Autumn Garden Blog of the Victorian Walled Garden
Welcome back to our autumn edition of the Kylemore Garden Blog.
As usual, the time passes in an enormous speed, and another season is in full swing already.
I love autumn, when the leaves are turning and the woodland is changing to red, yellow and brown tones. The earthy and heavy scent in the air is announcing the end of yet another year. It seems a very special and different year in many ways. I often get questions about the different types of mushrooms or fungi growing on the trees and if they are edible. I am no expert by any means, but I do know that unfortunately many are honey fungus and indicating that the trees are not in a healthy stage anymore.
Kylemore trails though the woodland
It was an amazing year for fruits, mainly apples and pears. They grew in abundances, and we were able to harvest many hundreds of dessert, cooking and cider apples from our new orchard and the walled garden. The Benedictine nuns and the Kylemore staff were delighted to get these. Bigger plans are in line for the coming years!
Apple Harvest
Also, our eight heritage carrot varieties had a fantastic season. Our main worry is the damage by the carrot root fly. So, we covered the ridges with a special netting once again, and it worked. We also planted spring onions in between the carrots to deter the flies since they don’t like the scent of onions. I purchased seeds of another old heritage carrot variety, a Japanese one from the 16th century, at the beginning of the year and I was looking forward to the result. They were not as plentiful as the other varieties but stunning to look at with the very long and straight shape and deep dark red colour. They are also very tasty!
Our heritage varieties of carrots – Autumn King (orange), St. Valery (orange), Paris Market (maroon-violet), Jaune du Doubs (yellow), Early Nantes (orange), Kyoto Red (dark red from the 16th century!), Chantenay Red Cored (orange), Paris Market Baron (orange and round).
Carrot ‘Kyoto Red’
The seed harvest of all types of vegetables and flowers is nearly finished. A very wet September did not help but we managed to pick most seeds during the dryer period before. It is vital to dry the seeds properly before storing them in paper bags for the coming season. If they are still damp the seeds could rot and won’t be usable anymore.
Broad bean ‘Martock’, the oldest broad bean still available, dating back to 1293.
The last of the tomatoes are harvested and the chilli peppers are still growing strong.
Tomato ‘White Beauty’, an old heritage variety from the 1860th, USA
We also grew an unusual fruit this season, the “cucamelon”. This rather cute looking miniature watermelon originates from Mexico and needs to grow in a greenhouse to get enough heat. The fruits are only 3 to 7 cm long and taste like cucumbers. Since the plant is climbing it will need a bit of vertical space and support.
The Cucamelon fully grown!
Another new “old” heritage variety of cucumbers we grew this year is called “Kaiser Alexander” (“Emperor Alexander”). It’s shape and colour are very unusual and brings a bit of variety to our “usual” looking cucumbers! This variety dates back to the 1880th and originates from Russia.
Cucumber ‘Kaiser Alexander’
Not only was the fruit harvest remarkable but the summer bedding also had an amazing season, probably the best since the last five years. I put it all down to the dry and warm spring and lovely summer. It is very rewarding when plants and plant combinations work out as intended. Especially our old Lobelia varieties flowered throughout the whole summer right until now. Their strong shades of blue work with nearly every other bedding plant and are vital to Victorian Gardens. Also, our fuchsia hedges did their best in showing off the lovely red-maroon blossoms.
Lobleia ‘Chrystal Palace’ in the Shamrock beds in August.
Fuchsia magellanica hedges near the garden stream and bridge.
Visitors who have been in our garden around this time of year know the long Ribbon beds along the east wall. These are the best from beginning September right until mid-November. The Sedums, Anaphalis and Fuchsias never let us down and are flowering in the same positions since many years. An occasional plant division and a light feeding and top dressing with our own produced compost is enough to ensure a prolific flowering season.
Our Ribbon beds in September.
I mentioned at the beginning, that this year is special in many ways.
We celebrated our 25th anniversary on the 13th of October, after the restoration came to its end and opened to the public the first time, on the 13th October 2000. Within the last 25 years we have seen many changes and went through sometimes difficult times but developed to one of the most iconic historic gardens in Ireland. We stayed true to our mission in preserving old heritage varieties of plants, dating back to pre-1901. This journey had and has its challenges but makes our garden also unique.
The recently installed historic bell over the main gate was ceremonially rung the first time that day by Sr. Magdalena and Ulick, our longest employed gardener. The bell will ring from now on daily 15 min before the closing time.
The garden team with Sr. Magdalena and Sr. Genevieve
Last but not least, Jenny, our garden cat, wants to say hello, too. She is with us for the last 9 years, same as Jacky, her companion. Both keep our mice population down and like to snuggle up in the heated glasshouses this time of year.
Jenny says hello!
Your Head Gardener,
Anja Gohlke