Friday, May 22, 2009

Two Tickets for Bloom

Win two tickets to Bloom!! www.bloominthepark.com
The first person to identify and tweet @PatFitzGerald this plant variety correctly gets two tickets to Bloom for Thursday or Friday next week. Take a look at the picture closely. One hint check out http://www.myplant.ie/
@doneganland will be assisting me in judging, he is an expert in competition judging! Judges of course are disqualified from entering the competition.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

A Thought

A thought for current times! This quotation below is something I read about 12 months ago and wrote down on my desk. It is very relevant and possibly should be considered in troubleshooting more often.

“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists”

Philosopher Eric Hoffer

So can we depend on the current bunch of learned, certainly there are many learned people around but just as certainly we should question their credentials.

Monday, May 18, 2009

MyPlant Water Collection

New Water Collection initiative

We can now report our new water butt is up and running and the first phase of our plan to collect all roof water for recycling to irrigation on the nursery is well under way with this not so little water butt fully operational.
Ok so its a little bit more than a water butt !!! Thats a 3.5 metre high tank and 65,000 imp gallons thats almost 300,000 litres.

More later in the year as this water conservation program develops.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Dont miss out on making some savings on your tickets to Bloom this year.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Drought tolerant plant for containers

A tough drought tolerant plant for Balcony and Patio gardens.
Fasciularia bicolor
Scarlett Pineapple. For the small balcony or patio space we have plants such as the hardy Bromelia Fascicularia bicolor from mountainous cliff faces of Chile which can resist the most difficult of conditions including drought, cold and exposure to wind. Commonly known as Scarlett Pineapple this plant looks fantastic all year round in a container and then once mature in September will give you a wonderful treat with its bright red foliage bract and metallic blue flower. Better again Scarlett Pineapple is extremely drought tolerant so requires little care once potted correctly in Shamrock MyPlant container compost mixed 2 parts Shamrock to 1 part MyPlant vermiculite. Scarlett PineApple has been grown by knowledgeable plants people since the late 80’s in UK and now can adorn even the most novice gardeners patio, balcony or garden a touch of exotica from South America yet thoroughly adaptable to your garden or outdoor living space a must for your collection and it will stay with you for years with little care. See http://www.myplant.ie/ for more information.

Easy Care Container Plants

Easy care Plants to liven up small gardens, balconies and patios all year round.
Put some life and colour into your home surroundings Summer, Autumn and Winter. In today’s topsy-turvy world the one place we can have some refuge and surround ourselves with beautiful things of our choosing is our home and garden. Whether you have a small garden a balcony garden, a large garden or something in between, the plants you choose to surround your home with are an important part of the ambience you create. At MyPlant we have been thinking of your changing plant needs as we develop the MyPlant range. One of the basic considerations in our plant testing for the MyPlant range has been what garden and living spaces are going to be like in the future and how much energy do we need to grow these plants for you.
A number of years ago I developed a presentation called ‘New Plants New Spaces’ for a nursery conference and since then I presented this paper on a few occasions. This concept has become part of the MyPlant philosophy for testing different plants from microclimates around the world to use in applications which in some ways mimic the plants natural environment.
If we look at the modern garden plant container or patio border as possibly more like a crevice in a high altitude rock face in Chile, a shaded woodland a dry hill slope in Japan or a sandy free draining seaside dune in New Zealand we can begin to get more of an idea what type plants we need and how adaptable they can be for urban living spaces. Together with this idea of what we need in this changed environment we combine the skills of plant breeders. These breeders with a lot of help from nature come up with numerous attractive varieties which give us longer lasting and more easily maintained plants for the small garden or balcony container and our long term enjoyment. Today we have a much wider choice of plants for these close to house spaces than ever before and through the MyPlant selection process we now bring many of these exciting plants from our own breeding and our international breeder colleagues for everyone to enjoy and decorate the new ‘outdoor room’.
If you live in North West Europe the thought of anywhere being sun baked and dry may seem ludicrous in past summers but try sitting against a white or light coloured wall on a sheltered balcony or patio even on a normal summer day for hour after hour without protection then maybe you can sense the drying heat your plants must tolerate. If you try the same test in winter then a sense of how strong a plant must be can be appreciated. In such situations and especially without optimum care the choice of plant is crucial so that you get the best value for your money.
In selecting plants for the MyPlant range we want to explore all possibilities and boundaries to conventional patio and balcony gardening and take the complication out of gardening to leave more time for the enjoyment which is ultimately what the garden, balcony or patio is for.
Over the coming months we will highlight some of our MyPlant introductions to give a seasonal attraction to your living space no matter how large or small. Hopefully you will come prepared into 2009 for more adventurous container and small space gardening. We want you to consider plant shape, form and foliage more as a year round exciting solution for your outdoor home. In the long term we want you the customer to get a good feeling about your plants but more importantly your living space. Like many things in life it is not what we sell to you that is appreciated the most, it is how our plants help make you feel which is the longer lasting gift. In difficult times more than anytime we like to be surrounded by some special things. We believe our plants are such special living things that give all the natural green benefits of nature year round.

You don’t need to own a garden to enjoy a plant and you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy MyPlant™.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

MyPlant Trials Garden tests new plants from UK Breeders




MyPlant trials Garden has received the first plants from PROVAR Plants in UK in co-operation with PROVAR we will test, trial and display these fantastic garden plants in Irish weather conditions to check suitability to our unique Irish climatic conditions.


Check out the PROVAR website to see many of these new and exciting plants. http://www.provarplants.co.uk/


We are looking forward to this co-operation bringing a greater choice of tried and tested plants to Irish Gardeners over the coming years.


MyPlant Team