Tags
Allium christophii, allium schubertii, clematis Annabelle, clematis Arabella, nigella, penstemon, Sambucus Nigra, six on saturday
It is 1800hrs and I have quickly taken some pictures in the garden. The light is still too bright for good photos but unless I leave things for another two or three hours, there will be no discernible difference. May has officially been the driest on record and we have had the sunniest Spring since 1929.
Joining our host The Propagator and other bloggers from round and about, here are my quick six for this, the last Saturday in May.
The Allium Purple sensation has finished and the A christophii are stepping up next. A steely or metallic looking pale purple, these are bigger than Purple Sensation but shorter. In the foreground is the first of my Nigellas.
I love annuals. I love it when they self seed and appear where they choose. One packet of seed, costing a couple of quid can give years of joy.
I thought my garden might be too cold, too exposed and too heavy for these lovely perennials. Planted in a raised bed to help drainage I leave it long and shaggy all winter, resisting the urge to tidy up until April. Dark claret bells are quietly forming. Yay!
This is a shrub I would not be without. I love the deeply divided, dark foliage, the froth of flowers and dark berries. To encourage more foliage, I cut it back by a third each spring.
I have admired herbaceous clematis for many years and finally I have introduced Arabella into my borders. Rather than climbing, she will scramble through the borders. Neat, tidy, single, purple flowers. I am so pleased to introduce this to my garden. From Westcountry Nurseries (north Devon) ltd.
Another Allium, this time Allium schubertii .
I love this bonkers Allium. Arms waving like a conductor leading his orchestra.
I hope you have a good weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. Stay safe. D.
digwithdorris.com 
My new A schubertii aren’t flowering yet, but I am looking forward to them, yet the christophii have been flowering for a while. Nigella has become one of my favourite annuals in the last couple if years and I am enjoying it seeding around, like you are. You must be thrilled with your penstemon, something that seems to be fussy here too, but I keep on trying. Love all your six today, Dorris
Thanks Cathy. I am thrilled with the penstemon success. Any good in a vase I wonder?
Inevitably, I have had very little experience of penstemon in a vase, so can’t really say!! I have several penstemon cuttings that I am reluctant to plant out because I fear they will not do a lot – almost all of them came from plants with just one or two spindly stems. I think I will pot them on again and not plant them out till they are much bigger, even if that means next year
Why not try them in the ground now you could dig them up for safekeeping over the winter months.
Yes, that is another alternative, but increasingly I think some new plants struggle because my borders are so stuffed, so smaller plants are going to be worst affected. If only I could have disciplined myself to leave spaces in the borders in the first place – but then again I probably did, and then just planted more in the spaces!!
I can imagine!
Lovely to see that you too enjoy alliums, as well as the bees. Your penstemon looks well settled in and look forward to your showing its lovely bloom in a few weeks time. Your Sambucus leaves and flowers are lovely and you did well with the photograph, quick tricky to get our its true beauty.
Thanks Noelle. You are right about the Sambucus, those dark leaves are tricky to capture.
I planted SchubertI last year and they are just about to flower. Canny wait they look like mad plants….the Sambucus looks fantastic as well. I hope all is well.
Thank you and all is well here. Rather exciting to see schubertii pop!
Love the description of the last Allium. So apt! I had no idea you could cut Black Lace back. Mine has died anyway… drought? Winter frost? Oh well. Love yours!
Thanks Cathy. Yes cutting back Black lace in early spring encourages larger foliage. I am sorry you have lost yours. Try again?
Maybe not. We need drought-tolerant and wind-tolerant plants here (that stand up to an occasional big freeze in winter!). So any suggestions welcome! 😉
i seem to have a few schubertii, although i’m sure i didn’t order them. perhaps some were mis-labeled as christophii. anyway, i’m happy to have them. i am coming around to annuals. i’ve previously thought them to be too much like hard work for 1 year, but as you say they conveniently produce lots of seed and flower their socks off. i have grown more and more the last couple of years. i forgot to sow nigella this year in any organised way so have just a week ago sprinkled a bunch of seed around, so they may or may not appear this year. next year perhaps.
What a result getting schubertii for price of christophii!
I have annuals everywhere as I had a lot of bare soil three years ago. They are great wherever they pop up. I did an online lecture recently with Fergus Garrett ( GDixter) talking about how they manage annuals: hoe or heavy mulching
Is that to stop them coming up?(the hoeing and mulching)
Exactly that. In order to control where they pop up and to ensure they do not smother later emerging perennials
Black lace is that important? It does not produce enough berries for me, although it has not been here very long. I happen to like the specimen here, but most of those that I have seen have been shorn beyond recognition.
I grow it for the foliage rather than the berries.