Delgany and District Horticultural Society

7 results

The native Irish primrose (Primula vulgaris) flowering in an Irish woodland this spring. Photograph: Richard Johnston
Are primroses the perfect spring flower? They love the damp and are good to eat too

I spotted the first flush of wild primroses flowering in nearby woods a few weeks ago. Speckled along the edges of a steep, damp bank that sits beneat(...)

Freshly harvested courgettes sit next to nasturtiums in an Irish garden. Photo credit Richard Johnsto
End of season in the kitchen garden: tidy up and get ready for next year

If you’re a keen kitchen gardener, you’ll know it has been an exceptionally challenging year for people who like to grow a little of their own food, f(...)

St Brigid’s Hospice on the Curragh in County Kildare Photo Credit Richard Johnston
A Kildare hospice garden that soothes the soul

As so many of us already have already discovered to our benefit, the therapeutic benefits of gardens are beyond doubt. They are spaces that allow us (...)

How to plant a perfect window box – and then keep it alive

I recently made the mistake of smugly pointing out to an old, non-gardening friend of mine that her summer window box could, with just a little TLC, b(...)

Flowers from the garden: calendula, tagetes, alchemilla, sanguisorba and dahlias. Photograph: Richard Johnston
The guilt-free way to fill your vases? Grow a flower patch

 If you love gardening, then you probably also love growing flowers. But as for picking them? Let’s just say that I have countless gardening frie(...)

Ireland’s moist climate is ideal for slugs
Our cool, rainy climate is heaven for sexed-up slugs

We need to talk about slugs. Worse still, we need to talk about the sex life of slugs. Yes, yes, I know, as subject matters go, it’s about as alluring(...)

Amaryllis: Plant its giant fleshy bulbs into a pot in the next few weeks and you should have its tall, splendid, lily-like blooms in time for Christmas when the plants make an excellent gift. Photograph: Getty
Christmas Star, Carmen, Snow Queen: an amaryllis for everyone

It’s a funny old business, gardening. So much of it involves planning for the future that it sometimes feels as if we gardeners live our lives in two (...)