to wait another couple of years too...

Firstly, it will most likely need a pollination partner if it's to have any fruit. We planted three from the same pollination group. I should have kept a record of what we planted where but from memory I think we have Beurre Hardy, Williams Bon Chretien and Conference. But I probably won't be able to tell until they provide us with some fruit. You'll need to check what variety yours is. Some of them are partly self-fertile.

Secondly, they hate the East wind, drought and frost.

We have, unfortunately, nothing interesting in the garden growth-wise at the moment but have decided that for Christmas we will plant something together on Christmas Eve, weather permitting, rather than buy gifts for each other. The beech tree we planted on our wedding anniversary is a blaze of golden and bronze glory at the moment.

I do however, have some paperwhites which I think will flower in time for Christmas. I brought them in last weekend and have high hopes for them.

What is a paperwhite?

and


I think they're gorgeous. I kept the bulbs from last year when they flowered too early, repotted them six weeks or so ago and left the pots in the garden and took them in last week. If they can bloom for Christmas, I'll be delighted but I'll take 'em when I get 'em.

My campaign for the Arbutus Unedo, the evergreen Strawberry Tree, continues here.. A native to Ireland (still found native in Kerry and Sligo) but not to Britain, usually found in abundance in the Med region, they're very exotic looking things for our tiny grey rock in the ocean. The Latin name 'unedo' means to eat only once, on account of their fruits (more lychee-like than strawberry) being mealy and unpalatable (though edible), but they make a very potent alcoholic drink, popular in Spain and Portugal (the tree is on the Madrid coat of arms). The fruits take a whole year to mature, meaning red fruit and white heather-like bell-shaped flowers at the same time (my specimen has both right now). Plant one for Ireland...

They look like pompoms - never heard of them. Are they fussy?

In fact, the tree itself looks a lot of fun - like something Diarmaid Gavin and Nigella Lawson made from few jagged edged bayleaves and some coloured marzipan. A bit mad really.

Beautiful tree - I think it is too frosty where I live for it to grow. The picture of fruit and flower is amazing.

Kate P wrote:

They look like pompoms - never heard of them. Are they fussy?

In fact, the tree itself looks a lot of fun - like something Diarmaid Gavin and Nigella Lawson made from few jagged edged bayleaves and some coloured marzipan. A bit mad really.

Not fussy at all. They're members of the heather family, yet they're happy enough in limey soil. They grow wild on exposed lake shorelines, battered by wind, on poor rocky soil. They're actually quite beautiful, I think, not too showy even in November when the fruits are out.

cactus flower wrote:

Beautiful tree - I think it is too frosty where I live for it to grow. The picture of fruit and flower is amazing.

They survive fine in Sligo and Kerry, they easily tolerate minus 10 degrees Celsius. Mine has never been troubled...

toxic avenger wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Beautiful tree - I think it is too frosty where I live for it to grow. The picture of fruit and flower is amazing.

They survive fine in Sligo and Kerry, they easily tolerate minus 10 degrees Celsius. Mine has never been troubled...

Where would I get one?

The leaves look a Camelia like. Nice tree alright.

It's a specimen though, isn't it? I can't picture it sharing the limelight with anything else and, despite having a decent imagination, I find it hard to picture those glorious fruits on a windswept, isolated lakeshore. It seems utterly incongruous...but I like...

cactus flower wrote:

toxic avenger wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Beautiful tree - I think it is too frosty where I live for it to grow. The picture of fruit and flower is amazing.

They survive fine in Sligo and Kerry, they easily tolerate minus 10 degrees Celsius. Mine has never been troubled...

Where would I get one?

They're sold in my local garden centre in Cork, but I ordered mine on-line from a gift-tree website based in Limerick (they were very prompt and professional, a fellow called Liam was very helpful) because I wanted to get the species on a single stem. The species grows to a maximum of thirty feet, though probably more like twenty here in Ireland. Plus there are cultivars like 'Rubra' and 'Elfin King' which are a lot smaller for a restricted garden...

Kate P wrote:

It's a specimen though, isn't it? I can't picture it sharing the limelight with anything else and, despite having a decent imagination, I find it hard to picture those glorious fruits on a windswept, isolated lakeshore. It seems utterly incongruous...but I like...

Yeah, mine's a specimen alone on the lawn, though the multi-stemmed, more shrub-like ones make a good wind-break planted together, apparently...

Is it true that seeds have a genetically-engineered lifespan where they go out of date?

Anyone ever sprout some sprouts and could they tell us how to do it?

Has anyone ever grown a bay tree from a stem?

I've grown bay trees from suckers at the base of my bay tree for presents for people. I cut them out with some root with a good sharp kitchen knife and planted them in flower pots.

Still picking last year's sprouts here. Planted the seeds in pots and transplanted them which they were big enough.