I think I am a spring gardener. Give me snowdrops, daffodils and hellabores and I’m a happy woman. The weather hardly matters and the slugs are fast asleep. Summer gardening is different. Everything is soft and delicate and 24 hours of wind and rain can do untold damage and don’t talk to me about slugs and black spot.

Am I the only one who thinks it’s been an awful summer in the garden? Yes, we had a great patch of weather from April into May, but from June on it’s been pretty miserable. Our roses have been worst hit. The first flush was smashed by heavy rain and winds and the roses were so damaged I had to dead head most of them.

I kept an eye on the new shoots once they appeared in early July I was hopeful they would get a second chance to shine. Then what happens? A night of torrential rain and gale force winds and I’m back to square one.

My poor sad border following lots of wind and rain

I’ve been gardening by trial and error for over 30 years and after a few miserable attempts to grow roses I gave it up as a bad job. Roses were just too temperamental, too hard to mind. It was only when I discovered the David Austin rose – ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ – that I was swept off my feet and fell in love with roses again. I have eight of these pretty pink roses and their wonderful scent would knock you out. But alas this summer has been a disaster for them. We can only hope for better next year.

Roses have had a bad summer.

Our carpet roses and a pair of climbers have withstood the weather much better but with no scent are no match for ‘Gertrude Jekyll’. I’d love to hear from readers about their best-scented weather-resistant roses so do write to me at Shanagolden, Co Limerick, or email mlavery@farmersjournal.ie

Annuals not up to expectation

I’m not one for annuals, the only ones I regularly plant are petunias, geraniums and baby’s breath for the pots. However, after the wet weather in June I bought a few trays of various sorts and planted them in the front of the flowerbeds. I thought they would provide little spots of colour to make up for my mangled roses.

Maybe I sowed them too late in the season but apart from ‘cosmos’ and a wigwam of sweet pea they have been a big disappointment. Again it may be weather related. So if the same thing happened you this growing season, don’t worry, you are not alone.

Time to….

Take soft wood cuttings. It’s getting late in the season to take soft wood cuttings from the likes of fuchsia, lavatera, hydrangea and orange blossom. It’s best to take cutting early in the day. Collect non-flowering shoots about 10cm in length for best results. You will find demonstrations as to what to do next on YouTube.

Think about bulbs. We will all be glad to see the back of 2020 and what better way to plan for 2021 than to get your order in for spring bulbs. I usually stock up at the Ploughing Championships but that’s not an option this year. So don’t forget the bulbs and stock up at your local garden centre.

View some videos. Every week for the past few months I’ve been making a video of what’s happening in our garden at home. If you would like to see them I’d love it you would check out the Irish Country Living Instagram page @irishcountryliving where you can find over 20 garden videos.

Attract butterflies. A good plant for attracting butterflies at this time of year is ligularia dentata. It’s also a good addition to a flower bed but beware the snails love it too.

Great gardens in Galway

Bad weather or not I still found time to visit a couple of lovely gardens over the past month. The first was Kylemore not far from Cliften in Co Galway. It was my first visit there and with so much to see I could have stayed a week.

The location alone is a treat. Then add in the walks, the eye popping ornamental garden, the fernery, the vegetable garden and the glasshouses. And just when you think you’ve seen it all you turn a corner to the most magnificent double herbaceous border I’ve ever seen. It’s no wonder time just disappears.

The double herbacous border at Kylemore Abbey gardens is a sight to behold

Every time you visit a well organised garden there’s something to learn. In Kylemore it was the importance of good boundary planting so as to create a micro climate where even the tenderest of plants can grow and remain outdoors all winter. In Kylemore this microclimate was bolstered with the garden being enclosed by high walls of Scottish red brick.

Kylemore is classed as a late Victorian garden and to retain this provenance the vast majority of plant varieties in the garden predate the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. As a result while most gardens can be stocked from outside sources the pre 1901 requirement means the vast majority of the planting at Kylemore has to be propagated on site. And that’s some job.

Head gardener Anja Gohlke reckons they grow at least 50,000 plants from seed a year. One of the glasshouses is filled with trays of seeds and bulbs while more trays of seedlings for a second planting of summer bedding were waiting to go into the ground.

Portumna Castle and gardens is worth a visit. Add in the Workhouse Museum and the marina and you have a day out.

Further south in the county is Portumna Castle and Gardens. The castle was built between 1610-1618 and was a family home until 1826 when it was accidently burnt down. The Office of Public Works (OPW) began restoration work in 1968 which continues. There’s some lovely natural planting and the 17th-century vegetable walled kitchen garden has been restored to its original layout and planted with flowers, herbs, and vegetables.

After your visit there don’t forget to call into the Workhouse Centre in the town. This museum is so real it will put a shiver down your back and will take you back to a time in our history that we still find hard to talk about. Be sure to book in advance.